Where will 600 travellers evicted from this site go?
IN THREE weeks' time, 600 gypsies will be evicted from the largest illegal traveller site in Europe.
The banished travellers at Dale Farm, in Crays Hill, will need somewhere to park their caravans, and rural communities across Essex are bracing themselves for an influx of gypsies.
Worried rural communities in Essex have focused on the events in Woodham Ferrers in the past fortnight, where a farmer in the village – which has a population of 414 – allowed 5,000 gypsies to have a week-long religious festival on his field while he went on a cruise.
The tiny village could not cope, and villagers complained about antisocial behaviour and abuse, shops and pubs shut down and police threw all their resources at the area.
"We are all very concerned here about where the Dale Farm travellers will go," said John Clark, chairman of Stisted Parish Council, whose area has just won Essex Village of the Year.
"All rural communities in Essex are worried about them arriving en masse on their doorsteps.
"We have had concerns raised by our residents, as we already have three traveller sites in the area – one authorised, one tolerated, and one unauthorised.
"You get antisocial behaviour, dumping in ditches, hare coursing."
Eighty-six gypsy families at Dale Farm have 21 days to quit the unauthorised site, where they live on green belt land without planning permission.
But there are fears the evictions will cause problems elsewhere as Essex does not have enough authorised sites to house them.
Essex is in the top three counties in the UK in terms of gypsy population, with 1,142 gypsy caravans, but 345 are parked on unauthorised sites.
"There are not enough authorised sites," said Witham MP Priti Patel, who raised the matter in a Parliamentary debate this week.
"If travellers had authorised sites they wouldn't need illegal sites. I know they are travelling but they do want to bed down somewhere and I don't think the current system is sustainable. Another concern is that it's public money being used for the evictions."
Basildon Council has set aside £8 million of taxpayers' cash for the planned eviction, and Essex Police have earmarked the same amount.
Mrs Patel went on to say gypsies regularly get away with breaking the laws that shackle the settled community, claiming the playing field is unbalanced.
"I am inundated with messages from very, very concerned residents," she said. "Gypsies just pitch up, without any approval for planning permission.
"The settled community could not build without planning permission, but gypsies appeal on human rights grounds.
"Legislation puts the human rights of the gypsies above the human rights of our settled community, and people are upset.
"What is needed is a change in the planning system to ensure that the wishes of local communities are respected and that the system treats everyone equally."
Grattan Puxon, a gypsy spokesman and Dale Farm campaigner from Colchester, said the travellers would meet the rehousing costs privately.
"Planning permission is very difficult," he said.
"And we always get moved on under the Criminal Justice Act.
"Essex has one of the biggest needs for authorised traveller sites in the country, but there aren't nearly enough sites.
"People at Dale Farm don't want to leave and they are generally very desperate because this is a terrible threat which has been hanging over them for a number of years.
"Several of the residents are simply not well enough to go out on the road; it's like a death sentence for them.
"People are certainly not leaving, though. They are determined to fight it out."
9 Comments
by gorjas_rule
Monday, October 03 2011, 9:05AM
“Manuelization, you should really do your research before you defend the travellers.
http://tinyurl.com/5wpljzf
I think this stands as a good enough example of the fact that travellers are not as innocent as you make them out to be. You call us bigoted but your attitude towards the settled community is one of the most bigoted i've ever seen. Yes there are plenty of disgusting human beings living in houses but at the same time there are far more quiet law abiding people who just want to live their lives in peace. Some of these live in Crays Hill and unfortunately their lives have been shattered by having a very large group of people moving into their village without giving a seconds thought to their feelings. Everyone keeps going on about the rights of travellers but what about the rights of the residents of Crays Hill who's voice is not being heard in all this mess !!”
by manuelization
Sunday, October 02 2011, 7:25PM
“To JAMES 08197
You have a nerve! you gorjas law abiding! I've never nothing so ridiculous in all my life! so Gypsies & travellers broke some planning law, but what do "YOUR" corrupted kind do James? you murder rape and abuse little children, you kill, your young men are on the streets drunk, vomiting and urinating everywhere, causing crimes and thefts and attacking people on the streets!
It's "YOUR" kind that will think nothing of following a woman down an alley, raping her, and psychologically damaging her mind, and ruining her life! it's "YOU" and you other so-called law-abiding citizens that enter foreign countries, shoot families in mad gun rampages, when they come home you call these soldiers, who are nothing more than murderers, heroes!
There is a thousand accusations and sin we can accuse you of and "PROVE" yet there isn't "ONE THING" you can prove that makes Gypsies & travellers what you say they are! NOTHING!
The only information your bigoted has got comes from Nazi ideological newspapers, Mail & Express. You and "YOUR" kind hasn't got the capacity to think and make decisions for yourselves, you have to let the newspapers that for you, don't you?
Of all the people that should be taking their side, it should be you James, if that is you are Irish. But you don't, because you are a su.ck bu.tt for a Britain, who don't like you anyway. Or are you too thick to see that?”
by randombob
Wednesday, August 31 2011, 1:27PM
“http://tinyurl.com/5a36jc”
by randombob
Wednesday, August 31 2011, 1:04PM
“First - its not ethnic cleansing go tell Rwandan refugee and they'll laugh at you.
Second - the hand wringing lefties have swung into action.....perhaps ms Redgrave would like to put them up in one of her properties ?? or the clergy (2 largest landowner in the country incidentally) could arrange for a spare couple of acres to give to their flock.....
no ... ?
oh well best we let em stay where they are.. and i'll start putting the extension onto the back of my property without planning permission . . . .”
by James081957
Thursday, August 18 2011, 2:07PM
“When will the authorities accept that these people have no rights and act forcefully to move them out.
They choose to live outside of the standard that the rest of us law abiding, tax paying and society contributing people live in.
They take the benefits of pay outs, free health and schooling and fail to play their part to pay back because of some mythical and foolish heritage which in their simple minds 'allows them the right to do it'.
I am Irish and am disgusted that some of these 'people' have the cheek to claim that heritage.
If they want human right then join the mainstream and stop sucking and abusing the system that is designed to benefit everyone that contributes fairly.”
by James081957
Thursday, August 18 2011, 2:01PM
“When will the authorities accept that these people have no rights and act forcefully to move them out.
They choose to live outside of the standard that the rest of us law abiding, tax paying and society contributing people live in.
They take the benefits of pay outs, free health and schooling and fail to play their part to pay back because of some mythical and foolish heritage which in their simple minds 'allows them the right to do it'.
I am Irish and am disgusted that some of these 'people' have the cheek to claim that heritage.
If they want human right then join the mainstream and stop sucking and abusing the system that is designed to benefit everyone that contributes fairly.”
by SERobbo
Tuesday, August 16 2011, 8:38AM
“I'm so sick of hearing "where will the traveler's go?". Firstly, they describe themselves as traveler's, can they not do this and go? Secondly if they are so proud of their Irish heritage, why not go back to Ireland? No body who lives near this site, has a kind word to say about them. They are trouble. I heard a story of a man out scraping his car of frost late one night, last winter ready to start work, was surrounded by a group of 4 "traveler's" who had been drinking in the local pub. They demanded that he take them home. He felt threatened and had to drive them to Dale farm. All of them smoking in the back of his car, feet on the seats, no respect what so ever! Can we please stop pandering to these people. They built illegally, end off. If it was you or me building a house without permission we would have to take it down. Why should they be different? It's a case of pull the race card out, again.”
by aw001
Monday, August 15 2011, 12:44PM
“£8m set aside by both the council and police....yet again, ordinary, law abiding, taxpayers are suffering so that others who set up these camps ILLEGALLY have their ''rights'' put ahead of everyone elses.
We need some serious changes to the laws and fast.”
by crazyhill
Sunday, August 14 2011, 11:16AM
“Authorised pitches in Essex are concentrated in 3 local authority areas - Basildon (112), Epping Forest (94) and Thurrock (80) - none of these should be required to provide any increase in the short term.
Maldon (39),Uttlesford (37), Chelmsford (35) and Harlow (34) have bitten the bullet to some degree but certainly still have the capacity for more .
Brentwood, Colchester, Tendring and Rochford provide only 20 pitches between them and Castle Point and Southend none at all.
The eviction of travellers from 50 odd unauthorised pitches at Dale Farm has been inevitable since the Court of Appeal and House of Lords decisions in 2009.
If the councils in Brentwood, Colchester, Tendring, Rochford, Castle Point and Southend – where the residents and their elected representatives are now making the most noise - had each identified space for 5 pitches and if Grattan Puxon and Co had pressed for that rather than continuing a pointless battle with Basildon Council………………”