16/09/2011 Look East - East

Tensions is high at Dale Farm as eviction looms at the illegal

travellers site in Essex. The community secretary says the

Government is behind the decision to send in the bailiffs.

Everyone is equal before the law. Therefore these caravans, these

semi permanent dwellings have to go. We have been to the town in Ireland

where connections with Dale Farm run deep.

They come back here and party for four or five weeks at Christmas and

treat the town with little respect and that creates a divide between

the settled and traveller community. The husband who killed his wife

after a row over money is cleared of murder.

It might have been a fine day, but The travellers at Dale Farm in

Essex finally ran out of options today as the courts threw out an

eleventh hour plea for a delay. There is now no doubt about it. The

bailiffs will move on to the site on Monday morning. An Appeal Court

judge rejected an application for the eviction process to be delayed

on the grounds that one traveller is too ill to be moved. Elsewhere

today, the Government placed itself firmly behind Basildon Council,

paving the way for the re- possession of the site. Let's get

the very latest from Dale Farm now and our reporter Alex Dunlop. Well,

I have been coming down to Dale Farm pretty much every day for the

last week. Until today, it has been laid back, but today we have

noticed that tensions have wracked up a bit. Nerves up there in Dale

Farm are beginning to get frayed. The police have kept a low profile.

We have noticed Community Support Officers coming up and down here

several times a day to keep an eye on things. This afternoon we have

noticed a steady trickle, not a rush, a steady trickle of activists

heading to Dale Farm. Look at this. For the last three days, the

council had an army of security personnel and contractors building

up for the eviction of the UK's largest travellers site.

After ten years at Dale Farm Nelly Sheridan is leaving home.

caravan is staying and we are going to wait until the end. We are going

to wait. REPORTER: So you will stay? Yes. We

are willing to stay. Yards away, a surreal position, as

activists keep a close eye on the council's preparation for the

eviction, travellers children return home from possibly their

last day at the local primary. A judge rejected a bid to halt

clearance of the site. This is a crazy, crazy situation. A

crazy waste of taxpayers money. These people if they think they can

get away, the country will not allow this to happen. It won't

happen this week, but it will be a few years down the before this

Government is prosecuted for what is happening.

A man has weighed in on their side. Did the travellers know they were

buying it without planning permission? Yeah.

They knew they didn't have planning permission? We would use it as a

scrapyard. We didn't think we needed planning

permission for brown belt. The council gave this man permission to

store greased up and scrapped cars, you wouldn't put cars like that on

greenbelt. This is the site four miles away.

12 months ago, I reported on the eviction of a handful of travellers

from here. At the time the council insisted this would be returned to

a green field site. A year on, a lot of the rubbish is still here

and the site has not returned back to green field, more of a scrub

land really. Local people I spoke to said their quality of life has

improved a lot since the travellers left.

A bailiff firm which evicts three to four travelling groups every few

months. In a fixed site like this, you come up against a lot of

problems. There is a lot of families and then you you get

peacekeepers who have turned up and that's what is going to cause the

trouble on Monday. REPORTER: Do you think? Absolutely.

These people do this. It is what they do for a living. It is well

planned. They know how to cause disruption and that's what they are

going to do. While many at nearby Dale Farm are

staying, some are resigned to a life in lay-bies.

Earlier I spoke to Eric I canles and he said the -- Pickles and he

said the issue is simple, the travellers have broken the law and

they must move on. Lots of people looked at this and

decided that the rule of law, that everyone is equal before the law

and therefore, these caravans, these semi permanent dwellings is a

to go. United Nations and the commission

for racial equality weighed in on this. Shouldn't Human Rights

transcend local planning laws. The planning laws stand and of

courses, Basildon Council will be looking to offer alternative

accommodation to the people. It is not culturally appropriate as

the UN would call it? I am interested to to hear what the UN

have to say and their contributions are welcome, but I think in Britain,

that has a very consistent record on Human Rights, I think that we

should really concentrate on treating everybody equally before

the law. Local councils can't sort this out

on their own, shouldn't the Government step in? There is an

obligation on local authorities to provide pitches and places for

travellers and as you know, we have a thing called a new homes bonus,

we paid an additional sum to local councils if they provide it and it

should be part of their normal Just in the last five seconds, we

saw a caravan being taken out of the site. It doesn't mean that the

travellers are leaving. Well, they may have failed in the High Court

today, but even now, they are holding on to the last gasp attempt

to succeed legally. They will take their fight to the High Court,

court number 62 at 11.30am on Monday morning and they have served

today emergency papers at the court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and

that will come to fruition next Ten years ago, part of the Dale

Farm complex was a scrap yard. Since then it has been transformed

by the illegal development. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the

changes is from the air. Sandwiched between the A127 and the village of

Crays Hill from the north the two halfs of Dale Farm are clear. The

eastern, illegal section is dotted with caravans and mobile homes,

some with brick footings. Contrast that with the legal half, where

planning permission was granted in the 70s. The homes appear more

permanent. This was the site 15 years ago on the right, the

scrapyard sold to a travelling family and today, divided into 52

plots, all owned by by travellers, all without planning permission. In

the last few days, the defences have been strengthened from the

main gate, patrolled by protesters to the two watch towers which give

travellers a view of the open fields to the east. A few pictures

a-- pitches away, Camp Constant where activist have based

themselves. The only buildings safe from the bailiffs will be there,

the original Dale Farm house built before the travellers first moved

in. Just about all the travellers at Dale Farm are Irish and many

hail from a town in county limerick called Rathkeale. Some of the Dale

Farm travellers own homes there. Some of the Dale Farm travellers

own homes there. Sally Chidzoy has been to Rathkeale which is

described by some as the "spiritual home" of many of the travellers.

Visit Rathkeale and you see a ghost town, a place that is slowly dying.

It is the first time in Ireland to be largely owned by travellers who

have said to bought up over 80% of the property here. Most of it,

reportedly paid for in cash. Seamus Hogan is a non traveller and he

worries about what is going on in the town.

The element that come back at Christmas and they use Rathkeale as

their Blackpool. They come back and party for four or five weeks at

Christmas time and treat the town with little respect and that

creates a divide between the settled and traveller community.

Links between Rathkeale and Dale Farm in Essex run deep. Many

travellers who move between the two communities regard Rathkeale as

their true home. When John and Kathleen McCarthy died at Dale Farm

six years ago, their funeral was held in Rathkeale. They were buried

here. Danny O'Brien is one of Kath keel's poorest travellers. He

settled here after living in the Midlands for 30 years. In ill

health he lives near the Spanish- style homes owned by the wealthy

travellers. It is very much a travellers town. Do you think one

day they will own it? They already own it.

This is the BallyWilliam estate in Rathkeale. Every house is empty.

Every window and door is barricade with metal sheeting and mesh. The

houses are owned by travellers who have all gone travelling, but what

riles many people living here is the contempt shown by some for

planning laws and regulations. The council can't trace the owners.

This house says it all. Probably the only house in Europe built on

top of a telecommunications pole. You're flabbergasted.

Local people are angry. They have set up their planning committee to

monitor what is going on. It is as if Rathkeale is a forgotten town.

It is unbelievable to think that the amount of unauthorised

development could actually happen in civilised society without any

actions being taken, money talks. It is the people that are breaking

the law are the ones with the money. The wealthy travellers don't talk

to the media, theirs is a closed and secret world. They appear to do

what they want in the town. The disputes spill over into the local

cemetery. People had run ins with the council over the size of their

gravestones. Each costing tens of thousands of euros is said to be

carved in matialg in in in marble. There is a sense of fear from the

settled community that they are being forced out of town. There is

a potential for an explosive conflict between the two

Over the weekend, you can keep up- to-date with events at Dale Farm on

BBC Essex. We'll have special coverage of the eviction

proceedings here on Look East on Monday.

Later on Look East we look ahead to the weekend sport and the first of

the big party political conferences. On the eve of London Fashion Week,

we meet the knitwear designer from Suffolk who is dressing some of our

best known celebrities. And after some fine weather this

week, rain sweeps towards us for the weekend. The full forecast

coming up after a closer look at A former manager with the Crown

Prosecution Service, who killed his wife in a row over debts, has been

cleared of murder. A jury at Chelmsford was told the couple from

Norfolk spent over �10,000 on a TV shopping channel. The husband had

admitted manslaughter. It was at this house that Warren Gorring

admitted killing his wife. Disputed what he intended to did and claimed

he had no memory of what happened. A jury cleared him of murder.

I saw him a few times when I was walking past, cutting his lawn

usually, apart from that never met her. The court heard the couple

were almost reclusive, they rented their house. Their accounts were

overdrawn. They spent over �10,000 on a television shopping channel,

bailiffs were due to evict them. Maeve Pierce knew the couple. They

rented their house from Metfield Estates owing them thousands of

pounds. He was a larger than life gentleman. If only he had come to

us and explained that he had got problems, you know, we wouldn't

have let it get as far as it got, but unfortunately I think he buried

his head in the sand hoping that it would go away and come right in the

end. The Crown Prosecution Service

brought the trial on one of its former managers, Warren Gorring

worked for them for 26 years. Essex County Court dealt with the case as

so many people knew him. The CPS says it is a sad case in which a

couple's compulsion to buy things resulted in them losing their home

and Mrs Gorring losing her life and Mr Gorring faces risking losing his

The owner of Stansted Airport, BAA, has launched a fresh appeal against

a ruling that it has to sell the airport. In 2009, the Competition

Commission ordered the company to sell Stansted, but BAA claims that

there have been material changes More than 1,000 Elvis Presley fans

from all Britain are in Great Yarmouth this week for the annual

Elvis Festival. The star attraction at this year's festival is Dick

Grob, a close friend of Elvis and the head of his security for ten

The Vauxhall Holiday Park and in the ballroom, the first item on the

day's programme, a film about Elvis. Elvis never played in the UK, but

the fans here still love him. day, we'll have two bands a day. We

don't have Elvis impersonators because the genuine fans really

don't like what I call the jumpsuit brigade.

There is Elvis merchandise, this is a police badge given to Elvis.

There is a best dresd caravan -- dressed caravan competition won by

this Leicestershire family with their Jailhouse Rock theme. Maureen

Bates is a die hard fan, she has been to Grace land eight times and

always attends the festival. Have you got a favourite? The first one

I bought which was Don't Be Cruel. The star attraction this year, Dick

Grob head of security for Elvis. We were very close friends. Elvis

heard me sing once and and made me promise not to sing on stage. I

told him I wouldn't if he wouldn't screw with security and he never

did. Dick Grob entertained the fans for

over an hour. They were so pleased with year's event they have already

There's an exciting day in store in Suffolk and Norfolk tomorrow as the

Tour of Britain races into our region. With more on that, and the

Yes the penultimate stage of the Tour of Britain starts in Bury St

Edmunds at 10.15am. From Angel Hill, the cyclists will make their way to

Hadleigh, then Ipswich. From there they head into Norfolk before

finishing up at Sandringham at around 3pm. Thousands are expected

to line the streets. To the football fixtures starting

with our Essex clubs. In League One, Colchester who've drawn their last

three head to Sheffield United. In League Two, Southend who've

recently had their own financial problems, host Plymouth who are

still in administration and struggling to pay their players.

Ipswich aren't playing until Monday. They're at home to Coventry in the

Championship. Town lost 2-0 at Blackpool last week. A fifth defeat

in six outings. Certainly not the start fans were expecting. I think

every game is a big match in this league whether you started well or

started poorly. There is one million miles to go in this league

and we realised that our results haven't been the way we would have

wanted them, but we're not preparing for this game different

to any other. Next up Bolton away, they have had

an an indifferent start. A number of former Canaries are playing a

charity match. I went to see them to chat about both big games this

They have dazzled fans before, and they are about to take centre stage

again as Dale's legends take on a team of soap stars for charity.

They are unbeaten, raising money for the Alzheimer's Society and the

Prince's Trust, today a gentle stroll before the drama begins on

Sunday! We have got some fit lads. It is a

mixture of Norwich and Ipswich players and the likes of Hucks. I'm

sure he will be playing for us on the day.

They have been keeping a close eye on Norwich and watched on as

another error costs them dear against West Brom. The Canaries are

waiting for lift-off in the Premier League.

The goals haven't come and that will be the biggest problem. The

teams who have gone up maybe will struggle for goals. Most teams have

good strikers, even in an average team they have people who can cause

problems. That is going to be a big problem this season because every

team we face has world-class strikers.

Penalties, conceding them, has become an unhappy habit, awarded

against them in each of their four opening games. The boss backed

calls for video technology to help referees.

The referee decisions have been going against us. There is no way

that is going to continue. The penalty decisions which you might

have had against you, they are going against you as well at the

minute. That's something that will even itself out.

Battered and bruised, Norwich had little to celebrate so far, will

Bolton away offer any respite? We will have the results tomorrow

evening on Look East. Coming up:

The Lib Dems gather for their annual conference this weekend with

the polls showing them down in the dumps. It's a far cry from the

heady days of the general election campaign when Nick Clegg was

threatening a major breakthrough. Some members remain uneasy about

the coalition which is why the annual conference could be a

fractious affair. Here's Andrew Yes, it has been a torrid year for

the Liberal Democrats. It culminated in them losing 114

council seats in this region. Jonathan was talking about the

polls. Let me show you how much their poll ratings plunged. April

last year, they were on 32% after Nick Clegg's performance in the

leadership debate. A month later, the formation of the coalition,

they are doing well, 26%, but the reality of Government. But the end

of the party conference season, of the party conference season,

they are down to 17%. Then we have the row over tuition fees, council

cuts and the elections. According to a YouGov poll, they are on 9%.

The fear is that if the party doesn't start shouting louder,

doesn't start shouting louder, things will become terminal.

There are a few out of work Liberal Democrats in the the region at the

moment. Like Brian, five months ago, he was the leader of Northampton

Council, but he lost his seat with all, but for of his colleagues.

We're suffering from being the scapegoats to the bad decisions

rather than being recognised for the good decisions.

He still feels his party was right to go into coalition, but he says

the party leadership leadership must flex its muscles now.

The Liberal Democrats ensured that the lower paid are brought out of

tax. The improvement in schooling, pupil pupil premium. We need to get

the credit for it. This year's local election were

awful for the Lib Dems. There will be no open rebellion, but many in

the party want the leadership to get a grip. We have got to make

sure we aren't the fall guys for the Conservative dominated

Government. It is more their fault, if there are things going wrong as

ours and we have got to make sure that it is not our spokes people

who are put up as Liberal Democrat MPs too give the bad news and the

Conservatives put up to give the good news.

The Politics Show will be reporting from the Lib Dem's conference on

Sunday at the later time 1.35pm. There will be more coverage on our

politics blog: And I'll also be tweeting from

The spotlight turns on the fashion world next week when the top

designers descend on London. Who knows, all of us could soon be

wearing a version of something that sashays down the cat-walk in the

next few days. All the big names will be there, including Vivienne

Westwood and Paul Smith. There's also room for emerging talent like

the Suffolk knitwear designer Craig Lawrence. Dawn Gerber has been to

Bold, textured, colourful designs. These are the creation of Craig

Laurence from Ipswich who draws inspiration from his childhood.

I love Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth. We used to go on holiday

to Great Yarmouth and fee licks stou is just up the road. There was

loads of things to pick up, amazing colours. There is a great

atmosphere there. He graduated from St Martin's

College in London, internationally renowned for its creativity, now he

is preparing for his 2012 spring/summer collection for London

Fashion Week and his designs caught the eye of many celebrities.

Tilda won that for a magazine cover. We have got this one which is a

similar technique to the one GaGa was wearing and that was on the

front of Grazia Magazine. We have pieces like this. These are more

experimental pieces. Tomorrow's Craig's delicately

crafted knitwear goes on the Walk. It is a nerve-wracking time, but

great exposure and and we'll be I always think it is amazing how

quickly things go from the catwalk I have my eye on that gold dress!

Evening. Well, it has been a fine day today.

There have been one or two showers and there are now. At the moment,

we have got low pressure moving in, we have we have got this weather

system here, this frontal system. That's going to bring rain later on

tonight. If we look at the satellite chart, if you fix your

eyes on that wedge of cloud there, that's where there are one or two

showers affecting northern Cambridgeshire and and parts of

Northamptonshire. They will track north-east wards and the commuter

is not -- computer is not picking them up. The rest of us will start

the night dry. It is the second half of the night towards 4am or

5am where we could get patchy rain. A good covering of cloud means

temperatures won't dip lower than 10 Celsius. The winds are south-

westerly. Generally light to moderate in strength. Tomorrow, low

pressure moves in and it anchors itself over Northern Britain. That

does mean we are in for wet weather this weekend. Perhaps not as windy

as we thought it would be, but it is going to be a story of showers

or spells of rain. First thing tomorrow, some patchy rain to start

with and then showers following it. They could be on the sharper side,

but it should brighten up. In the sunshine temperatures could climb

to 18 Celsius at best. In terms of wind speed, it is going

to be moderate to fresh at times. So fairly blustery as the showers

move through, but the advantage of the wind speed is they will move

through quickly. Further showers expected for the

afternoon, but I am running the chart through to the evening so if

you are out and about, you will see most places end the day on a dry

note. The next five days looks like there, patchy rain to start

tomorrow, clearing up and then showers behind, but for Sunday a

cool day can'ted. Very cloudy with spells of rain. It could be more

persistent and set in. Monday looks like a dry start. The chance of

showers later on and I have to say, Tuesday and Wednesday is really up

in the air as to what will happen. It could be a dry day or we could

get heavy showers. There is uncertainty for the beginning of

next week. Overnight lows, they are just just dipping delow average for