Providing advice on the ecological impact of development proposals across Central Bedfordshire;

Providing advice to other parts of Central Bedfordshire Council including best practice recommendations on management of its nature reserves and other countryside sites;

Developing and implementing biodiversity policy within the Council and Central Bedfordshire;

Maintaining links with a wealth of public and voluntary organisations;

Delivering the local Biodiversity Action Plan with the Beds and Luton Biodiversity Forum;

Supporting the County Wildlife Site system – including surveys, monitoring, conservation advice and site protection – with partners;

Conserving and safeguarding species which are rare or legally protected;

Wildlife conservation projects – with local and national organisations; and

Giving general wildlife conservation advice.

Customer guidelines for reporting an unauthorised encampment

If you need to report an unauthorised encampment:

• During office hours please phone 0300 300 8049.
• Outside office hours please phone 01582 665698.
• or email customer.services@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

To help us respond correctly and promptly, please provide the following information:

1. Where is the encampment?

• Who the landowner is
• A road name or number
• Any nearby house numbers
• A numbered lamppost
• A landmark
• A grid reference

2. How many vehicles there are?

• How many caravans
• How many vehicles
• Any registration numbers

3. When you first saw the encampment 

We will investigate the circumstances based on the information you provide and may ask you for more information if you have left contact details.

The steps that the Council take in response will depend on a number of things. Firstly, we must establish who owns the land. If we don’t own it or know who owns it we will try to find out. If neighbours don’t know, we will request a search by the Land Registry. It can take up to a week to receive the results. In almost all events we will know the owner within a week and usually much sooner.

Once we know the owner of the land we will take the appropriate actions to move Gypsies & Travellers on as peacefully and quickly as possible and may instruct bailiffs to undertake an initial visit. Before deciding on the next course of action, the Council must consider the general health, welfare and children's education and ensure that the Human Rights Act 1998 has been fully complied with.

The average time for an unauthorised encampment between the initial bailiff’s visit and for Gypsies & Travellers to leave the site is 3 weeks.

If the land is privately owned it is the landowner’s responsibility to take action. If the landowner fails to remove an unauthorised encampment, we will consider taking action requiring them to do so.

Once vehicles have left an unauthorised encampment on the Highway or other Council owned land, it will be inspected and any necessary work undertaken.

Allotment gardening provides a wide range of benefits to communities and the environment.

Apart from providing low cost food, they also provide valuable recreational opportunities involving healthy activity and social contacts. Allotments are significant to our green spaces and provide habitats for many forms of wildlife.

Allotments have evolved through a rich and varied history of social and economic change, the most notable being the 2nd World War where the public were encouraged to 'Grow their own Greens' and 'Dig for Britain'. The first legislative reforms date back to the Enclosures Act of 1845.

Today, the Council has a statutory requirement to provide allotments for the public.

Taking on an allotment plot is not all hard work; it can have many advantages, providing fresh home grown vegetables, fruit and flowers for you and your family, free from artificial additives and at a fraction of that you would have expected to pay in a supermarket or greengrocer.

There is also the social side, meeting new friends with similar interests and enabling you to enjoy a healthy outdoor life with gentle exercise and a place to relax and unwind.

Allotments - A Plot Holder's Guide - link to external website is available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website, which may contain more useful information.

If you are interested in hiring an allotment, please identify your preferred site and contact the appropriate allotment secretary.

• Ampthill Town Council
• Dunstable Town Council Tel: (01582) 818201 Email: kate.dimmock@dunstable.gov.uk
• Flitwick Town Council
• Leighton Buzzard Town Council
• Sandy Town Council