Gypsy group set for crunch talks on future of Brentwood sites - Essex

From the Brentwood Gazette

GYPSIES and Travellers across the borough are uniting in their bid to become a permanent part of Brentwood's landscape.

Dozens of families, living on pitches that currently only hold temporary permission, are set for crunch talks with Brentwood Borough Council, in an attempt to secure their homes in the long-term vision for the town – now being drawn up under the Local Development Plan.

They say it is their families' dream to finally settle down in a place they can "call home", but instead they have been left in limbo by years of uncertainty, causing stress and ill health.

Represented by the Brentwood Gypsy Support Group, families will meet the council's managing director Alison Crowe in a bid to secure permanent permission to stay and ensure the "natural growth" of the Gypsy community is part of the overall vision for the borough.

Bernadette Reilly lives at the Roman Triangle site in Roman Road, Mountnessing, which five families have called home for nine years.

In May they were given an extended 18 months to stay temporarily, but had hoped for permanent permission, having once been on a list of recommended sites drawn up by Brentwood Borough Council to reach regional targets set by the previous government.

Mrs Reilly, 40, who is chairman of the support group, said: "When we first moved here we were given 28 days to move out, then it was three years' temporary permission, five years after that and now it is 18 months.

"It is very stressful to be honest. My father is very, very sick and stressed out.

"We also have children in school. My second youngster is doing really well at Mountnessing Primary and his teacher says he is above average."

"We want to call Brentwood our home.

"The council do need to think about future generations of traveller families too."

Previously, a total of 15 pitches were recommended for permanent permission by Brentwood Borough Council as part of Regional Spatial Strategies, demanded by the previous Government. But these have been scrapped as part of changes made by the coalition Government.

Now the council will decide how to meet the needs of the traveller community, as part of its Local Development plan.

Over in Navestock, numerous sites have an unclear future, including families who have temporary permission to stay running out.

This includes Winnie Reilly, 64, who lives with her family, including two grandchildren, in Orchard View, Horseman Side, Navestock. Temporary permission runs out next year.

Mrs Reilly, who has handed a petition of about 100 names supporting the site, said: "We really want to stay here. I'm not in the best of health. I have arthritis, asthma and I was very sick for a long time.

"We also have to think about the little ones growing up and we need to think of school."

A newer arrival on the site is John Dooley, 21, whose family moved into his uncle's home in Orchard View just months ago. He says his uncle has been driven abroad by the uncertainty of the site's future.

Mr Dooley is living with his parents, sister, his three-year-old daughter and his sister's son, but fears for the future when the site's temporary permission runs out.

He said: "My daughter starts school in September here, but at the end of August next year we may have to take her out. Where do we go from there?"

At Hope Farm in Goatswood Lane, Navestock, Isobel Ward and her family have spent around £25,000 fighting to stay over the years and thought their future had been secured when they were named in the old regional plan.

All her five children have grown up at the site, including two sons who have represented GB in boxing, Robert and Martin. The latter is now signed up professionally.

Mrs Ward, who also has four grandchildren at the site, said: "To be honest it is getting to the stage where it is hard trying to find the money to get represented and go to the council.

"In November our temporary licence will run out and we have got to come up with fees again. We have lived here 10 years, my children have lived here, got married and have family here. The council has got to take steps to finalise what they are doing."

Over at the Willow Farm site in Stock Lane, Ingatestone, six families live at the sites included in the 15 pitches recommended to meet the needs of travellers in the borough.

Mark, who lives at site but does not want to give his surname, said they would take part in the talks, but remained sceptical that the borough council would take any action before their current temporary permission runs out next year.

He said: "We have always tried to negotiate with the council, but they don't want to negotiate with us.

"We have a relationship with the local community, we still go away and travel to events like fairs, but we want to stay in Brentwood."

Professor emeritus of Romani studies Thomas Acton, who is the secretary of the support group, said: "We hope to get a firm assurance from the council they will keep to what they said to the families who were promised security. If we do get that, it will be a terrific base for the future."

Brentwood's Labour Party leader, borough councillor Mike Le-Surf, with his wife councillor Julie Morrissey, organised the talks with the council.

He said: "The council must start looking at the issues in the context of people and families rather than sites and pitches."

The meeting is due to be held at the town hall on October 5.