Travellers ‘win’ latest round, but Thursday eviction looms

RESIDENTS on the UK’s largest illegal travellers’ site have won a temporary reprieve in their long-running battle to stay.

A High Court judge ruled yesterday that travellers at Dale Farm in Essex were entitled to an extension of an injunction stopping their evictions.

The case was adjourned until Thursday.

Yesterday’s ruling was a blow to Basildon Council, which is facing other legal action that could prolong yet further its ten-year battle to clear the site, which is expected to cost £18 million.

Reacting to the news, Dale Farm resident Kathleen McCarthy, said: “Every day is a blessing and we feel that at least our arguments are being listened to.

“One thing is certain: we will all stand together. Either we all go or none of us go, we will not let the council divide us.”

On Monday last week Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart granted a temporary injunction preventing the council from clearing the site – thought to house more than 80 families composed of some 400 individuals – pending yesterday’s ruling.

Travellers said they feared evictions would not be carried out lawfully and that council officials would “over-enforce”.

Yesterday, the judge, sitting at London’s High Court, said there were “triable issues in relation to almost every plot” as to whether the steps the council proposed to take came within the terms of enforcement notices being used as the basis for eviction.

He said a further court hearing was necessary to determine the facts, and would be concerned principally with the date of construction of structures on the site the council was proposing to remove or demolish.

The judge said: “This result has come about mainly because the terms of the enforcement notices issued between 2002 and 2004 may not have been sufficiently precisely drawn, although the extent to which this may prove to be the case has yet to be finally determined.”

The judge said he would consult lawyers for both sides before drawing up his order “in case there are any factual errors or slips”.

The hearing is continuing and travellers have more litigation in the pipeline which could further delay evictions.

They plan to seek a judicial review on the grounds that eviction is “disproportionate” under human rights laws.

Emerging from court, Conservative council leader Tony Ball, said: “What we’ve seen today is the wheels of justice grinding slowly forward, but I would like to say it’s been a good day for Basildon’s residents and for the majority of people who support the council’s stance on this issue.

“And my reading of today, the message I can give to them, is that we are getting there.”

He said he hoped that by the end of Thursday, the council would be able to “clear the majority of the plots”.

But last night Richard Howitt, Labour MEP for the East of England, expressed concerns about the way the eviction plans were being handled.

He said: “We need to have a decision outside the courts to save money and get away from this huge confrontation.”

Campaign group Dale Farm Solidarity said several high-profile figures had offered to mediate in the dispute. They include the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brentwood Thomas McMahon, the Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford Stephen Cottrell, and UN representatives.