Approved Judgment
MR JUSTICE GARNHAM : Introduction 1.
The claimant in these proceedings, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (hereafter “Rochdale” or “the Borough”), applies for the renewal for a further 12 months of an injunction against Persons Unknown granted by Butcher J on 11 June 2024. 2. That Injunction binds 56 Named Defendants for a period of five years up to and including 7 June 2029, and the 90th and 93rd Defendants (two categories of Persons Unknown) for 12 months. The order in respect of Persons Unknown is due to expire at 00:00 hrs on 8 June 2025. No Application is made in relation to the Named Defendants. 3. The Injunction is a so-called ‘Traveller injunction’. It prohibits unauthorised encampments and the depositing of waste in the Borough. The Injunction is Borough- wide against the Named Defendants but, in relation to Persons Unknown, applies to 334 identified sites which I am told equates to 9.7% of the land area in the Borough. 4. Subject to one matter I return to below, the Application has been served on the “Persons Unknown” in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 7 of the Order of Butcher J and on three Traveller organisations, namely London Gypsies and Travellers; Friends, Families and Travellers; and the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group who were the Appellants in the Supreme Court case of the Wolverhampton City Council & Ors v London Gypsies and Travellers & Ors [2023] UKSC 47 (hereafter “Wolverhampton”). 5. The Claimants correctly acknowledge that, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Wolverhampton, an injunction against newcomer Persons Unknown is technically always sought and granted on a without notice basis, but there remains an important obligation to take all reasonable steps to draw the Application to the attention of Persons Unknown. In my judgment that obligation has been met in all cases except Site 334, where an error was made which meant the relevant steps were not taken until 14 May. Procedural Background 6. This matter was last before me on 19 February 2018 when I granted an interim injunction. On 11 June 2024, Butcher J granted the Injunction in the form now before the court against the 56 Named Defendants for a period of five years, and against Persons Unknown for a period of 12 months. Butcher J’s judgment is reported at [2024] EWHC 1653 (KB). A power of arrest was attached to the Injunction. 7. The Injunction (and the interim relief before it) prohibit the forming of unauthorised encampments and the depositing of controlled waste (such as fly-tipping). As against Persons Unknown, the relief was granted on an interim basis over 325 sites in the Borough. In June 2024, nine further sites were added so that the Injunction now applies to 334 sites (the “Injunction Sites”). Members of the Travelling community are not prohibited from entering the Injunction sites or encamping lawfully on those sites, nor are they in breach of the Injunction if they establish an unauthorised encampment elsewhere.
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