Dale farm eviction why

Neighbouring travellers on a legal site by the infamous plot near Basildon, Essex, say they have 'had enough' of the town and want to move on. But because the land is worth so little and may have 'up to 60 owners', the plan is proving increasingly difficult.

Dramatic scenes from the eviction in The site was once Europe's biggest illegal traveller site and had more than 1, people living there at its height, but now is a desolate wasteland dubbed 'Britain's biggest flytip'. Police officers pictured during the Dale Farm eviction in A file picture showing the whole of the Dale Farm site in Basildon, Essex, before the eviction. Travellers living next to the site say they want to leave but cannot sell the land. Officials claimed it would be returned to Green Belt land after the eviction battle in October - but it is still a polluted wasteland blighted by rubbish and the decaying remains of the site.

Now the legal travellers who live on the neighbouring Oak Lane pitches say they want to sell up, and hope a developer swoops in to develop the area for housing. Stuart Carruthers, who represents the group in court, says the travellers want to leave South Essex. He said: 'I'm expecting it to be turned into houses at some point and the sooner they do that the better.

But there are so many issues they are facing. The only reason they settled there was because the land is so cheap. The area is filled with rubbish in and a number of temporary structures in the background are seen still up.

A mound of rubbish can be seen at the site in including a tool box, mattress, and various pieces of wood and other debris. A large amount of rubbish on the site. Now the legal travellers who live on the neighbouring Oak Lane pitches want to sell up. A file picture showing the legal part of the site in Essex after the eviction of the illegal travellers in Small numbers of travellers begin to settle alongside the Dale Farm site, part of which was authorised as a scrapyard.

By the s the site had grown to 37 plots authorised by Basildon council. May: Travellers are ordered to leave Dale Farm after a planning inspector declares the development illegal. Basildon council votes for enforcement action. June: Actor and political activist Corin Redgrave suffers a heart attack while speaking at a Basildon council meeting discussing the future of Dale Farm. He describes Travellers as "the most deprived community in the country". He - like all of the travellers who speak briefly to the BBC - does not want to be identified.

Everything is fine and it is looking good. The people down the road have gone. Well it doesn't feel like five years. Dale Farm early on a Tuesday is a scene of smartly-dressed children heading off to school, men heading out in vans and adults smoking cigarettes behind open caravan doors.

Most of the travellers approached by the BBC politely declined to share their memories of five years ago, or say what had happened to their former neighbours. Some claimed they had only recently arrived and did not know of the site's history. Another resident, a man in his 30s, believes the evictions caused more problems for the authorities than they solved. As former leader of Basildon Council, Mr Buckley was one of the architects of the eviction process. This was not the case in this instance Dale Farm.

Still working in local government, Mr Buckley recounts how the issue of Dale Farm escalated over a seven-year period. Then it went through the normal process, was rejected and then appealed and then there was a challenge through the High Court.

The BBC's request for an interview with a senior Essex Police officer involved in the evictions was refused. Tate Exchange.

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