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THE GUARDIAN (LO) • NEWS • 18/9/2011
Dale Farm evictions signal end of Traveller lifestyle, say Gypsies
Localism bill is another nail in their coffin, pushing them unwillingly off campsites into
permanent accommodation
Alexandra Topping
Senga, a Gypsy who has travelled
across Britain all her
life, is watching the events at
Dale Farm, where bailiffs
begin evictions this morning,
with increasing anxiety. "I
can t ever remember being
shunned like we are now,"
she says. "I can t ever remember
seeing the fear the
word Gypsy causes. When
you used to say you were a
Gypsy, people were interested
– it was romantic. Not
any more."
Like thousands of other Gypsies
and Travellers, she fears
the impact the evictions at
Dale Farm in Basildon, Essex,
could have on their own
planning applications, their
own lives and the future of
their communities. "Dale
Farm terrifies me," she says.
"I can t see how any good
can come of it. If there is any
trouble, we ll all look like
animals and everyone will
hate us again."
Sitting in a caravan, on a
contested site in the village
of Meriden, near Coventry,
her sister Susie shares her
concerns. "It sends a message.
If Dale Farm goes, it is
saying that it s completely
acceptable to make Travellers
homeless in this country."
The pair have their own battles
to fight. Their extended
clan, in eight caravans, moved
on to a green belt field in
Meriden, which proudly declares
itself to be "the centre
of England", a little over a
year and a half ago. Over a
bank holiday weekend, they
pulled on to the field – bought
by the family two years
earlier – then applied for
retrospective planning permission
for 10 permanent
pitches. Local residents were
furious, seeing the move as a
cynical attempt to manipulate
the planning system. They in
turn set up camps to prevent
immediate development –
creating a "human shield to
protect their village," as one
local paper put it. They now
monitor the site 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.
A short way down a country
path from the site sits the
semi-permanent Residents
Against Inappropriate Development
(Raid) camp, a rather
ramshackle structure
decorated with photographs
of smiling residents and press
cuttings . A homemade tin
scoreboard counts how many
days they have been there –
503 so far. So long, in fact,
that the people behind Raid
have applied for planning
permission for their small
caravan and tent – and been
turned down.
It is the kind of battle – between
locals desperate to protect
their communities and
Travellers looking for a base
– that is happening all over
the country. The east and
south-east are bearing the
brunt: 45% of all caravans
are situated there as people
migrate, looking for work.
According to Whitehall, there
are 18,383 caravans in
England, up from 15,500 five
years ago: 3,000 of them are
on unauthorised sites.
But speak to Gypsies for
more than a few minutes and
they will say that a gradual,
but relentless, change in society
is eroding their way of
life. Common land is closed
off, farmers fined for letting
caravans on their fields, roadside
encampments immediately
moved on. "It s the
little things you notice," says
one Gypsy woman. "The
outside taps stopped up, the
chains up everywhere."
For Joseph Jones, chair of the
Gypsy Council, the travelling
way of life is already over.
"The community is in a state
of flux. It has to change whether
it wants to or not," he
says. "The travelling lifestyle
is finished. Now it has to
think about existing."
The Traveller population –
estimated to be around
300,000, including those in
bricks and mortar – is pessi-
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