Latest news with #RomaniGypsies
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Travellers camped on park-and-ride win battle to stay after judge rules eviction by council was breach of human rights
A group of travellers have won a landmark court case to stay at a park-and-ride site after a judge ruled a council was wrong to try and evict them. Medway Council, in Kent, had tried to turf out the Romani Gypsy families who had set up home at the Wigmore Coach Park, off the M2. A court heard earlier this year how the group of 15 adults and 14 children were moved to the location by the local authority in the summer of 2023. They had been granted permission to stay at the site for three months if they paid a monthly fee and stuck to certain rules. But in October, they were handed an eviction notice, with the council saying they planned to sell the land in the near future. However, a judge has now ruled the authority had interfered with their human rights by trying to kick them out, after hearing no steps had been taken to sell the site. This means the travellers can remain in place - though they do not have a permanent right to stay at the car park. The court judgment - thought to be one of the first wins of its kind in the last decade - explained that circumstances 'may shift the balance in favour of eviction'. The group of families have applied for planning permission to turn the park and ride - previously used by those commuting to London - into an official traveller site. An initial planning application was submitted last May but was refused just two months later. An appeal against the refusal is due to take place on Wednesday. Concerning the eviction, Canterbury County Court heard the travellers were moved to the site, which was a park-and-ride until the pandemic, by the council in July 2023. They had originally pitched up at the nearby Laburnum Road Recreation Ground in Strood, and council officers discovered that some members were 'heavily pregnant' while others were suffering from 'serious health conditions'. They were granted permission to stay at Wigmore for three months, as long as they paid a weekly licence fee of £285 and stuck to certain rules. But in the October of that year, the council issued them a notice to leave despite the group insisting they had kept to the stated rules. When they didn't move on, a possession order for the land was issued at the end of the year. Medway Council claimed its reason for issuing the order was that it had planned to sell the land in the 'near future'. Pictured is one of the families who are based at the former park-and-ride facility But during the hearing at the county court it was revealed no steps had been taken to sell it. The authority also accepted it had not set pitch targets which make 'satisfactory provision' for gypsy and traveller sites - of which there is a chronic national shortage. It comes as some members of the group reported having had their names on waiting lists for as many as 10 different traveller sites over the last decade. Tina Herring, who lives at the site, said: 'I think that it's down to the council and the government to supply permanent places for each and every one who needs them and to not just keep moving us around because they're not going to solve the problem, are they? 'They just push it on from one county to another, and no one wants to deal with you. It's a vicious circle going round and round and round.' On the council's attempts to remove them, she added: 'When we got the lease for this, [the condition] was to keep things tidy, which we do anyway. We don't need to be told that. '"No anti-social behaviour" - we have no problems with the police. "No work, no fires, keep all these rules, and then we'll probably give you a longer lease". We've obeyed all the rules.' A solicitor acting for some of the group described the court win as the first of its kind in a decade. Medway Council, however, said it was deciding 'how best to move forward' - saying the decision was 'disappointing'. Cllr Louwella Prenter, Medway's housing boss, said: 'We are disappointed with the county court judgement not to grant possession of the former Wigmore commuter car park in Maidstone Road, back to Medway Council. 'This is a lengthy and detailed decision, and we will give it due consideration before deciding how best to move forward. 'Granting use of the site was only ever intended as a temporary three-month measure, and the car park is not deemed to be suitable as a long-term site for permanent occupation.' Previous investigations have shown that many local authorities in Kent are still failing to meet the accommodation needs of the travelling community, despite it being a legal requirement. After legislation was introduced allowing local authorities to evict, fine or arrest travellers setting up unauthorised encampments, they are often left being moved from roadside to roadside. Marie Conde, another member of the group, likened living there with the looming threat of eviction to a state of 'limbo'. 'You could never plan to make a Sunday roast because you knew you'd get a move,' she said. 'You could never plan to take the kids out for a day because you couldn't go and leave the place.' Ms Herring added: 'Everybody thinks this life is beautiful - it is, to an extent, but you can't lie your head down at night. 'You never know when that petrol bomb is going to be thrown at you. They've got to stand up and meet our needs instead of keep pushing us on.' The group is now 'praying' the planning permission application is granted. With no permanent place to stay, members of the group have no postcode and have no access to essential services such as healthcare and education. 'We're speaking for the children, the grandchildren and the great grandchildren and children to come,' Ms Herring said. 'They do need their schooling. They do need regular health checks from a doctor. Please, people, accept us - we've been here long enough. 'When are you going to accept us, as human beings? I don't want to hurt anybody by saying that, but we need to be accepted into society as equals.'
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Travellers camped on park-and-ride win battle to stay after judge rules council was wrong to evict them
A group of travellers have won a landmark court case to stay at a park-and-ride site after a judge ruled a council was wrong to try and evict them. Medway Council, in Kent, had tried to turf out the Romani Gypsy families who had set up home at the Wigmore Coach Park, off the M2. A court heard earlier this year how the group of 15 adults and 14 children were moved to the location by the local authority in the summer of 2023. They had been granted permission to stay at the site for three months if they paid a monthly fee and stuck to certain rules. But in October, they were handed an eviction notice, with the council saying they planned to sell the land in the near future. However, a judge has now ruled the authority had interfered with their human rights by trying to kick them out, after hearing no steps had been taken to sell the site. This means the travellers can remain in place - though they do not have a permanent right to stay at the car park. The court judgment - thought to be one of the first wins of its kind in the last decade - explained that circumstances 'may shift the balance in favour of eviction'. The group of families have applied for planning permission to turn the park and ride - previously used by those commuting to London - into an official traveller site. An initial planning application was submitted last May but was refused just two months later. An appeal against the refusal is due to take place on Wednesday. Concerning the eviction, Canterbury County Court heard the travellers were moved to the site, which was a park-and-ride until the pandemic, by the council in July 2023. They had originally pitched up at the nearby Laburnum Road Recreation Ground in Strood, and council officers discovered that some members were 'heavily pregnant' while others were suffering from 'serious health conditions'. They were granted permission to stay at Wigmore for three months, as long as they paid a weekly licence fee of £285 and stuck to certain rules. But in the October of that year, the council issued them a notice to leave despite the group insisting they had kept to the stated rules. When they didn't move on, a possession order for the land was issued at the end of the year. Medway Council claimed its reason for issuing the order was that it had planned to sell the land in the 'near future'. But during the hearing at the county court it was revealed no steps had been taken to sell it. The authority also accepted it had not set pitch targets which make 'satisfactory provision' for gypsy and traveller sites - of which there is a chronic national shortage. It comes as some members of the group reported having had their names on waiting lists for as many as 10 different traveller sites over the last decade. Tina Herring, who lives at the site, said: 'I think that it's down to the council and the government to supply permanent places for each and every one who needs them and to not just keep moving us around because they're not going to solve the problem, are they? 'They just push it on from one county to another, and no one wants to deal with you. It's a vicious circle going round and round and round.' On the council's attempts to remove them, she added: 'When we got the lease for this, [the condition] was to keep things tidy, which we do anyway. We don't need to be told that. '"No anti-social behaviour" - we have no problems with the police. "No work, no fires, keep all these rules, and then we'll probably give you a longer lease". We've obeyed all the rules.' A solicitor acting for some of the group described the court win as the first of its kind in a decade. Medway Council, however, said it was deciding 'how best to move forward' - saying the decision was 'disappointing'. Cllr Louwella Prenter, Medway's housing boss, said: 'We are disappointed with the county court judgement not to grant possession of the former Wigmore commuter car park in Maidstone Road, back to Medway Council. 'This is a lengthy and detailed decision, and we will give it due consideration before deciding how best to move forward. 'Granting use of the site was only ever intended as a temporary three-month measure, and the car park is not deemed to be suitable as a long-term site for permanent occupation.' Previous investigations have shown that many local authorities in Kent are still failing to meet the accommodation needs of the travelling community, despite it being a legal requirement. After legislation was introduced allowing local authorities to evict, fine or arrest travellers setting up unauthorised encampments, they are often left being moved from roadside to roadside. Marie Conde, another member of the group, likened living there with the looming threat of eviction to a state of 'limbo'. 'You could never plan to make a Sunday roast because you knew you'd get a move,' she said. 'You could never plan to take the kids out for a day because you couldn't go and leave the place.' Ms Herring added: 'Everybody thinks this life is beautiful - it is, to an extent, but you can't lie your head down at night. 'You never know when that petrol bomb is going to be thrown at you. They've got to stand up and meet our needs instead of keep pushing us on.' The group is now 'praying' the planning permission application is granted. With no permanent place to stay, members of the group have no postcode and have no access to essential services such as healthcare and education. 'We're speaking for the children, the grandchildren and the great grandchildren and children to come,' Ms Herring said. 'They do need their schooling. They do need regular health checks from a doctor. Please, people, accept us - we've been here long enough. 'When are you going to accept us, as human beings? I don't want to hurt anybody by saying that, but we need to be accepted into society as equals.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GMP accused of 'fuelling harmful racist stereotypes' as new details emerge of decision to turn Traveller kids away from Christmas markets
Greater Manchester Police have been accused of 'fuelling harmful racist stereotypes' as new details of the controversial decision to turn Traveller children away from the Christmas markets have emerged. In disturbing scenes, dozens of young people from Traveller communities up and down the country - many of them children - were prevented from entering the markets and herded onto trains by police at Victoria railway station on Saturday, November 23. After footage of the incidents was shared online GMP were accused of 'heavy-handed and discriminatory action'. Now documents released by GMP following a Freedom of Information request have revealed the force authorised two 48-hour dispersal orders amid concerns about 'multiple groups of Traveller youths... committing anti-social behaviour' on trains heading towards the city centre. The orders say police 'typically' see a 'significant number' of Traveller youths 'involved in anti-social behaviour and crime' while visiting the markets. READ MORE: 'We pawned our engagement ring so we didn't have to go home' READ MORE: 'Was he scared? I don't know because I wasn't there': Albie's mum speaks for the first time And they also make reference to 'grabbing', a so-called courtship ritual which campaigners say is a 'racist misconception'. Following the release, leading figures in the Travelling community have accused GMP of racism, stereotyping and discrimination. Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Traveller Movement, said: "These documents reveal that the appalling treatment of Romani Gypsies and Irish Traveller children in this incident was preplanned and fuelled by harmful racist stereotypes. We will be raising this with the GMP, the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the mayor's office as a matter of urgency." The two dispersal orders were authorised at 12.13pm on November 23. One covered the city centre and another, almost identically worded order, covered the whole of Greater Manchester. It was likely the largest dispersal order GMP has issued and gave police the power to remove anyone considered to be causing anti-social behaviour from the entire county. The orders refer to 'a large group of youths/young adults from the Traveller community' attending the markets for a 'social gathering'. It then lists some of the incidents police say they have dealt with in previous years, including 'grabbing', disrupting roads and tram tracks, hate crime, 'swarming' police officers and intimidation of market staff and members of the public. On the morning of November 23 the orders say police received reports of 'multiple groups' of 50-70 Traveller youths coming to Manchester on trains from Doncaster, York and Darlington. British Transport Police described the groups as drinking and being involved in anti-social behaviour. With the city centre already busy due to the markets and with football matches taking place at Rochdale, Bolton and Manchester City, police said 'additional dynamics and risks' would be created by 'having a large group of Traveller youths causing issues in the city centre'. The order adds: "I have briefed... that dispersal powers should not be used indiscriminately against Traveller youths in general, as they have a right to come to Manchester as other youths do from different communities. Dispersal should only be focused on those committing or we suspect will commit ASB that justifies excluding them from either the city centre, or Greater Manchester. "Where groups are identified at railway stations and subject to dispersal powers, [the operational commander] is empowered... to consider option to direct to leave on rail network." Head Gypsy Billy Welch, who had more than 20 young relatives including two young grandchildren caught up in the trouble, said the wording of the orders 'exposes GMP's intolerance'. He added: "This is a confession that they were targeting Gypsies and Travellers, and not just in the city centre but across the whole of Greater Manchester." Ruth Ehrlich, from civil rights organisation Liberty, said: "It is completely wrong for Greater Manchester Police to have issued such broad and excessive bans against one particular community based on stereotyping and discrimination. "The police should be meaningfully engaging with and talking to all communities, not continuing to discriminate against Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers." Other documents released by GMP as part of the FOI request reveal that 32 people, of which 25 were under the age of 21, were 'affected' by the orders. And as of December 2, the force had received 57 complaints, mainly about the treatment of people in train stations. But, the GMP response notes, 42 of those complaints were made by people who weren't present and are 'therefore ineligible'. The incident prompted Travellers to march through Manchester city centre in protest, led by Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and Celebrity Big Brother star Paddy Doherty and Tommy Joyce, a well-known face among Greater Manchester's Traveller communities. GMP later apologised for any 'distress and humiliation caused'. In December a mayoral review found there were 'lessons to be learned' in the force's handling of the incident. Responding to to the latest criticism, Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson said: "Any use of police powers is not taken lightly and they are used with a great deal of consideration. Our ultimate aim is always to prevent crime and protect the public. "While it is always difficult to know the full extent to which our decisions prevent crime and disruption, we understand that parts of the Roma Gypsy and Irish Traveller community felt distress, concern and humiliation as a result of our actions that day. This is deeply regrettable. "Since the events of November, we have made positive strides to engage with the community and to avoid anything like this happening again. I look forward to meeting representatives again in Manchester later this month. "We are already planning for how we police the Christmas markets later this year where we can ensure all who plan to come to Manchester safely can do so, especially families and young people. We also continue to reflect on how we police similar situations like this in future and are working with all relevant partners to ensure we are providing the best possible service to all those who live, work and visit our city." Deputy Mayor Kate Gree, whose 'safer and stronger communities' remit involve supporting victims of crime, said: "Since this understandably distressing incident we have been taking part in proactive engagement with the communities affected. I am continuing to meet these communities and it is an absolute priority for us and GMP to make sure nothing like this happens again in the future."
