Travellers lose bid to halt Dale Farm evictions

BRITAIN’S High Court yesterday rejected an appeal from a community of Irish Travellers to prevent their eviction from an illegal site where they have lived for a decade.

The decision by Justice Duncan Ouseley clears the way for bailiffs to begin clearing the contested Dale Farm site, 30 miles east of London.

Ouseley said the Travellers had waited too long to challenge the eviction.

“The conclusion has been reached time and again that this is just the wrong site for travellers,” Ouseley told the court, adding it is up to residents to leave voluntarily. “If the removal becomes forcible, it would be because of decisions made by the residents not to comply.”

The eviction battle has dragged on for years and provoked concern from the United Nations.

The local authority says it’s a simple planning issue — the 86 families lack permission to pitch homes on the land. The Travellers, a traditionally nomadic group similar to, but ethnically distinct from, Gypsy or Roma people, call it ethnic cleansing, the latest chapter in a centuries-old story of mistrust between nomads and British society. There are estimated to be between 15,000 and 30,000 Irish Travellers in Britain, where they are recognised as a distinct ethnic minority by the government.

Traveller evictions are relatively common, but few are as large, or as high-profile, as that at Dale Farm. Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave has supported the community, and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged authorities “to find a peaceful and appropriate solution” to the crisis.

Picture: Children of Dale Farm travellers at the site as bailiffs are due to begin clearing today. Picture: Chris Radburn/PA Wire