THE APPEAL Court ruling that Basildon council can move on 132 households from a travellers’ site in Essex appears to fly in the face of a new spirit of compromise from the Government towards the travelling community.
The court decision overturns a previous High Court ruling that families could not be removed from the site at Dale Farm if there was nowhere else for them to live.
In the past, under the Caravans Act of 1968, local authorities had a statutory duty to provide sites for the travelling community. This was repealed by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994.
Since then, gypsies and travellers were in virtual perpetual motion, being moved on from county to county in search of somewhere to stay.
After much lobbying by the Commission for Racial Equality, the Irish Travellers Movement and others, the Government moved to address situation.
The Housing Act 2004 placed a statutory duty on local authorities to carry out an accommodation needs assessment for gypsies and travellers in individual areas. Then, under Planning Circular 1/2006, there was an obligation placed on local authorities to identify land that could be used for sites.
The deadline to complete this process is 2011, with the Secretary of State thereafter empowered to direct councils to look for land. If they still fail to act, the Secretary of State can identify the land for sites.
There are estimated to be around 100,000 gypsies and Irish travellers and Gypsies living in caravans around the country. A further 100,000 to 150,000 are in housing.
The Government is looking for 5,000 pitches throughout the country to meet the need. To put this into perspective, former equalities minister Meg Munn has estimated that this amounts to one square mile of land across England.
The Government has allocated £97 million to refurbish sites over three years. The east of England is the largest recipient with £28 million in grants. Next come the south-east with £17 million and the south-west with £14 million.
The enactment of this process of identifying sites has led to some of lurid media coverage. The Daily Express claimed: “Thousands of homeowners across Britain could be forced to sell their land to make way for gypsy sites.” The newspaper has been reported to Sussex police for inciting racial hatred. The Irish Travellers Movement has gone to the Press Complaints Commission “The Daily Express must not be allowed to get away with this open incitement to racist hatred”, says Richard Solly, policy development worker at the Traveller Law Reform Project, who has complained to the paper’s editor, but received no response.
Communities and local government minister Sadiq Khan said: “Local authorities spend £18 million a year on enforcement action on unauthorised sites. If we can reduce the number of unauthorised sites by encouraging local authorities to provide authorised ones, that will reduce that bill.”
However, the ruling in the Dale Farm case is clearly a setback for those seeking a more humane approach to the travelling community. It could well give the green light to other councils to follow Basildon’s lead in their treatment of travellers.
The Conservatives have already indicated that they will get rid of the refurbishment grant if they win the next general election. A reversal of traveller-friendly legislation would be likely to drive many members of the travelling community off society’s radar and into the backwaters of the criminal justice system.
Paul Donovan
