FENCING off a field where a traveller encampment triggered pub closures will not be pursued over fears it would be a “knee jerk” move. 

Around 20 caravans and vehicles moved onto the Harold Wilson recreation field, in Thornaby, earlier this month after a weekend spent off Darlington Back Lane, in Bishopsgarth. 

Some pubs closed during their brief stay and the travellers were served with a council notice to leave before moving on. 

Thornaby Town Council heard a suggestion for new fencing or hedging around the grounds to stop similar incursions in future at a meeting on Monday.

The Northern Echo:

But the move was quickly shot down by members. 

Village councillor Mick Moore put the idea on the table – and asked whether they could pursue Sport England to help fund a barrier around the grounds.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s 6ft, 12ft or 4ft – it’d stop people coming along and invading the area,” said Cllr Moore.

But Cllr Zeb Khaliq feared it would make the area off Bader Avenue “look like a prison” – and Cllr Sylvia Walmsley wasn’t a fan either. 

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Cllr Ian Dalgarno could understand where Cllr Moore was coming from – telling the chamber they’d faced a “terrible 48 hours” when the travellers arrived. 

But he too didn’t agree with fencing off the field. 

“People were knocking on mine and Mick’s door demanding we do something – they didn’t realise that sometimes a magic wand doesn’t work,” he said..

“I wouldn’t like to see the area fenced off – we shouldn’t have any knee jerk reactions, and we should look at what the options are.

“God knows what it would cost to fence it off.”

Council enforcement teams equipped with CCTV worked alongside police when the travellers arrived.

It’s understood they were on their way to Appleby Horse Fair. 

Cllr John Flynn thought a fence would be a “terrible idea” given how many people used the field and how few times it had been occupied. 

Thornaby Mayor Cllr Steve Walmsley said they’d “faced the same carry-on” at Allison Trainer Park, near the Five Lamps. 

“What some of the geniuses suggested was to put bollards around there,” he added.

“You’d need thousands – and what it does is it disfigures an area which is meant to be a green expanse. 

“The main thing is we’ve got to stop these kinds of things happening and the police have got to step up.

“What these people are suggesting is that these green open spaces are spoiled for the rest of us just to stop a few – it’s absolute nonsense.”

Putting hedges around the Harold Wilson grounds was also dismissed.

Cllr Dalgarno believed the recreation ground was Thornaby’s “second village green” and should be left as it is.

The member for the Village ward said: “I take Mick’s point because it wasn’t nice to have 30 caravans on there, and people tear a**ing up and down.

“But we shouldn’t have a knee jerk reaction because of that one case.”

He later added: “Providing the police do their job, they shouldn’t come back.”

The council agreed to thank enforcement staff and the police for moving the travellers on but didn’t pursue the fence idea any further. 

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