After £20m eviction comes the second battle of Dale Farm as at least 10 families move back onto the protected site
- Council says it will prosecute travellers who break injunction
- 'It is going to be just like it was before,' said one traveller
- Caravans on site are in breach of regulations
Last updated at 8:50 PM on 16th November 2011
At least 10 families have moved back onto the UK's largest illegal travellers' site after bailiffs and council officials completed the £20million Dale Farm clean-up operation.
Basildon Council has obtained an injunction to prevent reoccupation of the site after the removal of caravans and chalets from 51 unauthorised plots was completed on Monday.
But this morning, caravans had pulled back onto the illegal half of the site and many remain on the legal side, exceeding the authorised capacity.
The return: Less than a day after Basildon Council ended the £18m clearance operation of what was Europe's biggest illegal traveller site on Dale Farm in Essex, travellers have begun moving back on to the illegal site
Basildon council bosses said they are monitoring the situation and will resist any attempt to reoccupy Dale Farm.
The council has removed hard standings and placed earth embankments across the six acre site, preventing travellers resettling on their old plots. Travellers have parked alongside some of the plots and say they plan to see out the winter on Dale Farm.
Tony Ball, leader of Basildon Council, said attempts to reoccupy the site were unacceptable and put them in contempt of court.
'We are now looking carefully at any breaches on the legal pitches, he said. 'The travellers are fully aware of how many caravans and mobile homes they can have on any one site. They must not exceed this and if they do we will be taking action.
Council workers arrive armed with injunction notices at the Dale Farm site in Essex
He said that the council would continue to enforce the law and insisted the clearance was not motivated by prejudice.
Patrick Egan, who is entitled to remain in his house on the illegal site, said: 'Nobody would want to live here - the site is a mess, it's contaminated with asbestos and we have to use a generator for power.
'I am allowed to stay but I don't want to. We have come back because we have nowhere to go.
We fully expect the council to serve notices on us, telling us to leave.'If that happens, we will occupy car parks and roadsides in Basildon, anywhere that we can get access to. The council simply hasn't provided anywhere else for us to go.'
Europe’s largest illegal traveller camp has cost £20million so far to clear up, and residents are now worried another battle could be about to start.
Lining up: Dozens of touring caravans are lined up around the edge of the land on the remaining hard ground
£18m bombsite: The six acres of land, which have been likened to a 'bombsite' by locals, now stand largely empty
A traveller called Billy said: ‘We are going back on there and it is going to be just like it was before. The eviction was one big waste of money.
Europe¿s largest illegal traveller camp has cost £20million so far to clear up
‘We are tough people and we are hardy people, so we will be back on that land and starting all over again'.
The line of caravans increased over the past week with many traveller families timing their return from Ireland to coincide with the end of the clean-up work.
Basildon Council, which spent millions clearing the site, was granted a High Court injunction banning travellers from returning to the site in Crays Hill, Essex.
Len Gridley, 52, whose garden backs on to the site, fears that the threat of prison will not act as a deterrent.
‘I’m really worried that they are going to move back on to the site,’ he said. ‘There seems to be more caravans in the area. It’s a complete shambles.
‘The council should have completed the job properly instead of doing it half-heartedly. I think the travellers will come back on. There is no doubt about it.
‘The bailiffs have gone and now there is no security left on the site. What did they expect to happen?’
Bailiffs have spent four weeks removing chalets, caravans and concrete driveways after police gained control of the site on October 20.
New aerial photographs show how each plot on Dale Farm has been turned into deep craters.
Eyesore: The site is left looking like a bombsite, littered with more than 40 craters where bailiffs removed the concrete bases from each plot
Before the eviction: The dotted red line marks the boundary of the illegally occupied area where the Dale Farm travellers had set up their homes
Fences and several buildings have been left standing because of a High Court judgment protecting them.
Mr Gridley added: ‘It’s like a bombsite down at the bottom of my garden now and it is certainly no better than when the travellers were there.
‘I have waited for a decade for this moment and now I am left with an eyesore'.
Council leader Tony Ball said the authority would be applying for injunctions to move the caravans on.
He said: ‘They must seek planning permission before any more development of sites takes place and this is regardless to the fact that they may own the land.
‘Travellers must comply with the law in the same way as everyone else. Nobody wants to see another Dale Farm.’
When asked about the current condition of Dale Farm, he said: ‘We are also committed to restoring Dale Farm to a site in keeping with its green belt status, and would remind people that its current condition is only a temporary measure.
‘Now that the site clearance has been completed we will turn our attention to any remaining breaches of planning regulations on the site'.
Eviction protests: Flames engulf a caravan during evictions from Dale Farm travellers camp on October 19
Eviction process: Police rise up in a cherry picker to talk to protesters stood on a scaffold platform during evictions from Dale Farm travellers' camp on October 19
Travellers moved on to the greenbelt site a decade ago after buying the land. They then set up homes without planning permission.
The total cost of the clearance is expected to soar past £22million.
The long and bitter dispute between hundreds of travellers and Basildon Council came to a swift end last month when police and bailiffs moved on to the camp.
Activists and travellers who had pledged to ‘fight to the death’ held out for less than 48 hours before walking off the land to allow the full clearance operation to begin.
Many of the travellers are thought to be living yards away from where they were evicted, on the legal part of Dale Farm.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Dale Farm: After £20m eviction comes 2nd battle as travellers move back onto site | Mail Online
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