We will move travellers on says council leader - Essex

From the Basildon Recorder

TRAVELLERS still living illegally in Crays Hill will be moved on, a council leader insists.

Tony Ball, Basildon Council’s Tory leader, has vowed those who continue to flout regulations will be moved on despite concerns over delays.

It is nearly eight months since the multi-million pound eviction of Travellers at the illegal Dale Farm site took place. However, several caravans moved just a few yards, parking illegally at the neighbouring legal site.

About 15 caravans remain at the Oak Lane site, while around half of the 34 legal pitches are in breach of the maximum limit of one caravan and one mobile home each.

They were given 21 days to go in March, but refused to budge, and most have not co-operated with a council needs survey.

Residents in the village fear the council has lost the will to carry out another operation due to the cost of last autumn’s eviction and the intense media scrutiny it put the authority under.

Ramsden Crays Parish Council has also held a number of private talks with the borough council for an update, but received no firm commitment.

Mr Ball insisted action would be taken. He said: “There is continued civil disobedience at the adjacent Oak Lane site continuing to cause distress and disruption to the law-abiding residents of Crays Hill.

“I send this message to those who continue to flout the law and their supporters. This Conservative administration’s resolve to ensure the law of this land is upheld is undiminished.”

He said the council was likely to use the less costly injunction route rather than eviction, but would not commit to a date.

Mr Ball hinted the council believed many of the caravans in the road were not actually occupied by people who used to live at Dale Farm.

The council believes it could be being used as a transit base for Travellers and a tactic to call on the authority to provide more sites in the borough.

He said: “Intelligence suggests some of the people in the lane stay for up to a week, which is as long as they can take without proper facilities and toilets, and then others take their place.

“This could be in a bid to maintain the perception the eviction rendered many people homeless.”

Travellers and their supporters vehemently deny the claims and say those living there are from Dale Farm and have suffered a number of illnesses due to the conditions.