Gypsies move out of illegal camp after THREE YEAR battle with villagers… but not
before they started a few fires and burned a caravan
- Travellers have left the site at Meriden, Warwickshire, following judge's order
- They have another month to restore the field to its former green belt state
- Villagers have maintained a protest on Eaves Green Lane since May 2010
The judge has given the travellers a further month to restore the site, pictured, to its former green belt state
The camp was set up after the travellers bought the land from a local businessman for £100,000 and moved in over a
bank holiday weekend.
But angry residents wanted to preserve the green belt which separates the village from Coventry and Solihull.
They formed a human barricade to prevent a convoy of lorries from delivering 1,800 tons of rubble to the site later that
evening fearing it would ruin their tranquility.
Ever since then, local residents have worked on a rota basis, with shifts lasting anything from an hour to overnight.
The judge gave the gypsies until April 21 to move and a further month to restore the site to its former green belt state.
Up to 200 local residents, many in their 70s, have kept a round-the-clock human barricade on the green belt land since the
travellers arrived in May 2010 to the camp.
The campaign group, known as Residents Against Inappropriate Development, maintained the vigil in all weather
conditions to prevent more travellers from gaining access.
The protest lasted a whopping 1,086 days.
Head of RAID David McGrath said that they were 'relieved' the gypsies had finally left - but that the battle was still far
from over.
He explained: 'I think there is a great sense of relief that they are leaving. But that is just the end of this part of the
campaign.
A traveller sits at the door of the last caravan left at the camp; the protest with villagers lasted 1,086 days
'They still need to return the camp to the way it was the day before they moved in, exactly the way it was.
'That means not just leaving but removing all the sewerage and water pipes under the ground that they installed and reseeding the ground.
'We will keep up with targeted protests until that is done. There has already been a for sale sign put up on the land.
'We won't pay a kings ransom for the land. The long legal battle has proven it is not for residential purposes, it is an agricultural field.
'There was only one caravan actually left habitable, we saw them burning another one only a couple of nights ago.
'But now we need to make sure they don't just bulldoze everything, they must return it to exactly how it was before they came.
'We have stayed until they have, but we know that the council have taken legal action against both sides - so we won't be off the site until Monday.
'We will be holding a minute's silence to remember all those campaigners who have sat by the brazier, who have attended the protest meetings and gave evidence at the public inquiry but who have passed away and never saw the fruits of their labours and inspirational contribution.
'Their legacy goes beyond the battle of Eaves Green Lane.'
The departure of the gypsies is a victory for local residents, pictured, who campaigned tirelessly
Landowner Noah Burton, 48, a spokesman for the travellers said that there were 'no winners'.
He said: 'We have been left homeless and the residents have been left with the stigma of the gypsy site having been there.
'The head of RAID's house is still barely worth £5,000 even when we have gone, the history of us being there is all over the place.
'This was never about green belt land, it was only about not wanting gypsies on their doorsteps, they told me that many times.
'Now the people who lived on the site have had to leave their jobs, the only reason there is still a family there is because she had to work her notice.
'She has made herself redundant from her job because we have to leave and she won't be able to go.
'I can't tell you where the families have gone because many of them are forced to stop at the roadside now and the police have moved them on a few times already.
'We will still be around, you just won't be able to see us any more on the land.
'The council could have helped us, found a new site and moved us in straight away. Then everyone would have been happy.
'Once the last families have moved out, the work will begin to return the land to its former state.'
but in a final show of defiance, the travellers started fires and torched a caravan before they left.
It comes after a High Court judge threw out an application for the infamous 'Meriden Gypsies' to stay on the site on Eaves
Green Lane in Meriden, Warwickshire, last month.The field on Eaves Green Lane is cleared by a gypsy following a High Court judge order last month
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