Dalewood Gardens, Travellers and Legal Action

2.35.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 4th Feb 2006

After two days the Court case being held at the Royal Courts of Justice, Crawley Borough Council are still not being allowed to take action to evict the Travellers camped illegally at Dalewood Gardens in Northgate. It does however seem almost certain that this will happen when the Court reconvenes later this month. Liberal Democrat Councillor Gordon Seekings, who represents the Northgate area of Crawley, has been in Court every day with Crawley Borough Council Officers listening to the legal arguments as the Travellers appeal against eviction.

Gordon said "On Thursday the Judge identified problems with the separate legislation on Travellers and Homelessness in that they seem to be contradictory. As a result he has demanded a representative of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), who is responsible for this legislation, face the Court to explain the situation. It may be coincidence but a few hours after this demand the ODPM released new advice to Councils on what they should be doing."

"As a result these new documents were introduced to the hearing on Friday. They do however need to be considered by the Court before any decision can be reached. The Judge seems determined to get the law on Travellers sites sorted out - so whilst that means good news for Crawley and other Councils around the country it does mean the residents of Dalewood Gardens will have to wait till later this month to get use of their land back."

The case will now continue on 16th February with the representative of the ODPM appearing to explain the legal contradictions in Traveller and Homelessness legislation. The judge has however warned that, depending on how long this takes, the case may go on to the following day.

Related Link:

The new addition to the plethora of Traveller legislation can be found under the snappy title of circular 01/06 here.