Dale Farm evictions set to begin

19 September 2011 Last updated at 07:19 ET

Evictions are set to begin at the Dale Farm travellers’ in Essex once bailiffs are sure it is safe, the leader of Basildon Council says.

The council had hoped to persuade residents to leave peacefully but accused some of stalling in an attempt to delay the action until 22 November.

As many as 400 people have been living on the 51 unauthorised caravan plots.

Officials said 12 families had already left. Those remaining have built reinforcements at the six-acre .

At a news conference held by council officials, the authority said talks with residents had been aimed at delaying the evictions until the end of November when the planning inspectorate is expected to rule on an application for pitches on land nearby.

Council leader Tony Ball said: “If they do not allow us in then we will begin action.

“Once it starts it will move swiftly and the will be cleared.”

Supporters inside the said they wanted Basildon Council to provide 62 plots to temporarily house those made homeless while planning permission is sought for other s.

They said the council had asked for a small legal wall blocking the bailiffs’ way to be removed.

Some observers are saying that there are only about 120 people on the illegal and that many of its residents had already moved to the legal area which is not subject to the eviction order.

The BBC’s Fergal Keane, who is inside the , said some protesters had chained themselves to a car which was positioned just behind the barricaded gate.

“This is a bid to delay the evictions. They are not trying to stop them,” he said.

“People know they are going to go ahead but they are trying to make it as difficult as possible.

“There has been a delay and no-one knows what is going to happen so it is a very apprehensive situation.”

A last-minute meeting between residents and the council was cancelled on Sunday after representatives were apparently told by protesters they were no longer welcome.

‘Nowhere to go’

Dale Farm is a former scrapyard that was bought by several traveller families who moved on to the a decade ago.

Within a year other families had bought patches of land and moved their caravans there but it has been the council’s case that this part of the is greenbelt land.

These moves were brought to the attention of local council planners who applied for the people to be moved and this sparked a long legal battle at the same time as more travellers arrived to make their homes on the .

Travellers upgraded their homes by replacing caravans with chalets and other semi-permanent structures.

The legal battle exhausted all avenues of appeal for the residents and Basildon Council was given authority to begin evictions earlier this year.

Resident Kathleen McCarthy, a spokesman for the community who has lived on the for 10 years, said: “We are living on a hope that they will realise we are not animals – we are humans.”

It was no longer about greenbelt land but hatred and prejudice, she said.

Ms McCarthy has insisted that the remaining adults would lock themselves to their properties for “as long as it takes”.

She appealed to Prime Minister David Cameron to stop bailiffs from making them homeless.

“I don’t want my children to be in danger, so we’re moving them.

“But we’ve got nowhere to go after Monday. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” she said.

Essex Police warned residents to expect a “significant increase” in police vehicles during the eviction, which is expected to last up to six weeks.

The police have set up a temporary base at Barleylands in Billericay.

Part of the Dale Farm is at the centre of the dispute

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