AN ENGLISH local authority has appealed to hundreds of Irish Travellers who have been ordered to leave land in Essex to go quietly while warning it will go ahead with a High Court-sanctioned eviction.
Basildon Borough Council could have started the evictions from midnight on Wednesday, but an £18 million (€20.4 million) operation is not expected to begin until the health of a 71-year-old grandmother, Mary Flynn, is investigated by council officials on foot of a court ruling.
Up to 300 Travellers living on pitches on Dale Farm, which the Travellers bought a decade ago, have repeatedly been refused planning permission, although the first arrivals living on the grounds of an old scrapyard occupying part of the site are not affected by the eviction notice.
Major disturbances are feared if the eviction order is enforced, with Travellers saying they will not leave. Supporters who have gathered around the site have said they will obstruct bailiffs.
Conservative leader of Basildon council, Tony Ball, said: “I am making a final appeal to the residents to leave Dale Farm peacefully. I would also ask any visitors to the site or anyone who truly has the Travellers’ interests at heart to urge them to do this as well.
“Direct action to clear Dale Farm is a last resort for the council and we take it reluctantly – but after almost 10 years of legal wrangling the Travellers have left us with absolutely no choice,” Mr Ball said.
The majority of the sites on Dale Farm, he said, have been illegally developed on green belt land. “By doing this, and failing to comply with various enforcement notices over a period of years, the Travellers have broken the law.
“By taking this action we are not discriminating against the people on Dale Farm – we are treating them the same as we would any other resident in the local area who built on or developed green belt land without permission.”
Insisting the evictions would take place in “a safe and lawful fashion”, Mr Ball said the council would continue to offer houses and flats to the Travellers, who have already refused them, and that it would work with the National Health Service to protect the most vulnerable.
Basildon council has the right to erect gates on an entrance road to Dale Farm as of today, although it insists it will not begin the evictions without warning.
Land-owners in the area have begun to secure their properties fearing the Travellers might seek to occupy them.
Meanwhile, the Children’s Society charity has warned evictions will have “a catastrophic impact” on children living at Dale Farm since others evicted in the past have suffered trauma for months or even years afterwards.
“Travellers’ children already have some of the worst education outcomes in the country, and living on the roadside they will have difficulties accessing central services, healthcare and education,” said Debbie Harvey of the society.
The Dale Farm children currently attend the Crags Hill primary school. The Children’s Legal Centre has warned they could find it difficult, if not impossible, to get places elsewhere if they are forced to quit the area.
“New school places will have to be sought for these children,” said Tom Farrell of the legal centre.
“Travellers can find it difficult to prove their residence in a school-catchment area, and so are often refused school places. In any case, most schools will already have allocated all their places in preparation for the new academic year. As a result, many of these children may be left without education.”
