Dale Farm: Why Not Pay The Travellers £5m To Clear The Land?

IT will cost an estimated £5m to clear Dale Farm at Crays Hill of travellers and their homes. Basildon Council says the money will be paid by taxpayers.

The council says a representative of the travellers’ community has made them an offer: pay them £6m and they will leave now.

Council leader Tony Ball says that asking price is “hugely above” the market value. Also, the council says paying the money means the travellers would have profited from breaking the law.

Says Ball:

“I have always said that I would listen to any offers made by the travellers that would help to avoid the forced clearance. Traveller representatives offered to sell their land to the council hugely above market value in return for clearing the site.”

So. Why not bite the bullet and hire the travellers to clear the site, having negotiated their fee down to £5million or less?

Basildon council starts forcible evictions in the week beginning 19 September – when electricity supplies will also be cut.

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Dale Farm resident Kathleen McCarthy (right) addresses the media at the High Court, London, after lawyers today failed in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the eviction of families from the UK's largest unauthorised traveller site.

Anorak

Posted: 6th, September 2011 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink