Fenland councillors approve injunction to remove illegal Travellers to avoid ‘Dale Farm’ scenes

The council’s planning committee voted to apply for an injunction to remove seven mobile homes and seven caravans from Redmoor Lane, Elm. Planning chief Graham Nourse said there was little prospect of planning permission being granted. There were five options available to the Fenland District Council planning committee including a mandatory injunction, compulsory purchase, prosecution or take no action. The last was to take direct action, the approach Basildon Borough Council took, but was seen by council officers to be too “draconian.” Councillor David Connor said: “We have to do this the proper way as we have seen the problems if you don’t in the last six months at Dale Farm.” Councillor Mark Archer said: “If this involved an ordinary resident we would have rejected the plans, in an area with flooding issues such as this we would have said the property needs two storeys to be approved. “As we have seen at Dale Farm we can’t go in with direct action, there are people who live there who have health implications and we can’t threaten the people who live there, including the children. “We have done it the right way, and as far as I’m concerned the people who live there are there illegally and we can’t just put up with it because it would open the floodgates. “Fenland council has got a good relationship with the Travellers and we don’t want to upset them as they need a place to live.