Dale Farm court ruling ‘will split up family’

A ruling on Basildon Council’s planned clearance of the site means four out of 51 unauthorised plots can stay, while several others can only be partially removed.

Many of the fences and walls within Dale Farm will, however, remain.

Further rulings are expected by Tuesday, but travellers and supporters are increasingly resigning themselves to the fact that a clearance will go ahead, at least in part.

Mother-of-two Nora Sheridan lives on plot 26 of Dale Farm, near Basildon, while her sister Margaret Flynn and her five children live on plot 28.

Mrs Sheridan has been told that she must remove her caravan but the hard-standing it sits on can stay.

Meanwhile, Mrs Flynn and her children can stay on the site in their caravan but their hard-standing will be dug up.

Mrs Sheridan said: “We just don’t understand the logic.

“Our plots and our caravans are virtually identical and yet one of us can stay and the other has to go.

“None of us wanted to go in the first place, but this is just creating confusion.

“Residents who oppose the site won’t be happy because some of us will still be here, and we’re not happy as we’re being split up.”

Mrs Flynn added: “My children go to school in Crays Hill village and I don’t want to uproot them.

“But at the same time I don’t want my mother and sisters to be made to move away.”

Basildon Council leader Tony Ball has said the wheels of justice were “grinding slowly” but “going forward”.

Councillor Ball added: “The council has a responsibility to enforce the law. The travellers have a responsibility to comply with the law.”