Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
30
Sept
‘Unmet need’ for travellers sites in Harrogate as council admits lack of supply
North Yorkshire Council has admitted it cannot demonstrate a five-year land supply for travellers sites in the region.
The authority has a duty to assess the need for travellers sites in its area and identify land for potential authorised sites.
The council operates official traveller sites across North Yorkshire, including two in the Harrogate area at Thistle Hill in Knaresborough and Bickerton, near Wetherby.
However, a government planning inspector noted in a recent planning appeal there was an “unmet need” for sites in Harrogate when they overturned a refusal for a private encampment near Starbeck.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council why it lacked a supply of sites and what it was doing to tackle the problem.
Nic Harne, director for community development at the council, said a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) was completed in 2017 which helped to “shape local planning policies and identifying land”.
However, Mr Harne said the government guidance on travellers sites changed in December 2023 — which ultimately left the council with no five-year land supply.
He said:
At the time, only gypsies and travellers who were actively travelling were counted under national planning rules. Those who had stopped travelling due to age, health, or education were not included.
However, in December 2023, the rules changed and required councils to consider the needs of all gypsies and travellers, whether they were travelling or not. Therefore, the 2017 GTAA is outdated and we cannot show a five-year land supply.
Mr Harne added that the council was now in the process of preparing a new GTAA, which will help to identify potential sites.
However, the lack of an up-to-date land supply means the council could be faced with little choice but to approve sites which come forward until an assessment is completed.
According to government planning guidance, if an authority cannot demonstrate a five-year land supply of “specific, deliverable sites”, it should “grant planning permission to sites that come forward unless the land is protected”.
Lack of ‘deliverable’ sites
It comes as the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes, overturned a council decision to refuse a traveller encampment 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.
An aerial shot of Oak Stables on Forest Moor Road.
In April, council planning officers turned the proposal down on the grounds that the scheme was “unauthorised” and “inappropriate”.
However, R Merrett, a government appointed planning inspector, approved the site on appeal.
In a decision notice published on September 12, the inspector said 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.
0