"We shall not be moved" was the message spelled out loud and clear by Feltham showpeople as they told Hounslow Council in no uncertain terms they will not be kicked out of their ancestral homes.

The showpeople and their supporters packed a Bedfont, Feltham and Hanworth Area Forum meeting on Thursday (September 20) where their representative Yasmin O'Brien stated that plans to move them out and then build new homes where they have lived in for more than 100 years would come to nothing.

The council has earmarked the site in Station Road Estate - next to Feltham station, and Bedfont Lane, for a possible housing development in the Feltham Area Masterplan.

Yasmin told the panel of councillors: "113 years ago our forefathers purchased a piece of land to live on and from which to run their businesses, and this was to be home for them and for generations of their families still to come.

Yasmin Parnham in front of her house with fellow showperson Sarah Jarvis

"Children were born, grew up and died. We all went to school in the area, and in fact the showpeople's yards were a focal point running local football and sports teams for everyone to join.

"This has continued right through the years as the town expanded. We were constant, and the generations who have passed away are in Hanworth Cemetery and indeed many have had their ashes scattered in the gardens of those, their beloved homes, so they would stay in this happy place for ever.

"And now this is threatened by the Feltham Masterplan. We are told we should accept gracefully and move on, though no one knows where.

"We were shocked. Angry. Disgusted. And those feelings grew when we attended a meeting last October chaired by the leader of the council and found out that apart from deciding where we wouldn't be able to live, in our existing family homes, they did not have any clue at all about alternatives.

Some of the residents who live on the Showmen site

"Many residents are suffering from stress-related serious illnesses, heart conditions, strokes - fortunately so far mini strokes - and excessively high blood pressure.

"Compulsory purchase is dangled over our heads like a sword and the council will not withdraw that option. If the council were confident they could come up with a new super site that we would love, why do they need to keep compulsory purchase there? State now that there will never be a question of compulsory purchase. Lift the pressure.

"So I must make this clear; we are not moving anywhere. These are our homes and will be our homes for the next 100 years and more. We will fight this every inch of the way."

Originally the showpoeple site was due to be discussed in the open forum part of the meeting which would have allowed local people to comment on it but, at the last minute, council leader Steve Curran decided to "elevate" it to an agenda item which meant after Yasmin's speech, there could be no further discussion of it.

The council has promised the showppeople a meeting to discuss the issue fully on October 17, but this is to be held in private leading local people to slam the council for "stamping down" on democratic debate.

After the meeting, Nadine Hayes, whose great grandfather first bought the land when it was a pig farm and an orchard, said: "People weren't allowed to speak, or question or debate. It seemed like they couldn't care less to be honest. That's what's happened at every meeting so far.

"They've done it to single us out so we don't get so much support from everybody else.

"My dad's 80 years old and was born in a caravan on the Station Estate. My parents are too old to uproot and move, It's all we've ever known."

The Showmen staged a protest outside a previous meeting

Nadine says the council's offer of money to buy the land would not mean anything as the families could have sold up and left any time if they had wanted to.

The council has previously offered the residents an alternative site but it proved to be on contaminated land and Nadine says it was in a completely unsuitable area.

By law the council has to offer a site that meets a series of regulations laid out by the Showmen's Guild.

This includes parking for the showpeople's fairground rides, which they take around London, and room for the community to expand as it has traditionally.

There has to be room for the Showpeople's rides wherever the live

Council leader Steve Curran has, however, insisted that the showpeople will not be moved unless an alternative suitable site can be found.

He said last week: "With regard to the concerns in the community we have repeatedly stated that we are looking for alternative sites for the showpeople and, until we find such a site, there is absolutely no possibility of the showpeople being asked to move."

But he added: "Residents will know that there is a housing crisis in Hounslow as there is in the rest of London, and we are in desperate need for new homes for our residents.

"Not only those on the waiting list, but also the many hundreds of families who are in overcrowded accommodation.

"We are committed to build more social housing at rents that local people can afford and we intend to meet that pledge."