Bristol beauty spot van dweller eviction: 14 days on

National World - LocalTV

In Bristol, approximately 800 individuals reside in 600 to 650 vehicles, a trend driven by the escalating housing crisis and the desire of dwellers to reduce their living expenses. But what does one of these vans look like inside?

Transcript

00:00In Bristol approximately 800 individuals reside in 600 to 650 vehicles but does

00:07one of these vans look like inside? Let's chat to a local maths tutor to find out

00:13more. To be honest with you I'd like to be in a house. I'd prefer to be in a

00:17house. I'd like to because if you live in a vehicle then you're in a very small

00:23space. I mean look at it I'm in this tiny space I can barely do yoga in here

00:30I'd like to be in a house but I just can't afford it. You know again people

00:37don't like van dwellers. Some people in Clifton and Bristol don't like van

00:42dwellers but in some ways we are better for the environment than a

00:49homeowner. My carbon footprint is probably tiny compared to somebody who's

00:54running a home. The amount of heating this place needs is minimal. Even in the

00:59winter I can put the wood burner on once with a few sticks. It's so well

01:02insulated that the heat just stays in here all day long. If you're in a

01:08home you've got to constantly be heating. My energy usage is minimal. My carbon

01:15footprint is minimal. I dispose of my waste with an agreement through a farm

01:20so as I know that it's not going in the sea or rivers and in some ways I'm being

01:25much more responsible than many of the people who I see walking down here and

01:29complaining about me and it's like well they I understand they want a pretty

01:35road and they don't want to see vans but if you look at the bigger

01:41picture I'm doing a lot more for the environment than they are. While Callum's

01:46intentions are to move let's find out 14 days on if the other van dwellers in

01:51the area have moved on. So as you can see behind me a lot of these van dwellers

01:58that were handed the 14-day eviction notice have actually yet to leave the

02:03Bristol beauty spot. Let's find out what this could mean for them. According to

02:10bristol.gov.uk Bristol City Council has a policy and procedure for managing

02:15vehicle dwelling encampment on the highway. The council recognises that

02:19people live in vehicles for a range of reasons and the policy provides a

02:23measure of tolerance. The Parry's Lane Supporters Club is one of many support

02:29groups for van dwellers and the local community to encourage the goodwill and

02:34involvement of the wider community. I suppose they've got to have somewhere to live haven't they and I have

02:40been told that they work in Bristol and they can't afford the cost of rents and

02:45everything so I sympathise to some extent yeah. No no I think they should be

02:50moved on there are facilities around Bristol for travellers and I think it's

02:57wrong.

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