People living in vans and caravans in one Bristol street have been threatened with the possibility of prison if they talk to the people who live in the houses on the same street. The ban is included in a series of behaviour orders issued by a judge at Bristol’s County Court after an application by Bristol City Council targeting people living in camper vans and caravans on Greenbank View, near Easton.
The injunction order has been addressed to ‘persons unknown’, and stuck to the doors of all the vehicles in the road next to Greenbank Cemetery. They warn people that if they do not comply with the order they may be held in contempt of court, arrested, ‘imprisoned or fined’, and have their assets seized.
One of the behaviour conditions prohibits ‘contacting either directly or indirectly, any resident of Greenbank View by whatever means’.
This effectively forbids the people living in the vans and caravans from talking to people who live in the homes nearby, but also could - in theory - ban them from texting, emailing, writing letters, leaving messages or posters on walls, or even posting on community Facebook pages where their messages could be read by a resident of Greenbank View.
The wording of the injunction also makes it a breach if the people living in the vans and caravans ‘instruct or encourage any other person’ from contacting ‘either directly or indirectly’, the residents of Greenbank View, which could also curtail any campaigners, supporters or even lawyers from messaging or posting on social media about the situation, if it would be read by a local resident.
Other behaviour written into the injunction includes many things which are illegal anyway, but would now mean someone living in a caravan or van on Greenbank View would be breaching the injunction as well as the relevant law, so could be arrested for that in the first instance.
The list of behaviours includes: parking on the footpath, or obstructing the pavement with furniture or bicycles; using aggressive, threatening, foul or intimidating language to anyone walking along Greenbank View; using any illegal drugs in any part of Greenbank View; leaving waste or flytipping their rubbish on the road, pavement or anywhere in the surrounding area, defecating and urinating in any public areas on Greenbank Road or anywhere in the surrounding area; storing wood underneath their vehicles; parking nose-to-nose with other vehicles, which increases the risk of fire spreading, and finally, playing loud music, shouting, revving engines or making other loud noises which can be heard by the residents of Greenbank View between 11pm and 7am.
The order was passed by District Judge Brown at the County Court on April 18, and will be reconsidered at a second hearing on May 30. It is in place until the end of October.
The order is part of a series of clampdowns on van dwellers on roads in Bristol, with areas like Netham Park, The Downs and New Stadium Road underneath the M32 flyover near Ikea in Eastville, all being the subject of council action to discourage van dwellers from gathering in large numbers or for an extended period of time.
The council brought in its controversial new policy just before the Covid lockdown, which gives it the authority to move on van dwellers from a specific location if their presence is viewed as a nuisance to local residents, but - in Greenbank View at least - this has been tried before, most notably in 2022, and other people living in vans arrive within a few weeks to live there again.
With the onset of the Covid lockdowns, Bristol City Council did create ‘meanwhile sites’ on otherwise unused council land, where van dwellers can park up, and have continued to maintain those. But these sites are limited in size, there’s a waiting list, and the sites themselves are often further out of the inner city area. With the affordable housing crisis intensifying in Bristol, the number of people who are either choosing or having to live in caravans or vans is still increasing in the city.
A Bristol City Council spokesperson told Bristol Live that the ‘encampment’ at Greenbank View was now being considered ‘high impact’ under the council’s policy brought in just before Covid.
“Since November 2021 we saw a steady increase in the number of occupied vehicles on Greenbank View, Eastville, increasing from three to over 40 vehicles,” she said. “While the encampment had previously remained at the bottom of the road away from houses it spread to outside the homes of residents which resulted in a rise in the number of complaints. These included issues with blocked pavements, fires, littering and human waste being incorrectly disposed of.
“Previous requests for vehicles to be removed from the pavement have not been met, and multiple visits have been made to the encampment since November 2021. The impact was reassessed and is now considered 'high impact' according to our vehicle dwelling encampment policy. The vehicle dwelling encampment policy allows us to take action in cases of anti-social behaviour while considering each situation on a case-by-case basis so, after carrying out welfare checks, we started legal action to move the vehicles on from this site.
“We want to balance the needs of everyone living in Bristol, both of those living in vehicles and residents so our approach must be compassionate and fair. We continue to tackle the housing crisis, building 2,563 new homes last year, including more affordable homes than for any year in more than a decade. The occupants of Greenbank View were previously offered 15 spaces at meanwhile sites but these were not taken up. There is now a high demand for places at our meanwhile sites, but they can still join the waiting list for a pitch,” she added.
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