Dale Farm, in Crays Hill, Essex, is the UK’s largest Travellers’ community, consisting of nearly a hundred separate properties, lying well outside the village and made up of extended family plots or yards.Most are owned by Travellers of Irish heritage, although some Romani families also own yards. The estate is divided in two sections, the front part (about 45 plots) has planning permission; while the back part (52 plots) despite numerous applications and appeals, has been refused planning consent, even though the site was previously a disused scrap yard! According to the Commission on Racial Equality, 90% of traveller planning applications are initially rejected compared to 20% overall.
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Briefings
Winter 2011/2012: Dale Farm post eviction
March 2011: Dale Farm: Basildon Council’s Eviction of a Traveller Community
Reports and Campaigns
Yvonne MacNamara, who speaks for the Irish Travellers Movement in Britain, was asked why travellers need a permanent site.
She was interviewed alongside Basildon Council leader Tony Ball about the long-running legal campaign to clear Dale Farm in Essex, which was temporarily halted by a court this week.
To see this interview, follow this link, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15019086
April 2011: Parliamentary Report on Dale Farm
