AS CO-ORDINATOR and chair of the Friends Of Withdean Park, I would like to express my dismay at travellers returning again for the third time in two weeks.

I have been in touch with city councillors and many residents have done the same.

One morning recently, travellers were parked at the top of the park across the main path down from Woodland Way, and also down at the London Road end across the access path.

When they moved on last week, rubbish was left as usual and the bushes had been used as a toilet.

Do we, as people trying to do good to our neighbours, not have human rights any more?

Are we just expected to put up with this?

The Friends Of Withdean Park want to tend to the park, but Brighton and Hove City Council won’t give us a gardener and we’re not allowed to without a ranger or a first-aider present. And all this in the name of Health and Safety.

Where is the commonsense?

Travellers can come here and do whatever they like and we pay the price. And then the council is happy to pay thousands of pounds each time they leave.

Yes, of course the travellers need a “permanent temporary site”. Well, give them Waterhall so we don’t have to see the mess they leave behind.

Phillipa Shaw, Surrenden Road, Brighton

I TOTALLY agree with Adam Trimingham’s article (The Argus, June 8) about demonstrations in the city.

I am sure most council tax payers will, in turn, agree with me – we don’t want more disruption, illegal camping in public places, and rubbish left by irresponsible people.

We don’t want the extra expense of policing more demos and clearing up illegal travellers’ sites.

I wonder how many voters will regret voting Green when they see how much extra this will cost?

The Green councillors would be better off spending more on cleaning up the city instead of making it worse. After all, I thought that was what being Green was all about.

John Dace, Cleveland Road, Brighton

I READ with amazement your report (The Argus, May 31) in which Councillor Ben Duncan expressed the Green Party’s views of prospective street demonstrations by suggesting activists and followers would be welcome in the city.

Nevertheless, when I also learned that Coun Duncan was a participant of demonstrations including those of the notorious Smash EDO, his views are understandable.

He refers to having attended events where there has been an air of intimidation and puts it down to certain sections of protesters and a heavy police presence.

A poor excuse when, as has been reported in The Argus, the organisers refuse to give any details of their activity in advance to the police so that adequate law and order can be maintained.

This policy of the Green Party is worrying – no mention has been made of the disruption to public transport that these events cause.

If Coun Duncan were in my shoes, at 89 and unsteady on my feet, he might think differently.

Meanwhile, a little consideration would not go amiss.

Ken Chambers, Whippingham Road, Brighton

SO, GREEN councillor Ben Duncan thinks everyone should have a right – no, make that a “duty” – to protest as it suits them.

With that in mind, I think I will launch a personal protest that involves not paying my council tax until the campsite at Old Steine is cleared away and the plethora of rent-a- mob protest marches, peopled mainly by those coming from outside of Brighton and Hove, are gone from the city’s streets.

Coun Duncan and his fellow Green councillors – who made no mention of this free-for-all in their manifesto – should heed the fact they were elected to serve the people and the good of the city of Brighton and Hove.

Making the city a no-go area for citizens who wish to go about their business undisturbed will ultimately drive people to seek alternative destinations. This could have a detrimental effect on the city’s economy – an economy I would like to think these councillors pledge to support.

David Cole, Queens Park Road, Brighton

WHILE I respect the right to peaceful demonstration, the increasing size of the camp at the Old Steine is robbing citizens of Brighton and Hove of one of the green sites in the city in which to enjoy the sun.

Diane Cooke, Compton Avenue, Brighton

THE actions of Councillor Dawn Barnett in befriending travellers to give them directions for relocating to Green wards such as Hove Lawns and Queen’s Park baffles me (The Argus, June 10).

I have not seen or heard any evidence that there are more travellers in the city at the moment compared with periods in the past. So are these the actions of a poor loser, lashing out following the defeat of the Conservative administration in May?

Coming just days after her letter in The Argus attacked the Greens for not attending prayers before council meetings, it does look rather like she’s throwing her toys out of the pram.

Coun Barnett and her Conservative Party colleagues controlled Brighton and Hove City Council from 2007 until 2011 without addressing travellers in a way that stopped them coming here.

Had the Conservatives done the business, she would not have found them parked up on the Portslade cricket field in her ward, would she?

The Green Party inherited the problem of travellers from Coun Dawn Barnett and her Conservative colleagues. It now has to resolve this issue.

Valerie Paynter, Clarendon Road, Hove

I WOULD be interested to ask the Green party if it would be OK for my son, his wife, three daughters, a caravan, a dog and his car to park up at the Old Steine or, perhaps, a public park in Brighton for his two- week summer holiday free of charge.

I am sure the answer would be no. Why? Because he is not a traveller or a protester.

He pays council tax, he works, he pays for all other services, and his car is taxed, insured and has an MoT.

It makes you wonder who the mugs are in this wonderful city called Brighton and Hove.

Bob Hewett, High Close, Portslade

I HOPE the friends of the travellers, the Greens on Brighton and Hove City Council, will come up to Woodingdean and clean up the mess and repair the damage that travellers have left behind.

Why can’t the council and police be on hand when travellers are evicted from any site to make sure any rubbish and human waste left by these people is cleared by them?

They should make sure it is disposed of in the correct places at the travellers’ cost.

RNG McCormack, Langley Crescent, Woodingdean

I CANNOT quite understand why families that travel around and stay on unofficial sites are allowed to remain, even for short periods of time.

I have to work hard so I can afford to pay my bills, run my house and my car.

In the rare event that I can afford to go on holiday, I then have to pay for that privilege.

I am sure there are many people who would love to spend a few weeks in a beautiful Brighton park and enjoy the facilities on offer for free, and then let the locals pay for the clean up afterwards!

Sounds good to me – what is good for the goose eh?

D Jordan, address supplied

I FEEL compelled to write in support of the views expressed in the Letters page (The Argus, June 8) that highlight the inadequacy of Brighton and Hove City Council.

The issues raised regarding demonstrators in the Old Steine, and the recurrent problems with travellers, demonstrate the inadequate service and complete lack of understanding of the ruling party’s responsibilities as councillors to their electorate.

They are here to support and represent the local community, the council tax payers and local businesses vital to the future wellbeing of the city.

They should not indulge their personal views, however well intentioned they may be.

I would question what contribution protesters or travellers make to our economy, and why they should be immune to the laws of our land.

another disappointed resident