AT a meeting of the Thurrock Council, cllr Russell Cherry asked what the Council were doing to make it harder for travellers to illegally break into the borough’s parks.
The Council recently confirmed in writing that the incident on Chadwell Hill cost £6,000 to clear up. The Conservative Portfolio Holder does not believe the Council’s figures and argued that it only cost £561.
UKIP Cllr Russell Cherry said: “Last night, I asked the portfolio holder for environment if she would consider ring-fencing the equivalent amounts of monies spent on clearing up after unauthorised encampments in the borough on target hardening the known, regularly visited, sites in Chadwell St Mary and across the borough.
“These areas are too often spoiled by such unauthorised camps and I believe it is better to be proactive in this matter rather than reactive (which is both costly and stressful to our residents).
“I was amazed at the flippant attitude towards my representation of Thurrock’s Council tax payers. Cllr Tolson even suggested that the Travellers like to come to Thurrock because it’s NICE and close to London where they mainly do their business.
“It is well known that travellers often cause damage to the land they pitch up on and then proceed to fill with rubbish and excrement. The portfolio holder dismissed my comments by saying that she didn’t want to turn Thurrock’s green spaces into fortresses which demonstrated that she had not paid attention to what I was asking. As usual, the Tories are not listening.”
