Travellers seek £6m to sell Dale Farm land
I have been interested in the issue of the travellers and Dale Farm for some time. It doesn’t feel instinctively right from my perspective for them to be evicted, whatever the legal rights and wrongs. This latest twist in the story demonstrates the dilemmas local authorities face in seeking to make choices about emotive issues like this. The Travellers were prepared to leave for less than the cost of evicting them but more than the value of the site they are on. It will cost the Council £3.5 million on a point of principle to address this issue. What do you think about the situation as quoted in the article below:
“Travellers faced with eviction from Dale Farm have asked for £6m to sell the site and leave quietly ahead of a scheduled visit from bailiffs later this month, the local council has said. Council officials and community leaders held a series of secret meetings over six months as the two parties tried to avoid the forced clearances from 19 September. The Travellers’ representative Richard Sheridan proposed the deal to take residents to Birmingham or Scotland in return for money for the Greenbelt land they own but live on illegally. However, Council Leader Tony Ball called the price “hugely above market value” and turned down the offer, saying: “It would have been unacceptable to enter any agreement where the Travellers effectively profited from breaking the law and this was a step too far.”
As a side but equally important issue, particularly in the context of the current debate over the new National Planning Framework – I have a feeling a no challenges agenda to greenbelt per se has not done the viability or sustainability of rural England as much good as some might like to think – I am sure you will have views!