Eviction for Travellers - Derbyshire

From the Matlock Mercury

Bailiffs have served an eviction notice on Travellers occupying a controversial site close to the Bakewell Showground.

The notice, which was served on Wednesday morning at 11am, gave the Travellers 24 hours to leave the site or face having their vehicles towed away.

A spokesperson for the Bakewell Show Committee, which owns the land, said they had taken the action to ensure planned events at their site could go ahead.

She said: “We have events starting at Easter and we’ve already had calls from people who have booked for events asking if they’ll still be there.

“We cannot afford to lose money this year and we need to give peace of mind to people leasing the ground.”

A series of meetings have been held to try to find a permanent site for Travellers in the Derbyshire Dales, but the spokesperson said they couldn’t wait any longer to have the Bakewell site cleared.

“I think we have been more than patient since they arrived on October 7,” she added.

But the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group, which supports Travellers in the county, said it was ‘disappointed’ with the decision to force them off the land.

Siobhan Spencer, from the DGLG: said: “It’s very difficult.

“We want to find somewhere that everyone is happy with - but that’s easier said than done.”

She said the Travellers would have no legal site for them to move onto within the Dales adding that the District Council had known about the need to find a permanent site for travelling families in the Dales for five years.