1st October 2011
Travellers Called “Parasites” Because They Won’t Leave Their Own Land
Mark Hanson
The Daily Telegraph prides itself in upholding Christian values, the right to property and the maintenance of British civil liberties, yet when it comes to ethnic and cultural minorities, the commenters on the Telegraph seem to differentiate between those who have much wealth and those who are “parasites”.
These “parasites” are people who have been living on land which they own for 10 years, after having bought a scrap-yard in 2001 and informally converted it into a space for caravans and impermanent housing. Because this apparently flouts planning laws, Basildon Council is pursuing an unrelenting course of action to enable a forced eviction of the UN-classified minority ethnic group. Basildon council has refused to provide alternative space for the Irish Traveller community, thereby threatening to put them into a permanent roadside situation where the cost to the tax-payer will increase and the Travellers are at constant threat of police attention due to the laws governing highways.
It was in 1994, when Michael Howard and John Major launched an unapologetic assault on Travellers due to their perceived “anarchist” and “New Age” leanings, that councils in England and Wales were no longer legally obliged to provide purposely set-aside land for the accommodation of the travelling community. The drive, which also made it mandatory to remain in a single location in order to receive State benefits, was intended to legally force Travellers, including the Romany and other Gypsy communities, to move into permanent, static housing.
It should be clarified that the Travellers at Dale Farm have not gone on a criminal rampage. Their “crime” has been to park vehicles and live in them on land which they themselves own. Basildon council claim this flouts planning laws for green belt land.
An alternative site has been provided, yet Basildon council has refused the application for the land as there is a suspicion that the Great Crested Newt, which is a protected species, may be already resident there. But Lord Eric Avebury, Chairman of the Department for Education Stakeholder Group on Gypsies, Romanies and Travellers, said:
“Unlike some Basildon residents, I’m sure the newts and bats won’t mind having a few Travellers living next door. I warmly approve of the offer by the Homes and Communities Agency. Similar arrangements for Traveller sites in or near Basildon would save the £18 million budgeted for the eviction, money that could be used to fund developments that would allow the Dale Farm residents at risk to move voluntarily and peacefully to new locations. Let’s hope that Tony Ball will adopt the common sense solution.”
The EU, the UN and numerous human rights groups have expressed grave concerns at the treatment of the Dale Farm residents, which follows similar and worse oppression and harassment of travelling peoples in Europe, notably in France during 2010.
A High Court judge has ruled that the majority of the Travellers’ caravans may be evicted, after a last-minute challenge in the courts won the Travellers a reprieve. However, 5 of the 54 plots cannot be evicted, and Basildon council will be unable to clear walls, fences and concrete from the land, meaning that it would not be restored to greenbelt land.
Three separate appeals for judicial reviews have been lodged, and the High Court is due to rule on whether these can go ahead by noon on Tuesday 4th October. Until at least that time, an injunction preventing the removal of the Dale Farm residents remains in place.
