Thursday 23 June 2022 07:05 PM Travellers vow to set up illegal camps on roadsides and in car parks after ... trends now
A group of gypsies have vowed to set up illegal camps across a county after losing a four year High Court legal battle to live on their own land.
Six families have been based at the site in Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire, since 2018 on land which they own but they don't have planning permission to live on.
The travellers have been fighting to stay put for the last four-and-half-years after being told by Newark and Sherwood District Council to leave.
They have previously won appeals at London's High Court but will now be booted from their own patch of land after the decision was overturned last week.
The families say they will have no choice but to pitch up illegal encampments by the roadside after being given 14 months to vacate.
Gemma Lamb, a mum who lives on the site, said they would now be forced to break the law because the authority had not offered them an alternative location.
The Planning Inspectorate ruled the land is too noisy for the gypsy community to live and is also at risk of flooding
Residents now fear their town will be plagued by travellers setting up caravans at parks, schools and supermarkets following the High Court ruling.
The Planning Inspectorate ruled the land is too noisy for the gypsy community to live and is also at risk of flooding.
But Gemma, 35, claims they have no problems with any noise and they had not experienced any flooding in bad weather apart from a 'few puddles.'
She said: 'I want to apologise to the people of Newark now because we'll have to pull on to the side of the road or carparks, if we are forced to leave.
'The council hasn't offered us anywhere else to go.
'The inspectorate has just looked at the previous inspector's decision and followed suit despite what the High Court said - that the council hasn't taken our needs into consideration and the fact the council doesn't have land for us to go.
Newark and Sherwood District Council is now telling the families to leave the site and demanded all outbuildings and other 'hard surfacing works' are dismantled
'The other sites in the area are full and there are no transit sites.'
Gemma says her community is willing to do whatever it takes -whether that be putting up acoustic fencing to shield from the A46 or planting more trees to disguise the site.
She added: 'The council just doesn't care.
'We are human beings too, the only difference being we live in tin boxes and you inside bricks and mortar.
'I just want to be able to sit down with councillors and have them listen to our story and understand we do have needs.
'We've even asked for temporary consent and they are against that - but when they say no, they don't offer any alternative.
'And we're not moving from Newark, this is our home.'
Newark and Sherwood District Council is now telling the families to leave the site and
