Gypsy families lose court battle over Olympics eviction

Gypsy families who are being evicted to make way for the 2012 Olympics today lost a High Court battle for the right to be re-located to an alternative site of their choice.

The families of Irish and Romany descent face losing homes in east London they have occupied for almost 40 years to make way for the £3.3bn Olympic Park.

The decision could mean the families having to go to a site where they fear hostility from local residents and the ordeal of "living in a zoo".

Their unsuccessful legal battle was led by Lily Smith, a Romany gypsy who has lived at the Clays Lane Travellers’ site in Stratford for more than 30 years.

Her daughters live on other plots on the same site.

Overall 15 families, composed of 35 individuals and four generations, share the site.

Mrs Smith challenged a decision by the London Development Agency last October not to apply for planning permission for their preferred site at nearby Chobham Farm which, they argue, would be the most suitable option for the families.

The LDA decided not to acquire that land, one of the reasons being the strict timetable for acquiring land for the Olympics, and instead opted for a site at Major Road Park in the borough of Newham.

But today Deputy Judge George Bartlett QC, sitting at London’s High Court, ruled the LDA had not acted irrationally or unlawfully, and neither did its decision violate human rights.

The judge said: "I am unable to conclude that the Major Road site is simply unsuitable of unsustainable".

He said the gypsies’ rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to a family and home life did not mean they had a legal right to the site of their choice.

The LDA and the Government had been entitled to conclude that the importance of the Olympic games and the regeneration it would bring made it "necessary and proportionate" to act as it did "in the interests of the economic well being of the country".

The LDA had indicated that it required vacant possession of the Olympic land by July 2007, and there was insufficient time to make Chobham Farm available.

Marc Willers, appearing for Mrs Smith, argued there had been a failure to explain why vacant possession of the Clays Lane site was required by July 2007, or what prejudice would be caused if there was a delay.

It was "impossible to understand LDA’s rationale", argued Mr Willers.

He said the Major Road Park site was unsuitable because it would lead to the loss of local community open space and give rise to considerable objection from local residents.

Legal challenges were possible in relation to that site, meaning delays were as just as likely as with the Chobham Farm site.

The gypsies were concerned that, if they were forced to move to the Major Road Park area, they might face hostility from local residents angry at the loss of their community’s open space.

They were also concerned about safety and security at the Major Road Park site, which was surrounded on all four sides by busy roads.

It would "be like living in a zoo", argued Mr Willers.

But the judge disagreed and dismissed the application for permission to seek judicial review, saying that the gypsy families had "no reasonable prospect of success".

An LDA spokesman said: "We welcome the High Court’s decision.

"The LDA has tried at all times to balance the needs of travellers and local residents, and this ruling is a recognition of that.

" We will be transferring the Olympic site on schedule to the ODA in July so it is important that a resolution to the travellers situation is found quickly."