Cash rolls in for fight against gypsy site

North Wiltshire District Council has announced that a public enquiry into the gypsy site at Sambourne Road, Minety, will be held on February 1 at the council offices in Chippenham.

Money raised by the Minety Action Group will be used to hire Birmingham lawyer David Park to represent them at next month's inquiry.

Minety residents say the gypsies flouted planning law when they set up a camp on the edge of the village in August 2003. The district council applied for an eviction order but High Court judge John Weeks decided last August the gypsies' human rights must be taken into consideration and they could stay until next month's inquiry.

Campaigner Andrew Hyland said the action group had exceeded its predicted figure of £8,000.

Mr Hyland said: "The generosity of people has been massive. Everyone is waiting for the inquiry. I feel the gypsies will be evicted simply because of the high-profile nature of the case."

Action group treasurer Michael McTiernan said the campaigners have

already submitted evidence supporting their case to the district council.

He said: "I am confident we are going to win because of the importance of planning and environmental issues."

Mr McTiernan said that septic tanks used by gypsy families were thought to have flooded into the nearby Derry Brook river. Action group leader Verina Hyland said the gypsy encampment also posed a hazard to traffic travelling on the B4040 as the entrance into the encampment is on a dangerous bend and the access is very difficult.

Minety gypsies' representative, Maggie Smith-Bendall, said: "To say there are concerns about pollution is untrue because the environmental health people from the district council visited the site when it opened up.

"The problem lies with successive governments who have swept the problem under the carpet. However the Government now realises the people in Minety have nowhere to go."

She said Bristol-based lawyer Brian Cox had been hired to defend the gypsies.