WALTHAM ABBEY: Anger at failure to evict illegal Gyspy encampment

PEOPLE are demanding answers after the district council failed to move on a group of Gypsies who have set up home in Waltham Abbey.

Two weeks ago the group, with 10 vehicles, set up camp on land in Old Shire Lane, owned by Epping Forest District Council.

Residents are angry that the council did not exercise its powers to impose a Section 61 notice, which would have forced the group to move on immediately.

The district council has now issued an alternative eviction notice on the Travellers, but this will have to be heard in court, and it could be weeks before the notice is enforced.

Residents now fear that Travellers who were evicted from the Dale Farm site near Basildon, and are seeking a place to settle, may now see Waltham Abbey as a soft touch and say the town could be hit by a series of illegal encampments.

Sue Calvert, chairwoman of the Waltham Abbey Residents’ Association, said: “The council have made Waltham Abbey vulnerable by not acting promptly. I know that landowners are worried and have had to spend a lot of money securing their property [against land invasions]. “I have asked the police and council why, in view of the vulnerability of the area to illegal camps, a Section 61 was not issued and have not had a satisfactory answer from police or councillors yet."