CARAVANGUARD

The Dale Farm Romany Gypsy site near Billericay in Essex is threatened with eviction this year, but got a temporary reprieve after yesterday having lodged an appeal to the House Of Lords which stalls proceedings. If an eviction does happen – most likely by the violent ‘gypsy eviction specialist’ bailiffs Constant & Co (See SchNEWS 439) - legal monitors as well as those prepared to take direct action will be needed to protect this community. They are also calling out for tents and marquees to provide temporary accommodation for the 90 families (500 people) affected.

After losing a High Court appeal earlier this year (SchNEWS 659), which gave Basildon Council the green light to begin eviction proceedings against the largest Gypsy and Traveller community in Britain, the residents of Dale Farm now wait for the – fortunately slow – process of the Lords. They’ll take 6-8 weeks to decide if they hear the application with a decision in 6-12 months, which could buy some time. But if the Lords refuse to even hear the application, sometime in May or June the community could receive a 28 day notice to quit and the battle to defend Dale Farm will commence.

Dale Farm has been home to Gypsies since the 1960s, when planning permission was granted for 40 families to live on the former scrapyard. Those threatened are the many more families who have arrived since, bought adjacent greenbelt land, and are living on it without planning permission. In May 2005 Basildon Council decided to evict those without planning permission, then in May 2008 this was put on hold when the High Court ruled the council was not offering an alternative site. They also urged the council to not use Constant & Co, after being appalled by a video of a previous violent eviction (See SchNEWS 632). In January this year, the Court Of Appeals overturned this ruling, paving the way for an eviction.

Romany and Gypsy communities across Europe are being violently ethnically cleansed. In the UK the infamous 1994 Criminal Justice Act repealed the Caravan Sites Act, freeing local authorities from the obligation to provide travellers with park-up space. Many communities bought land to live on – but 96% of the applications for permission to settle have been refused. These itinerant communities have been forced to buy land, yet are denied the right to stay there and are subject to extreme racism and prejudice where ever they go. Basildon Council have so far spent more than £750,000 on legal fees, and are prepared to put up to £2million of taxpayers money into breaking up Dale Farm.

Currently there are plans to set up a tent city on adjacent land, owned by some residents and used as pasture for ponies. The Red Cross has donated a large tent and so far they also have several marquees and portaloos left over from the 2007 Heathrow climate camp. Three local churches have offered to open church halls, with plans to move mothers with children and the elderly to these should an eviction start.

Fortifications are in place including two scaff-pole towers connected by a bridge over Oak Lane, the private road which is the only entry to the site. Other preparations to defend the site continue. Donations of tat welcome, including: tents, scaffolding, safety fencing, barbed-wire, planks, rope, wire etc.

Soon there will be meeting for Human Rights Monitors at the House Of Commons – or if Whitehall is a bit off your manor email/telephone the contacts below.

* Info: 01206 523528, dale.farm@btinternet.com

* Snapshot on current plight of Romany Gypsies in Europe read ‘Coordinator Information on Evictions November 2008.pdf’ at www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/Coordinator/default_en.asp

* See www.humanrightstv.com/siege-of-dale-farm