The eviction of a group of people living in vans by Greenbank Cemetery has been paused.
The group parked in Greenbank View, who say they are all relatively new to van life and that they can’t afford Bristol’s spiralling rents, had originally been told they had to move somewhere else by Tuesday earlier this week, or faced being forcibly evicted.
With the threat of eviction fast approaching, the van dwellers launched a campaign to get the council to change their minds, and more than a thousand Bristolians have signed a petition asking that they can be allowed to stay.
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Bristol City Council has now confirmed the eviction has been paused as the residents have said they are willing to move on. The latest statement from the council said: “The council has a duty of care to everyone living in the city, and we have to balance the needs of those living in vehicles with those of the local residents.
“Since November 2021 we have seen a steady increase in the number of occupied vehicles on Greenbank View, Eastville, increasing from 3 to around 25 vehicles parked there."
It is thought some of them have already moved on - on Saturday (April 23) there were about 11 caravans visible on the road. The council statement continued: "While previously the encampment has remained at the bottom of the road away from residential homes, it has now grown and has spread to outside the homes of residents.
"The increase in encampment size has resulted in a rise in the number of complaints, with 47 complaints received since November; including blocked pavements, fires being lit, littering, human waste being badly disposed of and the increasing number of occupied vehicles.
"The impact on local housing and the primary school was reassessed and considered to now be High Impact according to our vehicle dwelling encampment policy. Previous requests for vehicles to be removed from the pavement have not been met.
"In line with our vehicle dwelling encampment policy, that was adopted in 2019, we visited Greenbank view last month and spoke with everyone who was at their vehicle. After carrying out our welfare checks, we started legal action to move the vehicles on from the site.
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"However, following further talks with the encampment, they have indicated that they are willing to move on and we have paused the eviction process to enable them to move.
“The vehicle dwelling encampment policy recognises that each situation needs to be assessed on a case by case basis, but also allows us to take action when there is anti-social behaviour. The impact of the encampment will determine the action taken. It is important to have an approach that is both compassionate and rigorous.
“People living in vehicles do so for a variety of reasons, including personal choice or an inability to afford privately rented accommodation, mortgages or deposits on property. Tackling the housing crisis and building more affordable housing remains one of our top priorities.”
It's not the first time the council has acted on a community of van-dwellers in Greenbank View. Back in 2018, there were upwards of 50 vans and caravans parked there as part of a community that had been there years.
But a couple of arson attacks on caravans saw the council and police act and the community was broken up. The council had to take out a special court injunction to evict the people living in vans in Greenbank View back in May 2018, and the situation then, and again in December 2018 when more vans returned to the same street and another arson attack happened, gave extra impetus to what was then a proposal to adopt a permanent policy giving the council powers to move van-dwellers on.
