 Some
excerpts from:
A Time to Travel?
A time to travel, which has
now sold out, chronicled the history of the new Traveller scene;
who travels; why they travel; education and health; life on the
road and hopes and fears.
This sold out book is now available
as an ebook and we have included part of chapter five from
this book below.
The Levellers said of it: "This
is essentially the definitive book on Travellers. Let's hope it
doesn't become a history book."
Also, check out the second instalment to this publication
- No Boundaries
featuring personal accounts of the real lives of new Travellers
and other members of the DiY counter culture. Thankfully, the
new book proves that there is plenty of energy and ingenuity left,
even if much of it now exists outside of England.
Living on the Edge
Chapter five: (by Fiona Earle and friends)
There are no accurate figures for how many people are living
on the edge of legality on someone else's property, but the Council
of Europe estimates that there are over l00,000 Travellers in
the U.K., (this includes the media named, 'New Travellers', Showmen,
Gypsies, Tarmac and Labouring gangs and itinerants squatting on
empty land or derelict buildings). There is a wide spread attitude
that only a very small proportion of these people are 'true Gypsies,'
and most, extraneous to this definition, should qualify for no
status other than that of 'no fixed abode.'
Historical records on the origins of Travellers are few and far
between, as most travelling cultures rely on an oral tradition,
rather than literacy; the information that does exist relies heavily
upon external, romantic interpretations of their ways of life.
The contemporary travelling community is a product of hundreds
of years of people turning to a nomadic way of life as part of
a changing Society.
Many people believe that the only 'True Gypsies' are those with
Romani connections who can trace their ancestry back through the
nomadic tribes, (such as the Kalderash and the Romungri), that
originated in the 18th and l9th centuries, and hailed from North
West India and the Middle East. (The word ' Gypsy' itself is a
derivative of 'Egyptian.') Any narrow racial or ethnic definition
excludes indigenous nomads, the English, Scots, Irish, New Travellers,
Circus, Showmen, and many others of non-Romani heritage. While
most Romani families are brought up as Travellers, many other
groups have chosen a nomadic lifestyle. There is a long history
of nomadism originating from changes in economy, government, wars
and famine; from the break up of the Feudal system through to
the major recessions of the 2Oth century. In Scotland the Highland
clearances forced people from their land; in Ireland whole tribes
of people were dispossessed by English settlers under William
of Orange, and the Potato Famine of 18485-8 forced many people
to travel in search of food. Although denied recognition, Travellers
are part of a long established history of native people adopting
a travelling life as part of a changing society.
In the next section we look at how legislation has always been
used against Travellers and is now enforced by local authorities
and the police. However, 'life on the edge' is also made difficult
by media hype generating moral outrage; the problems of obtaining
benefit payments; the complexities of legalising a vehicle, and
the limited funding for welfare groups who try to support Travellers.
Legislation
Currently the question of defining Gypsy status is central to
much of the proposed legislation which will effectively criminalise
nomadism as a way of life in the U.K. More than half of all land
in Britain is owned by one per cent of the population, and three
quarters by about five percent. So called 'Public land' is owned
by various Councils, Highways Authorities, the Forestry Commission,
Ministries of Defence, Transport and the Environment, Water and
Coal Boards and the various associated private companies, likewise,
British Rail and its offshoots, and finally, the Crown, all of
whom can take legal action as owners against trespassers. The
traditional recognition of certain places used by generations
of Travellers as stopping places was denied by the 1965 Commons
Registration Act. Since everyone has to live somewhere, but 'everywhere'
and almost 'anywhere' is now somebody's property, thousands of
people have nowhere to go.
With an already overwhelming amount of legislation penalising
travelling and nomadism on the statutes and more in the pipeline,
the Government's new proposals for reform of certain notorious
parts of the 1986 Public Order Act, and a comprehensive repeal
of the Caravan Sites Act 1968, are currently enjoying parliamentary
debate under the auspices of the Criminal Justice Bill.
In general, Travellers have enjoyed a relatively tolerant, if
haphazard, pattern of relations with Local Authorities and Police
under the Caravan Sites Act 1968, (C.S.A. 1968). This Act makes
it the duty of the Local Authority (L.A.) to provide sufficient
caravan sites for those Gypsies "resorting to or residing
in" their area. These provisions are based on the Department
of Environment (DoE) figures taken from six-monthly 'caravan-counts'
of Gypsies conducted by councils. Official counts fail to include
newer Travellers, but of the 12,000 to 16,000 other Travellers
that they did count, nearly 40 percent were on unauthorised, illegal
sites.
The law obliging local authorities to provide sites can currently
be used against them, and Possession Orders stopped if the authority
has failed to provide adequate sites. However, once an authority
is deemed to have provided sufficient sites for those 'Gypsies'
it counts that "reside or resort" in its area, the council
can apply to the Secretary of State for 'Designation.' Once designated,
councils can evict any Travellers not included in their local
count, even if parked on unoccupied land they have permission
to use. The problem is that councils often do not count all the
Gypsies in their area, and use creative interpretations of the
words ' Gypsy' and "reside or resort to". Courts have
never yet made an order against councils or the Secretary of State
to make them do their duty, even when they have found against
them.
In theory, when Travellers arrive in a different local authority
they should make themselves known to the council's Gypsy Liaison
Officer, who should then liaise between them and the council,
finding a suitable site for them to stay on, with minimum impact
on the local community. In practice, this is rarely the case;
most Travellers are suspicious of authority representatives, often
with good reason:
"We were parked at Fewston near Harrogate in 1988, and some
council officials, accompanied by police, attempted an illegal
eviction. When I asked one of them who he was and what was he
trying to do to us he said; 'I am employed by the council to harass
people like you.' " Sue
"A big problem for us Gypsies is the councils. They seem
to keep Gaujas and Gypsies apart. Then when they want someone
to blame they can blame us!" Charlie Smith, Gypsy poet and
Chair of Gypsy Council for Culture, Education, Welfare and Civil
Rights.
Many Gypsy Liaison Officers see their jobs in different ways,
as described recently by one district liaison officer:
"I am employed by the council to locate unauthorised Traveller
sites and evict them."
Despite the possible penalties under the Planning Acts, it is
becoming fairly common practice for landowners who have been denied
planning permission to manipulate councils using Travellers as
leverage:
Case: "We were about to be evicted from Ashford Hill and
this bloke turns up in a Beemer, saying he's got some land we
can park up on. Everyone was sceptical: What's the crack with
this then? But me and Luke went off with him and his missis to
take a look. It was a good flat well-drained field, screened from
the road and away from houses, with a standpipe! Luxury running
water! Turns out this guy's been refused planning permission,
but knows that if he reapplies for it as a reason to evict Gypsies
the council will rush it through. So we get a cushty site for
a while, and he gets his planning permission sorted. Funny thing
was, his wife was terrified of us when we set off to look at the
site, admitting that she would avoid all contact with Travellers,
having believed what she'd read in the papers. But after an hours
conversation (and being charmed by Luke), she was astonished how
her sympathies had changed, and was quite looking forward to her
next visit." Herring
A favourite form of eviction is the use of the infamous section
39 of the Public Order Act 1986. Despite constant government assurances
to the contrary, in effect it enables police to evict sites at
any time of the day or night; with the powers to arrest people
who fail to leave, and to impound any homes, vehicles or possessions
remaining.
Councils and landowners prefer 'Public Ordering' sites, rather
than incurring to the costs, time and hassle involved in obtaining
a Possession Order. Supposedly, to be 'Public Ordered' a site
has to have met certain criteria:
1) Two or more persons must have entered land as trespassers
and are present there with the common purpose of residing there
for any period, and have been asked to leave verbally by the
owner of the land.
i) There must be (currently) 12 or more vehicles on the land.
ii) There is damage to property
iii) One or more of the trespassers has been abusive or threatened
the land owner, his family or employees.
The senior police officer present (who can be a constable)
must reasonably suspect that the criteria in (1) plus one of
the tests in (i,ii,iii) have been met before a direction to
leave can be given.
Vehicle Legality
It is difficult enough for Travellers to find safe sites on which
to service and repair their vehicles in order to keep them 'legal',
i.e. M.O.T.'ed, taxed and insured, or to remain in one area long
enough to receive log books and licences in the post. (For example,
you can be fined up to £400 for having inaccurate details
on licences and registration documents.) Keeping a vehicle fully
legal and insured is already a complete nightmare, and yet instead
of making provisions for these problems, the Government is introducing
further laws which will force people out onto the roads in illegal
vehicles, where police can arrest them, impounding and destroying
their family homes.
Where an eviction occurs, bailiffs must ensure that they do not
break the Road Traffic Act 1988 or the Highways Act 1980. It is
an offence, in certain circumstances, to tow vehicles without
a fixed bar, an independent braking system and proper lights on
the towed vehicle. Caravans should, by law, be removed to a legal
site. Bailiffs should not evict vehicles onto a roadside, as highways'
authorities argue that this constitutes an obstruction. Mostly
there are no legal places in a particular county, and police and
baillifs may employ threats in the hope that Travellers move themselves,
turning a blind eye to illegality just to get them off land. Thus
'passing the buck' occurs; hoping that some other authority will
have to deal with the Travellers' next illegal parkup.
Recently, a Gypsy family, who were parked up between two mounds
of gravel dumped in a layby, turned an 'obstruction' charge on
its head. The local authority tried to win eviction by charging
them with obstructing the passage of traffic into the layby, but
as the Gypsies proved, the mounds of gravel occupied twice the
space their caravans did, so the council were charged to remove
the gravel instead!
Case: "We had set off to join some friends living on a
well established site at Stratford, but arrive to find only
hordes of riot police and T.V. crews. The site has been 'Public
Ordered'; everyone forced onto the road and out of the area.
It seems there are many small convoys and some larger ones moving
more or less randomly. The police are trying to stop them meeting
up. Four forces are involved but co-ordination is not a strong
point. At each county border we are told we cannot enter; threatened
with arrest; roads are blocked and we are cordoned off; trapped
by police and unable to drive away. We use a lot of diesel just
driving aimlessly, surrounded hy police. Eventually we reach
a situation where we are being forced along a road with one
set of police behind us. In front there is a fork in the road,
one police force guarding the right fork, another guarding the
left. They all say we cannot go past their Roadblocks. We stop
in the road.
After a few days of total chaos I finally found out where my
kids were (we'd been split up by police). We pulled up outside
the site; I walked on and found the kids in a bus with Penfold,
they're fine. We get some helpers to lift the trailer out of
the ditch and push it onto the site. At the last moment the
police landrover at the gate reverses so that we can't get past.
When I tried to explain the situation, the driver tells me I'm
a liar, gets on his radio and confirms it: "No more vehicles
allowed on the site."
The kids will have to get their stuff together and we must
leave. The trailer must be removed from the road now! We are
trying to move it off the road andonto the site. l2 riot vans
turn up, fresh from the Cleeve Hill eviction; 6 blocking the
road in each direction. All traffic is made to turn round and
sent back the way it came. We don't want to block the road,
we want to get in, have tea and go to bed. But we're not allowed
to. Finally, I discover which officer is in charge. People are
milling around, arguing, questioning, all the riot police are
out of the vans, standing in the road. I try to talk to him
calmly. We cannot onto the site, or leave it in the road, so
I offer to move it onto the grass verge, where it was to start
with. Another officer says that is no good either. As I talk
to the first officer, the second orders his men to pick up the
trailer and move it to the side of the road.
By now almost all the people from the site are out in the road,
and over 100 police officers. One is shouting at me to get in
the taxi and start it up. I explain that the driver, my kidst,
their trailer, dogs and tat are still on the site and I can't
leave without them, not again. Also I cannot move the rig anywhere,
as the road is blocked both ways by people and police. The officer
in charge tells me to disappear! I tell him I can't. I can only
move forwards or backwards, and when I do , if they still follow
me, we will still be causing a roadblock/disturbance. He must
get his officers back in the vans, off the road and out of the
way. He can't see that.
"Just tell me where to go, don't tell me to disappear!".
Ez.
Later, in the same month, a newly evicted convoy of Travellers
had been escorted by police onto a lay-by near Bath. They had
been told by police that their vehicles would be safe there for
a couple of days, so some had gone on site reconnaissance, leaving
only a couple of people with the vehicles. While the site was
small and empty, police seized the opportunity to break the convoy
up still further. They raided the lead vehicles, arresting the
only occupant, who was asleep, and impoundied the vehicles on
the grounds that they were causing an obstruction. They later
released the man without charge. (This often happens to people
who are classified N.F.A., of no fixed abode, and cannot prove
an address.) The vehicles were now in the pound. The Travellers
tried to retrieve their homes and were told that first they had
to pay a towing fee for removal to the pound and charges for storage.
So they set about raising the money, whilst staying with friends.
Two weeks later they returned to the pound with £200 to
cover the towing and pound fees, only to be told that they couldn't
have their homes back as an environmental health notice was now
in force. They had not been allowed to collect any of their possessions,
and the vehicles had been rifled through, not properly tatted
down before they were taken to the pound.
In consequence, some of the food in cupboards which had remained
untouched in the pound, and had gone off thereby attracting vermin.
The police maintained that it was a health hazard and refused
to release the vehicles. One man was denied access to even his
family's clean washing. This stalemate situation continued for
several weeks, with pound fees mounting and the Travellers still
without their homes. Finally, the police saw fit to destroy one
of the vehicles, a double decker bus with a Gardner engine worth
over £1,000 scrap value, selling it to scrap yard for £200.
This £200 was used to pay overdue pound fees. The Travellers
lost their home and all their possessions and were informed that they
still owed pound fees and removal charges.
Free samples from the second instalment to this publication
-
No Boundaries are also available
to read.
And a free sample from the actual ebook of A Time
to Travel? can be downloaded below:
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