Eviction warning to van dwellers
People living in vehicles in St Andrews and Horfield face the threat of eviction in the New Year under a new city council strategy aimed at getting them off the streets.
There are currently more than 40 residential vans and caravans in the neighbourhood, the majority around St Andrews Park and in Petherbridge Way in Horfield, close to the Aldi store.
The council’s new Vehicle Dweller Policy adopted this week contains a stark warning to them: “If you do not engage with us and accept the offers of support available to you, we’ll need to take action to move you from the kerbside”.
The new strategy aims to encourage vehicle dwellers back into mainstream accommodation or to move to ‘meanwhile sites’ – vacant land with toilets, mains water and bins, but no mains electricity. One of these sites has been set up at an unidentified address in Lockleaze, with space for 14 people. Site users pay a fee. From next April they will be liable for council tax.
Zac Wiltermood, who has lived in a van at St Andrews Park for the past three years, said he agreed that ‘meanwhile sites’ were a good idea, but were not a solution.
“Meanwhile sites are a good option to keep large numbers of caravans away from residential areas, but it’s not going to stop people living in vans”, said Zac, who runs a window cleaning business.
“The problem is that young people don’t have access to assets to rent or buy homes unless they’ve inherited”.
The new council policy has been prompted by a surge in the number of residential vehicles in Bristol, which has more than doubled in the past few years to more than 600. Its long-awaited publication follows an outcry about vans and caravans on The Downs in Clifton.
The council says it wants to balance offering help and advice to vehicle dwellers while considering the needs of local communities. It says living by the side of the road is not a safe option.
The new policy comes into effect in January, but any evictions are unlikely to occur before April. The council says enforcement action will be taken after three months in the event of people ignoring council offers of support
Van dwellers with links to Bristol will be treated more favourably. According to council papers, people ineligible for spaces on Meanwhile Sites will be ‘supported to return to an area where they have a local connection.
