September 26, 2008, Basildon, UK: Local authorities are
threatening to demolish a community center built by the Dale Farm
Travellers, creating new tensions as the long-running eviction battle
over Dale Farm heads back to court.
The Saint Christopher's Centre, which opened in May, has become
the latest target of the Basildon Council as it seeks to remove about
90 Traveller families from their homes in Southeastern England.
"They're turning up the terror to make us leave," said Richard Sheridan, president of the Dale Farm Housing Association.
The Council voted twice, in 2005 and 2007, to evict the
Travellers, claiming they are living illegally and without planning
permission at Dale Farm. Those eviction orders were halted in May by
Judge Andrew Collins of the British High Court. The judge ordered the
Council to find alternative land where the Travellers could live. The
Council has appealed his ruling, and a hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5
in the Court of Appeals.
Meanwhile, the Travellers are also seeking an injunction and a
judicial review in the High Court to stop the demolition of Saint
Christopher's, according to Grattan Puxon, secretary of the Dale Farm
Housing Association.
The Advocacy Project (AP) has worked with the Dale Farm Housing
Association since 2005, and supported the Travellers in their struggle
against eviction.
The Saint Christopher's Centre was built for the children of Dale
Farm, many of whom do not attend local schools for fear of prejudice.
Computers have been installed in the Centre to allow for information
technology (IT) instruction, and courses in photography and
dressmaking are due to start this month. The Centre is also used by the
Dale Farm Chaveys Youth Club, which provides the children with
leadership training, and for prayer meetings every Tuesday.
Lords, and a report to the Essex Racial Equality Commission, the
Basildon Council voted last Tuesday (Sept. 16) to close down Saint
Christopher's, claiming it was built in breach of the district's
planning regulations. Children from the Chaveys Youth Club protested
outside the closed meeting, but were refused admission to plead their
case.
The Travellers contend that the Centre, a log cabin, did not need
a permit because it was built adjacent to an existing dwelling. The
dispute is further complicated by the fact that the Centre was funded
and is owned by the governmental Department for Children, Schools and
Families (DCSF). The Essex County Council (ECC), the regional
authority, distributed the funding. Officials from the DCSF and the ECC
did not respond to inquiries from AP.
The threat to Saint Christopher's compounds the stress on
Traveller families, who are increasingly worried that they will lose
the upcoming appeal and the eviction will be allowed to proceed.
According to Mr Puxon, the Basildon Council has set aside about $5
million to bulldoze Dale Farm and destroy more than 130 chalets, mobile
homes and caravans. These include the trailer home of a young mother
expecting triplets.
In recent weeks, families have also been alerted to a plan to take
Traveller children into temporary government care in the event of an
eviction. Parents are concerned that the process could be traumatic for
children and that they could be left homeless and unable to get their
children back. They are even afraid that officials may force them to
leave the county in order to get their children back.
In a Sept. 19 meeting, the ECC confirmed that welfare workers
could not seize children without a court order, but said police could
do so on the authority of the chief constable. A follow-up meeting is
planned between the ECC and Dale Farm parents in the near future, and a
meeting with the chief constable is also being sought.
