From Birmingham Mail
Campaigners have claimed victory after Meriden Gypsies scrapped a last-ditch legal bid to avoid eviction.
The Travellers, lead by Noah Burton, were due at London’s Court of Appeal on Tuesday to seek permission to remain on green belt in the Solihull village they illegally occupied nearly three years ago.
But after dropping the legal bid, the Gypsies now have until the end of March to leave the site.
Mr Burton said the U-turn was down to “money”, and that the legal challenge had exhausted the group’s funds.
The Travellers now have a matter of days to find somewhere else to live after planning officers previously rejected an attempt to set up an alternative site.
Local campaign group RAID welcomed the latest development, but have vowed to continue protests – which have so far lasted more than 1,000 days – until the Travellers leave the land.
RAID spokesman David McGrath said: “We go when they go.
“The council has offered the Travellers alternative accommodation and support and they should take it. The Travellers have strung this out for three years, costing the taxpayer a fortune. It is now time for them to turn over a new leaf, find lawful accommodation and take their place in society once again as neighbours not opponents.”
The Gypsies moved on to the land in May 2010, sparking a long-running legal battle by the council and locals to get them removed.
They have to leave by March 31 and have a further month to restore the area back to green belt status, after hammering out a deal with the council and the High Court last year.
Last month, the Travellers had pushed forward a planning application for two homes off Eaves Green Lane – a stone’s throw from their current illegal base.
The scaled-down plan had looked for approval to move two families into two mobile homes and a caravan, for one year. But Solihull Borough Council rejected the application.
A previous planning bid for seven pitches on the same site was also refused last November.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.