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Overview and Scrutiny Committee - 27th April 2010
Gypsy and Travellers Sites Update
This note sets out some of the progress achieved over past months to develop the Council’s strategy and make planning policy and site provision for Gypsy and Travellers.
Presentation of the Council’s case to the Regional Strategy EiP
1. A Partial Review of the new Regional Strategy – the South East Plan - is being undertaken. When complete this will provide a regional level planning policy for Gypsies and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople and specify the number of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers and for Travelling Showpeople to be provided in each authority in the region for the period 2006 to 2016.
2. The public inquiry in the form of an Examination in Public (EiP) was held by a Panel of Planning Inspectors during February 2010 in Reading. MBC made strong representation tot this and officers took part attending two sessions dealing with strategic regional matters (with KCC officers) and then the district level allocations within Kent & Medway.
3. The key issues on which officers presented the Council’s case at the EiP were those that have particular significance for Maidstone BC’s position:
· The adequacy of the information about the current and future need for pitches revealed by the Gypsy and Travellers Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs) and the Travelling Showpeople Accommodation Assessments (TSAAs) that have been undertaken by the local authorities across the region.
· The principle of redistributing pitch requirements more widely across the region. This principle has been strongly supported by MBC throughout the Partial Review process as a means of sharing responsibility, widening choice and exerting fair limits in making decisions on future provision.
· Whether the pitch requirement for each authority should be expressed as a target figure or a minimum. MBC officers spoke strongly in favour of a target figure to give certainty to users of the policy and proper assessment of the implications of the figures given.
· Whether the policy should explicitly provide for sites to be achieved through “ windfall” development control decisions as well as through allocations in the Local Development Framework process.
Officers also worked with a representative from Headcorn Parish Council who also attended the EiP to present a valuable parish local perspective.
4. The Panel’s Report is expected imminently and it’s recommendations will be considered by GOSE and SEEPB and then published by GOSE for a final public consultation before formal adoption by the Secretary of State by the end of the year.
Maidstone LDF - Gypsy and Traveller Sites Development Plan Document and the Maidstone Core Strategy
5. Following agreement by Cabinet and GOSE of a new LDF work programme in August 2009, a revised draft Core Strategy is being prepared which will include strategy for making provision to meet the target figure and a criteria for dealing with “windfall” planning applications for Gypsy and Traveller and Show People pitches/sites. LDDAG approved the content outline for the policies in February. The Gypsy and Traveller Sites Development Plan Document (DPD) is being prepared in such a way that it can be progressed urgently and formally published before the Core Strategy in order to help address this urgent issue. The DPD will allocate sites to provide the remaining necessary pitches for the period 2006 to 2016 to ensure delivery of the South East Plan Policy requirements (see above).
6. The setting of a clear strategy and specific sites to meet the outstanding need will give more certainty to both the settled and travelling communities, it will support the Council’s position when dealing with planning applications and enforcement issues, and it will also ensure that proper provision is made for this form of housing need. The strategy and sites DPD focus will consider whether there is need to identify a publically managed site(s) as part of the provison.
7. It is not sufficient for the DPD to simply identify land. The sites must be genuinely suitable for the use, be available (e.g. owned by a willing landowner) and be deliverable (e.g. will be available for purchase at a reasonable price). Therefore extensive work has been undertaken (in part using specialist planning and land consultants) as part of the DPD process. The form of the study has been fully “scoped out” and approved by Members and key stakeholders. Local landowners, parish councils, public sector landowners and planning and estate agents have all be been contacted as part of several rigorous exercises to identify potential sites for objective assessment and been asked to provide information on potential sites for assessment. Further work is also being undertaken to identify additional sources of sites and the work is nearing a conclusion.
8. Reports to Members on the outcome of all this work will be made shortly, but regretfully I am not in a position to report on 27th April Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. I will be happy to update the Committee at the first opportunity from June onwards and I trust that this written response will be of assistance in the meantime.
Michael Thornton
Spatial Planning and Design Manager