Irish Travellers living on London’s biggest officially approved caravan park are being told to leave because of fire safety risks.
The local council has stated that Lynton Close is overcrowded and has asked many residents to move into temporary “bricks and mortar” homes nearby while safety upgrades are carried out, reports RTE.
Over 200 people currently live at the site, which holds more than 70 caravans and mobile homes.
A fire safety check last year concluded that the site posed an “intolerable risk to life” because too many caravans and mobile homes were parked too close together, reports RTE.
Brent Council also said the Lynton Close site, which is near Wembley Stadium, should only have 31 caravans.
However, members of the community say that moving into “bricks and mortar” housing is not “culturally appropriate” for them and they are calling for another site nearby instead, reports RTE.
Bernie Corcoran, originally from Galway, has lived at Lynton Close for nearly four decades.
“We never lived in bricks and mortar. It’s not our culture and we’re never going to give up our culture,” he says, reports RTE.
Mr Corcoran believes the council should have expanded the site years ago to avoid the current overcrowding.
He admits the site is overcrowded but says residents are worried that if they move into temporary homes, they might never be allowed to return, reports RTE.
They also wish to remain living together as a community.
“We’ve been here most of our lives. Our kids grew up here. Now we have our grandkids living here. We don’t want to leave this area. We want to stay in Brent, our kids are going to school here, our doctor is here,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Corcoran thinks another temporary caravan park could be set up in the local area.
Brent Council’s Chief Executive Kim Wright says that no resident will be made to leave Brent and that “bricks and mortar” housing is available for all legal residents at Lynton Close, reports RTE.
“The situation we’ve got is that it’s an overcrowded site. We want to bring it back into safe and legal limits and we’re asking the residents to take off the site those caravans and mobile homes that don’t have any legal basis to be there,”
“We’re also offering to support them by temporarily providing them with accommodation off the site, so that we can bring it back into those safe and legal limits,”* Ms Wright says, reports RTE.
She added that she understands residents wish to stay in their caravans and mobile homes but stressed the urgent need to fix fire safety risks.
“We welcome Travellers in Brent and we absolutely celebrate their culture and their heritage but the fact remains that we’ve got a site currently that has got an intolerable risk to life,” reports RTE.
Rhianna Ketley, from London Gypsies and Travellers, a charity, said councils across London have ignored constant warnings about the lack of suitable sites.
“There’s a chronic lack of gypsy and Traveller sites across London and Brent is just an extreme example of this, “ reports RTE.
“There’s been an identified need for 90 pitches in Brent for Gypsy and Traveller communities, but the latest local plan, which was approved by the council in 2022, allowed for zero, reports RTE.
“So this issue of overcrowding on Gypsy and Traveller sites is the result of decades of chronic neglect from local authorities”,* Ms Ketley said.
Mr Corcoran hopes they can find a solution, saying he is ready to work with the council to make it happen, reports RTE.
Brent Council has found around 70 possible locations in the area for temporary and permanent Traveller sites.
Ms Wright added that “not all” of these will be suitable but the council plans to keep working with the community on this issue, reports RTE.
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