Dale Farm's history as former council junkyard: Basildon council in denial

[marksimonbrown]

Basildon Council Concreted Over Dale Farm
Ref: http://jasonnparkinson.wordpress.com/

On the above url, watch Jason Parkinson's short video interview with Ray Bocking, former owner of Dale Farm, explaining how Basildon Council concreted Dale Farm and used it as a car scrap yard and road works waste site, dumping unused tarmac and hardcore for more than a decade.  

It makes a nonsense of the claim by Basildon council that the site is in contravention of green belt policy when the same council had for years used the same site as a brownfield dumping ground preceding it's transformation into residential use by the travelling community (the claim that the immediate locality is greenfield is tenuous in any case, since Dale Farm is less than 300 yards away from a dual carriage way and out-of-town retail park. 

Half of the Dale Farm community has planning permission. The eviction will cost Basildon council a third of its budget - £8 million - to evict 80 families.  

Jason Parkinson:
Despite this evidence being crucial to the Dale Farm eviction on the grounds of the land being Green Belt and various media outlets interviewing Mr. Bocking, not one television news outlet has reported the story so far. At the end of this film you see the ITV East news team cut Bocking short for their live feed and flounder when asked if they will report it.

Last night the Guardian newspaper online was the only outlet to release an article on Ray Bocking's story.

Aerial view of the scrapyard before it became Dale Farm traveller's site: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26043573/scrap%20yard.jpg

© Jason N. Parkinson/reportdigital.co.uk

See also: 
Basildon Council votes to sell off playing fields for homes
14/01/2011
Ref: http://www.southendstandard.co.uk/news/echo/8789524.Council_votes_to_sell_off_playing_fields_for_homes/
Basildon councillors gave plans for 73 homes on Kent View Road recreation ground in Vange the green light during a heated meeting, despite passionate opposition from residents.