Travellers lose Olympic site battle

A judge rejected claims that their human rights would be unlawfully breached if they were forced to transfer to new caravan sites as the country prepares to host the 2012 Olympic Games in east London.

The legal battle was led by three mothers facing eviction from the Clays Lane site in Newham and the Waterden Crescent site in Hackney so that construction work related to the Olympic project can begin.

Rejecting their legal challenge, Mr Justice Wyn Williams, sitting at London's High Court, said the decision to confirm the compulsory purchase order for the sites "was justified". The ruling will come as a relief to the Government, which feared that a win for the families could have amounted to a serious setback to delivering the games on time.

The judge said: "When a decision-maker admits that his decision involves a very significant interference with the human rights of a group of people, the court has a duty to analyse rigorously the basis upon which that decision is said to be justified and proportionate.

"Having subjected the decision to such rigorous assessment, I have reached the clear conclusion that the (Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's) decision to confirm this compulsory purchase order is justified. Accordingly, this claim fails."

The ruling was a defeat for Lisa Smith, a Romany gypsy who has resided in a caravan on the Clays Lane site for 22 years. Her two children both attend a local primary school.

The second applicant was mother-of-five Mary Reilly, a traveller who has lived on the Waterden Crescent site for 13 years. Her youngest child attends a local secondary school.

The third applicant in the case was Julia Reilly, who has three children and has been a Waterden Crescent resident for four years. She is registered disabled.

Marc Willers, appearing for the three women, argued the CPO was an unlawful interference with their right to private and family life, as protected under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.