Pickles urges council leaders to clamp down on unauthorised encampments
The Communities Secretary has sent new guidance on how to deal with illegal and unauthorised encampments to all council leaders, urging them to make use of the powers available to clamp down on the problem.
The guidance, which contains a summary of local authority and police powers, says: “Recent experience has shown us the problems that can be caused for communities by the illegal occupation of land.
“It is often thought that local authorities and other enforcement bodies have limited powers available to tackle illegal and unauthorised encampments and the nuisance that they can cause. In fact there are extensive powers.”
The guidance sets out the questions that local authorities will want to consider to ensure they are prepared and able to act swiftly, particularly to deal with sites set up over a weekend.
It says they should work with local police to identify vulnerable sites and work with landowners to physically secure vulnerable sites where possible.
It also calls on them to consider steps including: preparing any necessary paperwork, such as applications for possession orders or injunctions, in advance; developing a clear notification and decision-making process; and the “prudence of applying for injunctions where intelligence suggests there may be a planned encampment and the site of the encampment might cause disruption to others”.
The summary covers the following local authority powers:
- Injunctions to protect land from unauthorised encampments
- Licensing of caravan sites
- Tent site licences
- Possession orders
- Interim possession orders
- Local byelaws
- Power of local authority to direct unauthorised campers to leave land
- Addressing obstructions to the Public Highway
- Planning Contravention Notices
- Temporary Stop Notices
- Enforcement Notices and Retrospective Planning
- Stop Notices
- Breach of Condition Notices
- Powers of entry onto land.
It covers police powers as follows:
- Power of the police to direct unauthorised campers to leave land
- Police powers to direct trespassers to an alternative site
- The offence of squatting in a residential building (coming into force on 1 September 2012).
The guidance also addresses post site clean up powers:
- To act in respect of fly-tipping
- Removal of waste from land
- Removal of anything abandoned without lawful authority
- Harm to public health
- Clearing of land
- Dealing with accumulations of rubbish in the open air
- Seizing a vehicle.
A copy of the guidance can be found here.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "I'm urging all councils to be on the front foot and ready to take action straightaway to stop illegal camps starting in the first place.”
The Minister insisted that the Government had strengthened councils' powers to take action, but said he wanted them to have the confidence to take decisive action.
“Too often councils and landowners feel powerless to stop unauthorised camps and development when in fact there are extensive powers to tackle this problem head on,” he argued.
"Unauthorised development is totally unacceptable at any time but can often be more upsetting for local established communities when it happens while council offices are closed and people feel there is no one available to help them.”
Pickles added: “There is never justification for people bypassing the planning rules that everyone else has to abide by and this guidance makes crystal clear what powers there are to stop unauthorised development before bigger problems arise."
Philip Hoult