Rebuild finally begins at Ver Meadows after 14 month delay
More than a year after the fire that destroyed Ver Meadows, rebuild work has finally begun — and Hertfordshire County Council has issued an apology for the long delay and its failures to keep displaced families informed. But residents say the apology “means nothing”, arguing that months of silence, broken promises and unsafe conditions cannot be written off with a single letter.
Work to rebuild the fire‑damaged Ver Meadows Traveller site finally began yesterday — more than a year after the blaze forced families from their homes. Hertfordshire County Council confirmed the start date in a letter sent to former residents two weeks ago, apologising for the prolonged delay and acknowledging failures in communication.
The letter, seen by Travellers Times, sets out new commitments to monthly updates, tenant meetings and supervised site visits as construction gets underway. The rebuild of the site — virtually destroyed by a devastating fire that immediately made around 40 men, women and children homeless — began on 28 September 2026, nearly 15 months after the fire took place.
Controversy quickly followed the blaze when Burgoynes — the independent fire‑investigation specialists hired by the council to examine the incident — altered their report, softening earlier conclusions about conditions on the site. A BBC investigation then found that caravans at Ver Meadows had been sited too close together, in breach of safety guidance, and that the council had approved the layout. The combined revelations intensified scrutiny of the council’s health and safety precautions — or lack of them, according to campaigners — before the fire took place.
In the letter to residents, the senior council official wrote: “I am writing on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council to apologise for the delay to the Ver Meadows rebuild. I am sorry for this delay, which I can imagine has caused significant inconvenience and frustration,” adding that the council was committed to making future homes “as safe and pleasant as possible.”
Travellers Times spoke to Jenny, a victim of the Ver Meadows fire who did not want her real name to be used.
Jenny says she is looking forward to moving back to Ver Meadows and recognises that the letter announcing the rebuild has come from senior levels within the council. But she remains angry about the time it has taken to begin work, the lack of consultation with residents, what she describes as broken promises about information updates and previous start dates, and the fact that residents have not been shown the plans or given any direct information about how health and safety — particularly fire safety — will operate on the rebuilt site.
“The apology means nothing to me,” says Jenny. “I lost everything in the fire — my home and all my belongings — and the past 15 months have been hard for me and my family, and for the other residents.”
Since the fire, Jenny has been variously housed in emergency accommodation in hotels and hostels and is now renting a mobile home — the closest she can get to culturally appropriate accommodation.
“The council are rebuilding the site,” she says. “But that will just be the plots and a day room. When I move back on, I will have to buy a new chalet and everything that needs to go in it — because in that fire I lost everything.”
Many Travellers living on sites are unable to access household and contents insurance because of discriminatory insurance practices that refuse to insure them, according to research by Friends, Families and Travellers.
“We have been treated differently from other social housing tenants because of our ethnicity,” adds Jenny. “Where is the apology for that? Where is the apology for the years of neglect by the council?”
Travellers Times reached out to Hertfordshire County Council for comment but has not yet received a reply.
Mike Doherty for Travellers Times
(Lead photo from Facebook, other photos © Sherrie Smith at www.travelstronger.co.uk)