Protecting Your Land from Gypsy Caravans

Written on April 4, 2012 at 2:38 pm, by Derek

Concrete Barriers from Secure Site UKProtecting private land and property from traveller invasion has always been a challenge and the eviction of travellers and other unwelcome visitors looks likely to become even more of a problem in the future.

With the responsibility for supporting local authorities and housing associations in the provision of good quality public sites to help meet the needs of travelling communities, through the Gypsy and Traveller Sites Grant Programme, The Homes and Communities Agency has recently announced grants totalling £47 million for 620 new or improved pitches.

The counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire already accommodate more of the Gypsy and traveller population than anywhere else in Britain and it is therefore quite worrying that these 5 counties have been awarded just 4% of the funding available.

The Argus, a local newspaper covering regions in East and West Sussex, reports that unauthorised traveller numbers rose by a staggering 40% in the 12 months to November 2011 with nearly 4,000 Gypsy and traveller caravans spread across an area from Buckingham to the Isle of Wight and across to Kent. Last summer 73 unauthorised caravans descended on Brighton and Hove alone!

The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain reports that “The mass eviction at Dale Farm in Essex was the direct result of a dire shortage of authorised pitches”, with the lack of sufficient funding apparently making future traveller evictions like those seen at Dale Farm “inevitable”.

With Gypsy and traveller movement often increasing in warmer weather, calls for action from local farmers and land owners have also increased with the growing fear of unauthorised encampments. Whilst local landowners can plan to prevent unauthorised access to land this has financial implications as does the consequent cost of removal and clean-up of the site.

Secure Site UK offers 2.5 tonne concrete barriers as well as steel height barriers to provide permanent protection to vulnerable sites or even restrict site access to wider or higher vehicles and caravans. Available in any colour to blend with natural surroundings, traveller-prevention measures can also be painted to complement corporate colours in car parks.

For more details of physical security measures, including portable intruder alarm systems or security guards, please leave a comment below, use the contact form or feel to contact Secure Site (UK) for good honest advice to prevent trespassers or travellers onto your site.

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Why Use Steel Security Doors & Security Screens to Protect Your Vacant Property?

Written on March 12, 2012 at 7:22 pm, by admin

Constructed with box-section steel frames and solid sheet steel, steel security doors are the preferred method that landlords, receivers and property or facilities managers choose to secure vacant buildings.
Built to withstand even the most determined attacks, these robust steel security doors that encase the entire doorframe, prevent unwanted entry to squatters, vandals, arsonists or even opportunist metal thieves. However, as these steel security doors are fitted with high-security deadlocks they do enable authorised access to vacant or empty sites for marketing viewings, site visits or regular vacant property insurance inspections.

To prevent windows being the weak-spots we recommend steel security screens made by securing solid steel sheets with tamper-proof security screws, which many people are surprised to learn cost more or less the same as the less effective plywood or sterling board secured by ordinary cross-head screws which some companies use.
The problem with these, however, is that as anyone with a common screwdriver could confirm, these can be removed in minutes .

Another issue often overlooked when using Ply or other wood materials as security screens is that if you are unlucky enough to attract vandals that are also partial to a bit of arson – these can provide an instant fuel source!
So, if your property is worth protecting isn’t it worth doing it properly using the most effective protection available – steel security doors and steel security screens on the windows?
For more information about Secure Site UK Vacant Property Security services please leave a comment below or use the contact page.

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Preventing Illegal Trespassers and Gypsy Intrusion Onto Farms and Land

Written on September 16, 2011 at 2:47 pm, by peter

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vistavision/3436067221/

Often poorly protected and with many access points, open land, car parks, industrial areas and development sites are frequently targeted by trespassers and Gypsies, looking for transient locations to set up illegal encampments. However, being peak season for travellers and the impending high-profile eviction of 400 people from Europe’s largest illegal traveller site at Dale Farm, Basildon, means that farmers across the South would be advised to take stock of the security at vulnerable land to avoid the cost of having to remove this dispersing camp. Armed with mobile phones, camps can quickly grow as news of unchallenged access spreads, and more caravans, vehicles and travellers head for the site.

With little regard for surroundings or neighbours and no amenities to the handle rubbish generated by itinerant travellers, the encampment can quickly turn into an area strewn with human and animal waste as well as discarded litter, meaning it also poses an environmental problem. Often there is also damage to property, with fences and gates broken, whilst theft from local shops and houses is frequently reported.

Unfortunately, it’s usually only when the encampment leaves that the true extent of the damage is realised as unwanted debris and fly-tipping is exposed. It goes without saying that the longer trespassers are on site, the worse build-up and damage will be and the more expensive the cost will be to the landlord of removal and repair and the greater the headache and inconvenience.

With prevention always being the best measure, Secure Site recommends 3 metre, 2.5 tonne concrete barriers for impenetrable perimeter protection for vulnerable land or easy access points. The imposing look of concrete barriers is also a clear sign to would-be trespassers that this farm is taking security seriously and not to bother.

For more details, take a look at concrete barriers for short or long-term rental of concrete barriers and blocks to protect your farm or and from trespassers or travellers.

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Preventing Theft of Farm Equipment, Tractors and Fuel with an Immediate Alarm and Video Evidence

Written on September 5, 2011 at 2:44 pm, by peter

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alejandro_espinosa/3987032361/

According to research from NFU Mutual, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases of expensive tractor thefts “to order” in recent years. In fact, machinery theft is reported to be costing the industry in the region of £40 million, with quad bikes, power tools and 4×4 vehicles, all stolen in larger numbers by what is thought to be planned thefts. It seems farms and rural establishments are just too tempting for thieves as the escalating cost of fuel (with red diesel at 70 pence per litre, and rising) means that large full tanks are worth thousands of pounds to thieves, with no regard whatsoever to the disruption and cost to the farmer. As if this isn’t enough, the locks on fuel tanks are being removed or broken off, causing yet more cost to farms and estates. Domestic customers are not safe either, as a spate of cases of fuel theft and media coverage, has led to greater awareness of the ease with which thieves are emptying household tanks in remote parts of gardens. With copper now worth £6,000 per tonne and scrap metal not far behind this figure, electrical installations and tanks are on thieves “shopping lists”, along with lawnmowers and garden tools, from unprotected buildings and sheds.

With many vehicles, equipment and outbuildings not having the benefit of hard-wired alarm systems, thieves are going undetected and are therefore able to spend greater time draining tanks, loading tools or hitching machinery, for many hours under the cover of darkness.

In an ideal world, a mobile security guard with a canine unit patrolling valuable assets would do the trick, but without the budget for this, farms, estates and even domestic sites might want to consider a very cost-effective alternative, that can monitor individual assets or open spaces at night and even takes video footage of any movement, sent via the GSM mobile communication network, to the Police who regard them as proof of “crimes in progress”, then prioritised and immediately responded to in order to try to catch the thieves red-handed. With up to 24 infra-red wireless cameras connected to one battery operated system (that lasts for up to 4 years!) and a radius of up to 200 metres, clear images – even at night – are now possible on the remotest buildings without the need for power, using Void Video. Available for rental on a short or long-term basis and installed by our engineer in under an hour, your property and assets can be protected next-day! For more details, follow this link to our site dedicated to Void Video: www.voidvideo.co.uk

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