Downton man evicted from Wiltshire Council owned traveller site
Richard Willett had been ordered to leave Lode Hill for 'anti-social behaviour'
A man and his family have been evicted from Wiltshire Council's traveller site at Downton, following what they've called a 'long running anti-social behaviour case'.
Richard Willett was asked to leave Lode Hill after repeated incidents of dumping and burning rubbish on the site.
The waste included items in sacks and bin bags, fridges, freezers, plastic, wood, PVC doors and frames, carpet, cardboard, plastic boxes and fibreglass loft insulation.
He was advised by the Council to clear the space next to his pitch, as it's a communal parking and turning area, but that didn't resolve the issue.
Several verbal and written warnings were passed on, before a number of legally enforceable warnings.
Willett was served with a notice to leave by a court in August but was eventually evicted by bailiffs last week (Thursday 7th November).
Cllr Phil Alford, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
“Evicting someone from one of our sites is always a last resort, and we would always look to resolve the situation with the tenant where we can.
“However, we have given Mr Willett every opportunity to stop dumping and burning significant volumes of toxic rubbish, but he has continued to do so, causing both a nuisance to other residents and significant environmental harm.
“This gave us no choice but to evict Mr Willett and his family from the site to ensure the wellbeing of other residents and also help protect the local environment.
“Since this case was reported to us, we have done all we can to encourage and then require Mr Willett to change his ways and stop his anti-social behaviour, but he refused to do so at every stage and was uncooperative with our officers.
“As this case shows, we continue to take all actions available to us to prevent and end anti-social behaviour on council property and we hope the residents adversely affected are reassured by how seriously we take such matters.”