Dale Farm legal battle draws to close after permission to appeal refused

The Dale Farm legal battle looks to have reached its conclusion this afternoon after residents were refused permission to appeal.

Lord Justice Sullivan ruled that the travellers did not have an arguable case to put before the Court of Appeal.

The residents were seeking to appeal Mr Justice Ouseley’s ruling last week that the local authority’s actions were not disproportionate.

The latest decision paves the way for the clearance of the site to go ahead.

Basildon Council urged the travellers to “leave peacefully and in an orderly fashion”.

The authority said it would not give the residents any further notice of when the operation to clear the site would begin. However, the court has required Basildon to give 48 hours’ notice to three pitches.

Cllr Tony Ball, Basildon’s Leader, said: “Since last Wednesday evening the residents at Dale Farm have been living on borrowed time. I made it very clear following Mr Justice Ouseley’s judgment that they should now leave peacefully and in a safe and orderly fashion.”

Cllr Ball also called on the residents’ supporters to leave the site. “If they have the travellers' best interest at heart they will either leave the area now or confine their activities to helping the travellers to leave over the coming days,” he said.

Basildon’s Leader expressed concern at reports that barricades had been strengthened over the weekend, which he said “flies in the face of common sense and the request made by Justice Edwards-Stuart when he urged travellers to use their best endeavours to remove barricades and facilitate access to the site a number of weeks ago”.

He added: “Our job is now to clear this site in a safe and dignified manner and this is what we intend to do.”

Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart's ruling on the scope of the enforcement notices allowed Basildon to clear 49 out of 54 plots on the site, save for fences, gates and walls.

Philip Hoult