VILLAGERS are railing against suggestions that a site between Arkesden and Wicken Bonhunt is ripe for use as a Gypsy camp.
As part of its strategy for housing over the next 15 years, Uttlesford District Council needs to make provision for Traveller families. Two plots – at Ten Acres on the Arkesden Road between the two parishes and at Watch House Green, Felsted – have been suggested as part of the current public consultation process.
Residents fear the former will result in a Dale Farm-style crisis, where Essex Police and Basildon council spent millions evicting Travellers last October.
Uttlesford has one socially-rented Gypsy and Traveller site – owned by Essex County Council – offering 17 pitches which can accommodate 35 caravans, 16 private permanent sites with planning permission providing accommodation for 39 caravans and one site with temporary consent which can accommodate five caravans.
The Essex Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment suggests that in Uttlesford 24 permanent pitches, seven short-stay ones and two additional plots for travelling show people will be required between 2008 and 2021 – but since 2008 planning permission has been granted only for a site in Great Canfield, temporary consent for five caravans in Little Hallingbury and permanent consent for five in High Easter.
In an online questionnaire about the two proposals, which has attracted dozens of objections, UDC says it is looking for sites which will minimise impact on “the natural, built and historic environment”.
The sites must not be located in flood risk areas, must be connected to water, drainage and other utilities, and must have space for play areas, access roads and structural landscaping as well as for the maintenance and storage of the rides and equipment owned by travelling showpeople.
Villagers have made it clear Ten Acres does not fit the bill. Alastair Mein told the council: “This is a large site where it would be easy for the number of allowed pitches to be exceeded, potentially resulting in another Basildon-type problem.”
Keith Flowers said: “Uttlesford’s description of the area is one of outstanding natural beauty. The site would have a significant visual impact on the area as it would be very visible from the Arkesden Road.”
Vicki Newey warned: “The number of households in the villages is small and the arrival of a significant group of culturally different individuals representing such a large proportion of the population would undoubtedly lead to difficulties. There are very limited local facilities, such as shops and play areas, and the school at Clavering, which is already over-subscribed, would be unable to cope with a sudden increase in demand for places.”
When asked where sites should be located, householders made it clear there were no acceptable alternatives.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Arlesey Gypsy site given green light - Bedfordshire
PLANNING permission for a permanent Gypsy site has been granted, despite opposition from a residents’ association and town council.
Central Bedfordshire Council’s (CBC) development management committee met this morning (Wednesday) to determine the application from landowner Mr Rooney, who lives on the site in Hitchin Road, Arlesey.
Three-year temporary consent for four pitches with a maximum of eight caravans on the site was approved in November 2009.
However, the site currently accommodates six pitches and 12 caravans and Mr Rooney was seeking permanent planning permission for these pitches and caravans, which he says will be used by his family.
Councillors granted planning permission following a report from council officers that said: “There is no unacceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside; the amenities of nearby residential properties are not unacceptably harmed; and a safe, convenient and adequate standard of access can be provided.”
Arlesey Town Council had formally lodged opposition to the application with CBC, citing “inappropriate development and serious concerns for highway safety”.
Arlesey Residents’ Association and neighbours objected to the proposal on grounds which included that “the applicant has flouted planning laws with the introduction of several caravans” and that a caravan site next to a cemetery is inappropriate.
Other responses received by CBC raised concerns about an increase in traffic, the site access being dangerous, and flooding problems.
Hugh Harper, chairman of Arlesey Residents’ Association, said: “We are disappointed because we felt that it should have been refused.
“In the Local Development Framework it could go up to 10 pitches.”
The Local Development Framework is a planning strategy, currently being compiled by CBC, which will set out the development of housing, jobs, shops and community facilities in the area over the next 20 years.
Philip Brown, Mr Rooney’s agent, said: “It’s a long-standing family site and it’s for members of his own family only.
“All it’s doing really is granting permission for a development which has already taken place.”
Central Bedfordshire Council’s (CBC) development management committee met this morning (Wednesday) to determine the application from landowner Mr Rooney, who lives on the site in Hitchin Road, Arlesey.
Three-year temporary consent for four pitches with a maximum of eight caravans on the site was approved in November 2009.
However, the site currently accommodates six pitches and 12 caravans and Mr Rooney was seeking permanent planning permission for these pitches and caravans, which he says will be used by his family.
Councillors granted planning permission following a report from council officers that said: “There is no unacceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside; the amenities of nearby residential properties are not unacceptably harmed; and a safe, convenient and adequate standard of access can be provided.”
Arlesey Town Council had formally lodged opposition to the application with CBC, citing “inappropriate development and serious concerns for highway safety”.
Arlesey Residents’ Association and neighbours objected to the proposal on grounds which included that “the applicant has flouted planning laws with the introduction of several caravans” and that a caravan site next to a cemetery is inappropriate.
Other responses received by CBC raised concerns about an increase in traffic, the site access being dangerous, and flooding problems.
Hugh Harper, chairman of Arlesey Residents’ Association, said: “We are disappointed because we felt that it should have been refused.
“In the Local Development Framework it could go up to 10 pitches.”
The Local Development Framework is a planning strategy, currently being compiled by CBC, which will set out the development of housing, jobs, shops and community facilities in the area over the next 20 years.
Philip Brown, Mr Rooney’s agent, said: “It’s a long-standing family site and it’s for members of his own family only.
“All it’s doing really is granting permission for a development which has already taken place.”
Decision on gypsy pitch application to be appealed - Buckinghamshire
A DECISION by South Bucks District Council to turn down an application for a Gypsy pitch in Iver is set to be appealed.
Last month the council's planning committee refused a bid from Billy Smith to use land in Little Sutton Lane for the stationing of caravans, construction of a utility room and provision of a package sewage treatment plant.
They rejected it on the grounds that it would encroach onto Green Belt land and that no detail was included regarding the sewage plant.
However, Mr Smith has decided to appeal against the decision, and an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate is now set to hold an informal hearing into the case on March 13 at the council's headquarters in Oxford Road, Denham at 10am.
If the inspector decides to overturn the council's decision, Mr Smith will be able to build the pitch straight away.
Last month the council's planning committee refused a bid from Billy Smith to use land in Little Sutton Lane for the stationing of caravans, construction of a utility room and provision of a package sewage treatment plant.
They rejected it on the grounds that it would encroach onto Green Belt land and that no detail was included regarding the sewage plant.
However, Mr Smith has decided to appeal against the decision, and an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate is now set to hold an informal hearing into the case on March 13 at the council's headquarters in Oxford Road, Denham at 10am.
If the inspector decides to overturn the council's decision, Mr Smith will be able to build the pitch straight away.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
New Telephone Advice Line For Gypsies and Travellers
Community Legal Advice have decided not to renew the Telephone Advice Line for Gypsies and Travellers which is run by Community Law Partnership. The Community Law Partnership were part of the original pilot project for advice lines in April 2002 and have had the longest running national telephone helpline. Community Legal Advice claim that their Housing Providers will be able to provide the necessary advice to Gypsies and Travellers, even though the Community Law Partnership have pointed out that the law relating to Gypsies and Travellers is of a very specialist nature (e.g. planning law as it relates to Gypsy/Traveller sites).
Remembering the famous phrase “don’t agonise, organise”, Community Law Partnership have set up their own Telephone Advice Line for Gypsies and Travellers. community Law Partnership provides advice, assistance and representation on ‘accommodation issues’ for Gypsies and Travellers e.g. evictions, issues on rented sites, homelessness cases, High Court planning appeals, planning injunctions etc.
The new helpline is available Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 5.00 pm throughout England and Wales on 0121 685 8677. There is an emergency service available outside of those hours.
Remembering the famous phrase “don’t agonise, organise”, Community Law Partnership have set up their own Telephone Advice Line for Gypsies and Travellers. community Law Partnership provides advice, assistance and representation on ‘accommodation issues’ for Gypsies and Travellers e.g. evictions, issues on rented sites, homelessness cases, High Court planning appeals, planning injunctions etc.
The new helpline is available Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 5.00 pm throughout England and Wales on 0121 685 8677. There is an emergency service available outside of those hours.
Travellers challenged over the state of their tethered horses - Derbyshire
THE RSPCA has been contacted over concerns about the condition of horses being kept by Travellers.
Jodie Fairbrother got in touch with the animal welfare charity after seeing horses tied up in a field adjacent to Holmleigh Way and the A50 in Chellaston.
The manager of Second Chance Rescue Kennels, on Back Lane in Chellaston, said she thought there were 11 horses and was worried about their condition.
She said: "The horses didn't look like they had been fed and the straps around their necks looked very tight."
She also said the horses did not look like they had been wormed and the water bowls for them to drink out of were "bone dry".
Ms Fairbrother approached the Travellers on the site yesterday to talk to them about the condition of the horses.
She even asked whether she could buy one of the small foals from them to help take care of it but her offer was rejected.
But she said the response from the Travellers was negative and they did not accept her advice.
"They told me to get off the land, which doesn't belong to them anyway," she said.
She claimed she saw some of the horses a couple of weeks ago at a site in Swarkestone and said that their condition seemed to have deteriorated since then.
She said: "I have driven past every day, since Saturday when they came to the land, and I am worried about them."
Jodie said she asked the Travellers whether they had horse passports but they said they did not.
No-one was available from the RSPCA last night.
A spokesman from Derby City Council said it would look into the situation if a complaint was received.
He said the council would initially provide advice and guidance to the owner to obtain a horse passport if they did not already have one.
Passports are required if someone owns a horse or is its main keeper.
They are responsible for making sure they have an up-to-date horse passport so the horse can be identified.
Failure to have a passport can lead to a fine of up to £5,000.
Meanwhile, bailiffs have issued a notice to the Travellers to move their vehicles and goods and vacate the land, owned by Joe Langton, by 11am today.
Firefighters had been called to the site being occupied by the Travellers on Sunday evening to put out a blaze.
Crews from Ascot Drive attended the scene at around 7.45pm and put out a bonfire, involving two gas cylinders.
The firefighters cooled the cylinders down and police were also in attendance.
Jodie Fairbrother got in touch with the animal welfare charity after seeing horses tied up in a field adjacent to Holmleigh Way and the A50 in Chellaston.
The manager of Second Chance Rescue Kennels, on Back Lane in Chellaston, said she thought there were 11 horses and was worried about their condition.
She said: "The horses didn't look like they had been fed and the straps around their necks looked very tight."
She also said the horses did not look like they had been wormed and the water bowls for them to drink out of were "bone dry".
Ms Fairbrother approached the Travellers on the site yesterday to talk to them about the condition of the horses.
She even asked whether she could buy one of the small foals from them to help take care of it but her offer was rejected.
But she said the response from the Travellers was negative and they did not accept her advice.
"They told me to get off the land, which doesn't belong to them anyway," she said.
She claimed she saw some of the horses a couple of weeks ago at a site in Swarkestone and said that their condition seemed to have deteriorated since then.
She said: "I have driven past every day, since Saturday when they came to the land, and I am worried about them."
Jodie said she asked the Travellers whether they had horse passports but they said they did not.
No-one was available from the RSPCA last night.
A spokesman from Derby City Council said it would look into the situation if a complaint was received.
He said the council would initially provide advice and guidance to the owner to obtain a horse passport if they did not already have one.
Passports are required if someone owns a horse or is its main keeper.
They are responsible for making sure they have an up-to-date horse passport so the horse can be identified.
Failure to have a passport can lead to a fine of up to £5,000.
Meanwhile, bailiffs have issued a notice to the Travellers to move their vehicles and goods and vacate the land, owned by Joe Langton, by 11am today.
Firefighters had been called to the site being occupied by the Travellers on Sunday evening to put out a blaze.
Crews from Ascot Drive attended the scene at around 7.45pm and put out a bonfire, involving two gas cylinders.
The firefighters cooled the cylinders down and police were also in attendance.
Firm acts as Travellers move on to town centre car park - Bolton
TRAVELLERS have moved on to a car park in Bolton town centre — their sixth move in two weeks — leaving commuters struggling to park.
Landowners were yesterday trying to remove the group from the car park in Kay Street. They moved on to the site on Sunday night.
Some drivers were yesterday still trying to park in the remaining spaces while others just drove away.
As well as caravans, Travellers brought cars and vans, quad bikes, generators, satellite TV hook-ups and dogs.
The land belongs to Euro Car Parks and bosses were taking advice from Bolton Council about how to have the travellers removed from the site. Police were also at the scene.
The Travellers have already been moved on from another car park opposite, in Folds Road.
More Travellers are at the council-owned Endeavour House site off Waters Meeting Road, Astley Bridge, and have been served with an eviction notice.
The travellers say they want to stay in Bolton and make a permanent home at the travellers’ camp in Moses Gate.
They have previously set up camp at the former Bolton Technology College site in Grosvenor Street, Breightmet Street and Manchester Road.
Chris Hall, Euro Car Parks’ national operations manager, said the Travellers, who had not bought tickets, were costing the firm hundreds of pounds by taking up space and putting off customers.
He added: “Anybody who parks without a ticket, we look to fine them, but it would be impossible to uphold the fines because we can’t chase the travellers up at a permanent address.
“We’re going to make every attempt to move them on.”
One of the Travellers, 26- year-old Bones Johnny, said: “We’d pay for tickets, but we haven’t because we know we’re going to be moved. They just don’t want us, full stop. We’re just too much hassle for these people.”
Commuter James Black, aged 33, from Stalybridge, said: “I’m a bit concerned because I don’t think they’ll be paying.”
Angela Gilmartin, aged 41, from Farnworth, added: “I suppose they’ve got to park somewhere.”
A council spokesman said: “The car park in Kay Street is privately owned and the landowner has asked us to act on their behalf. We have served the Travellers with a notice to leave, giving them 24 hours to move. If they don’t move, we will apply to magistrates for an order to remove them from the land.”
The council has also served a summons on the Travellers in Waters Meeting Road as they have not moved since they were given notice 24 hours earlier.
They are due to appear at Bolton Magistrates Court tomorrow
Landowners were yesterday trying to remove the group from the car park in Kay Street. They moved on to the site on Sunday night.
Some drivers were yesterday still trying to park in the remaining spaces while others just drove away.
As well as caravans, Travellers brought cars and vans, quad bikes, generators, satellite TV hook-ups and dogs.
The land belongs to Euro Car Parks and bosses were taking advice from Bolton Council about how to have the travellers removed from the site. Police were also at the scene.
The Travellers have already been moved on from another car park opposite, in Folds Road.
More Travellers are at the council-owned Endeavour House site off Waters Meeting Road, Astley Bridge, and have been served with an eviction notice.
The travellers say they want to stay in Bolton and make a permanent home at the travellers’ camp in Moses Gate.
They have previously set up camp at the former Bolton Technology College site in Grosvenor Street, Breightmet Street and Manchester Road.
Chris Hall, Euro Car Parks’ national operations manager, said the Travellers, who had not bought tickets, were costing the firm hundreds of pounds by taking up space and putting off customers.
He added: “Anybody who parks without a ticket, we look to fine them, but it would be impossible to uphold the fines because we can’t chase the travellers up at a permanent address.
“We’re going to make every attempt to move them on.”
One of the Travellers, 26- year-old Bones Johnny, said: “We’d pay for tickets, but we haven’t because we know we’re going to be moved. They just don’t want us, full stop. We’re just too much hassle for these people.”
Commuter James Black, aged 33, from Stalybridge, said: “I’m a bit concerned because I don’t think they’ll be paying.”
Angela Gilmartin, aged 41, from Farnworth, added: “I suppose they’ve got to park somewhere.”
A council spokesman said: “The car park in Kay Street is privately owned and the landowner has asked us to act on their behalf. We have served the Travellers with a notice to leave, giving them 24 hours to move. If they don’t move, we will apply to magistrates for an order to remove them from the land.”
The council has also served a summons on the Travellers in Waters Meeting Road as they have not moved since they were given notice 24 hours earlier.
They are due to appear at Bolton Magistrates Court tomorrow
Date set for Hemley Hill judicial review into Travellers' site - Bucks
TRAVELLERS who appealed against a decision to move them off a site at Hemley Hill will take their case to judicial review next month.
The Travellers moved onto the site near Princes Risborough in Easter 2009, when Wycombe District Council got a High Court injunction banning further work on the site.
This was followed by an enforcement notice at the beginning of September 2009, giving them six months to leave, which the travellers appealed against.
The appeals were taken to a public inquiry in July and August 2010 and in December of the same year the planning inspector dismissed the appeal, giving them 18 months to leave.
It was in January of last year that Mrs Kathleen Murphy appealed against the planning inspector's decision, which was then lodged for judicial review.
The hearing will now be at The Administrative Court at The Royal Courts of Justice, London on March 14. The appeal decisions have been put on hold until the outcome of the judicial review is known.
The Travellers moved onto the site near Princes Risborough in Easter 2009, when Wycombe District Council got a High Court injunction banning further work on the site.
This was followed by an enforcement notice at the beginning of September 2009, giving them six months to leave, which the travellers appealed against.
The appeals were taken to a public inquiry in July and August 2010 and in December of the same year the planning inspector dismissed the appeal, giving them 18 months to leave.
It was in January of last year that Mrs Kathleen Murphy appealed against the planning inspector's decision, which was then lodged for judicial review.
The hearing will now be at The Administrative Court at The Royal Courts of Justice, London on March 14. The appeal decisions have been put on hold until the outcome of the judicial review is known.
Family facing eviction from Moray camp site
TRAVELLERS who have been “living in limbo” at a camp in Moray will find out today whether they will be evicted from their own land.
The Stewart family bought a plot of ground near Lhanbryde in 2010 and made spaces for six mobile homes and six touring caravans.
Both the local authority and the Scottish Government refused to give planning permission for the landscaped development last year.
The Stewart family bought a plot of ground near Lhanbryde in 2010 and made spaces for six mobile homes and six touring caravans.
Both the local authority and the Scottish Government refused to give planning permission for the landscaped development last year.
Decision on gypsy pitch application to be appealed - Buckinghamshire
A DECISION by South Bucks District Council to turn down an application for a Gypsy pitch in Iver is set to be appealed.
Last month the council's planning committee refused a bid from Billy Smith to use land in Little Sutton Lane for the stationing of caravans, construction of a utility room and provision of a package sewage treatment plant.
They rejected it on the grounds that it would encroach onto Green Belt land and that no detail was included regarding the sewage plant.
However, Mr Smith has decided to appeal against the decision, and an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate is now set to hold an informal hearing into the case on March 13 at the council's headquarters in Oxford Road, Denham at 10am.
If the inspector decides to overturn the council's decision, Mr Smith will be able to build the pitch straight away.
Last month the council's planning committee refused a bid from Billy Smith to use land in Little Sutton Lane for the stationing of caravans, construction of a utility room and provision of a package sewage treatment plant.
They rejected it on the grounds that it would encroach onto Green Belt land and that no detail was included regarding the sewage plant.
However, Mr Smith has decided to appeal against the decision, and an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate is now set to hold an informal hearing into the case on March 13 at the council's headquarters in Oxford Road, Denham at 10am.
If the inspector decides to overturn the council's decision, Mr Smith will be able to build the pitch straight away.
Travellers to be evicted from Cambridge Road Car Park - Huddersfield
TRAVELLERS have been told to leave a Huddersfield car park by tomorrow.
Bailiffs yesterday ordered the group to leave Cambridge Road Car Park – with taxpayers likely to be hit with an £800 bill for the eviction.
Travellers in four caravans and three wagons moved on to the site near the town centre eight days ago.
Kirklees Council, which owns the car park, is trying to get the group removed.
A spokesman said yesterday: “The council has today been granted the possession order.
“The council has issued the warrant with the county court bailiffs, who will visit the site today and instruct the Travellers to leave.
“The travellers will be given 48 hours to vacate the site. Should they fail to vacate the land voluntarily arrangements are being made for the group to be forcibly evicted.”
Kirklees also revealed yesterday that 19 groups of Travellers have been evicted from council-owned land since April 2010 at an average cost of £795.
Bailiffs yesterday ordered the group to leave Cambridge Road Car Park – with taxpayers likely to be hit with an £800 bill for the eviction.
Travellers in four caravans and three wagons moved on to the site near the town centre eight days ago.
Kirklees Council, which owns the car park, is trying to get the group removed.
A spokesman said yesterday: “The council has today been granted the possession order.
“The council has issued the warrant with the county court bailiffs, who will visit the site today and instruct the Travellers to leave.
“The travellers will be given 48 hours to vacate the site. Should they fail to vacate the land voluntarily arrangements are being made for the group to be forcibly evicted.”
Kirklees also revealed yesterday that 19 groups of Travellers have been evicted from council-owned land since April 2010 at an average cost of £795.
Peterborough needs up to six traveller Transit sites
PETERBOROUGH could need up to six transit sites across the city to cope with the number of Travellers.
Peterborough City Council has said it needs to provide a temporary site where travellers would be able to camp legally for up to a month before they move on elsewhere.
But councillors on a cross-party group, which was set up by the council to discuss and find a suitable location for a site, have revealed that the city will need more than one of these sites.
While a figure or the locations for the sites have not yet been agreed, councillors believe they need between four and six sites so that no single city community is adversely affected by having one large site on their doorstep and there is room for more than one group of travellers to stay.
Councillor John Fox, an independent councillor, is the chairman of the cross-party group.
He said: “I think we need four but it could be six.
“We are talking about a piece of land where you can move the Travellers and charge them rent so they pay their way and pay for cleaning and the provision of portable toilets.
“We need more than one so we have options to alternate them around when more than one group is in the city.”
A Freedom of Information request recently revealed that the council paid out £25,000 in the last financial year cleaning up after Travellers’ makeshift camps.
In 2009/10 they spent £18,870, in 2008/09 the figure was £30,340 and during 2007/08 £21,830 was spent.
The council’s housing strategy for 2011 to 2015 identified a need for a transit site and said it would safeguard a patch of land next to Norwood Lane permanent traveller site, in Paston, to be used as a potential transit site.
On Friday, Travellers set up camp on private land at Coca Cola Enterprises’ in Morley Way, Woodston.
Meanwhile, a group has been camped on the corner of Saxby Gardens and Belvoir Way, in the Welland Estate, Dogsthorpe, for almost two months.
It has caused increasing tensions between residents – who say they are concerned about the illegal encampment – and the travellers.
Dogsthorpe Ward Cllr Adrian Miners said: “They have been there for nearly two months and it is beyond a joke. If they were in some other area they would have been moved on in about a week.
“We had a recent neighbourhood meeting and it was raised then. The officer said the city needs about six sites for Travellers.
“It is more urgent than ever to find those six sites.
“That area of Peterborough has its fair share of travellers, we are between two official traveller sites and we don’t want another next to that.
“I am a great supporter of transit sites but we have got to resolve this issue quickly.”
Cllr Miners added that he intends to bring the issue up at the full council meeting on Wednesday night.
Fellow Dogsthorpe Ward Cllr Bella Saltmarsh agreed that there was a need for more than one transit site.
She said: “The general feeling is we need some of these transit sites but there would only be enough room for about three or four caravans so we would certainly need more than one.
“We need to try and find a few places for these transit sites but where to put them is the 64 million dollar question.
“I think they should definitely be on the outskirts of the city and they should not be in areas of dense population.
Peterborough City Council has said it needs to provide a temporary site where travellers would be able to camp legally for up to a month before they move on elsewhere.
But councillors on a cross-party group, which was set up by the council to discuss and find a suitable location for a site, have revealed that the city will need more than one of these sites.
While a figure or the locations for the sites have not yet been agreed, councillors believe they need between four and six sites so that no single city community is adversely affected by having one large site on their doorstep and there is room for more than one group of travellers to stay.
Councillor John Fox, an independent councillor, is the chairman of the cross-party group.
He said: “I think we need four but it could be six.
“We are talking about a piece of land where you can move the Travellers and charge them rent so they pay their way and pay for cleaning and the provision of portable toilets.
“We need more than one so we have options to alternate them around when more than one group is in the city.”
A Freedom of Information request recently revealed that the council paid out £25,000 in the last financial year cleaning up after Travellers’ makeshift camps.
In 2009/10 they spent £18,870, in 2008/09 the figure was £30,340 and during 2007/08 £21,830 was spent.
The council’s housing strategy for 2011 to 2015 identified a need for a transit site and said it would safeguard a patch of land next to Norwood Lane permanent traveller site, in Paston, to be used as a potential transit site.
On Friday, Travellers set up camp on private land at Coca Cola Enterprises’ in Morley Way, Woodston.
Meanwhile, a group has been camped on the corner of Saxby Gardens and Belvoir Way, in the Welland Estate, Dogsthorpe, for almost two months.
It has caused increasing tensions between residents – who say they are concerned about the illegal encampment – and the travellers.
Dogsthorpe Ward Cllr Adrian Miners said: “They have been there for nearly two months and it is beyond a joke. If they were in some other area they would have been moved on in about a week.
“We had a recent neighbourhood meeting and it was raised then. The officer said the city needs about six sites for Travellers.
“It is more urgent than ever to find those six sites.
“That area of Peterborough has its fair share of travellers, we are between two official traveller sites and we don’t want another next to that.
“I am a great supporter of transit sites but we have got to resolve this issue quickly.”
Cllr Miners added that he intends to bring the issue up at the full council meeting on Wednesday night.
Fellow Dogsthorpe Ward Cllr Bella Saltmarsh agreed that there was a need for more than one transit site.
She said: “The general feeling is we need some of these transit sites but there would only be enough room for about three or four caravans so we would certainly need more than one.
“We need to try and find a few places for these transit sites but where to put them is the 64 million dollar question.
“I think they should definitely be on the outskirts of the city and they should not be in areas of dense population.
‘Shame-Faced’ Tony Ball forced to Flee Council Awards by angry protesters.
Tony Ball, leader of Basildon Council and architect of the Dale Farm eviction, was forced to flee an awards ceremony by angry protesters in central London last night.
Nominated for the award of ‘Council Leader of the Year’ by the Local Government Information Unit [1], Tony Ball was confronted by 50 vocal Dale Farm supporters when he attempted to leave the Westminster City Hall. He was hounded back into the building by the protesters, who invaded the lobby shouting ‘scum’ and ’83 families homeless’, and was ultimately forced to leave under police guard via a back exit.
Although Tony Ball did not win the ‘Council Leader of the Year’ award, the protesters were determined to present the Basildon Council Leader with an alternative award for ‘Community Wrecker of the Year’.
Robert McCready, a supporter of the Dale Farm community, said, “It is genuinely shocking that any self-respecting body could choose to nominate a man who spent £7 million of public money on making 83 Dale Farm families homeless in a brutal manner. The LGIU tonight attempted the whitewash the horrors of the Dale Farm eviction and we didn’t let them. Tony Ball was shame-faced as he fled.”
Dale Farm resident Kathleen McCarthy added, “How anyone can think a man like that deserves to be rewarded, I just don’t know. He wrecked our community and our lives and thinks he can get away with it. He is a disgrace and what he, his council and the Government did will never be forgotten. ”
[1] The Local Government Information Unit [LGIU] are a London based think-tank. http://blog.lgiu.org.uk/2012/02/cllr-achievement-awards-2012-all-winners/
Nominated for the award of ‘Council Leader of the Year’ by the Local Government Information Unit [1], Tony Ball was confronted by 50 vocal Dale Farm supporters when he attempted to leave the Westminster City Hall. He was hounded back into the building by the protesters, who invaded the lobby shouting ‘scum’ and ’83 families homeless’, and was ultimately forced to leave under police guard via a back exit.
Although Tony Ball did not win the ‘Council Leader of the Year’ award, the protesters were determined to present the Basildon Council Leader with an alternative award for ‘Community Wrecker of the Year’.
Robert McCready, a supporter of the Dale Farm community, said, “It is genuinely shocking that any self-respecting body could choose to nominate a man who spent £7 million of public money on making 83 Dale Farm families homeless in a brutal manner. The LGIU tonight attempted the whitewash the horrors of the Dale Farm eviction and we didn’t let them. Tony Ball was shame-faced as he fled.”
Dale Farm resident Kathleen McCarthy added, “How anyone can think a man like that deserves to be rewarded, I just don’t know. He wrecked our community and our lives and thinks he can get away with it. He is a disgrace and what he, his council and the Government did will never be forgotten. ”
[1] The Local Government Information Unit [LGIU] are a London based think-tank. http://blog.lgiu.org.uk/2012/02/cllr-achievement-awards-2012-all-winners/
Traveller banned from Basildon
A TRAVELLER who threw rocks at police during the Dale Farm eviction has been banned from Basildon.
Padraig Egan, 26, who lived at Dale Farm for ten years, admitted affray after launching missiles at cops, who were assisting bailiffs with clearing illegal plots at the Travellers’ site in Crays Hill.
He was banned from entering the Basildon borough for six months and sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year, at Basildon Crown Court yesterday.
Vedrana Pehar, prosecuting, said: “On October 19 last year, police officers in full protective equipment advanced into Dale Farm in order to assist with the eviction of illegal plots.
“As police moved on to the site, people threw stones, bricks and pieces of wood at them.”
Egan, Ms Pehar told the court, was positioned behind a group of protesters holding black shields and picked up a rock, which he threw over the heads of the protesters towards police officers.
Ms Pehar said he then repeated the action with another rock.
No officers were hit in either incident.
Following his arrest, Egan told police in interviews he purposely threw the rocks so they “fell short” of where the cops were standing and only intended to scare them. James Mc-Crindell, defending, told the court Egan, who had no previous convictions, was now living in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, but led a “nomadic lifestyle” and regularly travelled.
Judge Ian Graham, sentencing, said: “When there were the troubles at Dale Farm you were one of those who stayed at the farm.
“Even when police arrived to carry out the eviction, you took part in the trouble, and the part you took was to, on at least two occasions, throw rocks towards police officers.
“Fortunately for them, and now for you, no one was hit by any of your missiles, but nevertheless you took part in a well-known incident of public violence and one aimed towards police officers who were just doing their jobs.”
Egan was originally charged with violent disorder for his actions at the eviction, but the charge was dropped and changed to affray during court proceedings.
...but he still plans Wickford wedding
PADRAIG Egan’s ban from Basildon won’t prevent him getting married in Wickford this summer.
The six-month order preventing the former Dale Farm traveller from entering the district will be over in time for his wedding at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, in London Road, in August.
Many Dale Farm Travellers worship at the church and Egan arranged to marry there because he has connections with its Catholic priest.
James McCrindell, mitigating, told the court: “Egan lived at Dale Farm for ten years so he developed ties in the area, but there’s no reason for him to come back to this county – save for his marriage he said was going to happen in August.”
The court also heard Egan was unable to pay any court costs because he had “never really worked” due to learning difficulties.
Mr McCrindell said Egan didn’t claim benefits and was supported by his family and the Traveller community.
The barrister added: “If he did claim benefits, his father wouldn’t be very pleased.”
Padraig Egan, 26, who lived at Dale Farm for ten years, admitted affray after launching missiles at cops, who were assisting bailiffs with clearing illegal plots at the Travellers’ site in Crays Hill.
He was banned from entering the Basildon borough for six months and sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year, at Basildon Crown Court yesterday.
Vedrana Pehar, prosecuting, said: “On October 19 last year, police officers in full protective equipment advanced into Dale Farm in order to assist with the eviction of illegal plots.
“As police moved on to the site, people threw stones, bricks and pieces of wood at them.”
Egan, Ms Pehar told the court, was positioned behind a group of protesters holding black shields and picked up a rock, which he threw over the heads of the protesters towards police officers.
Ms Pehar said he then repeated the action with another rock.
No officers were hit in either incident.
Following his arrest, Egan told police in interviews he purposely threw the rocks so they “fell short” of where the cops were standing and only intended to scare them. James Mc-Crindell, defending, told the court Egan, who had no previous convictions, was now living in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, but led a “nomadic lifestyle” and regularly travelled.
Judge Ian Graham, sentencing, said: “When there were the troubles at Dale Farm you were one of those who stayed at the farm.
“Even when police arrived to carry out the eviction, you took part in the trouble, and the part you took was to, on at least two occasions, throw rocks towards police officers.
“Fortunately for them, and now for you, no one was hit by any of your missiles, but nevertheless you took part in a well-known incident of public violence and one aimed towards police officers who were just doing their jobs.”
Egan was originally charged with violent disorder for his actions at the eviction, but the charge was dropped and changed to affray during court proceedings.
...but he still plans Wickford wedding
PADRAIG Egan’s ban from Basildon won’t prevent him getting married in Wickford this summer.
The six-month order preventing the former Dale Farm traveller from entering the district will be over in time for his wedding at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, in London Road, in August.
Many Dale Farm Travellers worship at the church and Egan arranged to marry there because he has connections with its Catholic priest.
James McCrindell, mitigating, told the court: “Egan lived at Dale Farm for ten years so he developed ties in the area, but there’s no reason for him to come back to this county – save for his marriage he said was going to happen in August.”
The court also heard Egan was unable to pay any court costs because he had “never really worked” due to learning difficulties.
Mr McCrindell said Egan didn’t claim benefits and was supported by his family and the Traveller community.
The barrister added: “If he did claim benefits, his father wouldn’t be very pleased.”
Opposition From Residents Close To Proposed Uddens Traveller Site Grows - Dorset
Opposition amongst residents living near the proposed Gypsy and Traveller site is growing with a planned petition aimed at changing East Dorset District Council's mind on its location.
A Facebook page has also been set up and has already attracted 227 members (as of the writing of this article), as the campaign against East Dorset District Council's plans to build a fixed site for Gypsies and Travellers on Uddens Woodlands adjacent to the A31 hots up.
The public consultation for the proposed twenty five pitch Traveller sites closed on February the 10th yet residents are concerned their fears and wishes aren't being listened to by the council, especially after local residents felt they were practically ignored with regards to other contentious projects including the Canford Bottom Roundabout refit. The main focus of the opposition is that the proposed site is actually greenbelt land and many are concerned the government's new planning rules will make it easier for the plans to be pushed through against the wishes of the majority of residents.
Christchurch Council recently turned down a proposal for a seventeen-pitch site near their town and the hope is this ruling can be used as an example to help stop the Uddens site.
A Facebook page has also been set up and has already attracted 227 members (as of the writing of this article), as the campaign against East Dorset District Council's plans to build a fixed site for Gypsies and Travellers on Uddens Woodlands adjacent to the A31 hots up.
The public consultation for the proposed twenty five pitch Traveller sites closed on February the 10th yet residents are concerned their fears and wishes aren't being listened to by the council, especially after local residents felt they were practically ignored with regards to other contentious projects including the Canford Bottom Roundabout refit. The main focus of the opposition is that the proposed site is actually greenbelt land and many are concerned the government's new planning rules will make it easier for the plans to be pushed through against the wishes of the majority of residents.
Christchurch Council recently turned down a proposal for a seventeen-pitch site near their town and the hope is this ruling can be used as an example to help stop the Uddens site.
Birmingham Traveller claims he crushed a 1927 Rolls Royce worth £1.4m for scrap
IT should have been the find of a lifetime. But Alexander Thompson, 56, still winces over the dusty motor he says he bought for a few pounds from a farmer and sold for scrap.
Because the Birmingham Traveller later discovered the ‘old banger’ was in fact a limited edition 1927 Rolls Royce – one of only 12 ever made and worth £1.4 million.
Yet the historic find was compressed to the size of a hamper before Alexander discovered the terrible truth.
“The car was something to do with the Queen,” shrugged Alexander, who has lived for eight years in a caravan on a parcel of land in Great Barr.
“No point dwelling on it – you can’t change what has happened.”
Yet Alexander, a man who boasts Big Brother champ Paddy Doherty and X Factor’s Shayne Ward among his many relatives, hopes to recoup a percentage of that lost revenue through his first book.
Gypsy And Travellers Tales is a collection of 25 short, humorous, if at times dark, stories dealing with Alexander’s life.
Response to the book – launched in December – has been encouraging and it is already available in WH Smith and Waterstones and on the shelves of some New York stores.
That’s no mean feat for a man who struggles with literacy. At times, Alexander would sit in McDonald’s and get youngsters to scrawl down his anecdotes before passing the creased, crayoned sheets to a ghost-writer.
Harry Houdini would struggle to untangle the elaborate knot that binds likeable Alexander’s family.
Wife Dolly Thompson, 52, is his cousin. Two of their nine grandchildren are called Dolly Thompson. Celebrity traveller Paddy Doherty, a bare-knuckle champ, is uncle to those grandchildren. X Factor winner Shayne Ward is a second cousin.
The bride in reality show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’s most lavish coupling is his daughter-in-law’s sister, Bridget McCann.
And THIRTY of Alexander’s family appeared in the smash series – many as bridesmaids.
Life for the travelling fraternity has got better, he admitted – thanks in some parts to Paddy Doherty, who became a Gypsy role model.
“For a Traveller to go into Big Brother and go on to win it is a wonderful thing,” said Alexander proudly.
Perhaps the novel will catapult Alexander to the same heights as his two relatives. But he insists fame is not the driving force. These are simply tales that needed – like the tarmac he has spent a lifetime manipulating – to be laid down.
Because the Birmingham Traveller later discovered the ‘old banger’ was in fact a limited edition 1927 Rolls Royce – one of only 12 ever made and worth £1.4 million.
Yet the historic find was compressed to the size of a hamper before Alexander discovered the terrible truth.
“The car was something to do with the Queen,” shrugged Alexander, who has lived for eight years in a caravan on a parcel of land in Great Barr.
“No point dwelling on it – you can’t change what has happened.”
Yet Alexander, a man who boasts Big Brother champ Paddy Doherty and X Factor’s Shayne Ward among his many relatives, hopes to recoup a percentage of that lost revenue through his first book.
Gypsy And Travellers Tales is a collection of 25 short, humorous, if at times dark, stories dealing with Alexander’s life.
Response to the book – launched in December – has been encouraging and it is already available in WH Smith and Waterstones and on the shelves of some New York stores.
That’s no mean feat for a man who struggles with literacy. At times, Alexander would sit in McDonald’s and get youngsters to scrawl down his anecdotes before passing the creased, crayoned sheets to a ghost-writer.
Harry Houdini would struggle to untangle the elaborate knot that binds likeable Alexander’s family.
Wife Dolly Thompson, 52, is his cousin. Two of their nine grandchildren are called Dolly Thompson. Celebrity traveller Paddy Doherty, a bare-knuckle champ, is uncle to those grandchildren. X Factor winner Shayne Ward is a second cousin.
The bride in reality show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’s most lavish coupling is his daughter-in-law’s sister, Bridget McCann.
And THIRTY of Alexander’s family appeared in the smash series – many as bridesmaids.
Life for the travelling fraternity has got better, he admitted – thanks in some parts to Paddy Doherty, who became a Gypsy role model.
“For a Traveller to go into Big Brother and go on to win it is a wonderful thing,” said Alexander proudly.
Perhaps the novel will catapult Alexander to the same heights as his two relatives. But he insists fame is not the driving force. These are simply tales that needed – like the tarmac he has spent a lifetime manipulating – to be laid down.
Travellers' site decision will go to appeal bid - Gloucestershire
PLANS to create a Travellers' site near Tewkesbury will be decided on appeal.
Herbert Rogers wants to create an eight-pitch caravan site for Gypsies and Travellers on waste land at Claydon, a hamlet near Fiddington.
Tewkesbury Borough Council refused to grant planning permission in August of last year. It was not happy with the proposal after the county council said Mr Rogers did not own an embankment by the entrance to the site which meant visibility could be a problem in the future.
The borough received eight letters of objection to the proposal and two letters supporting it. The parish council was against the development.
Now Mr Rogers has appealed against the borough's decision to refuse the scheme.
It means it will be decided by the Bristol-based Planning Inspectorate, which will consider written representations from the various parties, followed by an inspector's site visit.
Herbert Rogers wants to create an eight-pitch caravan site for Gypsies and Travellers on waste land at Claydon, a hamlet near Fiddington.
Tewkesbury Borough Council refused to grant planning permission in August of last year. It was not happy with the proposal after the county council said Mr Rogers did not own an embankment by the entrance to the site which meant visibility could be a problem in the future.
The borough received eight letters of objection to the proposal and two letters supporting it. The parish council was against the development.
Now Mr Rogers has appealed against the borough's decision to refuse the scheme.
It means it will be decided by the Bristol-based Planning Inspectorate, which will consider written representations from the various parties, followed by an inspector's site visit.
Family of Travellers are evicted from Council site - Bradford
A family of Travellers has been evicted from Bradford Council’s official Esholt site.
Police joined Bradford Council officials to serve notice to the family and move them on.
The family had appealed to the Council in an effort to stay, but their bid was refused and the eviction went ahead on Wednesday.
According to the Council and police, it followed “ongoing problems” since the family moved on to the site illegally in December last year.
Supt Gary Baker, head of operations at Airedale & North Bradford Division, said: “We attended and supported their officers in the eviction of trespassers from the authorised site in Esholt.
“The family was asked to leave in the best interests of the settled community on the site. Following negotiations the family left peacefully and moved out of the Shipley area.”
Police joined Bradford Council officials to serve notice to the family and move them on.
The family had appealed to the Council in an effort to stay, but their bid was refused and the eviction went ahead on Wednesday.
According to the Council and police, it followed “ongoing problems” since the family moved on to the site illegally in December last year.
Supt Gary Baker, head of operations at Airedale & North Bradford Division, said: “We attended and supported their officers in the eviction of trespassers from the authorised site in Esholt.
“The family was asked to leave in the best interests of the settled community on the site. Following negotiations the family left peacefully and moved out of the Shipley area.”
Anger over Travellers in Newent after they are granted six months more time - Gloucestershire
TRAVELLERS should be given less time to leave their illegally occupied site in Newent, residents say.
Enforcement notices were served on the group in Southend Lane this week ordering the group to leave within six months. It is two years after a similar notice was issued.
Newent's mayor Len Lawton said:"Six months kind of rattles a bit. Ideally I think the community would have preferred it to be a shorter period of time.
"The Travellers there haven't done anything to find a new home for themselves, all they've done is try and consolidate that site as their own."
The latest attempt to remove them follows an appeal taken by Travellers following a previous enforcement notice in June 2009.
That appeal was lost but the planning inspector gave them two years temporary permission on the land to give them sufficient time for other sites to be identified.
The temporary period expired on 31 January this year.
On our website, www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk, readers were incensed the travellers had been granted six months grace.
Stuntgirl1 said: "They are there for good, you just have to face facts and get used to it."
CaptCX added: "These people move where they want, when they want and they seemingly have an army of sympathisers fighting their corner, allowing them to circumnavigate rules that the rest of us have to abide by."
But Woeyjoey said: "Well done the Forest of Dean District Council for having some backbone. Government inspectors have decreed that this site is unsuitable – time to go to an authorised site."
Qwerty05 said: "This is good news for Newent house owners. Prices will surely now go sky high."
Enforcement notices were served on the group in Southend Lane this week ordering the group to leave within six months. It is two years after a similar notice was issued.
Newent's mayor Len Lawton said:"Six months kind of rattles a bit. Ideally I think the community would have preferred it to be a shorter period of time.
"The Travellers there haven't done anything to find a new home for themselves, all they've done is try and consolidate that site as their own."
The latest attempt to remove them follows an appeal taken by Travellers following a previous enforcement notice in June 2009.
That appeal was lost but the planning inspector gave them two years temporary permission on the land to give them sufficient time for other sites to be identified.
The temporary period expired on 31 January this year.
On our website, www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk, readers were incensed the travellers had been granted six months grace.
Stuntgirl1 said: "They are there for good, you just have to face facts and get used to it."
CaptCX added: "These people move where they want, when they want and they seemingly have an army of sympathisers fighting their corner, allowing them to circumnavigate rules that the rest of us have to abide by."
But Woeyjoey said: "Well done the Forest of Dean District Council for having some backbone. Government inspectors have decreed that this site is unsuitable – time to go to an authorised site."
Qwerty05 said: "This is good news for Newent house owners. Prices will surely now go sky high."
Car park Travellers evicted - Bolton
TRAVELLERS have been evicted from a Bolton town centre car park.
The group of 15 to 20 caravans moved on to the Folds Road car park, behind the Dog and Partridge pub, on Monday. They were evicted from the site on Thursday and some have moved to Moss Bank Park while others have gone to Waters Meeting Road in Astley Bridge.
It is the fourth place they have been moved on from in the last few weeks. They have previously been at the former site of Bolton Technology College in Grosvenor Street, Breightmet Street, and Manchester Road. Bolton Council issued a notice for them to leave the latest sites within 24 hours and, if they fail to do so, they will obtain a court order to evict them
The group of 15 to 20 caravans moved on to the Folds Road car park, behind the Dog and Partridge pub, on Monday. They were evicted from the site on Thursday and some have moved to Moss Bank Park while others have gone to Waters Meeting Road in Astley Bridge.
It is the fourth place they have been moved on from in the last few weeks. They have previously been at the former site of Bolton Technology College in Grosvenor Street, Breightmet Street, and Manchester Road. Bolton Council issued a notice for them to leave the latest sites within 24 hours and, if they fail to do so, they will obtain a court order to evict them
Monday, 27 February 2012
Council stops bulldozing of site amid fears of Gypsy site development -
ACRES of land have been destroyed after bulldozers ripped out fences and pulled down trees in what residents fear may be part of plans to build a Gypsy site.
The unauthorised work at land off Biddulph Road, Fegg Hayes, near to the Chatterley Whitfield roundabout, has left the eyesore site exposed.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has served a 'Temporary Stop Notice' to halt any more work from going ahead.
It is not yet known who is responsible, but residents believe a family of Travellers hope to re-develop the land into a permanent Gypsy site.
The concerns come after plans by Sagid Munir won permission from the city council to replace Verdun House, which is on the same site, with a new building and a double garage.
A pensioner living in Petersfield Road, Chell, who wished not to be named, said: "I saw someone on the site the other day and I went over to them I asked what they were planning to do.
"He told me he was planning to put loads of caravans on there. The fences have already been pulled up, so it looks like something is being planned.
"There used to be horses on there too, but they have been moved somewhere."
"I wouldn't like it if it was Gypsies and they caused a lot of mess."
Fegg Hayes resident Pam Morris, of Oversley Road, added: "Somebody has moved on to the site and has taken the boundary fence up, as well as all of the hedgerows.
"There were diggers on there the other day which have removed everything.
"It's unbelievable what has been done. The space is huge and it looks a real mess now. It was a shock when I drove past it, I couldn't believe it.
"Whoever it was moved pretty fast because it was done in about two days."
Ann James, Councillor for Great Chell and Packmoor, has received a series of calls from concerned residents about plans for the site.
She said: "A notice has been put up which means whoever did this cannot move onto the site again.
"As far as I am aware it is greenbelt land and I know that the council will be replacing the fencing so the land is not exposed, and to stop people from moving back onto the land. They have made a mess."
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has confirmed that the land is both private and council-owned, and that the site will be monitored over the next few weeks.
A spokesman said: "The council has served a Temporary Stop Notice for unauthorised works on private and council land near Chatterley Whitfield roundabout. The works have now stopped and the site will be closely monitored.
"The council will try to prevent works starting again without the relevant authorisations in place.
"The Temporary Stop Notice seeks to prevent the importation of material onto the land and the re-contouring and levelling of the land."
The unauthorised work at land off Biddulph Road, Fegg Hayes, near to the Chatterley Whitfield roundabout, has left the eyesore site exposed.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has served a 'Temporary Stop Notice' to halt any more work from going ahead.
It is not yet known who is responsible, but residents believe a family of Travellers hope to re-develop the land into a permanent Gypsy site.
The concerns come after plans by Sagid Munir won permission from the city council to replace Verdun House, which is on the same site, with a new building and a double garage.
A pensioner living in Petersfield Road, Chell, who wished not to be named, said: "I saw someone on the site the other day and I went over to them I asked what they were planning to do.
"He told me he was planning to put loads of caravans on there. The fences have already been pulled up, so it looks like something is being planned.
"There used to be horses on there too, but they have been moved somewhere."
"I wouldn't like it if it was Gypsies and they caused a lot of mess."
Fegg Hayes resident Pam Morris, of Oversley Road, added: "Somebody has moved on to the site and has taken the boundary fence up, as well as all of the hedgerows.
"There were diggers on there the other day which have removed everything.
"It's unbelievable what has been done. The space is huge and it looks a real mess now. It was a shock when I drove past it, I couldn't believe it.
"Whoever it was moved pretty fast because it was done in about two days."
Ann James, Councillor for Great Chell and Packmoor, has received a series of calls from concerned residents about plans for the site.
She said: "A notice has been put up which means whoever did this cannot move onto the site again.
"As far as I am aware it is greenbelt land and I know that the council will be replacing the fencing so the land is not exposed, and to stop people from moving back onto the land. They have made a mess."
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has confirmed that the land is both private and council-owned, and that the site will be monitored over the next few weeks.
A spokesman said: "The council has served a Temporary Stop Notice for unauthorised works on private and council land near Chatterley Whitfield roundabout. The works have now stopped and the site will be closely monitored.
"The council will try to prevent works starting again without the relevant authorisations in place.
"The Temporary Stop Notice seeks to prevent the importation of material onto the land and the re-contouring and levelling of the land."
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Stanley Travellers’ site plan - Yorkshire
TRAVELLERS could move into Stanley if they get planning permission for a new permanent site.
Landowners, believed to be from a family of English Romany Gypsies, are looking to build a site at Castle Gate, on grazing land off the M62.
Their plan, which has been submitted to Wakefield Council, comprises 10 residential pitches, with associated hard-standing, landscaping and utility rooms.
Coun Simon Wilson, of Stanley and Outwood East, said he expected the plan to cause a lot of discussion in the area and has asked for it to be called before a planning committee.
He said: “When people hear the word ‘Traveller’ they get nervous about what could happen, so I am expecting quite a lot of feedback on this.
“If local residents are neutral or supportive of the plan then that is the stance we would take. I have requested for it to be brought before the planning committee for obvious reasons.”
Coun Wilson said the fact the site is near to the proposed site for the new Wakefield Wildcats stadium, where there are currently fly-tipping issues, could be a concern.
Ian Thomson, the council’s service director for planning, transportation and highways, said: “This application has recently being received and is early in the checking process. It is being prepared for advertisement and consultation. The supporting documents are being processed and will be available to view on the Wakefield Council website next week.”
Wakefield already has one of the UK’s largest Travellers’ camps at Heath Common.
But council bosses announced last year that they would look to provide new permanent sites to deter groups of Travellers setting up illegally across the city.
In November, people in Walton managed to fend off unpopular plans for a Travellers site on land between The Grove and The Balk. A care home is set to be built on the patch instead.
Landowners, believed to be from a family of English Romany Gypsies, are looking to build a site at Castle Gate, on grazing land off the M62.
Their plan, which has been submitted to Wakefield Council, comprises 10 residential pitches, with associated hard-standing, landscaping and utility rooms.
Coun Simon Wilson, of Stanley and Outwood East, said he expected the plan to cause a lot of discussion in the area and has asked for it to be called before a planning committee.
He said: “When people hear the word ‘Traveller’ they get nervous about what could happen, so I am expecting quite a lot of feedback on this.
“If local residents are neutral or supportive of the plan then that is the stance we would take. I have requested for it to be brought before the planning committee for obvious reasons.”
Coun Wilson said the fact the site is near to the proposed site for the new Wakefield Wildcats stadium, where there are currently fly-tipping issues, could be a concern.
Ian Thomson, the council’s service director for planning, transportation and highways, said: “This application has recently being received and is early in the checking process. It is being prepared for advertisement and consultation. The supporting documents are being processed and will be available to view on the Wakefield Council website next week.”
Wakefield already has one of the UK’s largest Travellers’ camps at Heath Common.
But council bosses announced last year that they would look to provide new permanent sites to deter groups of Travellers setting up illegally across the city.
In November, people in Walton managed to fend off unpopular plans for a Travellers site on land between The Grove and The Balk. A care home is set to be built on the patch instead.
Farmland battle for Moston gipsy family is over - Cheshire
A GYPSY family have been denied permission to live on land that they already occupy.
Cheshire East Council’s southern planning committee members went against their officers’ recommendation when they unanimously refused Dennis Sheridan’s retrospective application.
The plans were to change the use of the agricultural land at Thimswarra Farm in Dragons Lane, Moston, to a residential caravan site including a mobile home, touring caravan and stable block.
Councillors refused the proposal on the grounds of sustainability and design. One concern was also raised that it was just for one family and not a community.
The site is already subject to an outstanding enforcement notice after similar plans were refused on March 17, 2011, and an appeal was dismissed on June 14, 2011.
At the time the plans said the site was for an ‘English traveller who has ceased to travel due to ill health and long standing disability’.
More than 20 people wrote letters objecting to the plans including Fiona Bruce MP.
Moston and Warmingham parish councils were also against the plans pointing out that the area already has the highest concentration of pitches in east Cheshire and is an ‘inappropriate development’ in open countryside.
Cheshire East Council’s southern planning committee members went against their officers’ recommendation when they unanimously refused Dennis Sheridan’s retrospective application.
The plans were to change the use of the agricultural land at Thimswarra Farm in Dragons Lane, Moston, to a residential caravan site including a mobile home, touring caravan and stable block.
Councillors refused the proposal on the grounds of sustainability and design. One concern was also raised that it was just for one family and not a community.
The site is already subject to an outstanding enforcement notice after similar plans were refused on March 17, 2011, and an appeal was dismissed on June 14, 2011.
At the time the plans said the site was for an ‘English traveller who has ceased to travel due to ill health and long standing disability’.
More than 20 people wrote letters objecting to the plans including Fiona Bruce MP.
Moston and Warmingham parish councils were also against the plans pointing out that the area already has the highest concentration of pitches in east Cheshire and is an ‘inappropriate development’ in open countryside.
Colum Kenny: Travellers are largely to blame for their negative image
IF Travellers want to be treated like everyone else, then they should not goad and incite one another into violence or beat one another up for power and money in front of their children.
And if they make a spectacle of themselves for television, then they can expect to be treated with less respect. Travellers may protest at the advertisements for Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, but it is their participation in the programme that is the real problem. Channel 4 parades people with unusual conditions or lifestyles in a variety of voyeuristic freak-shows. That's television.
"We're a separate ethnic group and will do what we want," seems to be the message of some Travellers. It is more a case of two fingers than two cultures. But the group is not so separate that it doesn't expect the settled community to help fund its lifestyle.
Last weekend on RTE, a vivid documentary took us inside the savage world of bare-knuckle boxing between the Quinn McDonaghs, Joyces and Nevins over 10 years.
"Drinking last night, fighting this morning. Couldn't give a damn," was the response of one.
Besides the fights themselves, the most striking part of the programme was the videos that Traveller men record to send to one another to cause trouble. These could scarcely be more provocative.
And last Monday, in Longford, Judge Seamus Hughes criticised what he said was "the goading and incitement of people" on such videos.
He bound to the peace nine people accused of behaving in a threatening, abusive and insulting manner in videos posted on YouTube as part of a feud between two Traveller families.
He said that there was an urgent need for representative organisations of the Travelling community to express revulsion at the "barbaric tradition" of bare-knuckle fighting. And the role of video is vital to the perpetuation of bare-knuckle boxing.
"It was not just winning that was important to them but being seen to win," said Ian Palmer, the director of RTE's documentary, on his own programme. He admitted that he had given the Travellers some of his own early footage and that they had incorporated this into one of their inflammatory videos.
RTE's programme itself may be used to stir up further violence. While some women who appeared on it lamented the custom of knuckle fights, others seemed to regard it as a sign of manhood. And some let even tiny children into the thick of it all.
If this is acceptable ethnic culture, then what is not? Yet it was clear from clothing (US-style sneakers and shorts, Newcastle football jersey) and body tattoos (Che Guevara and Yin-Yang symbols) alone, that there is no such thing as an entirely separate Traveller culture. And it was clear too that the fights were not just about family pride. There is big money involved. In one fight alone it amounted to £120,000 (€140,000).
When it comes to clothing citizens may wear whatever they want, usually. And if Travellers want big, brash weddings that allow settled people to feel sneeringly superior, then they are entitled to them.
But, as a community, they need to know what messages some of their number are sending out about the broader nation of which they are part.
An American academic at a Californian university contacted me lately after some of her students had seen Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on a US channel. She loves Ireland and was horrified by the image portrayed.
She wrote: "Obviously, the students do not know the difference between an 'Irish person' and an Irish Traveller. As I am American (and from California to boot) I thought I had seen just about everything and heard most of it, but I must admit I have never seen anything like this program.
"The lead-in makes the statement that it is one of the most watched programs in the UK. There is no priest in the US that would allow a child to come into the church for a first communion that was dressed like these children are dressed."
She added: "It really bothers me that my students cannot distinguish between what an Irish wedding or first communion would be like versus what is being shown on this horrible program."
But of course, there are crass programmes featuring settled people in the USA and UK. For example, Toddlers And Tiaras is a ghastly panorama of neurotic mothers and their Barbie-dolled-up daughters. Plenty of reality-TV shows are more demeaning for participants than is Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
And one could claim that at least where violence is up front, and subject to control by independent Traveller referees, as shown on RTE last week, it may me more honest than many of the subtler kinds of violence in settled communities. And Travellers do have admirable spirit and energy in them and family values that are to be envied in some ways.
But RTE's documentary was in danger of tipping over subtly into a romantic view of Travellers, not least by using the song Lost Highway as a sound track. This is associated with Hank Williams and is about being "all alone in life". It was irrelevant in the context of bustling Traveller homes in rural Ireland and west Dublin. And in posh England too, where we even met the Oxford Joyces!
This is an issue of real politics and not just personal lifestyle choice. Sometimes, as Shakespeare pointed out, discretion is the better part of valour. Most minority communities learn the wisdom of keeping their heads down and avoiding too much attention. This not the same as just letting people walk all over you.
For some citizens, there is nothing that Travellers could do that would make them acceptable company. No matter what, there will always be people who define troublesome minorities as "vermin" -- or "Irish Traveller vermin", to be more precise in the case of one current website.
This vicious site even boasts of being "glad that threads on our site promote physical violence. That is the best kind of violence there is." The words of settled people may be more dangerous than the ritualised combat of supervised bare-knuckle boxers.
But Travellers, like any other minority -- including Muslim enthusiasts for Sharia law and Jehovah's Witnesses -- need to sign up to basic enlightened values when it comes to living in western democracies. Freedoms and human rights have been hard won and are worth defending for everyone.
And if members of society are expected not to incite others to violence or to box dangerously, then Travellers who want to be treated equally need to make it as clear as possible that they embrace modern values based on the dignity of individuals, regardless of ethnic or religious background.
And if they make a spectacle of themselves for television, then they can expect to be treated with less respect. Travellers may protest at the advertisements for Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, but it is their participation in the programme that is the real problem. Channel 4 parades people with unusual conditions or lifestyles in a variety of voyeuristic freak-shows. That's television.
"We're a separate ethnic group and will do what we want," seems to be the message of some Travellers. It is more a case of two fingers than two cultures. But the group is not so separate that it doesn't expect the settled community to help fund its lifestyle.
Last weekend on RTE, a vivid documentary took us inside the savage world of bare-knuckle boxing between the Quinn McDonaghs, Joyces and Nevins over 10 years.
"Drinking last night, fighting this morning. Couldn't give a damn," was the response of one.
Besides the fights themselves, the most striking part of the programme was the videos that Traveller men record to send to one another to cause trouble. These could scarcely be more provocative.
And last Monday, in Longford, Judge Seamus Hughes criticised what he said was "the goading and incitement of people" on such videos.
He bound to the peace nine people accused of behaving in a threatening, abusive and insulting manner in videos posted on YouTube as part of a feud between two Traveller families.
He said that there was an urgent need for representative organisations of the Travelling community to express revulsion at the "barbaric tradition" of bare-knuckle fighting. And the role of video is vital to the perpetuation of bare-knuckle boxing.
"It was not just winning that was important to them but being seen to win," said Ian Palmer, the director of RTE's documentary, on his own programme. He admitted that he had given the Travellers some of his own early footage and that they had incorporated this into one of their inflammatory videos.
RTE's programme itself may be used to stir up further violence. While some women who appeared on it lamented the custom of knuckle fights, others seemed to regard it as a sign of manhood. And some let even tiny children into the thick of it all.
If this is acceptable ethnic culture, then what is not? Yet it was clear from clothing (US-style sneakers and shorts, Newcastle football jersey) and body tattoos (Che Guevara and Yin-Yang symbols) alone, that there is no such thing as an entirely separate Traveller culture. And it was clear too that the fights were not just about family pride. There is big money involved. In one fight alone it amounted to £120,000 (€140,000).
When it comes to clothing citizens may wear whatever they want, usually. And if Travellers want big, brash weddings that allow settled people to feel sneeringly superior, then they are entitled to them.
But, as a community, they need to know what messages some of their number are sending out about the broader nation of which they are part.
An American academic at a Californian university contacted me lately after some of her students had seen Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on a US channel. She loves Ireland and was horrified by the image portrayed.
She wrote: "Obviously, the students do not know the difference between an 'Irish person' and an Irish Traveller. As I am American (and from California to boot) I thought I had seen just about everything and heard most of it, but I must admit I have never seen anything like this program.
"The lead-in makes the statement that it is one of the most watched programs in the UK. There is no priest in the US that would allow a child to come into the church for a first communion that was dressed like these children are dressed."
She added: "It really bothers me that my students cannot distinguish between what an Irish wedding or first communion would be like versus what is being shown on this horrible program."
But of course, there are crass programmes featuring settled people in the USA and UK. For example, Toddlers And Tiaras is a ghastly panorama of neurotic mothers and their Barbie-dolled-up daughters. Plenty of reality-TV shows are more demeaning for participants than is Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
And one could claim that at least where violence is up front, and subject to control by independent Traveller referees, as shown on RTE last week, it may me more honest than many of the subtler kinds of violence in settled communities. And Travellers do have admirable spirit and energy in them and family values that are to be envied in some ways.
But RTE's documentary was in danger of tipping over subtly into a romantic view of Travellers, not least by using the song Lost Highway as a sound track. This is associated with Hank Williams and is about being "all alone in life". It was irrelevant in the context of bustling Traveller homes in rural Ireland and west Dublin. And in posh England too, where we even met the Oxford Joyces!
This is an issue of real politics and not just personal lifestyle choice. Sometimes, as Shakespeare pointed out, discretion is the better part of valour. Most minority communities learn the wisdom of keeping their heads down and avoiding too much attention. This not the same as just letting people walk all over you.
For some citizens, there is nothing that Travellers could do that would make them acceptable company. No matter what, there will always be people who define troublesome minorities as "vermin" -- or "Irish Traveller vermin", to be more precise in the case of one current website.
This vicious site even boasts of being "glad that threads on our site promote physical violence. That is the best kind of violence there is." The words of settled people may be more dangerous than the ritualised combat of supervised bare-knuckle boxers.
But Travellers, like any other minority -- including Muslim enthusiasts for Sharia law and Jehovah's Witnesses -- need to sign up to basic enlightened values when it comes to living in western democracies. Freedoms and human rights have been hard won and are worth defending for everyone.
And if members of society are expected not to incite others to violence or to box dangerously, then Travellers who want to be treated equally need to make it as clear as possible that they embrace modern values based on the dignity of individuals, regardless of ethnic or religious background.
Big Fat Gypsy goldmine: Behind the scenes claims that TV company has exploited Travellers to make it very rich indeed
It has been impossible to miss them over the past few weeks. Three words emblazoned across vast billboards, printed over images of teenage girls in tiaras and extravagantly frothy wedding dresses.
Three words that reveal everything about the subtlety of the programme they are advertising: Bigger, Fatter, Gypsier. The arrival of the second series of the Channel 4 documentary Big Fat Gypsy Weddings has been accompanied by the sort of fanfare reserved for guaranteed smash-hits.
The confidence is well-placed. The reality show exploring the lavish nuptials of young gypsy couples – in particular, the enormous, glitter-encrusted gowns worn by the brides – has become an unexpected phenomenon.
The first series, broadcast early in 2011, became the channel’s highest rating documentary of all time, peaking at 9.7 million viewers – equivalent to the last episode of Friends.
But the programme isn’t such a hit with many of the Travellers, who feel it only fuels prejudice against them. ‘The production company has shamelessly cashed in on the success of the show – and having seen it happen, many of the Gypsies have become angry that they are opening their lives to ridicule without seeing any of the rewards,’ says a source.
There are also disturbing allegations about what really goes on behind the scenes. According to sources close to the production, the company behind it, Firecracker Films, has made secret cash payments to gypsies to persuade them to appear. There has also been speculation as to why some of the male Gypsies in recent programmes have had their faces pixelated. And it is claimed the producers have rehearsed and reshot scenes and have egged on teenage girls to wear provocative clothing in a process described by insiders as ‘nurtured reality’.
But Firecracker is unabashed and determined to cash in on the phenomenon it has created. The company is lining up a series of specials to follow on from its festive money-spinner, My Big Fat Gypsy Christmas.
One will focus on Thelma Madine, the woman who makes the extraordinary wedding dresses. A second will be a My Big Fat Moonie Wedding version, which will follow British members of the cult as they prepare for a mass wedding ceremony. And there will be a series about American Gypsies.
Remarkably, Firecracker is even trying to produce a version focusing on the weddings of criminals, entitled, predictably, Big Fat Criminal Weddings.
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings began life as just a one-off Cutting Edge programme in 2010. Unexpectedly, it was a massive hit for Channel 4, attracting 5.3 million viewers, five times the normal total for Cutting Edge.
A full five-part series followed, ordered by Channel 4 commissioning editor Alistair Pegg, who claimed it would ‘answer some of the more probing questions raised by the first film’.
It was made by Firecracker, which was established by Mark Soldinger in one room in London’s Soho in 2003. The company had previously been known for so-called ‘shock docs’ with titles such as The Man Whose Arms Exploded!, The World’s Strongest Boy and Mermaid Girl.
Billed as a fascinating insight into the secretive world of the Traveller community, the programme revealed the eye-popping extravagance of Gypsy nuptials, in which the brides – average age 17 – don dresses so vast and bedecked with ornaments that they are often left with scars around their waists from the boning.
It also highlighted the dichotomy between the strict moral code obeyed by young Traveller girls – no dating, premarital sex or drinking – and their provocative way of dressing up.
But according to a source, finding enough Gypsies to fill a series in just ten months of production was very difficult for its makers, led by Jes Wilkins, Firecracker’s head of programmes and the executive producer of the series.
‘It is well known that payments were made to the Gypsies who appeared in the first series,’ claims the source. ‘It’s understood Firecracker paid cash for photographs and other expenses.’
But the series failed to answer many pertinent questions, such as where the gypsies found the six-figure sums often spent on the weddings.
And while it claimed to show the traveller way of life without judgement, members of the community were unhappy about the portrayal of gypsy girls as uneducated drudges, obsessed with outlandish clothing.
They also argued that the use of circus music and subtitles for Gypsies speaking English exploited the participants and invited viewers to mock them. Nonetheless, the programme made stars of some of its subjects, particularly Paddy Doherty, an Irish Traveller and former bare-knuckle boxer who went on to win Celebrity Big Brother last month.
The show also transformed the fortunes of Firecracker. The once tiny outfit is now 60-strong and operates from smart offices in Chelsea Harbour, with a second branch in Santa Monica, California, where Soldinger is based. Its turnover last year was £11 million and it is thought new figures will be much higher.
Shortly after Big Fat Gypsy Weddings was shown in Britain, the company secured a deal with American cable network TLC worth £2.6 million. The original British series was a surprise ratings hit in the US, and TLC commissioned Firecracker to produce an eight-part series called My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. It will be aired later this year and will explore the lives of Travellers – mostly Roma – living in the US. Although the US broadcasters were eager to own the rights to the programme, Firecracker has held on to them.
The first British series of BFGW has also been bought by other broadcasters around the world. To date, it has generated sales revenues of £3.5 million from deals in 81 territories, including countries in Africa, Central Europe and Latin America.
Firecracker is thrilled with its success. ‘Jes Wilkins has become known as the Gypsy King of TV since he hit the jackpot with the show,’ says a source. ‘They’re making a fortune, but they’re incredibly tight when it comes to production budgets.
The extravagant lifestyles of the community has meant it has a keen following
‘They’ve become known in the industry as being very ruthless.’
Firecracker is now experiencing a backlash from the gypsies who, despite the payments for the first series, do not feel they have made their fair share of the profits.
A source says the Gypsies are aware of the way they were portrayed in the first series and the money it made. For the second series, the Gypsies demanded more money, but it was then decided not to pay any of them. The argument was that fame should be enough – but it meant Firecracker struggled to get enough Gypsies to co-operate.
‘Some of the people shown in the new series had their faces obscured – they are the ones who refused to sign the consent forms because of disagreements with the programme’s makers,’ a source says. It is also claimed some scenes in the latest series are rehearsed prior to filming to ensure they meet the makers’ requirements.
For instance, last week’s show featured a 15-year-old girl planning her wedding, which will take place when she turns 16. She and her teenage friends were seen clad in provocative outfits – but the show source says: ‘They were encouraged by the producers to wear those skimpy outfits.’
Firecracker’s latest and most audacious idea, My Big Fat Criminal Wedding, is intended to give an insight into another secretive section of society – this time, people known and feared for their illegal activities. It is perhaps unsurprising that the project has proved more difficult than the company anticipated.
It has been suggested that some of scenes were recreated so that they met the requirements of the programme-makers
It has been suggested that some of scenes were recreated so that they met the requirements of the programme-makers
Many infamous criminals have been approached by the production company, but it is understood to be struggling to convince them to appear and has been reduced to trawling lapdancing clubs in London and Essex to find potential subjects.
Firecracker cannot pay contributors due to Ofcom rules stating criminals cannot benefit financially from their crimes. One of those approached was Freddie Foreman, who served 16 years in prison for his involvement in the disposal of the body of Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie, one of Reggie Kray’s victims. He declined to take part.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Weddings are a very personal thing and I turned Firecracker down because I thought they were really pushing their luck with a series about criminals’ weddings. The Gypsy series was bad enough. I mean, why would any self-respecting “face” want to allow cameras into such an event?’
Speaking on behalf of Channel 4 and Firecracker Films, a spokesman said: ‘The programme is an observational documentary series and we absolutely refute any allegations that any elements are staged. Everything featured is a fair and accurate reflection of what we experienced during filming. The producers of the show do not pay for the weddings and contributors are not paid.
‘In a few instances, a small facilitation fee may be given to cover any arrangements the participants have had to make to fit in with the filming schedule – for example covering loss of earnings or childcare arrangements, which is common practice in the industry.’
Three words that reveal everything about the subtlety of the programme they are advertising: Bigger, Fatter, Gypsier. The arrival of the second series of the Channel 4 documentary Big Fat Gypsy Weddings has been accompanied by the sort of fanfare reserved for guaranteed smash-hits.
The confidence is well-placed. The reality show exploring the lavish nuptials of young gypsy couples – in particular, the enormous, glitter-encrusted gowns worn by the brides – has become an unexpected phenomenon.
The first series, broadcast early in 2011, became the channel’s highest rating documentary of all time, peaking at 9.7 million viewers – equivalent to the last episode of Friends.
But the programme isn’t such a hit with many of the Travellers, who feel it only fuels prejudice against them. ‘The production company has shamelessly cashed in on the success of the show – and having seen it happen, many of the Gypsies have become angry that they are opening their lives to ridicule without seeing any of the rewards,’ says a source.
There are also disturbing allegations about what really goes on behind the scenes. According to sources close to the production, the company behind it, Firecracker Films, has made secret cash payments to gypsies to persuade them to appear. There has also been speculation as to why some of the male Gypsies in recent programmes have had their faces pixelated. And it is claimed the producers have rehearsed and reshot scenes and have egged on teenage girls to wear provocative clothing in a process described by insiders as ‘nurtured reality’.
But Firecracker is unabashed and determined to cash in on the phenomenon it has created. The company is lining up a series of specials to follow on from its festive money-spinner, My Big Fat Gypsy Christmas.
One will focus on Thelma Madine, the woman who makes the extraordinary wedding dresses. A second will be a My Big Fat Moonie Wedding version, which will follow British members of the cult as they prepare for a mass wedding ceremony. And there will be a series about American Gypsies.
Remarkably, Firecracker is even trying to produce a version focusing on the weddings of criminals, entitled, predictably, Big Fat Criminal Weddings.
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings began life as just a one-off Cutting Edge programme in 2010. Unexpectedly, it was a massive hit for Channel 4, attracting 5.3 million viewers, five times the normal total for Cutting Edge.
A full five-part series followed, ordered by Channel 4 commissioning editor Alistair Pegg, who claimed it would ‘answer some of the more probing questions raised by the first film’.
It was made by Firecracker, which was established by Mark Soldinger in one room in London’s Soho in 2003. The company had previously been known for so-called ‘shock docs’ with titles such as The Man Whose Arms Exploded!, The World’s Strongest Boy and Mermaid Girl.
Billed as a fascinating insight into the secretive world of the Traveller community, the programme revealed the eye-popping extravagance of Gypsy nuptials, in which the brides – average age 17 – don dresses so vast and bedecked with ornaments that they are often left with scars around their waists from the boning.
It also highlighted the dichotomy between the strict moral code obeyed by young Traveller girls – no dating, premarital sex or drinking – and their provocative way of dressing up.
But according to a source, finding enough Gypsies to fill a series in just ten months of production was very difficult for its makers, led by Jes Wilkins, Firecracker’s head of programmes and the executive producer of the series.
‘It is well known that payments were made to the Gypsies who appeared in the first series,’ claims the source. ‘It’s understood Firecracker paid cash for photographs and other expenses.’
But the series failed to answer many pertinent questions, such as where the gypsies found the six-figure sums often spent on the weddings.
And while it claimed to show the traveller way of life without judgement, members of the community were unhappy about the portrayal of gypsy girls as uneducated drudges, obsessed with outlandish clothing.
They also argued that the use of circus music and subtitles for Gypsies speaking English exploited the participants and invited viewers to mock them. Nonetheless, the programme made stars of some of its subjects, particularly Paddy Doherty, an Irish Traveller and former bare-knuckle boxer who went on to win Celebrity Big Brother last month.
The show also transformed the fortunes of Firecracker. The once tiny outfit is now 60-strong and operates from smart offices in Chelsea Harbour, with a second branch in Santa Monica, California, where Soldinger is based. Its turnover last year was £11 million and it is thought new figures will be much higher.
Shortly after Big Fat Gypsy Weddings was shown in Britain, the company secured a deal with American cable network TLC worth £2.6 million. The original British series was a surprise ratings hit in the US, and TLC commissioned Firecracker to produce an eight-part series called My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. It will be aired later this year and will explore the lives of Travellers – mostly Roma – living in the US. Although the US broadcasters were eager to own the rights to the programme, Firecracker has held on to them.
The first British series of BFGW has also been bought by other broadcasters around the world. To date, it has generated sales revenues of £3.5 million from deals in 81 territories, including countries in Africa, Central Europe and Latin America.
Firecracker is thrilled with its success. ‘Jes Wilkins has become known as the Gypsy King of TV since he hit the jackpot with the show,’ says a source. ‘They’re making a fortune, but they’re incredibly tight when it comes to production budgets.
The extravagant lifestyles of the community has meant it has a keen following
‘They’ve become known in the industry as being very ruthless.’
Firecracker is now experiencing a backlash from the gypsies who, despite the payments for the first series, do not feel they have made their fair share of the profits.
A source says the Gypsies are aware of the way they were portrayed in the first series and the money it made. For the second series, the Gypsies demanded more money, but it was then decided not to pay any of them. The argument was that fame should be enough – but it meant Firecracker struggled to get enough Gypsies to co-operate.
‘Some of the people shown in the new series had their faces obscured – they are the ones who refused to sign the consent forms because of disagreements with the programme’s makers,’ a source says. It is also claimed some scenes in the latest series are rehearsed prior to filming to ensure they meet the makers’ requirements.
For instance, last week’s show featured a 15-year-old girl planning her wedding, which will take place when she turns 16. She and her teenage friends were seen clad in provocative outfits – but the show source says: ‘They were encouraged by the producers to wear those skimpy outfits.’
Firecracker’s latest and most audacious idea, My Big Fat Criminal Wedding, is intended to give an insight into another secretive section of society – this time, people known and feared for their illegal activities. It is perhaps unsurprising that the project has proved more difficult than the company anticipated.
It has been suggested that some of scenes were recreated so that they met the requirements of the programme-makers
It has been suggested that some of scenes were recreated so that they met the requirements of the programme-makers
Many infamous criminals have been approached by the production company, but it is understood to be struggling to convince them to appear and has been reduced to trawling lapdancing clubs in London and Essex to find potential subjects.
Firecracker cannot pay contributors due to Ofcom rules stating criminals cannot benefit financially from their crimes. One of those approached was Freddie Foreman, who served 16 years in prison for his involvement in the disposal of the body of Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie, one of Reggie Kray’s victims. He declined to take part.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Weddings are a very personal thing and I turned Firecracker down because I thought they were really pushing their luck with a series about criminals’ weddings. The Gypsy series was bad enough. I mean, why would any self-respecting “face” want to allow cameras into such an event?’
Speaking on behalf of Channel 4 and Firecracker Films, a spokesman said: ‘The programme is an observational documentary series and we absolutely refute any allegations that any elements are staged. Everything featured is a fair and accurate reflection of what we experienced during filming. The producers of the show do not pay for the weddings and contributors are not paid.
‘In a few instances, a small facilitation fee may be given to cover any arrangements the participants have had to make to fit in with the filming schedule – for example covering loss of earnings or childcare arrangements, which is common practice in the industry.’
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Islington’s Travellers add their voices to complaints over Big Fat Gypsy adverts
IRISH Travellers in Islington have joined the chorus of complaints about the Channel 4 programme My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, saying that it is symptomatic of the bullying and casual racism they are exposed to on a daily basis.
The series, currently being broadcast on Tuesdays, came under fire for its advertising campaign which saw hoardings emblazoned with the words “Bigger, Fatter, Gypsier”.
They provoked 100 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority and were condemned as racist and offensive.
Jenny Daly, a spokeswoman at Holloway Road’s Irish Traveller Movement and a former Islington Council worker, said the organisation regularly receives calls from Travellers about racism affecting their lives.
At a meeting of the Travellers with the Tribune one 49-year-old woman who didn’t want to be named, said: “That is like watching a show about English footballers and assuming that all English people live like that.
“Our lives are nothing like that. There are no flash cars or huge houses, we just try and get on like everybody else, but every day we face discrimination.
“The main reason we would take our daughters out of school is not to get them married, it’s actually because they’re getting bullied. Name calling, physical bullying, you name it, and it all hurts. It makes our community want to distance even more.”
A 24-year-old intern at the centre said: “Would anybody ever dare make a show called ‘Bigger, Fatter, Blacker’? No of course not. But racism against Travellers is still acceptable.
“That’s only going to change once there’s a real drive to stamp it out through education, through local politicians meeting us, talking about this discrimination when they’re giving speeches to large audiences, and making it clear that it’s unacceptable publicly. I’m not saying they can do all the work, but they can help.”
Ms Daly said part of the solution was for the Town Hall to become more involved with the community.
“A few months back we met a few senior managers from the council,” she said. “What came across was not that they didn’t want to engage with the communities, but they didn’t know where to start.
“There is no one site for Travellers in Islington, so the communities remain unseen and people presume they don’t exist. That means they’re not actively included in the equalities, inclusion and community strategies. So a cycle of distrust, disengagement and poor social outcomes continues.”
She added: “A lot of Travellers experience isolation, health problems, hardship, racism, so councillors and services need to know more about the community.”
The organisation said that two-thirds of the Traveller community live in housing, contrary to public perception.
The Irish Traveller Movement is also continuing with legal action against the JD Wetherspoon-owned Coronet pub in Holloway Road, alleging that 10 people who had attended a conference at the centre in November were denied access to the pub.
JD Wetherspoon vehemently denies racial discrimination. It says the group were stopped from entering the pub because there were too many of them and that allegations of discrimination are “unfair” and “wrong”.
The series, currently being broadcast on Tuesdays, came under fire for its advertising campaign which saw hoardings emblazoned with the words “Bigger, Fatter, Gypsier”.
They provoked 100 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority and were condemned as racist and offensive.
Jenny Daly, a spokeswoman at Holloway Road’s Irish Traveller Movement and a former Islington Council worker, said the organisation regularly receives calls from Travellers about racism affecting their lives.
At a meeting of the Travellers with the Tribune one 49-year-old woman who didn’t want to be named, said: “That is like watching a show about English footballers and assuming that all English people live like that.
“Our lives are nothing like that. There are no flash cars or huge houses, we just try and get on like everybody else, but every day we face discrimination.
“The main reason we would take our daughters out of school is not to get them married, it’s actually because they’re getting bullied. Name calling, physical bullying, you name it, and it all hurts. It makes our community want to distance even more.”
A 24-year-old intern at the centre said: “Would anybody ever dare make a show called ‘Bigger, Fatter, Blacker’? No of course not. But racism against Travellers is still acceptable.
“That’s only going to change once there’s a real drive to stamp it out through education, through local politicians meeting us, talking about this discrimination when they’re giving speeches to large audiences, and making it clear that it’s unacceptable publicly. I’m not saying they can do all the work, but they can help.”
Ms Daly said part of the solution was for the Town Hall to become more involved with the community.
“A few months back we met a few senior managers from the council,” she said. “What came across was not that they didn’t want to engage with the communities, but they didn’t know where to start.
“There is no one site for Travellers in Islington, so the communities remain unseen and people presume they don’t exist. That means they’re not actively included in the equalities, inclusion and community strategies. So a cycle of distrust, disengagement and poor social outcomes continues.”
She added: “A lot of Travellers experience isolation, health problems, hardship, racism, so councillors and services need to know more about the community.”
The organisation said that two-thirds of the Traveller community live in housing, contrary to public perception.
The Irish Traveller Movement is also continuing with legal action against the JD Wetherspoon-owned Coronet pub in Holloway Road, alleging that 10 people who had attended a conference at the centre in November were denied access to the pub.
JD Wetherspoon vehemently denies racial discrimination. It says the group were stopped from entering the pub because there were too many of them and that allegations of discrimination are “unfair” and “wrong”.
Gypsy camp legal threat - Staffordshire
CAMPAIGNERS have threatened to take a council to court over controversial plans to build a Gypsy camp.
More than 7,000 residents have signed a petition against the proposed 12-pitch site being built in the countryside off Parkers Road and Kent Lane, in Coppenhall, near Crewe.
But campaigners say the site is unsuitable because of its size and location, cultural differences and lack of school places.
Speaking at yesterday's full meeting of Cheshire East Council, Glen Perris, chairman of Crewe Against Traveller Sites, said: "You have picked a fight with the wrong people and, if necessary, we will see you in court."
More than 7,000 residents have signed a petition against the proposed 12-pitch site being built in the countryside off Parkers Road and Kent Lane, in Coppenhall, near Crewe.
But campaigners say the site is unsuitable because of its size and location, cultural differences and lack of school places.
Speaking at yesterday's full meeting of Cheshire East Council, Glen Perris, chairman of Crewe Against Traveller Sites, said: "You have picked a fight with the wrong people and, if necessary, we will see you in court."
Friday, 24 February 2012
The ‘Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier.’ backlash
Last week, the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit (LGTU) mounted a protest in Hackney to protest against billboards promoting Channel 4′s documentary ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’ featuring the slogan, ‘Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier.’ The group says the posters are offensive to the Gypsy and Traveller community. A letter was hand-delivered to Channel 4’s head office in Westminster. ‘What does ‘Gypsier’ mean in this context and what do the images say about being a Gypsy?’ asked the letter. ‘The stereotype promoted is that of apparently alluring girls and young women and of menacing young men. It is hurtful and damaging to use the correct descriptive term for an ethnic group as a sly dig at that group,’ it continued. ‘We wonder if Channel 4 would have been so ready to use adverts with similarly compromising images and phrases like ‘Jewisher’ or ‘more Asian’ or ‘Blacker’?’
In a statement, Channel 4 said the campaign built on the ‘celebratory nature’ of the first series of ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’. ’The word ‘Gypsier’ refers to the fact that this series offers even greater access and insight into the communities featured…The terms ‘Gypsy’ or ‘Gypsier’ are not being used in a negative context,’ it said. We spoke to two Irish Travellers and one Romany Gypsy who live in the capital and asked them what they thought about the posters:
Tracie Giles, 39, Newham Travellers site
‘It is offensive and racist to Travellers. The people depicted are Irish Travellers, they are not even Gypsies, so as a Romany Gypsy myself, I find that offensive as they are not even referring to us correctly. I don’t know one person who thinks the programme or the recent posters are good for the traveller community. It is just peddling stereotypes. Only a handful of people in our communities look like that, and it is just using sensational images of young girls to sell the programme. Most travellers live in houses and they can’t tell their neighbours, friends or employers of their background because responses to this are usually overwhelmingly negative. Since the programme started I have heard cases of bullying because of the sort of images it promotes.’
Bridget (not her real name), a housed Traveller, Hackney
‘I have already heard of children being called names because of the series. Last time, some that I know had to be taken out of school because there were very negative responses towards Travellers during the last programme. Channel 4 should realise what they are doing by all this – or don’t they care? These adverts are stigmatising by the words and pictures they use. This programme is turning us into something we are not.’
Tom (not his real name), a housed Traveller Camden
‘What do they mean by Gypsier? Maybe it’s clever and funny to others, but to us who are Gypsies it’s mocking the word Gypsy which is our identity’. Would they use those kind of words for any other ethnic group ?’
In a statement, Channel 4 said the campaign built on the ‘celebratory nature’ of the first series of ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’. ’The word ‘Gypsier’ refers to the fact that this series offers even greater access and insight into the communities featured…The terms ‘Gypsy’ or ‘Gypsier’ are not being used in a negative context,’ it said. We spoke to two Irish Travellers and one Romany Gypsy who live in the capital and asked them what they thought about the posters:
Tracie Giles, 39, Newham Travellers site
‘It is offensive and racist to Travellers. The people depicted are Irish Travellers, they are not even Gypsies, so as a Romany Gypsy myself, I find that offensive as they are not even referring to us correctly. I don’t know one person who thinks the programme or the recent posters are good for the traveller community. It is just peddling stereotypes. Only a handful of people in our communities look like that, and it is just using sensational images of young girls to sell the programme. Most travellers live in houses and they can’t tell their neighbours, friends or employers of their background because responses to this are usually overwhelmingly negative. Since the programme started I have heard cases of bullying because of the sort of images it promotes.’
Bridget (not her real name), a housed Traveller, Hackney
‘I have already heard of children being called names because of the series. Last time, some that I know had to be taken out of school because there were very negative responses towards Travellers during the last programme. Channel 4 should realise what they are doing by all this – or don’t they care? These adverts are stigmatising by the words and pictures they use. This programme is turning us into something we are not.’
Tom (not his real name), a housed Traveller Camden
‘What do they mean by Gypsier? Maybe it’s clever and funny to others, but to us who are Gypsies it’s mocking the word Gypsy which is our identity’. Would they use those kind of words for any other ethnic group ?’
Bid to rename Stow Fair sparks controversy
THE lord of the Manor has laid down the law to strip Stow Fair of its title.
Stow Town Council now owns the ancient lordship which gives it rights to The Square and to hold two Charter markets a year.
It hopes to revive the markets – and the obvious name for them would be Stow Fair.
And it says the current bi-annual Gypsy and Travellers' gathering is not the proper Charter fair and should be called Stow Horse Fair instead.
Civic leaders have asked Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire County Council and other bodies which help co-ordinate the gathering, to change the name.
Controversy has raged for years over whether the existing fair, actually held in Maugersbury just outside Stow, was a true Charter event.
Supporters say changing the name now would create "confusion".
But Stow Mayor Robin Jones said: "The Gypsy gathering is nothing to do with the Charter whatsoever. We want to make it quite clear now that it's referred to in the proper way.
"The original Charter fair was a hiring fair where people presented themselves for work, from parlour maids to stable men. It had various Travellers' stalls and they began to call it Stow Fair – but it's not.
"It may come near the Charter's set dates, but the Gypsies never had the Charter and now we do."
He added: "It's possible we will re-institute bi-annual markets and the obvious name for them is Stow Fair. Thus to avoid any misunderstanding as to which event is being referred to it is important the two events are clearly differentiated."
The Abbey of Evesham obtained the Manor of Stow in 714 AD. In 1476 the abbot was granted a Charter for two fairs, on the nearest Thursday to May 12, the feast of Saints Philip and James, and October 24, the feast of St Edward the Confessor.
Former chairman of Stow and Maugersbury Action Group Graham Golby felt the title Stow Fair had been "usurped" by Gypsies.
But Stow Fair staunch supporter Roger George, also a town councillor, said: "To say they've have usurped the title is very unfair. The gypsies have actually continued a tradition.
"This event started off as a Charter Fair and has been one for all these years, the other market traders dropped out and the Gypsies went on.
"It's always been known as Stow Fair. It'll be confusing if a new Stow Fair starts up on the same dates. It's also known internationally as Stow Fair and people come from overseas so a change of name's going to confuse the world"
Stow Town Council now owns the ancient lordship which gives it rights to The Square and to hold two Charter markets a year.
It hopes to revive the markets – and the obvious name for them would be Stow Fair.
And it says the current bi-annual Gypsy and Travellers' gathering is not the proper Charter fair and should be called Stow Horse Fair instead.
Civic leaders have asked Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire County Council and other bodies which help co-ordinate the gathering, to change the name.
Controversy has raged for years over whether the existing fair, actually held in Maugersbury just outside Stow, was a true Charter event.
Supporters say changing the name now would create "confusion".
But Stow Mayor Robin Jones said: "The Gypsy gathering is nothing to do with the Charter whatsoever. We want to make it quite clear now that it's referred to in the proper way.
"The original Charter fair was a hiring fair where people presented themselves for work, from parlour maids to stable men. It had various Travellers' stalls and they began to call it Stow Fair – but it's not.
"It may come near the Charter's set dates, but the Gypsies never had the Charter and now we do."
He added: "It's possible we will re-institute bi-annual markets and the obvious name for them is Stow Fair. Thus to avoid any misunderstanding as to which event is being referred to it is important the two events are clearly differentiated."
The Abbey of Evesham obtained the Manor of Stow in 714 AD. In 1476 the abbot was granted a Charter for two fairs, on the nearest Thursday to May 12, the feast of Saints Philip and James, and October 24, the feast of St Edward the Confessor.
Former chairman of Stow and Maugersbury Action Group Graham Golby felt the title Stow Fair had been "usurped" by Gypsies.
But Stow Fair staunch supporter Roger George, also a town councillor, said: "To say they've have usurped the title is very unfair. The gypsies have actually continued a tradition.
"This event started off as a Charter Fair and has been one for all these years, the other market traders dropped out and the Gypsies went on.
"It's always been known as Stow Fair. It'll be confusing if a new Stow Fair starts up on the same dates. It's also known internationally as Stow Fair and people come from overseas so a change of name's going to confuse the world"
Dale Farm Travellers hope UN official's visit will end their plight
Evicted Travellers living near the Dale Farm site say they are surviving without water or electricity and have nowhere to go.
Confronted by a maelstrom of mud, broken fence posts and smashed up caravans, Jan Jarab, the first UN official to visit Dale Farm, asked the Travellers if this scene of utter devastation was worth fighting for. "Homes are worth fighting for," replied Candy Sheridan, the campaigner still seeking to find new pitches for the homeless families evicted from the scrapyard in Essex four months ago.
Jarab stressed his visit was not a publicity stunt as he refused to talk to the media on the first of a two-day fact-finding mission in which he met Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon council, the local Catholic priest, and evicted Travellers living in caravans without mains electricity or running water just outside Dale Farm.
Travellers are clinging to the hope that the presence of the European representative of the UN high commissioner for human rights will kick-start negotiations with Basildon council to help find a new site. Jarab will also discuss the issue with Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, on Friday.
Despite the £7.2m eviction of 80 families from Dale Farm after a 10-year legal battle, more than 50 children are still camped in caravans on the private road and land immediately outside the former site. "It's hell. Hell," said Nora Sheridan, 47. "We have no toilets. We have no electrics. We have to beg around for a sip of water. Look at the way we are living."
Travellers in the 18 caravans nose-to-tail on the rough track outside Dale Farm complain of constant illness, with raw sewage sloshing down the road from broken septic tanks on the illegal site, which is completely cleared of homes despite four pitches being legal.
All winter, Michelle Sheridan and her four children have had to drive to the sports centre and pay £3.50 every time they want a shower. They borrow the toilet belonging to neighbours on the legal Traveller site next door but some children are simply going to the toilet on the contaminated wasteland of the eviction site. Sheridan said she spent £56 every two weeks on a 47kg bottle of gas and £70 a week on petrol for the electric generator. The generator is not powerful enough to boil a kettle or run a washing machine so she must also spend £50 a week in the laundry to keep her children clean.
"We are at our wits' end," she said. "We wouldn't be here if we could get anywhere else to go – we've rung loads of Travellers, looked on websites, and asked the Gypsy council."
Other families insisted they also had nowhere else to go and stayed because they wanted their children to continue attending the local primary school, the only one in the country where Traveller pupils form a majority. Sheridan's mother, Mary Flynn, who has osteoporosis and suffers chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that has left her with a lung capacity "barely compatible with life" according to court medical evidence, has suffered another fracture since the eviction. "She is just breaking away," Sheridan said. "She's really gone downhill."
Although Sheridan and her mother own one of the legal pitches on Dale Farm she admitted it was looking "far fetched" that they would ever return. As obliged by the high court, Basildon council has returned electricity to the site – after four months. But the Travellers say no electricity company will reconnect them. In any case, the rubble makes it impossible to tow a caravan back on to the site.
Sheridan said she hoped that Jarab's visit – in which he apparently advised both sides to seek mediation – could herald her return to the negotiating table with Basildon council. "A lot of residents haven't moved away and are living amongst stagnant water and broken septic tanks but I would like to negotiate with Basildon about alternative sites," she said.
The Travellers have submitted applications for two alternative sites on nearby land. Another former site in the area from which Travellers were evicted is earmarked for new homes. Basildon council is now seeking the eviction of the Travellers living on the private road outside Dale Farm and Ball, the council leader, said it was "very disappointing" that the UN visit had been made public.
"The UN were very clear that their visit to Basildon should be confidential, and this has clearly been breached," he said. According to Ball, Jarab's visit was "not specific to Dale Farm" and they discussed "the future provision of sites across the country and changes to national policy".
Councils across the country have failed to claim £13m of £60m of government funding for new Traveller and Gypsy sites although the remaining £47m has now been allocated to proposals for 617 new pitches. Under the Localism Act, however, councils will have more powers to resist planning applications from Travellers, which are usually unpopular with local voters. According to Sheridan, the "knock-on effect" of the Dale Farm eviction has been anti-Traveller groups springing up across the country seeking to stop families identifying suitable sites. "We are more vilified than ever," she said.
Confronted by a maelstrom of mud, broken fence posts and smashed up caravans, Jan Jarab, the first UN official to visit Dale Farm, asked the Travellers if this scene of utter devastation was worth fighting for. "Homes are worth fighting for," replied Candy Sheridan, the campaigner still seeking to find new pitches for the homeless families evicted from the scrapyard in Essex four months ago.
Jarab stressed his visit was not a publicity stunt as he refused to talk to the media on the first of a two-day fact-finding mission in which he met Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon council, the local Catholic priest, and evicted Travellers living in caravans without mains electricity or running water just outside Dale Farm.
Travellers are clinging to the hope that the presence of the European representative of the UN high commissioner for human rights will kick-start negotiations with Basildon council to help find a new site. Jarab will also discuss the issue with Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, on Friday.
Despite the £7.2m eviction of 80 families from Dale Farm after a 10-year legal battle, more than 50 children are still camped in caravans on the private road and land immediately outside the former site. "It's hell. Hell," said Nora Sheridan, 47. "We have no toilets. We have no electrics. We have to beg around for a sip of water. Look at the way we are living."
Travellers in the 18 caravans nose-to-tail on the rough track outside Dale Farm complain of constant illness, with raw sewage sloshing down the road from broken septic tanks on the illegal site, which is completely cleared of homes despite four pitches being legal.
All winter, Michelle Sheridan and her four children have had to drive to the sports centre and pay £3.50 every time they want a shower. They borrow the toilet belonging to neighbours on the legal Traveller site next door but some children are simply going to the toilet on the contaminated wasteland of the eviction site. Sheridan said she spent £56 every two weeks on a 47kg bottle of gas and £70 a week on petrol for the electric generator. The generator is not powerful enough to boil a kettle or run a washing machine so she must also spend £50 a week in the laundry to keep her children clean.
"We are at our wits' end," she said. "We wouldn't be here if we could get anywhere else to go – we've rung loads of Travellers, looked on websites, and asked the Gypsy council."
Other families insisted they also had nowhere else to go and stayed because they wanted their children to continue attending the local primary school, the only one in the country where Traveller pupils form a majority. Sheridan's mother, Mary Flynn, who has osteoporosis and suffers chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that has left her with a lung capacity "barely compatible with life" according to court medical evidence, has suffered another fracture since the eviction. "She is just breaking away," Sheridan said. "She's really gone downhill."
Although Sheridan and her mother own one of the legal pitches on Dale Farm she admitted it was looking "far fetched" that they would ever return. As obliged by the high court, Basildon council has returned electricity to the site – after four months. But the Travellers say no electricity company will reconnect them. In any case, the rubble makes it impossible to tow a caravan back on to the site.
Sheridan said she hoped that Jarab's visit – in which he apparently advised both sides to seek mediation – could herald her return to the negotiating table with Basildon council. "A lot of residents haven't moved away and are living amongst stagnant water and broken septic tanks but I would like to negotiate with Basildon about alternative sites," she said.
The Travellers have submitted applications for two alternative sites on nearby land. Another former site in the area from which Travellers were evicted is earmarked for new homes. Basildon council is now seeking the eviction of the Travellers living on the private road outside Dale Farm and Ball, the council leader, said it was "very disappointing" that the UN visit had been made public.
"The UN were very clear that their visit to Basildon should be confidential, and this has clearly been breached," he said. According to Ball, Jarab's visit was "not specific to Dale Farm" and they discussed "the future provision of sites across the country and changes to national policy".
Councils across the country have failed to claim £13m of £60m of government funding for new Traveller and Gypsy sites although the remaining £47m has now been allocated to proposals for 617 new pitches. Under the Localism Act, however, councils will have more powers to resist planning applications from Travellers, which are usually unpopular with local voters. According to Sheridan, the "knock-on effect" of the Dale Farm eviction has been anti-Traveller groups springing up across the country seeking to stop families identifying suitable sites. "We are more vilified than ever," she said.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
A mocking kind of documentary
The realities of life for Travellers are too boring for tabloid TV. By Rosaleen McDonagh.
As an aunt of many nieces, some of whom are getting married this summer, watching Channel 4’s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has its own resonance. Sitting on the sofa with ten young beoirs (young women ) between the ages of 7 to 17, creates a sense of embarrassment, some anger and internalised shame.
“Do we know the beoir that’s getting married?” “Who are their family? How much freedom do they have compared to us? Are they made go to school the way we are?” The dresses, some of the comments: “Nah. I wouldn’t wear that yoke. Too big and too awkward. The sequins and the diamonds - I’d rather have something that I could show off for more than one day.” Comments about the bridesmaids’ dresses: “We all don’t wear them.” A 15-year-old: “The peer pressure to dress like that is unbelievable, it’s the boys, the young feins. They’re told if beoirs are not dolled up this way, they’re not worth looking at.” Another comment from a 17-year-old: “My wedding is in June. My dress is old-fashioned. Mammy is helping me make it. People are going to get a shock because I won’t wear a hoop but it’s not that kind of dress. Does that mean I’m not a real Traveller or it won’t be a real Travellers’ wedding?” From a 12-year-old: “She’s getting married - my sister - in five months and Daddy can’t get a hotel. If we were settled, that hotel would have been booked a year ago.”
The overall presentation is very much a distortion of the reality of our everyday lives. Like most of the population, weddings in families are a very excitable affair. They don’t happen every day or every week or even every year, so of course a wedding is a great occasion. The preparation and organisation for such a day is top priority for most families, and in particular the bride-to-be. Again, nothing unusual. The excitement and the build-up to such an event is palpitating. In the same breath, going to school with them to get the results of their GCSE or Leaving Cert exams is equally as palpitating, but that doesn’t really make a good story. Nor does the story that Traveller women die 11.5 years earlier than settled women or that two thirds leave school before the age of 15. This story is probably too real to make and too hard to watch.
These young beoirs (Traveller women) on the programme have had very little opportunity by way of educational prospects. Gender roles within the family and the wider Traveller community are so narrowly defined that criticising the beoirs in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding is unfair.
Like all tabloid telly, it needs to be flashy, tacky and quick. A narrator whose voice comes across as evocative and sensationalist, a camera angle that’s constantly positioned on young Traveller females’ breasts and bottoms, would seem very sexist in the making of a television documentary. Or as we Travellers like to call it, a “mockumentary”. It would also seem to contradict the questions from the narrator about Traveller beoirs (women) and freedom. They get asked about arranged or love-matched weddings; the inference made is of lack of autonomy and non-promiscuity, while the programme-makers are presenting these young beoirs as sexual objects.
Any 17-year-old in that situation, whether they be Traveller, Asian, Muslim, black or Caucasian, working class Irish, are vulnerable in the hands of documentary makers.
The series is uncomfortable viewing. Questions need to be asked. How often have members of my community – Travellers - been on television? When we are, who holds the camera, who edits, who is the target audience? And where is the balance by way of representation? Up to now, mainstream media has only ever wanted us for news items when we’re implicated in some negative way. These questions, particularly the one concerning how often we’re on television, raise issues of participation, power and social mobility.
Now seems to be the time when we, the Traveller community, get the fifteen minutes of fame that other communities have had, where their cultural norms and practices were ridiculed and criticised in the context of western, mainstream, middle class media. And it was always the women who were targeted for being old-fashioned, subservient, submissive to the family, unliberated. During the eighties and nineties, it was African and Asian women who were considered exotic to the mainstream gaze. Issues of diet; wearing the burkha; arranged marriages; female genital mutilation; and the women who are married to polygamists. Always and ever, this phenomenon of exoticisation was about ridicule and targeting young girls and women who didn’t always have right of reply. Funnily enough, it’s very rare that men get asked these questions about freedom and choices.
Now the light shines on us. A pretence - as if we’re this undiscovered group of people that the media are about to expose. We’ve always been here; however, when you get so far pushed out into the margins, a lack of trust builds up and you tend to become self-reliant on your own. No big mystery - it’s just a way of managing systemic racism in all aspects of our lives. The truth of the matter was and still is, settled people don’t want us around. Not as neighbours, not as schoolmates, college pals, work colleagues, partners, daughters-in-law. But that’s too boring for tabloid TV.
Rosaleen McDonagh is a community worker, political activist, academic and playwright
As an aunt of many nieces, some of whom are getting married this summer, watching Channel 4’s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding has its own resonance. Sitting on the sofa with ten young beoirs (young women ) between the ages of 7 to 17, creates a sense of embarrassment, some anger and internalised shame.
“Do we know the beoir that’s getting married?” “Who are their family? How much freedom do they have compared to us? Are they made go to school the way we are?” The dresses, some of the comments: “Nah. I wouldn’t wear that yoke. Too big and too awkward. The sequins and the diamonds - I’d rather have something that I could show off for more than one day.” Comments about the bridesmaids’ dresses: “We all don’t wear them.” A 15-year-old: “The peer pressure to dress like that is unbelievable, it’s the boys, the young feins. They’re told if beoirs are not dolled up this way, they’re not worth looking at.” Another comment from a 17-year-old: “My wedding is in June. My dress is old-fashioned. Mammy is helping me make it. People are going to get a shock because I won’t wear a hoop but it’s not that kind of dress. Does that mean I’m not a real Traveller or it won’t be a real Travellers’ wedding?” From a 12-year-old: “She’s getting married - my sister - in five months and Daddy can’t get a hotel. If we were settled, that hotel would have been booked a year ago.”
The overall presentation is very much a distortion of the reality of our everyday lives. Like most of the population, weddings in families are a very excitable affair. They don’t happen every day or every week or even every year, so of course a wedding is a great occasion. The preparation and organisation for such a day is top priority for most families, and in particular the bride-to-be. Again, nothing unusual. The excitement and the build-up to such an event is palpitating. In the same breath, going to school with them to get the results of their GCSE or Leaving Cert exams is equally as palpitating, but that doesn’t really make a good story. Nor does the story that Traveller women die 11.5 years earlier than settled women or that two thirds leave school before the age of 15. This story is probably too real to make and too hard to watch.
These young beoirs (Traveller women) on the programme have had very little opportunity by way of educational prospects. Gender roles within the family and the wider Traveller community are so narrowly defined that criticising the beoirs in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding is unfair.
Like all tabloid telly, it needs to be flashy, tacky and quick. A narrator whose voice comes across as evocative and sensationalist, a camera angle that’s constantly positioned on young Traveller females’ breasts and bottoms, would seem very sexist in the making of a television documentary. Or as we Travellers like to call it, a “mockumentary”. It would also seem to contradict the questions from the narrator about Traveller beoirs (women) and freedom. They get asked about arranged or love-matched weddings; the inference made is of lack of autonomy and non-promiscuity, while the programme-makers are presenting these young beoirs as sexual objects.
Any 17-year-old in that situation, whether they be Traveller, Asian, Muslim, black or Caucasian, working class Irish, are vulnerable in the hands of documentary makers.
The series is uncomfortable viewing. Questions need to be asked. How often have members of my community – Travellers - been on television? When we are, who holds the camera, who edits, who is the target audience? And where is the balance by way of representation? Up to now, mainstream media has only ever wanted us for news items when we’re implicated in some negative way. These questions, particularly the one concerning how often we’re on television, raise issues of participation, power and social mobility.
Now seems to be the time when we, the Traveller community, get the fifteen minutes of fame that other communities have had, where their cultural norms and practices were ridiculed and criticised in the context of western, mainstream, middle class media. And it was always the women who were targeted for being old-fashioned, subservient, submissive to the family, unliberated. During the eighties and nineties, it was African and Asian women who were considered exotic to the mainstream gaze. Issues of diet; wearing the burkha; arranged marriages; female genital mutilation; and the women who are married to polygamists. Always and ever, this phenomenon of exoticisation was about ridicule and targeting young girls and women who didn’t always have right of reply. Funnily enough, it’s very rare that men get asked these questions about freedom and choices.
Now the light shines on us. A pretence - as if we’re this undiscovered group of people that the media are about to expose. We’ve always been here; however, when you get so far pushed out into the margins, a lack of trust builds up and you tend to become self-reliant on your own. No big mystery - it’s just a way of managing systemic racism in all aspects of our lives. The truth of the matter was and still is, settled people don’t want us around. Not as neighbours, not as schoolmates, college pals, work colleagues, partners, daughters-in-law. But that’s too boring for tabloid TV.
Rosaleen McDonagh is a community worker, political activist, academic and playwright
Gypsy family to set up site in Wakefield
A family of Travellers is attempting to relieve West Yorkshire’s lack of authorised sites with a 10 new permanent pitches.
The landowners, who come from a family of English Romany Gipsies, have spoken out about their Leeds border plans, in Castle Gate, Stanley, Wakefield.
Their proposals would turn grazing land next to the M62 into 10 residential pitches, with associated hard-standing, landscaping and utility rooms.
A member of the family, who wished to remain anonymous, told the YEP: “It has been a major issue for years that there’s not enough sites. The opportunity to have a privately-run site, which a lot of people would in my opinion prefer, will obviously alleviate illegal camps.”
The site, which would be run as a business where residing families would be vetted, would be distanced from housing.
She said: “The council have been really supportive and not sort of said ‘you have no chance whatsoever’, they said ‘give us all the information and we will take it from there’. There’s a massive difference between private-run and council-run sites.”
In 2009 it was estimated that there was a shortfall of 86 traveller pitches in West Yorkshire.
Coun Simon Wilson (Con, Stanley and Outwood East) said: “However the pro-side puts its story, people hear the word traveller and don’t want it in their back yard and if that was their opinion I would support them.”
Coun Wilson said that one concern he anticipated from residents is the proximity to the proposed site for the new Wakefield Wildcats stadium, where there are currently fly-tipping issues.
A resident living nearby, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I wouldn’t particularly welcome 10 families living right next door in a small field.”
Leeds City Council, which has 41 permanent pitches, was recently given £1m of government funding for 12 more in the city, while Wakefield Council’s Heath Common site is already one of the UK’s largest permanent camps.
Ian Thomson, Wakefield Council service director of planning said the plans would be advertised and available to view on their website next week.
The landowners, who come from a family of English Romany Gipsies, have spoken out about their Leeds border plans, in Castle Gate, Stanley, Wakefield.
Their proposals would turn grazing land next to the M62 into 10 residential pitches, with associated hard-standing, landscaping and utility rooms.
A member of the family, who wished to remain anonymous, told the YEP: “It has been a major issue for years that there’s not enough sites. The opportunity to have a privately-run site, which a lot of people would in my opinion prefer, will obviously alleviate illegal camps.”
The site, which would be run as a business where residing families would be vetted, would be distanced from housing.
She said: “The council have been really supportive and not sort of said ‘you have no chance whatsoever’, they said ‘give us all the information and we will take it from there’. There’s a massive difference between private-run and council-run sites.”
In 2009 it was estimated that there was a shortfall of 86 traveller pitches in West Yorkshire.
Coun Simon Wilson (Con, Stanley and Outwood East) said: “However the pro-side puts its story, people hear the word traveller and don’t want it in their back yard and if that was their opinion I would support them.”
Coun Wilson said that one concern he anticipated from residents is the proximity to the proposed site for the new Wakefield Wildcats stadium, where there are currently fly-tipping issues.
A resident living nearby, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I wouldn’t particularly welcome 10 families living right next door in a small field.”
Leeds City Council, which has 41 permanent pitches, was recently given £1m of government funding for 12 more in the city, while Wakefield Council’s Heath Common site is already one of the UK’s largest permanent camps.
Ian Thomson, Wakefield Council service director of planning said the plans would be advertised and available to view on their website next week.
New Traveller family now wait to discover fate - Somerset
A GYPSY family's future is hanging in the balance after an appeal for them to remain on a 12-acre site near Bruton was heard on Tuesday.
The plans for two Traveller pitches at Hadspen Quarry were initially blocked by the council and have split the community.
Objectors fear the land could be overrun if it is made an official Gypsy site, while support has come from Castle Cary Primary School.
Planning inspector Mark Dakeyne listened to objectors and the applicant, district councillor Henry Hobhouse, who hopes to turn his 12-acre land at Green Lane into a permanent traveller site.
Although one caravan has moved off the land since plans were thrown out last year, a second caravan occupied by a couple and their 10-year-old daughter remains. Refusal was made on the grounds of no permanent water supply, safety at a junction accessing the land and sustainability.
Mr Hobhouse says the family has become an established part of the community and forcing them off the land would disrupt their daughter's education.
"The couple have been there since the 1995 Glastonbury Festival, arriving in a bus where they lived," he said.
"When their daughter was born in 2005, they moved into a caravan on the land.
"Annie cleans the local church and village hall and her partner works for me and for Michael Eavis during the Glastonbury Festival. He works all over the country erecting other festival tents.
"The couple have historically travelled to make a living but settled when their daughter was born."
The family will be forced off the land if the appeal against the council's decision fails.
Their daughter attends Castle Cary Primary School and a petition of more than 70 signatures supporting the application has been collected by head teacher Jane Evans.
When objectors questioned the family's right to be called Travellers, Mr Hobhouse said the family lived outdoors in a caravan by choice.
Planning inspector Mr Dakeyne said: "Lots of people go to the Glastonbury Festival but that does not give them the right to call themselves Travellers."
A duty under the 2004 Housing Act requires local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Showpeople, and to make adequate provision for them through the planning process.
South Somerset District Council has approved six new Traveller sites and three more are being considered, with ten required by 2015.
Protesters include nearest site neighbours, Rob and Lucy Comer at Hadspen Quarry.
"We are all worried that if this goes ahead it will set a precedent," said Mr Comer.
"If the council's requirement to provide more Traveller pitches increases in future, a pitch of this size would lend itself to expansion, either legally or illegally."
Pitcombe Parish Council chairman John Knight is concerned an incident 15 years ago on the land involving Travellers could be repeated.
He said: "There is considerable opposition in the village to the establishment of a traveller site at Higher Hadspen Quarry. Twenty-two caravans turned up en masse after the Glastonbury music festival one year and it took the authorities around five years to clear them all off the land."
Mr Hobhouse insisted any Travellers wishing to move on to his land in future would need permission first.
This was supported by revealing his previous efforts to remove illegal settlers.
"I do not and will not accept illegal Travellers coming onto my land," he said.
"I accept there have been incidents in the past, but when caravans tried to move onto the land in 2002, I physically removed them myself.
"I got a tractor and towed all 14 of them into a lay-by. The police tried to stop me as the vehicles had no road tax or insurance, but as they had no warrant I carried on until they were all off the site."
The county council highways department is concerned over the site entrance, stating a required 160-metre visibility for vehicles pulling out on to the main road is not achievable.
A final decision from the planning inspector is expected within three weeks.
See also: Family fears a 'tide of Gypsies'
The plans for two Traveller pitches at Hadspen Quarry were initially blocked by the council and have split the community.
Objectors fear the land could be overrun if it is made an official Gypsy site, while support has come from Castle Cary Primary School.
Planning inspector Mark Dakeyne listened to objectors and the applicant, district councillor Henry Hobhouse, who hopes to turn his 12-acre land at Green Lane into a permanent traveller site.
Although one caravan has moved off the land since plans were thrown out last year, a second caravan occupied by a couple and their 10-year-old daughter remains. Refusal was made on the grounds of no permanent water supply, safety at a junction accessing the land and sustainability.
Mr Hobhouse says the family has become an established part of the community and forcing them off the land would disrupt their daughter's education.
"The couple have been there since the 1995 Glastonbury Festival, arriving in a bus where they lived," he said.
"When their daughter was born in 2005, they moved into a caravan on the land.
"Annie cleans the local church and village hall and her partner works for me and for Michael Eavis during the Glastonbury Festival. He works all over the country erecting other festival tents.
"The couple have historically travelled to make a living but settled when their daughter was born."
The family will be forced off the land if the appeal against the council's decision fails.
Their daughter attends Castle Cary Primary School and a petition of more than 70 signatures supporting the application has been collected by head teacher Jane Evans.
When objectors questioned the family's right to be called Travellers, Mr Hobhouse said the family lived outdoors in a caravan by choice.
Planning inspector Mr Dakeyne said: "Lots of people go to the Glastonbury Festival but that does not give them the right to call themselves Travellers."
A duty under the 2004 Housing Act requires local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Showpeople, and to make adequate provision for them through the planning process.
South Somerset District Council has approved six new Traveller sites and three more are being considered, with ten required by 2015.
Protesters include nearest site neighbours, Rob and Lucy Comer at Hadspen Quarry.
"We are all worried that if this goes ahead it will set a precedent," said Mr Comer.
"If the council's requirement to provide more Traveller pitches increases in future, a pitch of this size would lend itself to expansion, either legally or illegally."
Pitcombe Parish Council chairman John Knight is concerned an incident 15 years ago on the land involving Travellers could be repeated.
He said: "There is considerable opposition in the village to the establishment of a traveller site at Higher Hadspen Quarry. Twenty-two caravans turned up en masse after the Glastonbury music festival one year and it took the authorities around five years to clear them all off the land."
Mr Hobhouse insisted any Travellers wishing to move on to his land in future would need permission first.
This was supported by revealing his previous efforts to remove illegal settlers.
"I do not and will not accept illegal Travellers coming onto my land," he said.
"I accept there have been incidents in the past, but when caravans tried to move onto the land in 2002, I physically removed them myself.
"I got a tractor and towed all 14 of them into a lay-by. The police tried to stop me as the vehicles had no road tax or insurance, but as they had no warrant I carried on until they were all off the site."
The county council highways department is concerned over the site entrance, stating a required 160-metre visibility for vehicles pulling out on to the main road is not achievable.
A final decision from the planning inspector is expected within three weeks.
See also: Family fears a 'tide of Gypsies'
Channel 4 responds to Big Fat Gypsy criticism
Channel 4 has responded to mounting criticism of its documentary series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. Nick Hornby, the channel’s commissioning editor for factual entertainment, yesterday published a long reply to the blogger Pipopotamus, whose open letter to C4 was widely shared on social networks at the weekend.
Hornby’s message defended the increasingly beleaguered series on the grounds that "the films are celebratory and I hope never derogatory", the programme as a whole is "fair and accurate" and "all aspects of the programme are told through the eyes of the contributors themselves, talking about their own experiences in their own words".
The Pipopotamus blog had dismissed Big Fat Gypsy Weddings as “a work of fiction”, going on to criticise it more specifically for its apparent focus on Irish, as opposed to Romany Travellers.
“It surprised me to discover that 99% of Britain's Gypsy and Traveller population are Irish,” the blogger wrote. "Just 10% of the Gypsy and Traveller population are actually Irish. The majority, like myself, are Romany, yet your 'documentary' seems to ignore our existence… you seem to be unaware that we are two distinct ethnic groups."
Hornby responded: "The programme fully acknowledges the distinctness of both communities. While it's true to say that Episode 1 of the new series features mainly Irish Travellers, the overall series features a range of both communities with some episodes entirely Romany."
Pipopotamus further criticised the portrayal of the Traveller community’s relationship with formal education: "You correctly identified that many Gypsy and Traveller children leave school at a young age, however you failed to mention that this is not because we are all born to terrible parents, but because our communities suffer from great social exclusion. State education fails to adapt to anything but mainstream culture… we are labelled as troublemakers and bullied for being different.
"You seem to have forgotten to feature those of us that do stay in education," the blog added.
Hornby replied to this as follows: "The series will explore this in detail a little further into the run, and feature a dedicated episode which looks at attitudes to education within different communities. Two of the contributors featured are Romany teenagers - one of whom has chosen to continue with her education, and one who has been taken out of school. The documentary explores exactly the points you make."
On the subject of "grabbing", a physically coercive courtship ritual shown in the series but - according to Pipopotamus - greatly exaggerated, Hornby said: "I can assure you that it is something that our production team repeatedly witnessed first-hand."
Hornby did not respond directly to two of Pipopotamus’ criticisms. The blogger had attacked Big Fat Gypsy Weddings on the subjects of sexualising children ("Your 'documentary' has an unhealthy obsession with little girls… [it] appears to be suggesting that we are inappropriately sexualising our children, yet the only people who [do that] are the viewers who watch them and think they are sexy") and the series’ trademark voluminous wedding dresses ("I'm yet to attend a wedding where the bride's dress weighs more than my whole family… you've been conned").
But Hornby did personally express sympathy for the blogger, who had reported being "subjected to physical attacks during your last series… which ultimately led to my expulsion from school (long story), whilst my 12 year old cousin was beat up on her way home from school by a gang of girls who were calling her a prostitute".
"I'm sorry to hear that you and your cousin have experienced abuse," Hornby said. "It is clearly unacceptable but I hope you agree that we cannot be held responsible for the actions of the public."
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings came under fire last week after C4 ran a huge advertising campaign with the slogan: “Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier.” One billboard in Leeds found itself daubed with the simple addendum “MORE RACIST” in huge letters, and the London Gypsy & Traveller Unit wrote to C4 to ask whether it would use “similarly compromising phrases for other ethnic groups: 'Jewisher' or 'more Asian' or 'Blacker'.”
C4 said participants in the series had approved the posters and that “gypsier” was “not being used in a negative context”.
Overnight ratings indicated that episode one of series two attracted 4.8 million viewers: high, but well below the series average of 7.3m in 2011.
Hornby’s message defended the increasingly beleaguered series on the grounds that "the films are celebratory and I hope never derogatory", the programme as a whole is "fair and accurate" and "all aspects of the programme are told through the eyes of the contributors themselves, talking about their own experiences in their own words".
The Pipopotamus blog had dismissed Big Fat Gypsy Weddings as “a work of fiction”, going on to criticise it more specifically for its apparent focus on Irish, as opposed to Romany Travellers.
“It surprised me to discover that 99% of Britain's Gypsy and Traveller population are Irish,” the blogger wrote. "Just 10% of the Gypsy and Traveller population are actually Irish. The majority, like myself, are Romany, yet your 'documentary' seems to ignore our existence… you seem to be unaware that we are two distinct ethnic groups."
Hornby responded: "The programme fully acknowledges the distinctness of both communities. While it's true to say that Episode 1 of the new series features mainly Irish Travellers, the overall series features a range of both communities with some episodes entirely Romany."
Pipopotamus further criticised the portrayal of the Traveller community’s relationship with formal education: "You correctly identified that many Gypsy and Traveller children leave school at a young age, however you failed to mention that this is not because we are all born to terrible parents, but because our communities suffer from great social exclusion. State education fails to adapt to anything but mainstream culture… we are labelled as troublemakers and bullied for being different.
"You seem to have forgotten to feature those of us that do stay in education," the blog added.
Hornby replied to this as follows: "The series will explore this in detail a little further into the run, and feature a dedicated episode which looks at attitudes to education within different communities. Two of the contributors featured are Romany teenagers - one of whom has chosen to continue with her education, and one who has been taken out of school. The documentary explores exactly the points you make."
On the subject of "grabbing", a physically coercive courtship ritual shown in the series but - according to Pipopotamus - greatly exaggerated, Hornby said: "I can assure you that it is something that our production team repeatedly witnessed first-hand."
Hornby did not respond directly to two of Pipopotamus’ criticisms. The blogger had attacked Big Fat Gypsy Weddings on the subjects of sexualising children ("Your 'documentary' has an unhealthy obsession with little girls… [it] appears to be suggesting that we are inappropriately sexualising our children, yet the only people who [do that] are the viewers who watch them and think they are sexy") and the series’ trademark voluminous wedding dresses ("I'm yet to attend a wedding where the bride's dress weighs more than my whole family… you've been conned").
But Hornby did personally express sympathy for the blogger, who had reported being "subjected to physical attacks during your last series… which ultimately led to my expulsion from school (long story), whilst my 12 year old cousin was beat up on her way home from school by a gang of girls who were calling her a prostitute".
"I'm sorry to hear that you and your cousin have experienced abuse," Hornby said. "It is clearly unacceptable but I hope you agree that we cannot be held responsible for the actions of the public."
Big Fat Gypsy Weddings came under fire last week after C4 ran a huge advertising campaign with the slogan: “Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier.” One billboard in Leeds found itself daubed with the simple addendum “MORE RACIST” in huge letters, and the London Gypsy & Traveller Unit wrote to C4 to ask whether it would use “similarly compromising phrases for other ethnic groups: 'Jewisher' or 'more Asian' or 'Blacker'.”
C4 said participants in the series had approved the posters and that “gypsier” was “not being used in a negative context”.
Overnight ratings indicated that episode one of series two attracted 4.8 million viewers: high, but well below the series average of 7.3m in 2011.
Stars of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding could face court
AN appearance on hit TV show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding could end in disaster for Travellers captured illegally racing horses on a Doncaster road.
Police are conducting inquiries after footage of Traveller Ambrose racing along a public road near Moorends was aired on Tuesday night’s programme.
During nail biting clips from the episode the horse and trap riders were seen swerving out of the way of oncoming vehicles, including a HGV on the public highway.
Police arrived on the scene after complaints from the public, but the Travellers - who had been betting on the race - denied they had been racing.
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Police are currently making inquiries and viewing the footage with a view of determining whether sufficient evidence exists to pursue a prosecution.”
During the show a commentator tells how illegal road racing often attracts crowds of up to 100 people.
Justifying the activity after Ambrose’s victory in the race, a spectator tells the camera the group did not breaking the law as horses were on the roads before vehicles.
The episode of the show followed Romany Gypsies and Travellers whose attempts to live a traditional life sometimes get them in trouble with the law.
see also: Big Fat Gypsy wedding stars could be prosecuted after C4 screens illegal horse and trap race on public road.
Police are conducting inquiries after footage of Traveller Ambrose racing along a public road near Moorends was aired on Tuesday night’s programme.
During nail biting clips from the episode the horse and trap riders were seen swerving out of the way of oncoming vehicles, including a HGV on the public highway.
Police arrived on the scene after complaints from the public, but the Travellers - who had been betting on the race - denied they had been racing.
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Police are currently making inquiries and viewing the footage with a view of determining whether sufficient evidence exists to pursue a prosecution.”
During the show a commentator tells how illegal road racing often attracts crowds of up to 100 people.
Justifying the activity after Ambrose’s victory in the race, a spectator tells the camera the group did not breaking the law as horses were on the roads before vehicles.
The episode of the show followed Romany Gypsies and Travellers whose attempts to live a traditional life sometimes get them in trouble with the law.
see also: Big Fat Gypsy wedding stars could be prosecuted after C4 screens illegal horse and trap race on public road.
Big Fat Gypsy Wedding ads cleared by watchdog
ASA says campaign is an accurate portrayal of the show despite more than 300 complaints that it is offensive and racist.
The advertising watchdog has cleared Channel 4's ad campaign for Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, despite more than 300 complaints from members of the public and the Traveller community that it is offensive and racist.
Channel 4's billboard campaign – which features the words "Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier" printed over images of Gypsy girls and children – also caused sponsor Honda to question its appropriateness.
The ASA received 316 complaints including submissions from the London Gypsy & Traveller Unit and London assembly members Jennette Arnold and John Biggs.
The advertising watchdog dismissed the complaints about the ad campaign – which included the allegation that the word "gypsier" was racist – explaining that the while the ads "might not be to everyone's taste" the campaign has not broken any advertising code rules.
Channel 4 was backed by the ASA, which stated that the imagery and text used in the campaign accurately "reflected the tone and content of the programme".
"We did not consider the ads were likely to cause serious or widespread offence or be seen as irresponsible or harmful and will not therefore be taking any further action," the ASA said in a statement.
Channel 4 maintained that people featured in the campaign had all given their consent, were "happy" with it, and that the word "gypsier" was not negative but instead meant the second series offered more insight to the Traveller and Gypsy communities.
The audience for Big Fat Gypsy Weddings dipped on Tuesday night to 4.4 million viewers against ITV1's Brit awards coverage, well down on the 5.7 million that watched the series opener last week.
The advertising watchdog has cleared Channel 4's ad campaign for Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, despite more than 300 complaints from members of the public and the Traveller community that it is offensive and racist.
Channel 4's billboard campaign – which features the words "Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier" printed over images of Gypsy girls and children – also caused sponsor Honda to question its appropriateness.
The ASA received 316 complaints including submissions from the London Gypsy & Traveller Unit and London assembly members Jennette Arnold and John Biggs.
The advertising watchdog dismissed the complaints about the ad campaign – which included the allegation that the word "gypsier" was racist – explaining that the while the ads "might not be to everyone's taste" the campaign has not broken any advertising code rules.
Channel 4 was backed by the ASA, which stated that the imagery and text used in the campaign accurately "reflected the tone and content of the programme".
"We did not consider the ads were likely to cause serious or widespread offence or be seen as irresponsible or harmful and will not therefore be taking any further action," the ASA said in a statement.
Channel 4 maintained that people featured in the campaign had all given their consent, were "happy" with it, and that the word "gypsier" was not negative but instead meant the second series offered more insight to the Traveller and Gypsy communities.
The audience for Big Fat Gypsy Weddings dipped on Tuesday night to 4.4 million viewers against ITV1's Brit awards coverage, well down on the 5.7 million that watched the series opener last week.
Evicted Gypsies make car park home - Cornwall
SEVEN caravans have moved onto a Cornwall Council car park after a Gypsy family [NB Irish Travellers not Gypsies]were forced off a site just 1km away.
The unauthorised encampment has been set up on the Moresk car park off Oak Way, Truro.
Last week a Gypsy family [Irish Travellers not Gypsies], who had set up camp on land at Truro Recreation Ground at Kenwyn, were served with a notice to quit.
The former rugby pitch was recently loaned by Truro City Council to host youth football matches, which had to be stopped when the family moved in.
Roger Gazzard, clerk at Truro City Council, confirmed the Kenwyn sports pitch had been cleared of vehicles.
He added: "They have left it very clean and tidy. There is no damage and the rubbish was left all bagged up.
"It means we can basically carry on with matches now."
Cornwall Council said it and Devon and Cornwall Police would monitor the "unauthorised encampment" on the car park and "endeavour to move them on as soon as possible".
Inspector Mark Richards, of Truro police, said: "We have monitored the situation at both sites and look out for any criminality or community tensions – we are not currently aware of any.
"We can only monitor the situation and take guidance from the landowner.
"They are not breaking the law."
He said the five vans and seven caravans on the car park were linked to the group who were camping in Kenwyn.
The unauthorised encampment has been set up on the Moresk car park off Oak Way, Truro.
Last week a Gypsy family [Irish Travellers not Gypsies], who had set up camp on land at Truro Recreation Ground at Kenwyn, were served with a notice to quit.
The former rugby pitch was recently loaned by Truro City Council to host youth football matches, which had to be stopped when the family moved in.
Roger Gazzard, clerk at Truro City Council, confirmed the Kenwyn sports pitch had been cleared of vehicles.
He added: "They have left it very clean and tidy. There is no damage and the rubbish was left all bagged up.
"It means we can basically carry on with matches now."
Cornwall Council said it and Devon and Cornwall Police would monitor the "unauthorised encampment" on the car park and "endeavour to move them on as soon as possible".
Inspector Mark Richards, of Truro police, said: "We have monitored the situation at both sites and look out for any criminality or community tensions – we are not currently aware of any.
"We can only monitor the situation and take guidance from the landowner.
"They are not breaking the law."
He said the five vans and seven caravans on the car park were linked to the group who were camping in Kenwyn.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Channel 4 series blamed for backlash against Travellers
Millions have tuned in to see the extravagant dresses, glow-in-the-dark wedding cakes and over-enthusiastic male suitors.
But while Big Fat Gypsy Weddings has been a ratings winner for Channel 4, many in Britain's Traveller community have complained that the show fuels discrimination and presents an inaccurate portrayal of their lives.
That criticism had been relatively muted until 17-year-old Pip McKenzie wrote an open letter to the broadcaster to express his disapproval. "We are not a joke, we are human beings and your work of fiction is only strengthening stereotypes and ignorance," he wrote.
Due to the show, Pip says he has been attacked, while his 12-year-old cousin was beaten up by girls calling her a prostitute. "I am sick of casual racism towards Gypsies and Travellers being tolerated," he told The Independent.
Pip's letter received over 50,000 hits online in under two days and many others have since spoken out against the show. Irish Traveller Christine Cawley, from London, said: "The series does not show the true lives of Gypsies or Irish Travellers. My daughter had to leave school because of being called names when the programmes were going out."
While the show focuses on a few wealthy individuals, the Gypsy and Traveller community is one of the most deprived groups in Britain, with a life expectancy 12 years below the national average. Child mortality is high, literacy extremely low. The show was recently criticised for a billboard campaign that used images of children and the slogan: "Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier." Campaigners complained the use of the word "gypsier" was "derogatory and demeaning", and the show's sponsor, Honda, expressed concerns.
A spokesman for the Irish Traveller Movement said they had tried to make Channel 4 aware of their concerns. "At a meeting, we introduced them to a young Irish Traveller girl who was bullied as a result of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. There's lots of bullying going on, because a lot of young kids watch these shows."
Such bullying is an extra deterrent for a community which has a difficult relationship with schools – 25 per cent of Gypsy children are not enrolled in education.
Julie Gorman, 30, is of Irish Traveller descent, and works helping Traveller children in County Durham. She said the show has had an economic impact: "People have stopped wanting Gypsies to work for them. The big weddings make them think Gypsies are loaded, so they must be getting ripped off."
A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: "We have strict protocols for any filming and absolutely refute any allegation the production team behaved inappropriately
But while Big Fat Gypsy Weddings has been a ratings winner for Channel 4, many in Britain's Traveller community have complained that the show fuels discrimination and presents an inaccurate portrayal of their lives.
That criticism had been relatively muted until 17-year-old Pip McKenzie wrote an open letter to the broadcaster to express his disapproval. "We are not a joke, we are human beings and your work of fiction is only strengthening stereotypes and ignorance," he wrote.
Due to the show, Pip says he has been attacked, while his 12-year-old cousin was beaten up by girls calling her a prostitute. "I am sick of casual racism towards Gypsies and Travellers being tolerated," he told The Independent.
Pip's letter received over 50,000 hits online in under two days and many others have since spoken out against the show. Irish Traveller Christine Cawley, from London, said: "The series does not show the true lives of Gypsies or Irish Travellers. My daughter had to leave school because of being called names when the programmes were going out."
While the show focuses on a few wealthy individuals, the Gypsy and Traveller community is one of the most deprived groups in Britain, with a life expectancy 12 years below the national average. Child mortality is high, literacy extremely low. The show was recently criticised for a billboard campaign that used images of children and the slogan: "Bigger. Fatter. Gypsier." Campaigners complained the use of the word "gypsier" was "derogatory and demeaning", and the show's sponsor, Honda, expressed concerns.
A spokesman for the Irish Traveller Movement said they had tried to make Channel 4 aware of their concerns. "At a meeting, we introduced them to a young Irish Traveller girl who was bullied as a result of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. There's lots of bullying going on, because a lot of young kids watch these shows."
Such bullying is an extra deterrent for a community which has a difficult relationship with schools – 25 per cent of Gypsy children are not enrolled in education.
Julie Gorman, 30, is of Irish Traveller descent, and works helping Traveller children in County Durham. She said the show has had an economic impact: "People have stopped wanting Gypsies to work for them. The big weddings make them think Gypsies are loaded, so they must be getting ripped off."
A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: "We have strict protocols for any filming and absolutely refute any allegation the production team behaved inappropriately
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