Unauthorised Gypsy/Traveller encampments is a problem and it’s getting worse. The crux of the issue is that the planning system is being abused.
Work starts on a bank holiday weekend when there are few council staff on duty to stop it. And, if, like Maidstone, the Council cannot meet its 5-year housing supply for Gypsy/Traveller pitches they are almost powerless in reversing it.
This is all wrong and needs to change. That’s why I attended a meeting with the Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, and other MPs. Cases of unauthorised traveller developments have skyrocketed, and Ministers are only just starting to grasp the scale of the problem.
The Minister recognised this rise is being driven by a new business model. Purchasers buy land, move caravans on over a weekend, lay hardcore and then bung up proceedings in court. Rinse and repeat.
At the meeting the Minister was pushed on why retrospective planning on residential caravan sites cannot simply be banned. His response was that the ECHR prevents this. The Conservatives would scrap the ECHR. However, in the meantime they have committed to looking at tightening up loopholes in retrospective planning.
It was also pointed out that recent investigations by the police uncovered sites that are illegally letting caravans to asylum seekers. The Minister is going to take away our request for a National Taskforce to clamp down on this.
The Conservatives have a plan to clamp down on authorised Gypsy/Traveller sites which includes:
- Leaving the ECHR and removing the legal barriers which delay planning enforcement
- Basing planning decisions on land use not identity. Under the Conservatives everyone will be treated the same by the planning rules.
- Ending the abuse of retrospective planning applications – planning permission must be secured in advance
- Strengthening enforcement by issuing updated guidance to ensure full coordination between councils and the Police.
The Minister emphasised the importance of having a local plan in place to protect the borough from inappropriate development. Maidstone has the highest number of Gypsy/Traveller pitches in the country and the Government is requiring the council to provide even more. As a result, Maidstone has a 3.8-year land supply not the required 5-year supply which is why is loses at appeal.
As part of my ‘Stop the Sprawl’ petition over 3,000 of you agreed that Maidstone already has enough Gypsy/Traveller pitches so I will be taking this petition to Downing Street to make sure the Prime Minister understands this.
