Dale Farm, in Crays Hill, Essex, is the UK’s largest Travellers’ community, consisting of nearly a hundred separate properties, lying well outside the village and made up of extended family plots or yards. Most are owned by Travellers of Irish heritage, although some Romani families also own yards. despite numerous applications and appeals they have been refused planning consent, even though the site was previously a disused scrap yard! 90% of traveller planning applications are initially rejected compared to 20% overall.

Caving in to racial prejudice, Basildon District Council (BDC) has set aside two million bounds to demolish the homes in the back 52 plots. This could happen as early as November. We view the destruction of half this community as ethnic cleansing.

If you can't make it to the meeting Tuesday there are still lots of ways to get involved. It would be great if groups or individuals could be ready to come to act as human rights monitors when needed. There is more info here and you can sign up to a text service to be alerted when an eviction takes place:  http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/hrm/

An article giving more background on the situation:  http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=22489

And a short film showing what life at Dale Farm is like:  http://vimeo.com/14191939