Green belt no better in hands of council (From Echo)

Green belt no better in hands of council

10:00am Tuesday 1st April 2008 in

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A HUMAN rights campaigner has poured scorn on the state local councils leave green belt land in after travellers are evicted from unauthorised sites.

James Dasinger, 35, a graduate student of political science at California State University, Northridge, who has been living at the Dale Farm unauthorised traveller site, in Crays Hill, since February, has visited three camps which have faced evictions.

These include Hovefields, at Wickford, a small former site by the A130 near Rettendon, and the Smithy Fen camp, at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire.

He photographed the remains of illegally-built plots at all three sites, where evictions have taken place, which are now covered in unsightly mounds of rubble.

His pictures also showed rubbish and rubble-filled stagnant pools of water, which formed at Hovefields since the evictions took place.

He suggested this demonstrated local councils were no better at looking after green belt than travellers.

The volunteer for the Washington-based Advocacy Project, said on his internet blog on the human rights group's website: "One of the reasons sited by local authorities to evict travellers is to protect the integrity of greenbelt.

"I decided to try to find out what happens to greenbelt after travellers are removed. Are local councils better stewards of greenbelt than travellers?"

He said his pictures represented what Basildon taxpayers get for the millions of pounds spent on evictions.

He said: "Is greenbelt protected better by shifting people from site to site in an endless cycle of cost and destruction? Or is the better way to do as the East of England Regional Assembly has mandated and start designating appropriate sites?

"Judge for yourself if you think the results are worth it."

There are still around 15 unauthorised and occupied traveller plots at Hovefields, which surround the seven derelict ones where residents have been evicted. The pictures can be seen on Mr Dasinger's blog page, on www.advocacynet.org.