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27
majority of cases this threat secured the removal of the caravans
outside the area. During recent years, however, the gypsies know
that if they move to another area in West Middlesex they will not
be allowed to stay so the threat which was once effective is as often
as not ignored and direct action has to be taken much more
frequently than in the past. We have found that action taken in
the Magistrates' Court under the Nuisance provisions of the Public
Health Act, 1936, generally results in an Order being made by the
Court for the removal of the caravans and at times a small penalty
is imposed by the Court but the legal processes often occasion a
delay of two to three weeks and allow the gypsies to remain until
an Order by the Court has been made and has become effective.
During this period many complaints are received from residents
regarding the apparent inaction of the Local Authority in dealing
with the matter.
The other method employed to remove the caravans in the
case of land belonging to the Ealing Council is to pull them off
sites in the area by means of a lorry or breakdown vehicle specially
hired for the purpose. This method necessitates the attendance
of the Sanitary Inspector and several policemen in addition to
the breakdown vehicle drivers. We have used this method on
many occasions this year and from time to time have cleared
the whole district of gypsy caravans only to find that within a
very short time action taken by neighbouring Authorities forces
the caravans to move again and they filter back into the Northolt
area.
The process of forcibly removing caravans by towing them off
land is an expensive one and is only a temporary expedient as
the same process has to be repeated several times during the course
of the year.
Most of the remaining undeveloped land in the Northolt area
is owned by the Middlesex County Council and the Ealing Borough
Council. In the case of the land owned by the Ealing Borough
Council, the greater part is in process of being developed and much
of it has been fenced or otherwise protected to prevent access by
gypsy caravans but on certain of the sites scheduled for development
the gypsies are gaining access to the sites and using them as camping
places. Early development of the sites or fencing appears to be the
only permanent remedy in these cases.
With regard to the land owned by the Middlesex County Council,
most of this fronts Western Avenue and as a result of a meeting
with Officers of the County Council large tracts of this land have
now been fenced off.
With the development and fencing of all undeveloped sites
in the Northolt area, I anticipate that the problems arising from
the presence of gypsy caravans should be solved in the fairly near
future.