Councillors have promised swift action against a group of Travellers who have set up camp at Forfar Loch Country Park.
As we reported, the latest encampment of more than half a dozen caravans has moved on to the north side of the loch, near the town’s Lochside Leisure Centre.
Angus Council said it was aware of the encampment and “monitoring the situation in line with policies and procedures”.
Councillor Glennis Middleton told The Courier the Forfar elected members had met over the issue and instructed the council’s head of legal services to begin eviction proceedings.
“We have a process to follow and we have asked for that to be instigated,” said Mrs Middleton.
That same process has already been applied after a large group of caravans moved on to ground owned by a local trust on the east of the town in May.
On the eve of a planned eviction approved by a sheriff, the encampment of around 30 caravans and associated vehicles then relocated to ground at Orchardbank business park, near the headquarters of Angus Council.
They spent a number of weeks there before moving out of Forfar to the disused Glencoul mill near Tannadice, owned by Angus developer Guild Homes.
Mrs Middleton said: “The individuals concerned are well aware of their rights under the law and they normally wait until the last minute before moving on.”
She said she understood and shared the community’s frustrations but assured residents that the Forfar councillors were determined to bring a swift end to the situation.
“We’re doing as much as we can as quickly as we can,” she added.
“The country park is a place for local and visitors to enjoy for the purpose it is there for to walk, play sports and enjoy leisure activities. It is not a place to camp,” added Mrs Middleton.
“People have raised concerns with me about walking to the leisure centre and it is a well-used car park there for people going to enjoy a walk round Forfar Loch so I have significant concerns about this situation.”
The large encampment also remains in place at Glencoul and Guild Homes managing director Mark Guild is in talks with Police Scotland and the local authority in a bid to find a satisfactory resolution to the problem.
He said he would rather work with the council and the Travellers rather than evicting them out of the old factory site to just move the problem on somewhere else.