THE leader of Basildon Council has welcomed a new Government guide to highlight how councils can evict travellers and avoid another Dale Farm battle.

The guide, released by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, reminds councils and landowners of the legal powers they have to promptly deal with illegal traveller sites on public and private land.

Tony Ball, leader of Basildon Council, who was the public face of the authority during the Dale Farm eviction in 2011, said: “I would not wish anyone in the gypsy, traveller and council community to go through another Dale Farm and what Eric Pickles has put forward since 2010 has meant that won’t happen again.

“I think it’s good it’s been put into one document so councils are aware of what they can and can’t do with their powers, and residents can also hold councils to account if perhaps there isn’t the political will to carry out enforcement, which is a discretionary power.

“That was Basildon’s problem in 2001. If enforcement notices had been enforced then, we wouldn’t have been met with a site that was fully entrenched when we came to power.”

The guide includes advice on new temporary stop orders, which give councils power to tackle unauthorised caravans, backed up by unlimited fines.