Travellers in Stapleford Tawney have 'nowhere to go' - Essex

From the East London and West Essex Guardian

Travellers who have been told they will be arrested if they do not vacate their current site insist they have “nowhere to go”.

Families currently occupying Birch Field in Epping Lane, Stapleford Tawney, have been ordered to leave by November 27 after a High Court ruling yesterday.

The group of 73, which has been there since August, is in breach of an existing order from 2006 banning Travellers from using the site.

All adults on the site have been sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, ranging from four to six months, for contempt of court having breached the 2006 order.

Stuart Hardwicke-Carruthers, acting as the group’s adviser, said the court order could have serious social consequences.

He said: “They have nowhere to go when they leave because a lot of the Traveller sites in Essex no longer exist.

“It’s no use just moving the problem on, they need somewhere to stay.

“They’ll probably head for Epping town centre and park outside the council.

Mr Hardwicke-Carruthers said there is no work in neighbouring counties and the families grew up in Essex.

He added that many of the group are suffering from whooping cough and Tuberculosis.

“We have applied to use this site for two years while somewhere else can be found and so children can access education and the group can access medical care,” he said.

“It’s a litmus test for how the council treat people with no housing. It’s not a very civil society which says ‘you can’t have a home because of green belt.’"

“If all the adults on the site are arrested what happens to the children?

“I’m not sure the council have thought it through.”