A group of travellers, who had occupied the historic Huly Hill site in West Edinburgh, have been evicted by Edinburgh Council, with locals left to foot the bill for concrete blocks to prevent their re-entry.
Dozens of caravans are reported to have left the site “in an orderly fashion” just two weeks after breaking through the fence to gain entry, but have left piles of rubbish, felled trees, and a destroyed fence in their wake.
The local community was quickly mobilised to shore up the site, placing concrete blocks at the hole in the fence, where the group are alleged to have broken through to gain access, while the council is currently undertaking a clean-up.
The council confirmed that they served the group with eviction notices under two weeks after their arrival and began legal proceedings. All left before any forced evictions had to be carried out, however.
Despite being sandwiched by the M9, M8 motorways and Edinburgh Airport, the Huly Hill site in West Edinburgh is of significant historical interest as an ancient burial cairn.
The site was famously excavated in 1830, uncovering various artefacts of interest, and solidifying the site as an important piece of Scotland’s ancient heritage. Another excavation in the early 2000s uncovered evidence that land surrounding the cairn may have been used in the iron age for burials.
Some believe the cairn and stone circle could date back to 2500 BCE. It is listed by Historic Environment Scotland as a monument of national importance.
Despite this, the site has been a frequent target for traveller groups, and locals were left furious last summer, when piles of rubbish were left at the millennia-old site.
One local resident, who represents the Newbridge and Ratho Station Community Association, said that the mess “wasn’t as bad as last time” and that the travellers moved off in an “orderly fashion”, but that serious questions remain for the council about why the situation was allowed to recur.
He said: “When they arrived, they broke a couple of fence posts, and there was, I think, about 20 to 25 caravans in the end.
“So quite a lot of them there, leaving a lot of mess, and local residents approached the council and the police, and obviously the location of Huly Hill is right on the approach of Edinburgh Airport.
“So there’s a bit of a risk of – if people are leaving rubbish – attracting birds. Having birds in the approach of Edinburgh Airport is pretty undesirable, so I think the concoction of all of that activity meant they were moved on pretty quickly.”
After the last time travellers were kicked off the site, the local community banded together to install concrete blocks at re-entry points to prevent the return of the group.
Last month, however, the travellers ignored these blocks and are alleged to have broke through the fence to gain entry. The Newbridge and Ratho Station Community Association – a coalition of locals and businesses – have been forced to once again foot the bill for new concrete blocks.
In addition, images from the site appear to show felled trees and piles of rubbish left in the wake of the traveller group.
The local resident added: “It was local businesses that donated it, and all of the labour of putting them in place was just local volunteers who just, like, protect Huly Hill because it’s an archaeological site, and we just don’t want that repeated mess.
“I think it would be absolutely fine if they came and left it the way it was – right to roam, leave it how you found it, that sort of thing – but they just leave so much stuff there, like bags of waste and garden waste.
“It’s just not particularly pleasant for people to walk with their dogs or with their families, and it’s not a nice thing to have to deal with.”
He added that the police were “fairly rapid” in arriving on the scene, but that it appeared the investigation into potential criminal damage had stalled as there was no CCTV to prove that the travellers had broken through the fence.
He hopes that the problem has now been permanently solved, but cannot be sure:
“You just don’t know do you? Last time when we placed a few concrete blocks, we hoped that that would be it.
“But, the travellers have got nowhere to go – there’s very few sites for them to go to – so, in desperation, I guess they just cut down the posts and get into whatever property they can.”
On the council covering the cost of the clean-up effort, he said: “It’s not really the council that’s covering it -it’s all of us, because we’re all taxpayers, ultimately.
“So I don’t really see it as the council covering it, I more see it as what’s the most cost effective thing for taxpayer?
“Putting in some sort of mitigations once, and doing it properly, in my mind, would be the way to stop something like this from happening. And it just seems like there’s part solutions each time.”
He added: “if you tottered up the amount of money that had been spent, versus doing it right the first time, they’ve probably spent triple the amount of money than they should have done.”
A council spokesperson confirmed that eviction notices had been served to the group, but that no forced evictions were necessary.
They added: “We’re currently in the process of clearing waste that has been left on the Huly Hill site, which was recently vacated by the travelling community.
“We’ll continue to work with the local community to find appropriate measures to discourage further illegal access.”
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