Dale Farm residents prepare for latest court ruling

High court judge is due to examine the case and rule on whether the eviction of Travellers at the Essex site can now take place The residents of Dale Farm are once again facing the prospect of imminent removal from their home as a judge prepares to rule on Friday morning whether the bailiffs can move in and mount one of the largest evictions in British history. Travellers at the site at Crays Hill, Essex, won an 11th-hour injunction on Monday that prevented authorities from clearing the land amid concerns about “over-enforcement” resulting in total clearance – including structures entitled to be there. But a judge at the Royal Courts of Justice is due to examine the case and rule on whether the eviction can now take place. Basildon council, which was ordered by Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart to serve a schedule on the residents specifying what was proposed for each of the 51 unauthorised plots, says it has now done that. Dale Farm residents, who had been told to remove the barricades to the site, have also complied with the court. Speaking on ITV’s Daybreak, Tony Ball of Basildon council said the council would “have no choice” but to mount its own appeal if the court rules against it at the hearing, expected at 11.30am. However in a separate interview he said that, if the injunction is lifted, authorities could be in a position to move in to the site on Saturday morning. “We need to get the site cleared,” Ball told the BBC. “Everyone agrees now that there has to be a resolution to this – the judges and the public at large and I think even the travellers.” On Monday, there was jubilation among travellers and protesters at the site when news reached them that Monday’s planned eviction had been halted, but they are now preparing for the high court judgment to go against them. Ball said that, since Monday, many Travellers had returned to the site in anticipation of being able to stay. There was a “concern”, he added, that the barricades could be moved back “very quickly” to form an obstacle for bailiffs. Basildon council’s fight to clear Dale Farm – and the 86 families who live there – has attracted considerable criticism in recent weeks . It emerged on Thursday that members of the International Expert Group Meeting on Forced Evictions, meeting at the UN Human Settlements Programme in headquarters in Nairobi, have written to the Traveller community expressing sympathy. The letter, signed by more than 30 representatives from different countries, said: “Repressive policies targeting Gypsies and Travellers disguised as planning regulations are discriminatory, whilst inclusive national strategies that are in line with human rights standards generate real progress in addressing issues of exclusion and marginalisation.” Dale Farm Roma, Gypsies and Travellers Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 23, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.