Channel 4′s smash hit show, ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’ is in its’ third series now and I gotta tell ya, I’m a bit bored of it. I mean, let’s face it, once you’ve seen one girl in a ridiculously over-sized ‘dress’, you’ve seen ‘em all, right?! However, this week, the show visited Dale Farm and was the more interesting for it. The show didn’t tell me much I didn’t already know about the whole affair but did give me the push I needed to put pen to paper…after a fashion.
Are you up to date on the real life soap opera that is the Dale Farm travellers/evictions? If not then read on, if you are then why not go wild and read this anyway. You’re going to? You racy devils!
In 2001, John Sheridan bought Dale Farm Cottage and its surrounding land, soon after unplanned building began. Over the last 10 years, Basildon Council have been involved in a battle with the travellers over the land due to their unlawful building. In 2011, Basildon Council were said to have acted lawfully and that is indeed true but what about morally, were their actions morally right? That, I question.
Travellers have had ties to the local area since the 1960s and alongside Dale Farm, there is provision for travellers. In addition, the land has a history of being under traveller ownership with the only trouble having come when Irish and English travellers attempted to mix. A custom not usually welcomed in the traveller community. In fairness to Basildon Council, they have never taken issue with the travellers being there until the unauthorised building began. However, over the years, the council have tended to contradict themselves. Planning permission has consistently been refused due to Dale Farm being subject to green belt controls but previous owner, Ray Bocking consistently used it as a dumping ground for scrap metal and previous to this, he claimed that the land was tarmaced over. Basildon Council deny this. In 2011, the battle came to an end and the Dale Farm travellers were evicted.
Travellers may have gone about their plight in the wrong way but the fact remains, they did (and still do) own this land and by building in a largely uninhabited area, who were they really going to hurt? It’s their land, after all. They endured a decade of uncertainty due to what can only be described as incompetent laws before being evicted from, in some cases, the only home they’ve ever known. Basildon Council failed to act consistently in this matter and their refusal to grant planning permission stank of blatant bigotry. They spent a reported £7m of tax payers money on evicting these travellers over the years and even the small number of people who did complain about the travellers have reportedly said it was a waste of money. The site now stands empty with no-one getting any use from it due to Basildon Council’s bigotry, greed and stubbornness. A shocking state of affairs!
