Plan to relocate traveller camp based in York lay-by and turn area into woodland

A long-term solution is being proposed after a petition was lodged urging York council to remove a traveller camp that was set up in a lay-by.

An unauthorised encampment has been in place on the Noddle Hill layby, off the A166 Stamford Bridge road east of York, since June 2019.

A petition has been submitted to the council by two Osbaldwick Ward councillors, Mark Warters (Independent) and Martin Rowley (Conservative).

Entitled ‘Remove the unlawful Gypsy Caravan site from the Noddle Hill Lay- by’, it has been signed by 51 people.

It describes the camp as an eyesore, and states: “Noddle Hill lay-by saw considerable community activity some years ago to transform the area with clear up operations and extensive tree planting, which is now undermined by CYC’s continued acceptance of this encampment.”

In response, an officer’s report says that the situation is complex.

Noddle Hill lay-by was created when the alignment of the road was changed in the 1970s. “It was not created to meet a highways need and the lack of use for highways purposes over the last three years has not created any highways issues,” says the report.

And it says: “The removal of the unauthorised encampment cannot go ahead without consideration of the human rights of the individuals camped there, the council’s duties in respect of care needs, duty to provide adequate accommodation for Gypsy and Traveller communities and the duty to prevent homelessness.”

So an interim solution is recommended to “minimise the impacts of the continuing unauthorised presence until this solution is in place.

“Council teams will continue to provide support to the family in situ to mitigate the impact on local communities, and will take any appropriate enforcement action short of removal e.g. deal with any fly tipping or illegal trading etc.”

Longer term, the new Local Plan would provide a further 44 authorised gypsy and traveller pitches.

That will “enable relocation of the encampment to an authorised site”.

The report concludes: “When the encampment is moved, subject to obtaining planning consent that may be required, the layby can then be transformed into a small woodland glade to contribute to the expansion of the tree canopy in York as part of our commitment to become a zero carbon city by 2030.”

It will be considered at a decision session by the executive member for transport on Tuesday (14 March).