BASILDON COUNCIL has taken a further step towards evicting 86 families from the unauthorised site in Essex, southeast England, after a judge ruled it could remove caravans from 49 out of 54 plots.
The council was also told it could remove most of the concrete pitches, but the walls, fences and gates should remain, quashing the council’s stated hope of “clearing” the site and returning it to greenbelt land. The eviction cannot begin for several days, as Travellers wait to hear about three judicial reviews about the legality of the eviction.
A separate high court judge is expected to rule if the judicial reviews can be heard by noon today.
An injunction preventing any removal from the site is expected to remain in force until at least after that decision.
The eviction at Dale Farm, which is now expected to cost Basildon council £22 million, was halted at the 11th hour on September 19th.
The council had hoped to evict about 400 people, but an emergency injunction was put in place because of fears that the eviction would go further than eviction notices allowed.