Families Must Sell Land For Gypsy Campsites

[loki]

Monday November 17,2008
By Martyn Brown

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(25)

THOUSANDS of homeowners across Britain could be forced to sell their land to make way for gypsy sites.

Private gardens and fields could be taken by the Government in a “land grab” to create permanent campsites for 25,000 travellers.

One council has already earmarked sites for 123 pitches including a family garden and land belonging to an elderly couple and adjacent to their home.

Documents relating to a survey by Epping Forest Council, in Essex, say that if residents refuse to sell their land, it would be compulsorily purchased under Government powers.

They are warned that if they refuse to sell, the land could be forcibly bought at reduced value and with little compensation.

It is thought that councils across the country will take similar action to free up land.

They are just pinching our land and telling us, ‘You will have to put up with it’

Terence Ruddigan

Last night residents reacted with fury to the news that they could lose their land and have traveller camps on their doorsteps.

Terence Ruddigan, 73, who could have a traveller site next to his home in Epping, said:“They are just pinching our land and telling us, ‘You will have to put up with it’.”

Epping Forest Tory MP Eleanor Laing asked: “What is the point of all our work to protect people’s freedom and to make them feel secure in their own homes when a Labour Government can revert to the worst excesses of Communist dictatorships and compulsorily purchase bits of land next to people’s homes?”

Documents released by Epping Forest Council state: “Wherever possible, we would seek the owners’ agreement but as a matter of last resort the option of compulsory purchase is there.”

Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: “The fact that Labour has given the green light for these land grabs is unreasonable and economic madness as we head towards a recession.

“This whole issue can be traced back to the former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s obsession with imposing targets to build new traveller camps, often on green field land, through unelected regional assemblies.”

Mr Ruddigan, who has had a small field next to his house earmarked for a traveller site, said: “I have lived in this house with my wife for 34 years and we keep a few chickens, geese and horses in the field.

“My wife and I are furious that just 30ft away from our back door we could have a gypsy site.

“What about the rubbish they produce? What about our safety? None of this is given any concern by the Government.”

The Department of Communities and Local Government has ordered regional planners to come up with sites for the extra 4,000 pitches and has handed over £20million in grants to councils to create legal encampments.

Ministers insist the move will save money in the long run by cutting the £18million spent annually on trying to evict travellers from illegal sites.

The Government wants almost 4,000 new pitches on 48 sites – including 19 new or extended sites.

The Tory leader of Epping Forest Council, Di Collins, insisted it had only carried out the consultation because it was a Government directive.

She said: “It won’t be us making the compulsory purchase orders but the Government using the Homes and Community Agency.

“We are hoping it won’t come to anything like that because we have already got far more pitches than we need now, as we have 90.

“The Government has come down with a very heavy hand on this. None of this is what we would have done if we had not been directed to.”

Hundreds of locals have been voicing their concerns at meetings across Essex.

The borough of Epping Forest has been earmarked for 123 pitches – 250 mobile homes – sparking outrage.

But Chris Whitwell, of Friends, Travellers and Families, said: “There are around 25,000 gypsies and travellers who do not have fixed places to live at the moment. We think that is disgraceful.

"The shortfall of pitches should be addressed as soon as possible. Gypsies have been in this country for 500 years, isn’t it about time people started to accept them?”

A Communities and Local Government spokeswoman denied people would face compulsory land sales.

“It is a matter for councils to identify authorised sites for travellers, as a good supply of authorised sites can break the vicious circle of evictions that is costly to taxpayers,” she said.

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/71491

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

At one time this world was owned by no one and used by all. This concept of property is theft, backed by state-fascist laws that enforce and maintain this theft. Back to basics, folks! Take what has been stolen from you. All property is theft!

[Nostalgia]

I don't suppose Tesco's would have any land going spare would they?

Is there a limit to Tesco's horizons?

With revenues of £43bn and profits of £2.5bn, Tesco has a war chest to fund land acquisitions that is the envy of the corporate world. More than anything, land is key to creating a retail giant - without stores, there is no business. So it ought not to be surprising that the country's most powerful retailer is also among Britain's most powerful real estate companies; its portfolio is conservatively valued at £14.2bn.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...serverbusiness

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

....and the Duke of Cornwall and the Duke of Westminster and .......

[Knight of the Word]

Originally Posted by Thinking Man's Idiot

At one time this world was owned by no one and used by all. This concept of property is theft, backed by state-fascist laws that enforce and maintain this theft. Back to basics, folks! Take what has been stolen from you. All property is theft!

I agree, let the queenie and her thugs have them park in her or their backyards first, as she owns a lot of land. She should feel obligated to give it back since it is actually stolen from the people in the first place.

[ZingPao]

I like the way it is here in America....NOT! "They" call it public land, but you can easily be arrested for trespassing on public property. I don't who the public is, but I'm pretty sure it's not you or me.