Basildon, UK: Clergy from Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in Essex, England are backing the Dale Farm Travellers in their fight to keep their homes in the face of eviction by the local government.

The bishop of Brentwood, the Rev Thomas McMahon, and the bishop of Chelmsford, the Rev John Gladwin, are jointly urging the Basildon Council to provide more sites for Travellers, and expressing their concerns about the Council’s plans to appeal a May 9 High Court ruling that stopped the eviction indefinitely.

The Dale Farm Housing Association, a partner of The Advocacy Project, has been fighting for the settlement since 2005, when the Council ordered the Travellers to leave Dale Farm because they were living illegally and without planning permission. The Council reaffirmed the order in December 2007. The High Court judge ruled in May that the Travellers could not find land elsewhere because of discrimination, and asked the Council to identify new housing plots for them.

The earliest an appeal hearing could be held would be October.

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