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19
Sept
Government inspector approves gypsy-travellers site near Starbeck
A government inspector has approved plans for a gypsy-traveller site near Starbeck.
Colchester-based Libre Solutions applied for retrospective permission to change the use of land at Oak Stables on Forest Moor Road for what it described in planning documents as a gypsy-traveller site with pitches for three touring caravans.
The proposal saw 34 letters of objection submitted to the authority.
In documents submitted to the council, the developer said the site was located within the green belt but had previously been developed and could therefore be categorised as “grey belt”.
However, in April, North Yorkshire Council refused the proposal on the grounds that the scheme was was “unauthorised” and “inappropriate”.
In a decision notice, Trevor Watson, assistant director of planning at the council, said the site was also within the green belt despite the developer’s claim that it would classify as “grey belt”.
The developer took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes, and argued that the council had “failed to appropriately assess the site as against the grey belt provisions”.
Now, R Merrett, a government appointed planning inspector, has approved the plan.
In a decision notice, the inspector said the site did not make a contribution to the green belt.
They said:
The main parties agreed that the site does not form part of the setting of historic towns and by implication does not therefore contribute strongly to the purpose of preserving their setting or special character. I have no reason to take a different view.
I therefore conclude the appeal site does not make a strong contribution to the aforementioned green belt purposes. It follows the site is ‘grey belt’ land.
The inspector added that they “attached significant weight” to the fact that the council had a lack of deliverable travellers sites.
The decision notice said:
There are considerations which support the appeals. I attach significant weight to the lack of an up-to-date five-year supply of deliverable traveller sites; and significant weight also to the present unmet need for sites locally, as demonstrated by the lack of a suitable alternative site being available to accommodate the site occupiers. I also attach significant weight to the appellant’s personal circumstances, including the opportunity for children’s play on the site.
Meanwhile, the developer also applied for costs from the council in relation to the appeal on the grounds that it acted unreasonably in refusing planning permission.
However, the inspector refused the application as the authority’s position fell “nowhere near the threshold for unreasonable behaviour”.
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