Travellers have moved onto the play area in Summer St, Northam and may be there for some time while the City Council goes through the legal processes necessary to evict them. 

When John Denham was a Home Office minister, he devised a change in the law so that travellers could be moved on more quickly, perhaps within hours, if a suitable alternative site was available in the area. 

The Government offered Southampton City Council money to develop a temporary site and plans were made for one in the best available place, outside the built up area of the city, near the M27.

The first act of the new Conservative Council was to drop plans for any site and to send the money back to the Government.  

And that’s why it will take longer to move  travellers from places like the   children’s play area.

John Denham said “The Conservative decision has made it harder to tackle illegal camp sites and Southampton Council Tax payers will have to pay for any clean-up when the travellers eventually go.” 

Update

Since this story first appeared on this website, the local Conservative Deputy Council Leader has commented on his website:

"I am very pleased with the speed in which this illegal encampment has been dealt with. It's a little unfortunate that Labour politicians feel the need to exaggerate the situation for political gain. We will continue to remove illegal encampments as quickly as the law allows."

He misses the point.  The law allows these campsites to be cleared much more quickly than the 3 weeks or so it took Southampton Council.  But not if councillors like him refuse to use Government money to build temporary sites.