The Hovefields Gypsy/Traveller site in Essex with 50-60 inhabitants has been evicted this week. At the time of writing, a group of these families are still on the road without anywhere to stop, having been also evicted from two other sites they tried to move on to, all within 24 hours. In fact it is illegal for them to stop anywhere as a group, as they are more than six live-in vehicles.
Hovering ominously over this eviction is the extra concern is that this may be a 'warm-up'...
more »The Hovefields Gypsy/Traveller site in Essex with 50-60 inhabitants has been evicted this week. At the time of writing, a group of these families are still on the road without anywhere to stop, having been also evicted from two other sites they tried to move on to, all within 24 hours. In fact it is illegal for them to stop anywhere as a group, as they are more than six live-in vehicles.
Hovering ominously over this eviction is the extra concern is that this may be a 'warm-up' exercise for a much larger one at the nearby site of Dale Farm, which has 1000 people and is the biggest Gypsy site in the country. The Hovefields clearance was an operation that Basildon Council seem to have carefully stage-managed - and that includes the PR, media and police, as well as the bailiffs.
After receiving a 28-day notice to quit in early August, Hovefields - a Gypsy site for twenty years - was threatened with eviction after August 31st. Then at 8am on Tuesday morning (7th), a team of over 50 bailiffs from Constant & Co - with tow trucks, cranes, diggers and trucks carrying portable fencing - descended on the site accompanied by numerous police vans. A portacabin was installed on one of the plots to use as a base for operations - however it was also heavily used as a media centre for ITN, BBC and local media: it was essential that all media coverage was controlled from 'their' side.
Residents were on stand-by to resist the eviction and, alongside other supporters, managed to stave off the work for around an hour by blocking the access road with cars. They were eventually dragged off and attacked by bailiffs and two protesters were arrested for Breach of the Peace - later released without charge. Also attempts to switch off the water and power to the site were thwarted for a time, before bailiffs got the upper hand. A seventy-two year old man suffered a broken nose after being smashed into a caravan.
source : Indymedia
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