Residents fund new barriers due to lack of council money

Councillor Trevor Johnson set up a fund after the council could not afford the work. Credit: BPM Media

A lack of council funds means residents are donating money to erect 190 concrete stumps to keep travellers from going onto a local marsh.

Wolstanton Marsh, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster and is maintained by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council. But neither party are currently paying for the works.

Newcastle Borough Council have gone to court to try to evict the latest group of travellers living on the marsh. The land has been targeted by travellers on a number of occasions this year.

A council spokesman said:

Local residents are frustrated by the situation as the travellers were said to have "left a right mess behind", according to Roy Walker, from Cromer Street in May Bank.

Residents are now being encouraged to donate £15 for each stump to a fund set up by Councillor Trevor Johnson. The fund is managed by Marsh Hall Community Centre.

Councillor Trevor Johnson is also hoping to secure funding from the Duchy of Lancaster and Staffordshire's police and crime commissioner, Matthew Ellis.

The stumps are set to run from Porthill Park Cricket Club to the traffic lights at the top of Grange Lane, Wolstanton.

A spokesman for the Duchy of Lancaster says they are aware of the situation and they "generally support community initiatives which have the full support of local residents and which are designed to protect amenity and recreational spaces.”

Anyone wishing to sponsor a stump can send cheques to Marsh Hall Community Centre, C/O 24 High Street, May Bank, ST5 0JB.