WEST MIDLANDS MEP CALLS FOR TRAVELLER APPEAL TO BE REJECTED
Issue Date: 21st February 2012
A West Midlands MEP who has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Meriden residents will now call for the judge to reject the travellers appeal.
The gypsies, who have settled on the Eaves Green Lane site, will be at Birmingham Civil Justice Centre this morning to challenge the decision taken by the Right Honourable Eric Pickles MP to oust them from their Meriden base. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government agreed with the local council’s decision to deny the travelers retrospective planning permission for the Meriden site on 25th October 2011.
Nikki Sinclaire, Independent MEP for the West Midlands, will be using her own advertising vehicle to send a clear message about the appeal this morning with the van being present around the Bull street area all day.
The travellers arrived at the site on a bank holiday weekend – a common process which means Council offices are closed, and once Council officials have returned to the sit, it is usually complete. This then leads to thousands of pounds needing to be spent on mounting legal challenges to move these people off the land.
The large ad clearly sends a message to the judge, “DISMISS THE APPEAL. PROTECT OUR GREENBELT” and Nikki hopes that the judge will have strong words to say about this flagrant abuse of the law
“Appeals such as these are unnecessary abuses to the system and are at a huge cost to the law abiding tax payer”
“Any decision about the Eaves Green Lane site needs to be strongly upheld. Any further planning applications at the unlawful and adjoining site need to be rejected outright. To continue further applications at this site and the site next door - where there are already provocative signs erected giving notice of future development attempts - would be to fail the people of Meriden as well as the travellers”
“We cannot ignore the rights of those residents who have camped 24/7 for over 700 days to protect the Greenbelt land. This is about for equal rights for both the traveller and settled community”.
“I am urging the judge to uphold the decision so we can move forward and bring this sorry tale to an end”.
Tomorrow’s case, entitled Noah Burton v Eric Pickles, will begin at 10.30am.
ENDS
STOP PRESS
Comment from Nikki Sinclaire MEP:
"I am incredibly disappointed that the appeal has been adjourned. The residents that have camped for over 700 days and nights to protect the Greenbelt land deserve to have the matter settled sooner rather than later. This will add to the cost on the public purse. Everybody has the right to a fair hearing and I am mindful of this, and they should also have time to prepare their case. However, it is hard to understand the reasoning and late request for the matter to be adjourned. I will now call upon the government to shorten procedure in cases such of these to save on the cost to the tax payers and to prevent any potential misuse"
STOP PRESS
Comment from Nikki Sinclaire MEP:
"I am incredibly disappointed that the appeal has been adjourned. The residents that have camped for over 700 days and nights to protect the Greenbelt land deserve to have the matter settled sooner rather than later. This will add to the cost on the public purse. Everybody has the right to a fair hearing and I am mindful of this, and they should also have time to prepare their case. However, it is hard to understand the reasoning and late request for the matter to be adjourned. I will now call upon the government to shorten procedure in cases such of these to save on the cost to the tax payers and to prevent any potential misuse"
