HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
ADULT CARE SERVICES
GYPSY PANEL
Wednesday 2 February 2005 at 2.00 p.m.
THE ACCOMMODATION NEEDS OF GYPSIES AND TRAVELLERS
Report of the Director of Adult Care Services
Author: -Ivor Cawthorn, Project Manager Service
Development (Extra Care and Housing)
Tel: -01707 280602
Executive Member: - David Lloyd
1. /Purpose of the report
The purpose of this report is to seek Members' recommendations about proposed resolutions drawn up as a result of a feedback and consultation event about the Needs Survey which considered the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers.2. / Summary
This report is to give feedback on the consultation and presentation event held on 17th January where all parties connected to this Needs Survey, were present – (Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers District Councils and Hertfordshire County Council). The report also sets out the revisions made to the Joint Resolution Paper tabled at the meeting about the following areas.
- Receipt of Report
- Study Conclusions
- Study Recommendations
- Tackling the Recommendations
- Publication of Study Report
3. /
Conclusions
It is proposed that these resolutions be recommended for acceptance as a basis for progressing in partnership with the Survey partners.4. / Background
This report is to give feedback on the consultation and presentation event held on 17th January where all parties connected to this Needs Survey, were present – (Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers District Councils and Hertfordshire County Council). Following the presentation discussion took place concerning the tabled Joint Resolution paper on how these findings can be progressed.
The amended resolutions are set out below
- RECEIPT OF REPORT
[This contains an assessment of:
-the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers in south and west Hertfordshire; and
-current housing, planning, management and enforcement policies and practices in the study area.
-The study area is the area covered by the four district commissioning authorities.]
- STUDY CONCLUSIONS
[The report, inter alia, states:
“The policy framework relevant to gypsy/traveller accommodation is complex since it involves site provision, planning, housing and homelessness policies, and policies for managing unauthorised encampments. Local policies must be developed and implemented in the context of human rights and race relations legislation which generally means that all decisions must be proportionate in weighing the interests and rights of the travelling and settled communities.”
“A ‘status quo’ approach to site provision in the study area – retaining existing sites, reacting to planning applications for sites from gypsies and travellers and dealing with unauthorised encampments as they arrive – is not, in our view, tenable. Identified gypsy/traveller needs would be ignored and tensions would continue between travelling and settled communities. The fact that need has been identified would make it harder to resist planning applications on appeal.”
“Over In the next five years about 130 families are identified as ‘in need’. The main generators of need are new household formation, the county council sites waiting list, unauthorised camping and potential displacement from unauthorised private sites without planning permission. On current trends and policies, this need is unlikely to be met since the only source of supply is vacancies arising on county council sites. Planning policy makes the grant of planning permission for private sites very unlikely. Planning controls represent the main constraint on additional site provision at present.”
Note that the level of need only relates to that generated in the study area. It would be higher if the assessment extended to Watford.}
- STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS
[The recommendations include the following: that
-district authorities should signal their commitment to further gypsy/traveller site provision within their housing strategies
-all districts should provide/facilitate sites
-authorities should enter into a more formal agreement with Hertfordshire Constabulary on the approach to be taken and the respective roles of the county council, district councils and the police in managing unauthorised encampments.]
- TACKLING THE RECOMMENDATIONS
-to assess the implications of the study
-to develop an accommodation strategy for gypsies and travellers for the whole of south and west Hertfordshire (including Watford); and
-[We will therefore be considering the level of accommodation that should reasonably be provided for gypsies and travellers in this area, the nature of that accommodation and its location. As much of south and west Hertfordshire is designated as Metropolitan Green Belt and/or is part of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, any search for new site accommodation will not be straightforward. However the provision of a better level and quality of accommodation for gypsies and travellers would not only help to meet the growth in the need for their accommodation but should also help to reduce the incidents of unauthorised encampments and developments]
-to harmonise and, where possible, improve practices relating to consultation and management, including managing unauthorised encampments.
The partner authorities, whilst acknowledging that final decisions about strategy, policy developments and practice rest with each responsible partner authority, will address the study conclusions and recommendations, aiming to achieve a consensus on the way forward. The working arrangements to achieve this will comprise:
-a member steering group; and
-an officer working group (with such sub groups as may be necessary).
- PUBLICATION OF STUDY REPORT
[The press release will be based on the executive summary of the study report, the resolutions of this meeting and the informatory text in italics .]
GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PAPER ‘PLANNING FOR GYPSY AND TRAVELLER SITES’
The partner authorities note the publication of the Government’s Consultation Paper ‘Planning for Gypsy and Traveller Sites’ and acknowledge the need for the guidance within this document to be taken into account when assessing and managing the study recommendations. The partner authorities also agree to work together to prepare responses to this Consultation Paper.
[The Consultation Paper constitutes a draft Circular. It was published in December 2004 and any comments on it should be submitted to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister by 18 March 2005. It would replace Circular 1/94 and provides updated guidance on the planning aspects for finding sites for gypsies and travellers. The Consultation Paper states that provision should be made for the relevant plan period, which currently means the period to 2021. Guidance on how local authorities and the gypsies and travellers can work together to achieve that aim is also included. The Government is requesting local planning authorities to operate “fair, reasonable, realistic and effective” policies for the identification of sites to meet accommodation means. There is a greater emphasis on the allocation of specific sites in new development plan documents and local planning authorities who do not allocate sites must justify why they have not done so. The Paper also includes guidance on producing criteria by which to identify other sites (which are not specifically allocated in a development plan document). Normally local planning authorities should consider locations for sites in or near existing settlements with access to local services, e.g. shops, doctors and schools.]
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