‘Dole Farm’ travellers prepare to sue council (From Basildon Recorder)

‘Dole Farm’ travellers prepare to sue council

12:41pm Tuesday 7th August 2007

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MORE than 100 travellers are preparing to sue Basildon Council for releasing their personal details.

Travellers - from Dale Farm, Crays Hill and Hovefields, Wickford - have won the first round of what is expected to be an 18-month legal battle, which started when the council published information about their health complaints, benefits claims and children.

The information was presented in a January 2006 development control agenda, before committees voted on evictions for both sites.

The information meant the Echo was able to reveal most of the site occupants were on benefits in our "Dole Farm" exclusive.

The council has since removed the agenda from the website.

Council leader Malcolm Buckley said: "We will have to take legal advice on the latest findings and act appropriately.

"But we still maintain we acted appropriately because individual personal circumstances needed to be taken into account before the decision was made.

"We would seek to defend this stance were it to go before a court."

Campaigners claim the verdict could cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Government watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office, ruled the publication was "likely to be in breach of the first data protection principle".

It has sent the findings to the local government ombudsman, which will investigate further.

A Colchester-based national charity, the Children's Legal Centre, is preparing test cases for three families at Hovefields who had "significant amounts" of information about their children published.

Grattan Puxon, a campaigner for the travellers, said: "If these are successful, the legal centre intends pursuing up to 100 cases for families at Dale Farm.

"This is a great result for the travellers and I believe the claims could total several hundred thousand pounds."

A decision report by Pat Kennedy, Information Com-missioner casework officer, states: "It would seem little consideration was given to these individuals' rights to privacy or to the possible impact of public disclosure of such sensitive information.

"The fact this information was published on the council's website, and therefore potentially available to a worldwide audience, is an even greater cause for concern."

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