Travellers win last-minute eviction reprieve

Travellers celebrate after hearing of a court injunction before evictions at the Dale Farm...
Travellers celebrate after hearing of a court injunction before evictions at the Dale Farm traveller site, near Billericay in southern England. Photo: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor
Travellers have won a last-minute reprieve in their fight against eviction from an illegal site in southern England after a judge barred officials from clearing the land before a court hearing at the end of the week.

London's High Court issued an injunction stopping the local authority from clearing the Dale Farm site near Basildon, Essex, 50km east of the capital, the Press Association reported.

"I do not see that any serious injustice will be caused if the actual implementation of any measures will not take place before the end of this week," said Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart. He will consider a further extension of the injunction at 1030 GMT on Friday.

The travellers and their supporters had barricaded themselves behind brick walls and chained themselves to fences, while bailiffs gathered nearby to evict them.

A tense stand-off lasted for most of the day as those inside the site waited for the eviction to start at the end of a decade-long battle.

One woman was chained by her neck to the main gate, while others lay down under cars or clambered up hastily erected scaffolding and wooden platforms as they waited for the bailiffs to arrive.

"We are all in a state of shock. We don't know the details yet as there is no internet on site, but we've heard there is an injunction," said spokeswoman Kirsty Jones, from the group Dale Solidarity.

Banners draped around the caravans and low-rise buildings said "No Ethnic Cleansing", "Save Us" and "Justice". A police helicopter hovered overhead.

The showdown between the bailiffs and travellers and a variety of protest groups who have joined their cause marks the climax in one of Britain's most contentious and bitter planning rows in recent years.

Basildon Council in Essex said earlier that last-ditch talks had broken down on Monday morning (local time) after the travellers asked for the eviction to be delayed until November 22. Council leader Tony Ball said many families had already left and that bailiffs had wanted to enter the camp as scheduled.

"I am very disappointed we have come to where we are today," he told reporters. "Our operatives, when they begin the site clearance ... will do everything they can to make sure that it is done in a safe and professional manner."

The council said it was purely a planning dispute, with the travellers breaking the law by illegally building on the Green Belt, the band of countryside around London intended to stop urban sprawl.

However, the travellers say the argument's roots go deeper. They accuse the council and courts of breaching their human rights, targeting a vulnerable group whose choice of lifestyle doesn't fit in with the mainstream.

Actress Vanessa Redgrave visited the site to lend her support to the 400 travellers there and said she hoped "humanity would triumph". The United Nations' special rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, urged the authorities last month to hold more talks with the residents to reach a deal on relocation.

Many locals support the eviction, however. They say the planning laws should apply to everyone and they have complained of litter and noise from Dale Farm.

The local authority wants to evict the travellers and clear the six-acre site after the courts ruled that they had settled there illegally.

 

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