IRISH FAMILIES living on the largest Traveller site in the UK have lost a legal battle to stop their eviction by a British local authority, but the evictions are not expected to begin until council officials investigate the health of a 71-year-old ailing grandmother.
In a ruling in London’s High Court, Mr Justice Kenneth Parker said the 10-year legal battle by up to 400 Travellers to stay on land they own at Dale Farm, outside Basildon in Essex, had to end because they “indisputably” were in breach of planning laws.
“It is in the public interest that there should be finality,” said the judge. He said he could find no exceptional circumstances that would justify reopening the case, particularly since the Court of Appeal ruled against the families less than three years ago.
Acting as a test case for others, Mary Flynn, who has been offered a council flat, had sought to have the evictions postponed until a previously scheduled court hearing in November decides whether she has been offered “culturally appropriate” accommodation, or not.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Parker said that the Court of Appeal, planning inspectors and the secretary of state had considered the human rights implications of the evictions for the Travellers on a number of occasions and all of them had decided that they were, nevertheless, a necessity.
He said the state of health of 71-year-old Mary Flynn did give him “some cause of concern”, following medical evidence that warned that she could die if the eviction goes ahead. Citing an examination made this month by a lung specialist, the Travellers’ counsel, Michael Paget, said Mrs Flynn’s condition had worsened significantly in recent months and her ability to take in oxygen is “barely consistent with life”.
Mrs Flynn now needs to use a nebuliser four times a day, thus requiring a constant electricity supply, which she will not get, Mr Paget argued, if she ends up in a caravan on the side of the road over the winter.
The written medical testimony from a distinguished medical practitioner had come “albeit somewhat belatedly”, but it did demonstrate that there has been a significant deterioration in Mrs Flynn’s condition since the Court of Appeal ruled against them in 2009.
Basildon Borough Council officials, who will investigate Mrs Flynn’s health and produce a report, have committed to doing nothing that will jeopardise her situation for the next seven days, but action against the others could legally begin from midnight last night.
Basildon Borough Council last month issued notices to quit to the Dale Farm residents – who own the land on which they live, but who have been repeatedly refused planning permission for caravan hard-stands and mobile homes.
Some of the properties on the site were built on a disused scrapyard and have planning permission, but the rest, which have grown up over the last decade, have infringed onto the highly-protected green belt, the local authority has consistently argued.
Presenting his case, Mr Paget accepted that the notices to quit have been lawfully issued, but that there was a requirement for a court to rule on whether the council’s actions are “proportionate” following a number of European Court of Human Rights’ rulings.
Rejecting his contentions, Reuben Taylor, representing Basildon Borough Council, said Mrs Flynn had come to the end of the road and the claims made on her behalf yesterday were a clear abuse of process.
“The court should not sanction her criminal conduct,” he said, arguing later that a finding in her favour would strike a blow against the rule of law and send a message to those who flout planning regulations that such conduct would be tolerated.