Travellers pitched up at new housing site told to hit road

MOVES are under way to evict travellers who have occupied the site of a stalled housing development on the outskirts of the Capital.

Around 20 caravans and motorhomes have parked at the former Kinleith Mill site near Currie, which had been due to be turned into a controversial housing development before the credit crunch hit.

Local residents have now complained to the site's owners, who are understood to have begun legal proceedings to have the travellers moved on.

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Graham Dane, chairman of Currie Community Council, said: "This was raised at the last community council meeting. We have raised it with the council and the Bank of Scotland, which owns the site.

"They have taken court action seeking eviction, which normally takes around a month."

He added: "If anyone has got any complaints they should inform the police. There are sites provided for travellers with proper facilities and they should stay at the sites provided."

The site has also been visited by council officials, who have handed out black rubbish bags.

Edinburgh has just one official site for travellers, which is operated by the city council at North Cairntow, Duddingston, and has just 20 pitches.

James Sothour, one of the travellers currently at Kinleith Mill, said he and his family had nowhere else to go.

He said: "We've been here a week, but where else can we go? We've had no complaints from local residents.

"The council have got nowhere for us to go – their site is full up. We'll stay here as long as we can."

Work on 150 new homes at the former Kinleith Mill site near Currie ground to a halt in late 2008.

The plan was for 51 houses and 107 flats to be built on the four-hectare site, and alongside the dozens of villas, cottages and flats, a derelict former pump house was also to be converted into offices.

Last year, travellers were moved on by the police after occupying a park-and-ride site at Straiton.

Local people living next to the park-and-ride site complained about a growing pile of rubbish which had appeared next to the caravans.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland launched a report into the provision of accommodation for Scottish gypsy travellers last year.

The body said it hoped a series of recommendations would help resolve some of the "intractable tensions" between travellers and the public at large.