Travellers: We'll quit Dale Farm for £2million (From Echo)
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Travellers: We'll quit Dale Farm for £2million
4:10pm Wednesday 17th June 2009 in Basildon By Jon Austin
TRAVELLER leader Richard Sheridan tried to strike a £2million deal with council chiefs to leave Dale Farm.
Mr Sheridan, president of the Gypsy Council, said 86 families facing eviction would leave peacefully if Basildon Council handed over the huge sum.
The deal was offered to chief executive Bala Mahendran’s secretary during a phone conversation, which she recorded in an e-mail to the legal department.
It said: “Just to confirm I have spoken with Richard Sheridan – a tricky call!
“(He) suggested the council give him the £2million it will cost to remove the travellers and they will all leave and buy another site.”
The council did not respond.
Len Gridley, 50, whose home next to the camp has plummeted in value, said: “He is holding the council to ransom. This is not about homes, but money.
“He has shown he is ready, willing and able to find another site.”
Council leader Tony Ball said the council could not entertain such an offer – but even if it did he was asking for far too much.
He said: “The approximate value of £2million to which Richard Sheridan refers, represents not only the expected costs of the eviction, but also the cost of returning the affected land to green belt status.”
However, he said the council would continue talks with him.
He added: “He is the only man we know of to represent travellers, so we will engage with him in the absence of anyone else.”
Referring to the offer, he said: “It depends on the spirit in which he made the comment, but either way it is a non-starter. Where would he go? Another unauthorised site?
“We do not want to spend tax payers’ money like this.
“If he has the influence he says he has to get people to move, without the payment, he is worth talking to. No-one wants an eviction.”
Yesterday, the Echo revealed Mr Sheridan was putting together a team to negotiate with the council over the forthcoming eviction.
He asked for the huge cash payout in February before the House of Lords ruled travellers must leave last month.
Sheridan, 40, was not an appellant during the Dale Farm legal battle, but wife Martina McCarthy claimed legal aid to stay.
Mr Sheridan declined to comment about his offer.
Grattan Puxon, a campaigner close to Mr Sheridan, said it was one of a number of options being considered at Dale Farm.
He said: “Basildon is still under obligation to identify about 60 pitches. One option we want to put to them is to identify land for a Dale Farm two, with guaranteed planning permission, which we could bid for, or they could use the money set aside for the eviction to fund it.”
Comments(24)
anon anon
says...
4:18pm Wed 17 Jun 09
bumper
says...
4:28pm Wed 17 Jun 09
still calling the shots this is one big joke get them off if you cannot do the jobe get the army . why are they still calling the shots here the lost in court the talking should be over and the real job done .
i bet they will pay the scum this just to make it easy and it will come out of tax payers money .
House of Lords ruled travellers must leave last month
now do the job or the people will .
your just cowards
at the end of the day and talk big with no action .
you only pick on the easy singel parents and the weak that ant in numbers your just as much scum as they are for not doing the real job in hand . get on with it YELLOW
bumper
says...
4:30pm Wed 17 Jun 09
anon anon wrote:ye till they come back and do it again but not just here but all over .
and leave the country ? sounds like good value for money to me !
easy money .
give them f-u-c-k all .
it will only come out of tax payers money.
PeteinSouthend
says...
4:51pm Wed 17 Jun 09
They are taking the P*ss. I'm sure that the tax payers of Basildon would rather see their money spent on enforcing the order and having them forcably removed, rather than giving them money to please leave!!!!
staffyowner
says...
5:11pm Wed 17 Jun 09
Fupo
says...
5:16pm Wed 17 Jun 09
Vernon Carter
says...
5:37pm Wed 17 Jun 09
The whole thing is one big ruse to fleece money from the state.
dtd
says...
5:55pm Wed 17 Jun 09
TheWizzard
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6:22pm Wed 17 Jun 09
thelonewhinger
says...
7:20pm Wed 17 Jun 09
Equality for all! not just Travs.
hothead
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7:34pm Wed 17 Jun 09
If I was them I'd go now while the going is good after all,. even £2m will not cover the cost of their chalet,s caravans and posessions which they will lose.
bumper
says...
7:38pm Wed 17 Jun 09
TheWizzard wrote:i was thinking the same bill them.
These people are not travellers, gypsies, romanies, they are opportunists, exploiting every loophole in the book. The council should stop negotiating and get on with the removal. In fact why don't the council bill this lot for £2,000,000 for damage to the area?
Soozie
says...
8:21pm Wed 17 Jun 09
Can the people of this council sue if council actually (god help them if they do) give in to this?
He said: “Basildon is still under obligation to identify about 60 pitches. One option we want to put to them is to identify land for a Dale Farm two, with guaranteed planning permission, which we could bid for, or they could use the money set aside
?? can you explain in a civilised world if this indeed the case? Surely this cannot be the case....if so this is another slap in the face of the good people of Crays Hill (and England) and in no way should be tolerated.
midnight warrior
says...
9:34pm Wed 17 Jun 09
bronte
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10:38pm Wed 17 Jun 09
xSherryx
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11:24pm Wed 17 Jun 09
resident3
says...
7:37am Thu 18 Jun 09
Asking for £2m has shown them to be what we have always suspected - a bunch of lying, thieving chancers who have no wish to integrate with the locals.
Deadjim
says...
8:07am Thu 18 Jun 09
Soozie wrote:Until the government makes a decision on the allocation of additional pitches Basildon Council has no obligations and they have said they will strongly oppose any allocation that they feel is unjustified.
deadjim - are you around? Can the people of this council sue if council actually (god help them if they do) give in to this? He said: “Basildon is still under obligation to identify about 60 pitches. One option we want to put to them is to identify land for a Dale Farm two, with guaranteed planning permission, which we could bid for, or they could use the money set aside ?? can you explain in a civilised world if this indeed the case? Surely this cannot be the case....if so this is another slap in the face of the good people of Crays Hill (and England) and in no way should be tolerated.
Mr Puxon’s options are pie in the sky but he’s trying to talk things up to maintain morale and keep everyone at Dale Farm together because there is bound to be dissention when people are faced with eviction.
No council is immune if it acts illegally or is negligent .
Complaints can be made to the Local Government Ombudsman or anyone can seek a Judicial Review if they think the council has acted unlawfully and that would include a challenge if the council failed to act within a reasonable time,having won the legal battles.
There is no chance in my view that the council will misuse public money in the way Mr Sheridan is reported to have suggested – it's just a try-on and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Soozie
says...
8:16am Thu 18 Jun 09
Deadjim, once again, thank you for your valuable input on this. These non travellers are outrageous in what they expect and demand. I think people have come to the end of their tether with this and any delays on evicting them is just going to cause more tension.
bigguns
says...
2:53pm Thu 18 Jun 09
Winston Smith
says...
5:24pm Thu 18 Jun 09
Par for the course for the tax dodging, benefit scrounging, law breaking, non-travelling, non-gypsy, non-Diddakoi, non-Roma, illegal residents of Dale Farm.
dtd
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7:10pm Thu 18 Jun 09
perini
says...
12:51am Fri 19 Jun 09
evilc says...
4:15pm Wed 17 Jun 09