Unauthorised Camping

What does the Council do about it?

West Wiltshire District Council will only deal with unauthorised camping on land owned by the Council, or privately owned land when requested to do so by the owner.

Under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 we have powers to serve a ‘Direction to Move’ notice on any encampment which involves vehicles, with the landowners permission.

However, before we can do this we must carry out social enquiries to ensure that human rights are not affected, eg where someone is ill or pregnant. If there is a case to permit a person to stay then this must be allowed.

Under normal circumstances the Direction specifies a time period in which the encampment must be moved, within a maximum of ten days.

Often we find that the travellers or gypsies move before our social enquiries are completed.

We may allow an encampment to remain for a short period of time if following a Direction being served they are likely to move to a more unsuitable site.

Generally West Wiltshire District Council operates a policy of tolerance and will allow an encampment to remain for a couple of weeks, unless they are causing a severe nuisance.

Landowners are expected to take reasonable precautions to prevent encampments. If they repeatedly fail to do so the West Wiltshire District Council will not use its powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to serve a 'Direction to Move'. Landowners seeking advice on what constitutes reasonable precautions are welcome to contact us.