EVICTION AT THE DALE FARM

Conflict: Eviction at the Dale Farm Traveller Site in Essex, England

Conflict: Eviction at the Dale Farm Traveller Site in Essex, England

The paper focuses on the case of Dale Farm Eviction in, Essex 2011 applying the following three conflict resolution approaches: Negotiation, Dialogue, ARIA method. Work on the Dale Farm case began in spring 2009 after the completion of a fact-finding mission by the UN HABITAT Advisory Group on Forced Eviction. The case involves the planned eviction of a Gypsy and Traveller community in Essex, United Kingdom, planned by Basildon Borough Council (BBC). The community bought the land in the green belt area and was not granted planning permission to stay. Enforcement notices were issued and the community could not overturn the judicial decision which authorised enforcement. Nationally the case is led by the Dale Farm Housing Association and internationally by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions. The aim is to stop the planned eviction and/or find an acceptable and adequate alternative for resettlement with full respect of the community's human rights.

The Dale Farm team has carried out a variety of activities to assist the solicitor of the case, Mr. Keith Lomax of Davies Gore Lomax Solicitors, and the community in their endeavours to halt the planned eviction. On the legal side, the team prepared and submitted petitions to Basildon Borough Council, the UK Information Commissioner Office, the Essex Police Authority, Council of Europe, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing. On 11 March a representative of the Council of Europe visited Dale Farm get information on the eviction process directly from the community. The visit took place in the scope of a monitoring mission to the UK of the Advisory Committee on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The team has produced an inventory of all material properties to serve as evidence in case the eviction result in the destruction of private property. The Clinic also assists the Dale Farm Housing Association with editing and designing the Dale Farm e-bulletin, which serves as a vehicle for circulating information on the planned eviction.

Negotiation Approch

Goldberg, Sander, and Rogers in Dispute Resolution: Negotiation, Mediation, and Other Processes (1992) define negotiation as communication for the purpose of persuasion. Negotiation is a process in which parties to a dispute discuss possible outcomes directly with each other. Parties exchange proposals and demands, make arguments, and continue the discussion until a solution is reached, or an impasse declared. In negotiations there are three approaches to resolving the dispute, each with a different orientation and focus - interest-based, rights-based, and power-based - and they can result in different outcomes (Ury et al., 1993).

Interest-Based Negotiation

This approach shifts the focus of the discussion from positions to interests. Because there are many interests underlying any position, a discussion based on interests opens up a range of possibilities and creative options, whereas positions very often cannot be reconciled and may therefore lead ...