30/08/2011 Look East - East

Welcome to Look East from Essex. Time is running out for the

country's biggest illegal traveller site. In tonight's programme, the

Church wades into the debate over whether families should be evicted.

Sleeping up this community and evicting these people will not

solve anything. It will push them somewhere else. But the Home

Secretary insists the law will be upheld. Basildon council had made a

decision about the action, and the Home Office will support them.

For a new school with a difference. For the start of a new turn.

And it might be a cloudy end to the summer, but it is a brighter start

to the autumn. A full weather This is Dale Farm travellers' camp

near Crays Hill in Essex. 1000 people live here, it is the largest

gypsy camp in the UK and probably in the rest of Europe. The centre

of Basildon is about two miles away. These dogs over here on my left are

illegal. Some of them remain empty, but the people who live here have

planning permission. They are not affected by the impending eviction.

But if you look behind this barricade, it marks the entrance to

the illegal part of Dale Farm. About 260 people had been served

with eviction notices after a long battle. They have until midnight

tomorrow to leave or face the bailiffss.

The Bishop of Chelmsford and the Roman Catholic -- Catholic Bishop

of Bradford visiting a community in crisis. We have mainly been

listening to people. Of course we have said prayers, and we have

blessed one or two homes that they be destroyed. But mostly we had

been listening. This has given us hope. We had no help from anybody

for look -- before this. That bishops urged the council to let

the people stayed rather than spending millions clearing them out.

I think it is quite prodigal to be spending �18 million on eviction.

It will break up his closely-knit community. A protest camp, and

makeshift home for students and human rights activists. Some hid

their faces. Why are you covering your face? The legal battle over

half of the plots here at Dale Farm has gone on for 10 years. The

travellers lost and now have until midnight tomorrow to get out.

Basildon council says planning law must be upheld. This marks the

entrance to the illegal pitches at Dale Farm. Some protesters are now

sleeping on straw bales up their. They will have a bird's eye view of

any eviction. And over the weekend the barricade has been strengthened

and extended. With the eviction Leeming, Dale Farm's nearest

neighbour and most outspoken critic was arrested. He tried to set fire

to a barricade at the bottom of his garden. At the weekend, police

confiscated his firearms. Tomorrow, the travellers lawyers will make

another challenge at the High Court, arguing the eviction should be

delayed until planning applications for new sites elsewhere have been

considered. This afternoon, one of Dale Farm's Eilis supporters

appeared, Vanessa Redgrave, she also alleged the council to let the

travellers stay. A short while ago, I spoke to

Vanessa Redgrave and asked her why she was supporting the travellers.

First of all, because the secretary of the association contacted me a

few weeks ago and I first met him with my brother. We organised a

public meeting. And he's but that it. It was not about the eviction,

it was about the situation of the traveller communities in the UK and

in Europe. It was quite a long time ago, so there is that reason. Also

because my brother became very involved with Dale Farm at a time

when I was in the United States during a Royal Shakespeare Company

to a. And my brother had a very disastrous cardiac arrest while he

was speaking for the Dale Farm community against eviction in July

2005. Amnesty International says this is about human rights. But the

council says it is basically a planning issue. Do you accept that

they have flouted planning laws, and that they have to be some

rules? Forgive me for interrupting, it is not polite. But I do not

think we are entitled to say frightened. Basildon council can

say what they like. When you look at the history of going to the

courts, the court's ruling in favour of Dale Farm, it being

appealed, another Peel -- appeal against. Perhaps tomorrow they will

say that they think the new planning application should be

considered before this ill- considered forcible eviction at

this point. No, Dale Farm have always pursued due legal process.

So nobody has flight and in the Dale Farm, nobody has flighted law

planning or anything else. But you cannot divorce planning from health

and education. Of children or of elderly people. What do you think

is going to happen? The deadline runs out at midnight tomorrow. What

do you think will happen? What I hope will happen is that the

injunction that is going to be put forward at the High Court tomorrow

so will be successful. We do have some remarkable judges in Britain,

they are pretty well the only thing apart from the British people

themselves that I have confidence in. Our extraordinary judges to

have ruled again and again with a big perspective of what is involved,

not only in the individual and the particular but with a view for what

is in the best interests all round. Thank you very much.

Essex police say the eviction here will cost them �10 million. Theresa

May is contributing one third of that from her department, today, on

a visit to Northampton, she insisted eviction was the right

decision. They used to call this place and in eBay reached. But

clever policing has made it and nicer place to live. Today, the

Home Secretary walk on to the estate to see for herself the work

going on here. She also came to seek assurances from the Chief

Constable about the funding cuts. We really do not want to see police

cut on the estate. We are worried about it slipping back to Harwich

used to be. We are also unhappy about the street lighting. Half of

that has been turned off. Some areas feel very unsafe. But the big

story in the region today will not go away. From saving millions to

spending millions. The policing operation to evict almost 100

families from Dale Farm is expected to run to �10 million. At just over

one-third of that will come from the Home Office. How can this be

justified when public money is so tight? I think it is right that the

Home Office is supporting Basildon council and the Essex police in

dealing with this. And it will be a shared responsibilities. But this

is an issue that has been concerning local people for a long

time, action is being taken, and the Home Office is supporting that.

How can any fiction like that take place, given that you have people

like Vanessa Redgrave and Amnesty International saying it should not

happen? The decision as to what will happen in relation to Dale

Farm and the decisions that drug being taken, the Home Office is

supporting the council and the police Office -- police force to

insure that they're able to do what the majority of residents want.

Some people say it is races and, ethnic cleansing. Is that too far

fetched? It is a problem that local residents have identified. It has

been a cause of concern. The police and council have looked at what

they needed to do, and we are supporting their decision. They

debate rages on, but time is running out. With the deadline

looming, this is a Home Secretary with a clear message of unwavering

support. Later, what local people think as

the countdown to eviction continues. Before that, we will catch up with

the rest of the day's news where you live.

One of the country's first free schools is ready to welcome its

first pupils in Norwich. It looks like any other primary school, but

there are some big differences. They may have got off to a shaky

start, but the school has not. It is one year to a day since its new

principal applied to set up one of the government's three schools. It

is claimed they will offer parents more choice, and dried up

educational standards. I think innovation is very important in

education. The system is constantly looking at ways to create more

opportunities for children. I think the school is very natural, and

very natural addition to that. it is based in the city centre, in

what was once an office block. Classes will contain no more than

24 pupils, and, for a small fee, the school will offer after as --

after-school care. It has been built in time and on budget. But

critics say that free schools come with a hefty price tag that is not

just about money. You just have to ask who the trustees are behind the

school, is the experience that the headmaster has appropriate. When

you start at three school you can bypass all these considerations.

There is also a concern that business could have undue influence

on such skills. One of the school's sponsors already seems to have won

the contract for quite boards. Another has won the contract for

catering. The school says it is harmless sponsorship, but critics

say it is the thin end of the wedge. A verdict of accidental death has

been recorded on a man from Wivenhoe in Essex to fell to his

death while parascending during a family holiday in Turkey. Glen

Hudson fell 150 ft when his harness snapped. He had been strapped

together with his daughter. Police in Essex have resubmitted

their file on the Energy Secretary Chris Huhne. The force has been

investigating the claim that he asked his estranged wife to take

penalty points for him in 2003. He had been driving on the M11 in

Six other men have been arrested and released on bail. Health

experts are forecasting a big rise in the number of people who want to

have tattoos removed. It is thought one-in-five adults has a tattoo.

Having them removed can be uncomfortable and expensive.

At the indigos studio in Norwich this morning, tatty trade was brisk

as ever. Student Ryan went for an Arabic phrase and slaughtermen Gary

went for hands in prayer. doesn't hurt, really. A tingling

sensation. I am quite picky. If I feel it is a fad or it will not

last all look good in time, I won't do it. I have had a few months to

think about it. You are sure it is the right thing? Yes. Even if it

and 10 years' time, you look back? Yes. Ross got his first had to in

his teens and he works here. Once he started, he didn't want to stop.

It is more like one massive tattoo now! You must have lost count.

Nearly everywhere, pretty much. Once something of a social taboo,

celebrities have helped make tattoos trendy, but the experts say

when it comes to job interviews, be wary. They can mean different

things to different people. Our recommendation would be to go for

the safe option and keep yourself covered. Tattoos can be removed by

laser or surgery. The number of people seeking treatment is

steadily rising. People can regret having them done. There may be

names associated with them or they may be associated with the specific

it meant the patient wants to forget about. -- a specific event.

The advice is clear: Don't tattoo Assaults against ambulance staff

across the region have increased by more than 10 per cent. Figures from

the East of England Ambulance Service show 140 staff were

assaulted in 116 separate incidents, an increase of 22 on last year,

when there were 94 incidents. Most of the attacks were in Essex,

Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. He is 72 years old and still one of our

finest actors. Sir Ian McKellen, or plain Ian as he insists on being

called, is back treading the boards in Cambridge half-a-century on.

Then he is off to be a film-star again as Gandalf in the Lord of the

Rings prequel The Hobbit. Amanda Goodman asked him about 50 years as

an actor. It is like having a birthday, really. Part of the

things, I can't be this old, and the other half things, well done.

Because it is the 50th anniversary on 4th September, I wanted to

celebrated by working, which is why I am doing this play. I am playing

a Mafia boss with a twist. understand Cambridge was the place

you decided to become an actor. Tell us about that. It was. As --

at this stage door. I was in a production with Derek Jacobi and

others who have also become professional actors. I had a good

review in a now defunct newspaper, the News Chronicle, and my

production didn't give the names of the actors in the programme, and

the review said they wished they would have published it because

they said this young actor's name is a name to remember. Do you get

angst before going on stage these days? It is a terrifying and daft

thing to do, to stand up in public. You are such an easy target for any

missile that might come your way, but also for people's attention and

criticism. But then you are verse- speaking other people's words, not

being yourself. I find it a very comfortable place to be because it

is all rehearsed. I know what will happen next. I started acting

because I couldn't do anything else, but I began not as an actor but as

an audience. I went to the theatre a lot with my parents, and in my

teens on my own, and they travelled quite a long way to see plays.

his theatre still your first love? I just think theatre, it from me,

it is essential. I couldn't live without it. The Brits adore live

entertainment. The tradition is strong, and I would like to help

uphold it. It is a mixture of a lot of things, but basically, a love of

the theatre. Welcome back to the Dale Farm

Travellers' site at Crays Hill in Essex. Let's give you some idea of

the scale of the eviction operation planned for this site. It could

cost up to �19 million in total. It has been co-ordinated by Basildon

Council with hundreds of police and bailiffs ready to take action

sometime in September. Some of the Irish Travellers have lived here

for 10 years. The children have places at the village school down

the road, but they don't have planning permission to live on what

is officially Green Belt land. That is why most people living near this

site are in favour of the eviction. For years it was just a small rural

village near Billericay surrounded by countryside and really making

the news. It was the Travellers' site on its doorstep that put it on

the map. In front of a TV camera, that is one subject people here

avoid talking about. Many villagers you talk to here have strong views.

They feel they have been let down over many years by the local

council, and they say the police. They won the eviction to go ahead

as soon as possible. But when it comes to appearing on camera,

people are very reluctant, for fear, they say, of reprisals. Tree

surgeon John Rogers is prepared to speak out. He lives around a

quarter of a mile from Dale Farm. Grey's Hill has been his home for

35 years. There is a lot of anger but people are too frightened to

speak out because they are dismissed as racist. When the

Travellers talked about human rights, the council backed off and

they are continuing to back off. They win the propaganda war down

the line. They have do-gooders on their side to don't live in the

area saying how wonderful they are. Some of them are all right, but

there are a lot that are not. you think the eviction will go

ahead? I see around a third of the side being removed, or maybe two-

thirds of it, and leaving the third they have declared legal, and that

won't solve the problem. So no end in sight. I don't see an end to it,

no. Basildon Council have failed the residents of Crays Hill in a

big way and they cannot put it right now. For the villagers of

Crays Hill this has been a long drawn-out saga with many false

dawns. Their attitude to this threatened mass evictions seems to

be, we will believe it when we see Let's talk to John Baron, the MP

for this area. He is in Westminster. Thank you for joining us. There has

been heavyweight support for the Travellers today, two bishops and

Vanessa Redgrave turning up. We know how expensive this eviction

could turn out to be. I used to shore it is worth it? Yes. I am.

Are you sure it is worth it? Catholic Church has been this

differs in its support for the track -- Travellers and I would

like them to concentrate on the difference between right and wrong

and not support that Travellers simply because they are Catholics.

The bottom line is that they have done wrong, and the courts agree.

If we don't apply the law equally and fairly, the law-abiding

majority will be discriminated against, which is clearly wrong.

But it seems to boil down to an issue of human rights versus an

issue of planning. Really, which one is more important, when a

community is broken up, as Vanessa Redgrave said to me earlier, is it

really right that that should happen? The answer is yes because

these people have broken the law. It is as simple as that. If we

didn't enforce the law, the people would say quite rightly, what price

law and order? The big people, or the big errors and crimes could get

away with it but the small ones would be penalised. That is clearly

wrong. The law must apply equally to everyone. This is an issue not

of human rights or civil liberties but an issue of simply the fact

that these people broke the law. They built on green belt land that

they shouldn't have. We don't allow anybody else to do that in the area.

Why should we allow these people to do it? That is just saying

everybody in a committee should abide by the same set of rules and

laws, and that is why we are determined to see the law enforced.

You have spoken to me before about asking the Travellers to leave

peacefully. It doesn't look like they are planning to do that, and

it will go down to the wire now, won't it? Unfortunately yes. Let's

be clear about this: No one wants to see the misery of a forced

eviction, but the ball clearly now is in the Travellers' court. If

they left peacefully, there would be no forced eviction, and the law

would be reinforced, but at the end of the day, as I say, the board is

in their court. It is up to them now, and it is my sincere hope that

even at this late hour, they abide by that and move off peacefully. As

I say, nobody in the aerial wants to see a forced eviction, but at

the end of the day, the law has to be enforced, otherwise we are

discriminating against the law- abiding majority. Thank you. I will

now speak to Jake Fulton from camp constant, which was set up over the

weekend by supporters of the Travellers. You don't live at this

site. Why are you supporting the Travellers? Many of us have moved

here in order to try to help prevent a totally unnecessary

eviction, to be honest. The traveller's own the land and water

under government guidance in 1994 when Travellers were told to settle

down -- bought it under government guidance. Now we have �80 million

spent on making people homeless. You are building barricades. How

far could this go? Could it get violent? There is a possibility,

but we feel that from anyone who has experienced a traveller

eviction, the real violence comes from the bailiffs. We are here to

set up human rights monitoring to ensure the bailiffs comply with

regulations set down by the un and other bodies. Thank you for talking

On the whole the Bank Holiday weekend was disappointing although

it did improve. We have pictures from viewers in Norfolk, this is

Clacton on Sea, showing it was rather cloudy Bay yesterday but

people got out and about and enjoyed the beach. Today we have

had a lot of clout. It might surprise you to know we have high

pressure right over us at the moment, but a lot of cloud trapped

beneath it. This was the scene at 5:00pm this evening. Tonight, a

cloudy end to the day, mainly dry, but one or two showers about around

the north Norfolk coast. For the first half of the night, then, we

could see one of two of those still lurking. The rest of us dry and

very cloudy, but one or two clear intervals developing the further

west you are. Temperatures in single figures, eight degrees, 46

Fahrenheit, further east, 10 or 11 with a light north-westerly wind.

For tomorrow, the high pressure is fairly close by. It is to the

north-west of us. You will see that weather feature there. That will

produce quite a lot of cloud and unfortunately it looks as if

tomorrow will be a fairly cloudy day. There will be brighter spells,

and you will see on the chart where they tend to be, perhaps in the

north to start with. Still also cloud right on the north coast,

which could produce an isolated show off. Most places staying true

-- drive. 16 degrees perhaps at best under the sky -- cloud. 18

degrees with northerly winds. In the afternoon it strays -- stays

dry and cloudy with brighter spells. The pressure charged once more for

the rest of the week, this low right over Iceland will push this

weather front towards us. A high- pressure stilling control for most

of the week, so it looks like a fine week. Warmer air coming

through as well, and southerly winds. Depending on the speed of

that low, we could see more unsettled weather, perhaps into the

second half of the week Park, possibly with the return of showers.

Thank you. The top stories: Actress Vanessa Redgrave has come to the

Dale Farm Travellers' side to support them in their case against

eviction. Gareth has been covering the story for years and we are now

in the endgame. What you think will happen? In all the years I have

been coming here I never expected to win at -- meet a Hollywood

actress as Dale Farm. For all the high-profile supporters and the

protest comes being set up, I don't think it will make much difference.

I don't think the court hearing tomorrow will make a difference