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Gypsy & Traveller DPD - Call for Gypsy & Traveller Sites

Meeting: 11/01/2022 - Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee (Item 145)

145 Gypsy & Traveller DPD - Call for Gypsy & Traveller Sites pdf icon PDF 164 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Strategic Planning Manager introduced the report and referenced the Council’s statutory obligations as a Local Planning Authority. The previous decision to produce a Gypsy & Traveller Development Plan Document (DPD) alongside the Local Plan Review (LPR) process was in part due to the significant delay in completing the Gypsy & Traveller Needs Assessment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The timetable for the DPD’s creation was outlined in the Council’s Local Development Scheme (LDS).

 

It was proposed that a ‘Call for Sites’ exercise take place between 1 February 2022 to 31 March 2022. The 11 sites previously suggested for use as Gypsy and Traveller sites from the 2019 ‘Call for Sites’ exercise, alongside any new sites put forward, would be assessed through the Gypsy & Traveller Land Availability Assessment in meeting the pitch need across the borough. The other applicable assessments were briefly referenced. 

 

The appendices to the report were outlined and were similar to the guidance provided as part of the 2019 ‘Call for Sites’ exercise to ensure maximum consistency between both processes.

 

In response to questions, the Strategic Planning Manager confirmed that the ‘Call for Sites’ exercise would identify which sites were available, whereas a site’s use, for example as a permanent or transit pitch site, would be determined following the outcome of the Gypsy & Travellers Needs Assessment.

 

It was felt that landowners should be given the opportunity to indicate a preference on whether their land would be used for as a permanent or transit pitch site.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

1.  The Maidstone Call for Gypsy and Traveller Sites exercise takes place between 1 February 2022 and 31 March 2022; and

 

2.  The guidance on making a submission, attached at Appendix A to the report, and the Call for Gypsy and Traveller Site submission template, attached at Appendix B to the report, be noted

 

3.  Officers consider adding a further item on the submission form, as attached at Appendix B to the report, to ask whether the site may be suitable as a transit site.