More than 40 Gypsy and Traveller families at Dale Farm in Billericay and at Hovefields in Wickford, have secured a reprieve against Basildon District Council's eviction plans.
Mr Justice Collins in the High Court said the eviction order cannot stand and ordered more time to permit appropriate enquiries concerning the families needs and welfare.
The judge acknowledged that his decison may be controversial, but warned the families they could not remain on the site indefinitely.
The issue, which has been festering for several years, concerns attempts to remove the families by means of the issue of enforcement notices.
Indeed, last December, the Council, citing section 178 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as its authority, entered the land and sought to enforce compliance with the orders.
The judge made it quite clear that the families could not expect to remain in situ and that eventually they would have to move, whether by agreement or forcible eviction.
However, he was critical of the Council's past actions which concentrated on site clearance rather than taking account of whether such action was appropriate to the situations of the individual families affected.
In granting the Council leave to appeal, the judge pointed out that the case raised important issues concerning the hitherto insoluble problems concerning site provision for Gypsies and travellers.
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