A COMMUNITY leader says he’s been ‘inundated’ with calls from angry residents, demanding action to stop travellers accessing Poole’s Baiter Park.

Mike Randall, chairman of the Parkstone Bay Association, told the Echo neighbours in Baiter have suffered two incursions already this year, with the last unauthorised encampment being evicted from the popular waterside park on Thursday.

“They left rubbish strewn all over the area,” said Mr Randall. “We need measures to be taken to stop this happening again and again.”

He has now written an open letter to Borough of Poole (BOP) environment portfolio holder Cllr Mike Rampton, which asks a number of questions.

Mr Randall said: “We know that the travellers made their first incursion by smashing a van through the gates adjacent to the public slipway at Harbourside 2 car park and commenced to drive at excessive speed along the footpath to gain access onto the field.

“In doing so they put visitors and residents’ lives at risk by this irresponsible action. Why was the gate not repaired or replaced at the earliest convenience so that at least there was a deterrent to the latest incursion? It was like an open cheque book for the travellers.”

The association chairman also questions the need to deliver toilets to the site, which, he says, arrived days after the travellers arrived and after orders had been served on the encampment.

Mr Randall, called for manually controlled gate to regulate access at Baiter, added: “There was a huge amount of debris left upon the traveller departure and it was scattered around Baiter. Why was there no consideration for a skip to at least minimise the mess, and also costs of using council workforce to clean up all the deposited mess, including broken glass and metal.”

He also questioned if Cllr Randall visited the site, and ask him: “What steps will you and your colleagues take to ensure that we don not suffer a third ‘incursion’ this summer to Baiter Park.”

The travellers who moved into the Bargates car park in Christchurch on Wednesday left the site on Friday morning without the involvement of Christchurch council or police.