VAN STRIFE
Our street is plagued by ‘van life’ hippies – now the council is banning them from speaking to us and we agree
RESIDENTS have slammed the "van life" hippies plaguing their street - and their council has banned the campers from speaking to them.
An off-grid community of "van-dwellers" has made its home for several years in caravans, transits and horse boxes around Greenbank Cemetery in Bristol.
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The "van dwellers" are taking advantage of a legal loophole which means as long as their vehicle has full tax and MOT there is nothing the authorities can do.
But they have now been told they face fines or even prison if they talk to residents on the leafy street.
The council says it follows a rise in complaints of blocked pavements, fires, littering, human waste, obstruction of pavements, double parking and the rising number of vehicles.
An injunction order to 'persons unknown' has been placed on the vehicles warning they face court, jail, fines or having assets seized if they don't comply.
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Part of the ban includes '''contacting either directly or indirectly, any resident of Greenbank View by whatever means''.
They also cannot 'instruct or encourage any other person' from contacting 'either directly or indirectly' the residents of Greenbank View.
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Neighbours in the houses on said they welcome the injunction.
Ian Aitken, 57, said: "It all starts off with one or two turning up and saying 'Oh yeah, we'll keep it tidy and blah blah'.
"Then hardcore drug dealers move in to the abandoned caravans and we get police helicopters flying over.
"All of a sudden you have people walking down the street who are clearly crack and heroin users - their appearance is markedly different from the normal people.
"You see it going through stages: things going on fire, the anti-social behaviour, the crack and heroin dealing."
Another neighbour, who declined to give his name, said: "I've lived here for over 30 years and this used to be a really nice place to live.
"Now my wife certainly won't walk down the road because she feels unsafe. I will because I just refuse to be pushed down by them.
"One of my neighbours said that at 2am he went down to one of their drug jamborees and emptied a bucket of water over their fire.
"They said 'Where's the love?' and he said 'Where's the respect?' and went back to his house because he had to get up for work the next morning. At 2am it's a bit much."
VAN BAN
But the "van dwellers" have today labelled the rules "prejudiced" against them.
Dexter Shallcross, 24, a sociology student, has lived in his yellow Mercedes Benz Sprinter since September.
He said: "There is clearly high-level prejudice in the council.
"They presume that rowdy behaviour, general drug use and disturbance must be the van people.
"I'm sure some cases are but not all of them.
"Although in some ways it's a bit scruffy and not ideal, getting rid of us doesn't stop addiction, it doesn't stop homelessness and it doesn't stop disturbances."
Another caravan dweller, who asked not to be named, said: "We don't speak to the locals anyway."
The injunction also bans "van dwellers" from parking on paths, obstructing footpaths with bikes or ''using aggressive, threatening, foul or intimidating language''.
They presume that rowdy behaviour, general drug use and disturbance must be the van people. I'm sure some cases are but not all of them.
Dexter Filkins
They are also told not to flytip, go to the toilet in public, park too close to other vehicles or play loud music during anti-social hours.
The order was passed on April 18 and will run until October.
The council says the injunction terms are standard and aims to prevent residents who have made complaints from being harassed by the vehicle dwellers.
Bristol Council said: "Since November 2021 we saw a steady increase in the number of occupied vehicles on Greenbank View, Eastville, increasing from three to over 40 vehicles.
''While the encampment had previously remained at the bottom of the road away from houses it spread to outside the homes of residents which resulted in a rise in the number of complaints.
''These included issues with blocked pavements, fires, littering and human waste being incorrectly disposed of.
"Previous requests for vehicles to be removed from the pavement have not been met, and multiple visits have been made to the encampment since November 2021.
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''The occupants of Greenbank View were previously offered 15 spaces at meanwhile sites but these were not taken up.
''There is now a high demand for places at our meanwhile sites, but they can still join the waiting list for a pitch."
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