Highfield Farm Recreation Ground in Quinton is open again after a seven-day traveller encampment forced its closure. Council workers have already collected 200 bags of rubbish, and a decontamination operation is underway to make the park safe for families.
Park reopens after seven-day occupation
The encampment, which arrived on August 3, saw an estimated 40 caravans with horses and dogs take over the community space next to Woodgate Valley and the M5. During that time, families stayed away, and a planned visit by the council's tip trucks on Saturday morning was cancelled.
Councillor Sam Forsyth described it as "the worst incursion in terms of duration and severity" and confirmed that an operation is now underway to remove rubbish and disinfect the area of three types of excrement, starting with horse poo at the entrance to the rides.
Clean-up and decontamination efforts
Volunteers began the clean-up on Saturday, filling 10 bags of rubbish along Highfield Lane. However, they could not access the park due to the presence of dogs and horses. Environmental Health is expected to decontaminate the bushes of human, horse, and dog poo.
Forsyth noted that horses were walked up and down Dwellings Lane and entered school grounds, and water meters at Stourton Lane allotments had to be cut off. She said the problem has become severe in South Birmingham because of the open parks.
Preventing future incursions
Forsyth is exploring ways to protect the park from another incursion, including fencing it off completely or building ditches. However, she warned that closing it off could cause more traffic, especially when schools reopen.
Among the rubbish left behind were a gas cannister, a nail-studded stick, an invoice pad for a driveways and landscaping firm, and reels of soiled toilet paper.
Residents return to the park
Chris Coons, 45, was among the first to return with his nine-year-old son Freddie. He said: "This is the first time we have been here, I've been driving past several times and saw the situation and wouldn't stop if they were here. We saw the horses walking down Highfield Lane, sticking their heads into peoples' gardens and pooing."
His son added: "When they were here, I really wanted to play but we would go to Queens Park."
A mother with five young children also returned, saying: "I came on Tuesday and saw horses and caravans and we went back home. This is the closest place and we are happy to be back."
