[Livia]

Originally Posted by kazanne

I see both sides I think,these travellers actually bought the land which I presume the council greedily took the money for,however the travellers have built on it and have lived there for TEN years,the council now want to move them on,will they give them their money back?Do the travellers pay council tax and for water etc?if not that's not fair to all other people that have to,but we do pay lots of housing benefit and council tax for loads of benefit scroungers,so cant see much difference really and these people are human beings they need somewhere to live,have they been offered permanent housing,I heard some had and refused ! so it's a hard one really to answer with any certainty.

if they did buy the land from the council, they would have been made even more aware that planning permission would be limited, if it was granted at all. They were granted permission for a number of homes but built three times the amount, putting a strain on the roads, the schools, gas, electric, water etc. by building and living there with no planning permission. If they get away with this they will be setting a dangerous legal precident and open up opportunities for everyone to throw up buildings and then claim they are a special case.

I also heard they'd been offered permanent housing and refused. I've also read in the newspaper and online that most of these people own homes in Ireland already. I don't know if any of that is true.

I have travellers living near me. They got planning permission for their site, their kids attend the local school, they take part in local events and stuff and I have to say, they seem to be really nice people. Dale Farm makes it bad for people like them, other travellers who abide by the law.