One of the UK’s biggest van-dwelling camps to be cleared after Bristol beauty spot ‘used as a toilet’
City bosses have vowed to evacuate a community of van residents at a beauty spot in Bristol after parts of the popular parkland were “used as a toilet”.
In a joint statement, Green Party councilors Barry Parsons and Stephen Williams said the discovery of sites filled with human waste at historic Durdham Down, known locally as the Downs, was “completely unacceptable”.
The enforcement action follows complaints from residents in the surrounding affluent suburbs of Redland and Stoke Bishop about the increasing number of live-in vans and caravans in the park.
In the last census held in August, Independent It found there were more than 100 vehicles in the parking area, making it one of the largest communities of van dwellers in the UK.
When approached, some said that living in vehicles in the park was a way of life, while others said they had to do so due to an illness. housing crisisPrivate rents in Bristol increased by 23 per cent from 2020 to 2023.
But now, following evidence that areas of the park are being used as toilets, Bristol City Council has decided to take action.
“We are currently working on an enforcement plan to begin moving the live-in vehicle group from the Downs,” councilors said.
“We recognize that moving such a large group will not be an easy task and will require a lot of coordination, but we cannot allow the public health risk to continue.”
Councilors said outdoor toilet use was a “significant public issue” and said outreach workers would help van and caravan residents find “a route away from vehicle housing”.
They said the work to remove the vehicles would not be an “easy job” and would require “a lot of coordination”.
They added: “Most commuters will not engage in this type of behavior, but now that this problem has been identified and acknowledged we must take action to end this behavior and ensure the Downs remains open to everyone.”
Bristol has seen the number of vehicles occupied across the city rise by 300 per cent in six years to 680. Most are located along roadsides, on private land, and in municipal developments with toilets and running water.
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As tensions flare in local neighborhoods over their presence, the council is working on a new policy on how to address the concerns.
Across the UK, around 104,000 households were living in a caravan or mobile home in the last census in 2021; this figure was 19,000 more than a decade ago.
When Independent When the Downs vehicle visited the community in August, campaigners opposed to it said there was evidence of threatening behavior and antisocial behaviour, including the use of bush as an open-air latrine.
They even threatened to sue the city council for not removing the vehicles.
However, some minibus residents said: Independent It was unfair to put everyone in the same category.
Van resident Tim, who did not want to give his surname, said on Wednesday: “So where will everyone go now? Not to deal with the problem, but to move the problem somewhere else.”
Bristol City Council said it aims to increase the number of pitches for minibus residents on council-owned areas from 67 to 250 by the end of March next year, as part of its newly created policy.
