Forum Topic

Travellers back.

This time on Dukes Meadows the far side of the field opposite the playground and backing on to the allotments.I counted nine caravans this morning which makes me think they are the same ones camped on the Common.

Adrian Irving ● 633d24 Comments

Thank's Bernard, you local knowledge of such things I find interesting.Kathleen, that explains why the field is looking good but a fellow dog walker warned me there is still broken glass to be aware of. Great job with the recent planting by the way.

Adrian Irving ● 627d

GS the council's contractor for parks was on site very early clearing up after the Travellers. Rubbish cleared and roundabout repaired.

Kathleen Healy ● 627d

Yes Adrian that’s the right place There used to be a set of beaten up and buckled set of metal locked  gates in that gap.Think they were removed to enable the Circus to set up on that field 5 or 6 years ago and was replaced by the large log, which was easily removed to let the travellers in .Just as an aside. What you call a hillock, was constructed soon after 1947  as a flood  defence and is full of bricks and stone from London bomb sites, with a load of top soil dumped on top. Ask any volunteer who has dug a hole for a tree how much top soil cover there is now “Very little” you have to have arms of steel  or. Jack hammer  to plant anything, Its amazing that what you plant grows and is looked after by some very good volunteers

Bernard Allen ● 627d

To be fair the area looks relatively clean but beware of broken glass left behind.Hi

Adrian Irving ● 627d

Yes, no sign of them as I type.

Adrian Irving ● 627d

I cycled along Riverside Drive a few evenings ago and was close passed at speed by a car and a van that turned into Dukes Meadows. The good news is they appeared to be gone now.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 627d

Bernard, I imagine you are referring to the tree trunk close to the hillock by Riverside Drive. This has been rolled back with little or no difficulty and the gap used as an easy point of entry even for large caravans.Three morning a week I like to slow ride home from my swim along the hedgerow enclosing the allotments for a brief connection with the wildlife and fauna.I must admit that I am nervous to continue whilst the travellers are there. I am sure others will feel  intimidated and avoid the area.

Adrian Irving ● 627d

Jim they are on the grassland between Promenade Approach and Riverside Drive.Put it another way, if you were to stand with your back to the kids play area the caravans are about 150 yards in front  and to the right.

Adrian Irving ● 627d

Are the caravans on the westside of the railway lines Adrian... ie on the out-of-season football / rugby pitches?

Jim Lawes ● 627d

"Let’s hope this new listening Council" LOL The answer to that is to keep quite on everything in hope others forget them

Julian Pavey ● 627d

DianeI think you will find that LBH hasn’t got the correct documentation in place to legally move the traveler's on from where they are camping at the moment.This area was supposed to be enclosed and measures put in place to stop this sort of thing happening. But over time car parking has been added leaving gaps in the perimeter the old locked metal gate removed and replaced with a solid tree trunk to prevent vehicle access. Over the years theses measures have slowly deteriorated and no maintenance has been carried by LBH to keep the perimeter enclosed.Where travellers  normally pull-up along by the bandstand, LBH has the correct documentation to move them on quickly, But I feel that because the LBH though this area wouldn’t be used they haven’t.I’m sorry but it will be a charity that will be having to put right any damage to there own hedges or the meadow on the top of the hill. Let’s hope this new listening Council goes in there mob handed and cleans up the mess and damage that will be left behind, and helps put right what a Charity  has spent it’s own money on, in try to make the place one of the nice areas of Chiswick.

Bernard Allen ● 627d

I do take your point and, as I said, I am merely speculating on what the council's thinking might be here not endorsing it as a policy. There may well be other green spaces in the borough which would be more isolated as well as those that are less so but the council hasn't the ability to guide the camps to the former - imagine the uproar if they did! The prolonged occupation of Dukes Meadows is suggestive of the council deciding this is the least worse alternative for the time being hence the extended occupation.

Diane Brown ● 627d

Anstice Close, Claremont Grove, Edensor Gardens, Alexandra Gardens, Grove Park Farmhouse and Meadow Place, back immediately on to the park and Staveley Gardens, Edensor Road and Corney Reach are nearby. I can think of other green spaces with fewer immediate neighbours.

Kathleen Healy ● 628d

Early this morning I cycled across the meadow and up the hillock leading towards the river.There were clear vehicle tracks on the dew on the top meadow and torn up grass where wheel slip had happened.Worse still there are a number of used nappies near the stork sculpture lying on the grass.Keep your dog on a lead of obvious reasons.

Adrian Irving ● 628d

I'm just speculating and not endorsing the decision if that is indeed what the council's policy is. The logic of choosing this site is that there are fewer people living near by than many of many of the alternative sites that would be used. Little consolatio, I know, if you are a resident or regular user of the meadows. The council may feel that rather than playing wack-a-mole it is better just to contain the problem.

Diane Brown ● 628d

Diane Why would you think that LBH would think Dukes Meadows was the best place to leave the travellers?Right next to a children’s Paddling pool, a children’s adventure playground and a Food Market.

Bernard Allen ● 628d

Diane. Why do you think he council would conclude that?

Kathleen Healy ● 628d

The council must have concluded that they do less harm here than they would at other sites and so have decided to let them stay for now rather than have them pop up somewhere else.

Diane Brown ● 628d

First saw them last Monday and surprised they are still there today. They had obviously rolled aside the large tree trunk opposite Kings House which acts as a barrier to the field, and drove in. Some of the vehicles had Irish reg. plates and were coming and going during the hour or so we were there. No need to guess where the 9 ‘vans dump their toilet waste, not a pleasant thought.

Kevin Mitchell ● 628d

Nothing to do with racing in my view,its august And horses are not drugged in horse racing to improve performance. If your talking US racing,Bute and lasix are now banned.

Julian Pavey ● 629d

Kenton Park an Epsom are hardly around the corner so why Chiswick?I'm not saying that's not the reason but there have to be other factors as well, surely.

Adrian Irving ● 629d

They're here for the horse racing in Surrey.  Horse racing is disgusting. They're pumped with drugs to enhance their performance then when their racing days are over they end up as dog food. I asked Claire Balding once what she thought about it but she declined to comment.  Sorry to digress.

Juliet Hogg ● 630d

At tesco osterly today, large police prescence.

Chris Dakers ● 632d

There were five or six caravans at Dukes Meadows on Sunday. I assumed they would have been gone by now.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 633d