SOLE STREET: Complaints about gypsies are 'racist' says farm owner

1:55pm Monday 24th August 2009

By Michael Purton

A FARM owner has hit back at criticism of her decision to rent a field to gypsies, saying the complaints are racist.

Last week Beverley Smit rented one field of her 50 acre home, Cranbourne Farm in Sole Street, to a travelling pentecostal gypsy church.

Around 300 people in almost 200 caravans stayed in the field off Copt Hall Road until Sunday (August 23), holding services and welcoming local residents to join them.

However, many residents complained to Gravesham Council, with leader Councillor Mike Snelling saying he had been “inundated with calls”, and a Daily Mail article today called Mrs Smit a “villain”.

The 56-year-old, who has owned the farm for ten years, said: “The people who stayed in the field are Christians who want to spread the word of God, and they caused no trouble while they were here.

“In the past week I have been insulted by lots of local people simply for allowing gypsies to stay on the land, and to me the assumption that gypsies are troublemakers is a prejudice.

Mrs Smit and her husband Jan, 54, bought the field for £147,000 in 2004 to prevent another group of travellers, who had illegally set up a permanent camp nearby, moving into it.

She says they bought the land on the understanding other local residents would contribute, with one agreeing to pledge £50,000, but the money never materialised.

As a result of this and the current recession, Mrs Smit says she and her husband have been forced to find ways to recoup some of the money by renting out the field.

The independent financial advisor said: “We might have rock concerts or weddings or rent it to gypsies again.

“Our farm makes money from people paying to keep their horses here, but we now only have five horses whereas 18 months ago we had 30, so we have to find other ways to raise money.

“If we don’t raise money we will have to sell the land, and then a developer could buy it with the intention of building houses, and local residents would be outraged.”

On Monday morning, leaders of the gypsy church, the Light and Life Mission, were busy cleaning the field to restore it to the condition it was in before their arrival.

Senior pastor Bob Friend said: “When we first arrived we put up signs inviting local residents to come to our services, but none did.

“We get prejudice everywhere we go, with people complaining simply because we are gypsies.

“If it had been an event for any other religion, for example Islam, nobody would have complained for fear of being called prejudiced.”