From the Derbyshire Times
Land at Watery Lane in Ashbourne has been withdrawn as a potential site for a Traveller family after the former owners refused to lift a covenant.
Derbyshire Dales District Council wrote to Nestle in October to ask if they would lift a legal agreement which stopped the authority – who now own the land – from developing the site.
But on December 20, Nestle refused to give permission.
Dorcus Bunton, district council chief executive, said: “Watery Lane would have been the most cost-effective option and the most appealing to the Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group (DGLG).”
A detailed report on the remaining potential sites will be presented at a meeting on January 22. Sites suggested by Derbyshire County Council will also be discussed.
Friday, 4 January 2013
Thursday, 3 January 2013
Anger as Travellers site planning decision adjourned for third time - Essex
From the Daily Gazette
A DECISION on whether to allow a stable block at a Travellers site to be turned into a living area has been adjourned for the third time.
Tendring Council’s planning committee was set to determine if Tom Doran could change the use of the building at the legal site in Gutteridge Hall Lane, Weeley.
However, the decision was postponed after a fault with the microphones meant members of the public could not hear what was going on.
Chairman Rosemary Heaney had to call time on the meeting at the council’s offices in Thorpe Road, Weeley.
Helen Lally, a resident who attended the meeting last night(thurs), said: “Many local people turned out for the third time to attend the meeting where the application was to be discussed.
“The microphones had not been charged, nor had the back up equipment.
“People in the public gallery pointed out they could not hear a word. At one point, Mrs Heany said she would continue the meeting.
“As the microphone fiasco continued and the public became more and more agitated and Mrs Heaney had to submit to the meeting being adjourned again.”
A DECISION on whether to allow a stable block at a Travellers site to be turned into a living area has been adjourned for the third time.
Tendring Council’s planning committee was set to determine if Tom Doran could change the use of the building at the legal site in Gutteridge Hall Lane, Weeley.
However, the decision was postponed after a fault with the microphones meant members of the public could not hear what was going on.
Chairman Rosemary Heaney had to call time on the meeting at the council’s offices in Thorpe Road, Weeley.
Helen Lally, a resident who attended the meeting last night(thurs), said: “Many local people turned out for the third time to attend the meeting where the application was to be discussed.
“The microphones had not been charged, nor had the back up equipment.
“People in the public gallery pointed out they could not hear a word. At one point, Mrs Heany said she would continue the meeting.
“As the microphone fiasco continued and the public became more and more agitated and Mrs Heaney had to submit to the meeting being adjourned again.”
Councillors urged to use rural hamlet as ‘stop over site’ for Travellers - Aberdeenshire
From the Sctotsman.com
ABERDEENSHIRE councillors are being urged to back controversial proposals to locate a permanent site for Gypsies and Travellers at a rural hamlet where a country fair has been held annually for more than 100 years.
Aikey Brae in the parish of Old Deer regularly attracts thousands of visitors every July for its summer fair. And it is now set to be used as a stop over site for travellers under proposals to go before a meeting of Aberdeenshire Council’s policy and resources committee next week.
Ritchie Johnson, the council’s director of Housing and Social Work, states in a report to the committee: “Aberdeenshire Council has for several years been endeavouring to identify areas of land with the potential to be developed as stop over sites for Gypsies and Travellers.
“Four locations have been identified in the Local Development Plan (LDP) but these may take several years to become established. Outwith the LDP no sites have so far been identified and it has not been possible to enter into any other meaningful discussions with landowners.”
He explains that, as a result, council officials had looked at sites on council-owned land at Fraserburgh, Ellon, Macduff, Peterhead and Old Deer which have been used as unauthorised encampments over the past few years as a potential alternative.
Mr Johnson states: “The sites at Fraserburgh and Peterhead are unsuitable as they are both along the beach and coast roads. The land at Ellon is not suitable as it is close to the town centre and Gypsies and Travellers prefer not to be located close to town centres.
“The two areas of land in Macduff are unsuitable as one is in the centre of an industrial area, which is not ideal for families and encampments with horses, and the other site has been let for industrial development
“The site at Aikey Brae, just outside Old Deer, is considered a feasible option. Aikey Brae continues to be used as an unauthorised encampment by the travelling community. There are already large areas of hard standing on the site, natural bunding in the quarry area and access to water. The number of complaints from near by residents has been negligible in the past and is generally acceptable as a suitable stopping place for Gypsies and Travellers”
He adds: “As the site has been used as an unauthorised Gypsy/Traveller stop over site for more than ten years a Certificate of Lawfulness under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 may be applied for. If a Certificate of Lawfulness is granted by an application, this would conclusively establish that Aikey Brae has been used as a stop over site, remove the need for planning permission for this use and make it immune from future enforcement action.”
He is recommending that the committee agrees in principle to establish the permanent site at Aikey Brae and to ask officials to report back on a detailed scheme, The council has already allocated up £128,000 in its capital plan to progress the establishment of a stop over site.
ABERDEENSHIRE councillors are being urged to back controversial proposals to locate a permanent site for Gypsies and Travellers at a rural hamlet where a country fair has been held annually for more than 100 years.
Aikey Brae in the parish of Old Deer regularly attracts thousands of visitors every July for its summer fair. And it is now set to be used as a stop over site for travellers under proposals to go before a meeting of Aberdeenshire Council’s policy and resources committee next week.
Ritchie Johnson, the council’s director of Housing and Social Work, states in a report to the committee: “Aberdeenshire Council has for several years been endeavouring to identify areas of land with the potential to be developed as stop over sites for Gypsies and Travellers.
“Four locations have been identified in the Local Development Plan (LDP) but these may take several years to become established. Outwith the LDP no sites have so far been identified and it has not been possible to enter into any other meaningful discussions with landowners.”
He explains that, as a result, council officials had looked at sites on council-owned land at Fraserburgh, Ellon, Macduff, Peterhead and Old Deer which have been used as unauthorised encampments over the past few years as a potential alternative.
Mr Johnson states: “The sites at Fraserburgh and Peterhead are unsuitable as they are both along the beach and coast roads. The land at Ellon is not suitable as it is close to the town centre and Gypsies and Travellers prefer not to be located close to town centres.
“The two areas of land in Macduff are unsuitable as one is in the centre of an industrial area, which is not ideal for families and encampments with horses, and the other site has been let for industrial development
“The site at Aikey Brae, just outside Old Deer, is considered a feasible option. Aikey Brae continues to be used as an unauthorised encampment by the travelling community. There are already large areas of hard standing on the site, natural bunding in the quarry area and access to water. The number of complaints from near by residents has been negligible in the past and is generally acceptable as a suitable stopping place for Gypsies and Travellers”
He adds: “As the site has been used as an unauthorised Gypsy/Traveller stop over site for more than ten years a Certificate of Lawfulness under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 may be applied for. If a Certificate of Lawfulness is granted by an application, this would conclusively establish that Aikey Brae has been used as a stop over site, remove the need for planning permission for this use and make it immune from future enforcement action.”
He is recommending that the committee agrees in principle to establish the permanent site at Aikey Brae and to ask officials to report back on a detailed scheme, The council has already allocated up £128,000 in its capital plan to progress the establishment of a stop over site.
Travellers should resist collective shame for slavery - Ireland
From the Irish Times
OPINION: The cruel actions of a family in England have horrified my community
‘Your crowd were at it again.” This came from a friend, referring to the recent sentencing of members of the Connors family for slavery offences in England.
The family are Travellers who exploited, beat and starved vulnerable men for financial benefit. The men who had been under the control of this family, some for more than 20 years, were paid £5 a day. Their living conditions were appalling. The images and the reports of the malnutrition and the treatment they suffered was evocative of an earlier century when white people carried out similar forms of cruelty on black people.
The collective shame and shock within my community was palpable when the news reports were broadcast. Traveller children were afraid to go to school the following morning. “Slave owners” was the taunt in the playground, in the classroom, in the library and even in the workplace.
The punishment is dished out to a whole community for the acts of individual criminals. My friend, using the phrase “your crowd”, not only articulated a false sense of familiarity – it was an attempt at goading.
Catapulted into guilt
The coverage of the Connors case catapulted my community into guilt. Guilt by association operates more intensely when it is embedded in a context of racism. The impulse was to keep our heads down, bury our shame and hold our silence. This is problematic. Silence can be toxic. Being falsely incriminated by way of one’s ethnicity should not mean that you collude with criminality.
The words of Traveller human rights activist Martin Collins came to my mind when I searched for a response to the taunt “your crowd”. Criminality is not part of Traveller culture nor part of our DNA.
Shame should not be used as a mechanism to hold a community to account. Collective shame should not have to be carried by the whole community for the behaviour of one small group. It should not have to be carried from one generation to another. My generation already carries many elements of shame – these are projected on to us by the mere fact that Travellers are “the other”.
Slavery, feuding, domestic violence and other forms of criminality are all too prevalent, not just within the Traveller community. The stereotypes and the misdefinition of Traveller identity gets reduced to these negative behaviours.
The exploitation of migrant workers, the mistreatment of domestic workers and the trafficking of women are forms of criminality that are societal rather than ethnic issues.
Internalised oppression can never be used as an excuse for criminality. Systemic oppression does, however, lead to behaviours whereby the oppressed, to feel powerful, will exploit other vulnerable people in inhumane ways. This modus operandi for internalised oppression manifests as a particular type of social contract.
Endemic alienation
This concerns itself with bullying and intimidation and serves as a form of fast-tracking of social mobility based on money, machismo, and bravado. Alienation can become so endemic within marginalised individuals and communities that crime can be perceived to have the most immediate rewards.
The rewards for buying into the dominant social contract include a sense of citizenship, belonging and opportunity. Esteem and dignity are on offer. Participation comes with rewards of access and choice.
However, in my community I know very few doctors, barristers, dentists, teachers, engineers or academics. The list of professions we are not a part of seems to get longer with each generation.
The crimes carried out by members of the Connors family are also attacks on the fabric of a vulnerable community. Exploitation and intimidation are not confined to victims beyond the community but also happen within the Traveller community.
This is often difficult to challenge or highlight. An imposed collective shame is difficult to shrug off. Challenging a false social contract based on crime is difficult in a context of racism. Exposing any kind of antisocial behaviour within a small community comes at a price. Individuals within our community do take on these tasks with integrity and courage. They are our agents for social change.
* Rosaleen McDonagh is a playwright from the Travelling community
OPINION: The cruel actions of a family in England have horrified my community
‘Your crowd were at it again.” This came from a friend, referring to the recent sentencing of members of the Connors family for slavery offences in England.
The family are Travellers who exploited, beat and starved vulnerable men for financial benefit. The men who had been under the control of this family, some for more than 20 years, were paid £5 a day. Their living conditions were appalling. The images and the reports of the malnutrition and the treatment they suffered was evocative of an earlier century when white people carried out similar forms of cruelty on black people.
The collective shame and shock within my community was palpable when the news reports were broadcast. Traveller children were afraid to go to school the following morning. “Slave owners” was the taunt in the playground, in the classroom, in the library and even in the workplace.
The punishment is dished out to a whole community for the acts of individual criminals. My friend, using the phrase “your crowd”, not only articulated a false sense of familiarity – it was an attempt at goading.
Catapulted into guilt
The coverage of the Connors case catapulted my community into guilt. Guilt by association operates more intensely when it is embedded in a context of racism. The impulse was to keep our heads down, bury our shame and hold our silence. This is problematic. Silence can be toxic. Being falsely incriminated by way of one’s ethnicity should not mean that you collude with criminality.
The words of Traveller human rights activist Martin Collins came to my mind when I searched for a response to the taunt “your crowd”. Criminality is not part of Traveller culture nor part of our DNA.
Shame should not be used as a mechanism to hold a community to account. Collective shame should not have to be carried by the whole community for the behaviour of one small group. It should not have to be carried from one generation to another. My generation already carries many elements of shame – these are projected on to us by the mere fact that Travellers are “the other”.
Slavery, feuding, domestic violence and other forms of criminality are all too prevalent, not just within the Traveller community. The stereotypes and the misdefinition of Traveller identity gets reduced to these negative behaviours.
The exploitation of migrant workers, the mistreatment of domestic workers and the trafficking of women are forms of criminality that are societal rather than ethnic issues.
Internalised oppression can never be used as an excuse for criminality. Systemic oppression does, however, lead to behaviours whereby the oppressed, to feel powerful, will exploit other vulnerable people in inhumane ways. This modus operandi for internalised oppression manifests as a particular type of social contract.
Endemic alienation
This concerns itself with bullying and intimidation and serves as a form of fast-tracking of social mobility based on money, machismo, and bravado. Alienation can become so endemic within marginalised individuals and communities that crime can be perceived to have the most immediate rewards.
The rewards for buying into the dominant social contract include a sense of citizenship, belonging and opportunity. Esteem and dignity are on offer. Participation comes with rewards of access and choice.
However, in my community I know very few doctors, barristers, dentists, teachers, engineers or academics. The list of professions we are not a part of seems to get longer with each generation.
The crimes carried out by members of the Connors family are also attacks on the fabric of a vulnerable community. Exploitation and intimidation are not confined to victims beyond the community but also happen within the Traveller community.
This is often difficult to challenge or highlight. An imposed collective shame is difficult to shrug off. Challenging a false social contract based on crime is difficult in a context of racism. Exposing any kind of antisocial behaviour within a small community comes at a price. Individuals within our community do take on these tasks with integrity and courage. They are our agents for social change.
* Rosaleen McDonagh is a playwright from the Travelling community
Essex: Dale Farm Travellers win planning permission for small site
From Independent Catholic News
Campaigners are welcoming the news that some members of the Irish Travelling Community evicted from their land in Dale Farm Essex, in 2011, have been given planning permission for asmall mobile home park by Basildon Council.
The decision to grant planning permission follows a long struggle over where the Travellers would go after they were forcibly moved in a major eviction operation which cost £7million. Some off the families crowded onto the nearby legal site. Others have been camped on a nearby lane with no facilities.
The new location will accommodate only 15 families and won't be ready for at least a year, but the change in policy has been seen as a break-through.
The successful planning application by the Irish Travellers Movement for a site at Gardiners Way represents the fifth attempt by and for over 80 Dale Farm Families who have, in many cases, never had a legal place to live. Block applications for the 52 illegal plots at Dale Farm went through three public inquiries from 2004. An attempt to re-site the community in Pitsea, though backed by then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, also failed.That was followed up by applications for other locations in the district, including Church Road and finally Gardiners Way. The latter was earlier rejected on a technicality before a fresh application was put together by the Irish Traveller Movement.The new plan includes a community building and play area.
Most of the Travellers are devout Catholics, attending Our Lady of Good Counsel parish church which has always been steadfast supporter of their cause.
Campaigners are welcoming the news that some members of the Irish Travelling Community evicted from their land in Dale Farm Essex, in 2011, have been given planning permission for asmall mobile home park by Basildon Council.
The decision to grant planning permission follows a long struggle over where the Travellers would go after they were forcibly moved in a major eviction operation which cost £7million. Some off the families crowded onto the nearby legal site. Others have been camped on a nearby lane with no facilities.
The new location will accommodate only 15 families and won't be ready for at least a year, but the change in policy has been seen as a break-through.
The successful planning application by the Irish Travellers Movement for a site at Gardiners Way represents the fifth attempt by and for over 80 Dale Farm Families who have, in many cases, never had a legal place to live. Block applications for the 52 illegal plots at Dale Farm went through three public inquiries from 2004. An attempt to re-site the community in Pitsea, though backed by then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, also failed.That was followed up by applications for other locations in the district, including Church Road and finally Gardiners Way. The latter was earlier rejected on a technicality before a fresh application was put together by the Irish Traveller Movement.The new plan includes a community building and play area.
Most of the Travellers are devout Catholics, attending Our Lady of Good Counsel parish church which has always been steadfast supporter of their cause.
Travellers’ site plan may be rejected - Yorkshire
From the Press
A MOVE aimed at allowing a Travellers’ site to remain close to a North Yorkshire village looks set to be blocked by councillors next week.
A report is due to go before Selby District Council’s planning committee about the situation on land near to New Road in Drax.
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, recently met residents who were concerned about the site, which was created without planning permission and is occupied by one family.
A retrospective planning application has now been submitted for the use, which councillors will consider on Tuesday.
A report to the meeting said: “The creation of a residential caravan site, for occupation by one Gypsy family, is acceptable in terms of its impact upon the character and appearance of the countryside, residential amenity and highway safety.”
However, planning officers called the site “a highly vulnerable development”, as it was located on a flood zone and faced “an unacceptable risk of flooding”.
Six residents filed objections to the site, which consists of three caravans and has been in the area for more than 18 months.
The parish council also objected, calling it “a blatant attempt to get round or ignore planning regulations and local opinion”, and “the thin end of the wedge, encouraging others to flout the regulations”.
The parish council said: “Selby District Council needs to carry out a full survey of the district and determine properly where Travellers’ sites need to be.”
The planning report recommends that permission for the change of use from undeveloped land should be refused.
A MOVE aimed at allowing a Travellers’ site to remain close to a North Yorkshire village looks set to be blocked by councillors next week.
A report is due to go before Selby District Council’s planning committee about the situation on land near to New Road in Drax.
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, recently met residents who were concerned about the site, which was created without planning permission and is occupied by one family.
A retrospective planning application has now been submitted for the use, which councillors will consider on Tuesday.
A report to the meeting said: “The creation of a residential caravan site, for occupation by one Gypsy family, is acceptable in terms of its impact upon the character and appearance of the countryside, residential amenity and highway safety.”
However, planning officers called the site “a highly vulnerable development”, as it was located on a flood zone and faced “an unacceptable risk of flooding”.
Six residents filed objections to the site, which consists of three caravans and has been in the area for more than 18 months.
The parish council also objected, calling it “a blatant attempt to get round or ignore planning regulations and local opinion”, and “the thin end of the wedge, encouraging others to flout the regulations”.
The parish council said: “Selby District Council needs to carry out a full survey of the district and determine properly where Travellers’ sites need to be.”
The planning report recommends that permission for the change of use from undeveloped land should be refused.
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Planners to review new Blyth site for Travellers - Northumberland
From chroniclelive.co.uk
PLANNING chiefs are having to look again at building a Travellers’ site in Blyth after local opposition.
Fourteen sites were originally identified and examined by the county council for the £311,000, eight-pitch temporary facility for Gypsy and Roma Travellers.
Land on the edge of an industrial estate in Ennerdale Road, Blyth, emerged as the preferred location, after it scored highest against a set of Government criteria.
Confirmation of the chosen site was expected to be given by the council’s executive two months ago – but a decision was deferred following requests to look more closely at other potential sites.
The postponement followed the submission of a 677-name petition from people in the Cowpen and Kitty Brewster area of Blyth, opposing the Ennerdale Road site and calling for others to be considered more fully.
Now a group, chaired by Conservative county councillor Glen Sanderson, has met for the first time, and asked officers to re-evaluate prospective sites using a re-modelled set of criteria.
Officers have also been asked to consult with other local authorities on best practice in providing transit sites for travellers, and report back to the task group with their findings in February.
Coun Sanderson said: “The task group were not convinced that Ennerdale Road is the right site and not persuaded that the correct and fully criteria was considered.
“We asked the officers to re-look at the checklist and that might bring up other sites which are less controversial.
“The last thing we want is to impose something on local people against their wishes.”
The re-modelled criteria to be used in re-assessing the sites includes proximity to an A-class road and accessibility, and proximity to public transport routes, health services, education and training.
It also includes whether the site will allow “harmonious relations and integrated co-existence,” with the local community, and issues such as flood risk.
PLANNING chiefs are having to look again at building a Travellers’ site in Blyth after local opposition.
Fourteen sites were originally identified and examined by the county council for the £311,000, eight-pitch temporary facility for Gypsy and Roma Travellers.
Land on the edge of an industrial estate in Ennerdale Road, Blyth, emerged as the preferred location, after it scored highest against a set of Government criteria.
Confirmation of the chosen site was expected to be given by the council’s executive two months ago – but a decision was deferred following requests to look more closely at other potential sites.
The postponement followed the submission of a 677-name petition from people in the Cowpen and Kitty Brewster area of Blyth, opposing the Ennerdale Road site and calling for others to be considered more fully.
Now a group, chaired by Conservative county councillor Glen Sanderson, has met for the first time, and asked officers to re-evaluate prospective sites using a re-modelled set of criteria.
Officers have also been asked to consult with other local authorities on best practice in providing transit sites for travellers, and report back to the task group with their findings in February.
Coun Sanderson said: “The task group were not convinced that Ennerdale Road is the right site and not persuaded that the correct and fully criteria was considered.
“We asked the officers to re-look at the checklist and that might bring up other sites which are less controversial.
“The last thing we want is to impose something on local people against their wishes.”
The re-modelled criteria to be used in re-assessing the sites includes proximity to an A-class road and accessibility, and proximity to public transport routes, health services, education and training.
It also includes whether the site will allow “harmonious relations and integrated co-existence,” with the local community, and issues such as flood risk.
ITMB publish new report on the Inclusion and ethnic monitoring of Gypsies and Travellers in the National Health Service
From the Irish Travellers Movement In Britain
Despite a lack of national data on the health status of Gypsies and Travellers, studies have revealed their health outcomes to be much poorer than the general population and also poorer than others in socially deprived areas. A 2012 report by the Ministerial Working Group on tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers confirmed that they have the lowest life expectancy of any group in the UK and continue to experience high infant mortality rates, high maternal mortality rates, low child immunisation levels, mental health issues, substance misuse issues and diabetes.
The aim of this research (carried out by ITMB) is to establish how many Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England conduct ethnic monitoring of Gypsies and Travellers and how aware and inclusive they are of Gypsies and Travellers health needs.
Read the full report here
Despite a lack of national data on the health status of Gypsies and Travellers, studies have revealed their health outcomes to be much poorer than the general population and also poorer than others in socially deprived areas. A 2012 report by the Ministerial Working Group on tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers confirmed that they have the lowest life expectancy of any group in the UK and continue to experience high infant mortality rates, high maternal mortality rates, low child immunisation levels, mental health issues, substance misuse issues and diabetes.
The aim of this research (carried out by ITMB) is to establish how many Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England conduct ethnic monitoring of Gypsies and Travellers and how aware and inclusive they are of Gypsies and Travellers health needs.
Read the full report here
Hackney Council intent on unprecedented High Court injunction against Irish Traveller family - London
From the Hackney Gazette
A petition with over 150 signatures has been handed to Hackney Council supporting the Traveller family facing an unprecedented High Court injunction, which could ban them from camping on any public land in the borough.
The McDonaghs hit the headlines last year after playing a three year cat and mouse chase across the borough with the council.
The family, made up of four couples and several children, were moved off land near Homerton Road in 2009 and again last March, before they moved onto Mabley Green, Stoke Newington Common and Millfields Park.
Mrs Annie McDonagh insists her Irish Traveller heritage has given her a “phobia of bricks and mortar”, and she and her family have nowhere else to live while they sit on the council’s long waiting list for an official pitch, of which Hackney has 17 – the third highest number in inner London.
A Freedom of Information request has now shown the council has spent over £200,000 on eviction-related costs over the last two years, on top of officer time.
Stoke Newington resident Doug Holton, of Alkham Road, got to know the McDonaghs when they were camped on Stoke Newington Common, and has collected 150 signatures on a petition, calling for the council to accommodate them on a temporary piece of unused land.
He believes this would be a simpler and cheaper solution to constant eviction – a view shared by the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit in London Fields.
“I believe the council is behaving inhumanely to this family and further they are not being prudent in their use of public money,” said Mr Holton.
But the council is set on the unprecedented step of a permanent injunction potentially banning all of the McDonaghs from all public land in Hackney.
The case will be heard in the High Court later this month.
An interim ‘Dale Farm’ style injunction banned the family from land near Olympic sites during the Games last year.
A council spokeswoman said they would not tolerate encampments by any group in the borough’s parks and open spaces.
“The council is committed not only to protecting our existing permanent sites, but to continue efforts to identify new sites,” she said.
“The shortage and cost of land makes the task extremely difficult.”
The family are currently living next to an Asda superstore just over the borough border in Leyton, where Waltham Forest council’s attempts at eviction have so far been unsuccessful.
A petition with over 150 signatures has been handed to Hackney Council supporting the Traveller family facing an unprecedented High Court injunction, which could ban them from camping on any public land in the borough.
The McDonaghs hit the headlines last year after playing a three year cat and mouse chase across the borough with the council.
The family, made up of four couples and several children, were moved off land near Homerton Road in 2009 and again last March, before they moved onto Mabley Green, Stoke Newington Common and Millfields Park.
Mrs Annie McDonagh insists her Irish Traveller heritage has given her a “phobia of bricks and mortar”, and she and her family have nowhere else to live while they sit on the council’s long waiting list for an official pitch, of which Hackney has 17 – the third highest number in inner London.
A Freedom of Information request has now shown the council has spent over £200,000 on eviction-related costs over the last two years, on top of officer time.
Stoke Newington resident Doug Holton, of Alkham Road, got to know the McDonaghs when they were camped on Stoke Newington Common, and has collected 150 signatures on a petition, calling for the council to accommodate them on a temporary piece of unused land.
He believes this would be a simpler and cheaper solution to constant eviction – a view shared by the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit in London Fields.
“I believe the council is behaving inhumanely to this family and further they are not being prudent in their use of public money,” said Mr Holton.
But the council is set on the unprecedented step of a permanent injunction potentially banning all of the McDonaghs from all public land in Hackney.
The case will be heard in the High Court later this month.
An interim ‘Dale Farm’ style injunction banned the family from land near Olympic sites during the Games last year.
A council spokeswoman said they would not tolerate encampments by any group in the borough’s parks and open spaces.
“The council is committed not only to protecting our existing permanent sites, but to continue efforts to identify new sites,” she said.
“The shortage and cost of land makes the task extremely difficult.”
The family are currently living next to an Asda superstore just over the borough border in Leyton, where Waltham Forest council’s attempts at eviction have so far been unsuccessful.
Councils set to gain fresh powers on Traveller sites
From Inside Housing
The government has moved closer to increasing councils’ powers to stop Gypsies and Travellers setting up camp on unauthorised land.
Local authorities could be able to move more quickly to stop illegal encampments and impose fines of up to £20,000, which could be increased to an unlimited amount.
A seven-week consultation will run until 13 February on proposals to give local authorities greater freedom to use ‘temporary stop notices’ on caravans breaching planning control.
This would revoke the Town and Country Planning (Temporary Stop Notice) (England) Regulations 2005 (Statutory Instrument 2005/206), which currently restricts councils from using the temporary stop notices when caravans are a main residence.
Councils now have to wait three days for a stop notice to take action against an illegally parked Gypsy or Traveller caravan, or 28 days for an enforcement notice to come into effect, which can be costly and more difficult to enforce.
The new power means a council can demand the breach of planning control stops immediately giving it 28 days to consider what further course of action to take.
If someone does not comply with the temporary enforcement notice they can be fined up to £20,000 on a summary conviction or an unlimited fine if it goes to crown court.
There is no right of appeal against a temporary stop notice, although it may be subject to a judicial review.
The consultation states: ‘The rights of Travellers must be respected and maintained, but so also must the rights of the wider community. Local councils need adequate powers to safeguard the amenity of the area against harmful unauthorised development.
‘Strengthening local councils’ powers to use temporary stop notices would assist in supporting councils’ existing efforts in addressing such unauthorised development and help further reduce this number [of unauthorised developments].’
The consultation also notes the availability of alternative sites for caravans used as main residences should be taken into account when using temporary stop notices.
It says the number of authorised Gypsy and Travellers sites in England has increased so the proportion of caravans on authorised land in January 2012 went up to 84.8 per cent (15,900 caravans of the total of 18,750 caravans in England) from 78.7 per cent in January 2007 (16,610 caravans out of a total of 16,610).
see also Gov.uk - Greater freedom for local councils to prevent unauthorised Traveller sites
The government has moved closer to increasing councils’ powers to stop Gypsies and Travellers setting up camp on unauthorised land.
Local authorities could be able to move more quickly to stop illegal encampments and impose fines of up to £20,000, which could be increased to an unlimited amount.
A seven-week consultation will run until 13 February on proposals to give local authorities greater freedom to use ‘temporary stop notices’ on caravans breaching planning control.
This would revoke the Town and Country Planning (Temporary Stop Notice) (England) Regulations 2005 (Statutory Instrument 2005/206), which currently restricts councils from using the temporary stop notices when caravans are a main residence.
Councils now have to wait three days for a stop notice to take action against an illegally parked Gypsy or Traveller caravan, or 28 days for an enforcement notice to come into effect, which can be costly and more difficult to enforce.
The new power means a council can demand the breach of planning control stops immediately giving it 28 days to consider what further course of action to take.
If someone does not comply with the temporary enforcement notice they can be fined up to £20,000 on a summary conviction or an unlimited fine if it goes to crown court.
There is no right of appeal against a temporary stop notice, although it may be subject to a judicial review.
The consultation states: ‘The rights of Travellers must be respected and maintained, but so also must the rights of the wider community. Local councils need adequate powers to safeguard the amenity of the area against harmful unauthorised development.
‘Strengthening local councils’ powers to use temporary stop notices would assist in supporting councils’ existing efforts in addressing such unauthorised development and help further reduce this number [of unauthorised developments].’
The consultation also notes the availability of alternative sites for caravans used as main residences should be taken into account when using temporary stop notices.
It says the number of authorised Gypsy and Travellers sites in England has increased so the proportion of caravans on authorised land in January 2012 went up to 84.8 per cent (15,900 caravans of the total of 18,750 caravans in England) from 78.7 per cent in January 2007 (16,610 caravans out of a total of 16,610).
see also Gov.uk - Greater freedom for local councils to prevent unauthorised Traveller sites
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