Travellers at Dale farm, Essex, vow to fight on as eviction countdown begins
You cant get much more evocative headlines than this. In my county (Lincolnshire) we have a strong traveller community and they have a long and important cultural context which is part (even if small) of our make up. There has always been a romanticism associated with the idea of travellers as well as a fear and in some places more significantly unpleasant sentiments.
Notwithstanding the pros and cons of this story I feel strongly we should do more work to understand and plan positively for our engagement with them. The article itself goes on to tell us
Traveller families at Dale farm have reaffirmed their intention to stay put at the start of a 28-day eviction period as it emerged that several homes will be spared from the mass removal.
The enforcement action will cost the local council in Crays Hill, Billericay, Essex, up to £8m. Eviction notices were issued in July but the 28-day countdown begins on Thursday.
The Travellers’ spokesman, Grattan Puxon, said three of the 54 plots would be saved but claimed there were few options left for families still residing illegally on the former scrapyard after plans to carry out the biggest eviction in British history were waved through at a meeting of Basildon council on Tuesday night.
“People are generally very desperate because this is a terrible threat which has been hanging over them for a number of years,” said Puxon. “Several of the residents are simply not well enough to go out on the road; it’s like a death sentence for them. People are certainly not leaving, though – they are determined to fight it out.”
Are there any good examples out there of stand offs of this nature being avoided by local authorities for the benefit of both the Council and the Travellers – or is there no way of squaring the circle of two radically different world views?