Anxious wait for Edinburgh traveller family facing eviction as mum prepares to give birth
A family of travellers who are just days away from welcoming a new baby are facing an anxious wait to learn their fate after bailiffs turned up to evict them.
Jim, who asked us not to reveal his surname, his pregnant wife and their 10 children were among a group of travellers who were handed an eviction notice to leave the site between West Granton Road and Waterfront Avenue back in January.
And after appealing the eviction to buy some time, bailiffs appeared at the site on the morning of Friday, February 13, to attempt to move the group on. But the group, some of whom have lived on the site since 2019, were joined by fellow travellers from across Scotland, who formed a human chain, forcing the bailiffs to leave.
Now the travellers face a waiting game, as they fight to stay on land earmarked for a state-of-the-art home for Scotland's national collection of 130,000 artworks, The Art Works. The project is part of the wider Granton Waterfront development, with construction work at the site due to start soon, and diggers spotted on-site last week.
Jim said: “We are still here. The tried to move us on Friday but we had a protest, with people from the gypsy and travellers community coming here to stand with us. The bailiffs stood down.
“I don’t know what is going to happen now. I’m guessing they will come back. There are diggers on site so I imagine works is due to start here.
“The council haven’t been down to speak to us about where we can move to or which schools our children can go to, with them currently settled in at the local primary school.”
He added that, with his wife due to give birth this week, his main concern is her health.
“My wife is due this week, so I’m more concerned about her than the bailiffs. And it’s freezing, we’ve had problems with our heating, so we are just trying to stay warm.”
Locals living in properties near the traveller site previously expressed their anger at issues with fires and fly-tipping in the area.
One local resident, who asked not to be named, told the Evening News that more “big fires” have been lit on the site in the past week, with some producing clouds of smoke “50 or 60 feet in the air”. He added that a low loader and a big digger appeared at the site last week.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has gone through a legal process to obtain an order requiring those illegally camped on Scottish Government-owned land to leave.
“The land is to be cleared as development on the site is due to start following the green light in the Scottish Budget for construction of The Art Works project. Site development and construction works will make it impossible for people to remain there.
“The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the City of Edinburgh Council who have offered support through their homeless service and education department as well as being referred through the NHS.”