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Oscar winner and activist visits and defends community of 86 Irish Traveller families facing eviction from Essex site If it wasn’t the two strong cups of tea, it was the delicious smell of Mary Ann McCarthy’s “traditional Irish feast” of potatoes and cabbage bubbling on the stove that left Vanessa Redgrave in no doubt about the strength of community at Dale Farm. “I’d be happy to live here with them, that’s for sure,” declared the Oscar-winning actor and activist from the steps of McCarthy’s chalet. Describing Dale Farm as “a strong, wise, warm, gentle community”, Redgrave broke off from her filming schedule to meet the 86 Irish Traveller families who face eviction from the Essex site at midnight on Thursday. The largest unauthorised encampment of Travellers in Britain had never seen anything like it. After two bishops visited in the morning, came the actress. Children clustered round on bikes, dogs fell respectfully silent, and a purple doormat was shaken and laid out for her. “The whole situation is really about planning. There’s no crime being committed,” said Redgrave, standing by two ornamental cannon in McCarthy’s frontyard. “We used to live in communities. We had a post office and we had our little local shops, which would help elderly people. Our communities up and down the country have been decimated and destroyed. Dale Farm hasn’t.” But the Travellers who for 10 years have lived on this greenbelt land which they own close to Basildon will find their community smashed up unless a last-ditch temporary injunction before a high court judge succeeds on Wednesday. If they lose, an £18m eviction process will begin and bulldozers will tear up their chalets and caravans. Visibly moved, Redgrave admitted her determination to stick up for the Travellers of Dale Farm was personal and recalled her actor brother, Corin, who suffered “a crippling cardiac arrest speaking in defence of Dale Farm to Basildon council” in 2005 and never fully recovered. Would Corin Redgrave, who died last year, be disappointed to see Dale Farm a day away from eviction? “A big society is a human society where everybody takes care of each other. Corin wouldn’t be disappointed coming here. Here is a warm place,” said Redgrave. Despite the impending eviction, the warmth was certainly mutual as Redgrave dodged boys playing on a toy ride-on tractor (numberplate: WAR-0412) to meet the residents. “If everybody was like her the world would be a better place. She was such a lovely person,” said Tina, a mother of two, who spoke about the impending eviction’s impact on her children. “They’ve been reared up here, they went to preschool and then primary school and my little girl is booked into secondary school for the new term and now we’re getting kicked off. They want to crush this community, destroy our culture and put us into houses.” Basildon council argues that it is enforcing against Dale Farm – assisted by a £1.2m grant from the communities department and up to £4.65m for policing from the Home Office – as it does against any unauthorised development on greenbelt. With the bishops of Chelmsford and Brentwood joining the UN and Amnesty International in questioning the eviction, the council has reassured Travellers it will not immediately cut off water and electricity to the site and will rehouse all vulnerable residents. But Redgrave joined Travellers who described greenbelt as “a weapon” being used against their community. Redgrave said she had supported Gypsy communities across Europe since she became conscious of how “minorities were destroyed” under Hitler. Alongside Redgrave’s warm adjectives describing their community, residents of Dale Farm added another: safe. One single mother was too scared to give her name for fear doctors would refuse to treat her baby boy and was visibly petrified by the prospect of eviction. “It is terrifying to know you have a nine-week-old baby with nowhere to go,” she said. She claimed Basildon council last year offered a one-bedroom flat for her mother, herself and her sister and brother but she has never been offered alternative accommodation since. She fears being placed in a flat, alone. “This is a very safe community. When my baby gets bigger I’ll know that if he goes outside someone will bring him back,” she said, describing how their life in caravans enabled extended families to support each other. “Obviously everybody would like to have their mum or sister nextdoor. For us it’s going to be a culture shock. [not to have that]“. Grattan Puxon, a veteran Gypsy campaigner, joined Redgrave for tea in McCarthy’s chalet: “This shouldn’t happen. This is not broken Britain. This is Britain strong and healthy and we want to save a small part of it if we can,” he said. Judging by radio phone-ins and the opinions of neighbours, most local people support the eviction – despite the £18m pricetag. But one local resident, Ann Kobayashi, who befriended Dale Farm residents who attend her Catholic church, said she believed the majority mood was “live and let live”. “Their close-knit community exemplifies the big society which is much spoken of,” she said. After Redgrave ducked inside to finally tuck into Mary Ann McCarthy’s meal of potatoes and cabbage, Kathleen McCarthy pointed out how the settled community in Britain might be inspired by the communal strength on show at Dale Farm. “What they can learn from us is how to be more friendly to one another,” said McCarthy. “Our doors are open 24/7. We welcome everybody with open hearts.” The search for a suitable home The fields of Dale Farm were a scrap yard before Irish Travellers moved on to the land 10 years ago. Now the site could be reduced to rubble. The Travellers, many of whom had moved around Essex for several generations, hoped they would eventually get planning permission for the bases they had laid down for their caravans on greenbelt land next door to a legal Gypsy site. They didn’t, although former deputy prime minister John Prescott gave them two years’ leave to remain, during which their numbers increased to nearly 500 people. With legal appeals apparently exhausted, Basildon borough council served the Travellers with a notice to quit by 31 August or face forcible eviction. Private firms have been contracted to carry out the eviction, which could cost the council up to £8m, with a further £10m in police costs. But the Travellers are seeking a last-minute injunction against the eviction, which will be heard before a high-court judge on Wednesday. One Dale Farm resident, Mary Flynn, is a test case: she is seriously ill and dependent on a nebuliser. She has a letter from the council warning that her electricity will be cut off during the eviction process. Campaigner Grattan Puxon (pictured) claims this would be a “death sentence” for her. The Travellers’ legal team will also claim that Basildon council has not properly processed their homelessness forms and is asking for an injunction to delay the eviction until alternative, authorised sites can be identified. Dale Farm residents insist they will move if they can be found pitches on smaller sites (a feature approved by all sides) in the local area, which they praise for its popular primary school and access to healthcare. The Travellers say there are alternative sites nearby which are owned by the Homes and Communities Agency, a government body which, they claim, said they would be suitable for Traveller pitches. Three planning applications are currently being put forward for smaller sites for the Dale Farm residents within the Basildon area, but one has already been rejected by planners. Basildon borough council is reluctant to countenance more Traveller sites in the area. It says it already has among the highest number of authorised pitches in Essex and is making three more pitches available for Travellers each year. It claims other nearby councils should do their bit. A dozen empty pitches that already have planning approval have been offered to Dale Farm by a landowner near Stowmarket in Suffolk, but residents will need more. There are no votes in approving sites for Travellers, and neighbouring councils fear an influx from Dale Farm. Roma, Gypsies and Travellers Housing Communities United Nations Amnesty International Human rights Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk