Traveller family sick of being treated 'like animals' - Somerset

From the Western Gazette

A Traveller family living near Merriott say they are fed up of being treated like “animals.”

Since moving to Eggwood Hill in May 2008, the Hughes family have been embroiled in a legal battle with the land’s owner, Somerset County Council.

Residents of nearby Lopen urged the authorities to take action at a recent council meeting, claiming the issue had been forgotten by the county council.

But mum Emma Hughes said her family are trying to find somewhere else to go and just want to be treated fairly while they wait for a new home.

“We are trying to move on. We are trying to do things the right way, we know we can’t stay on this site forever but at the moment we have nowhere else to go.”

Mrs Hughes said the family had been offered a six-week temporary slot on a “transit” Travellers’ site and the option of going on a waiting list elsewhere. But Mrs Hughes said had safety concerns about other sites.

“There’s no way I’m going to put my kids in danger,” she said.

The family has also unsuccessfully sought planning permission for a site in Haselbury Plucknett and are now appealing against its refusal.

Mrs Hughes said: “I wonder how other people would feel in our situation?

“We don’t have it easy here. We have no running water, we have to fill up a bowser once a fortnight and no electricity except for a generator. Living here is probably costing us more than people pay for council tax.”

The Eggwood site – which borders Merriott, Hinton St George and Lopen – is a beauty spot. Lopen residents have said that in recent years they feel it has become a “no-go area” for them.

But Mrs Hughes said this was unfair.

“People are calling us a problem, comparing us to animals. My kids are doing really well in school and none of them have ever been in trouble with the law,” she said.

“One of them is at Maiden Beech and won an award for doing the best in three subjects. People are not giving us a chance, my kids won’t have a proper education if they are moved all the time. They should have the same rights for education as everyone else.”

A county council spokesman told the Western Gazette last week the authority is preparing for fresh legal action over the unauthorised occupation of the site, but was also taking into account welfare, educational and health needs of the occupants, including six children.

The spokesman said: “We appreciate local residents are unhappy about the situation and we can assure them we are doing what we can to sort this matter out.”