SLP KDBH Extracts - Flipbook - Page 79
Justification
244.
Gypsies and Travellers in England have some of the worst outcomes of any group across a
range of social indicators. It is well recognised that they are amongst the most socially
excluded groups in society and research has consistently confirmed the link between the
lack of good quality sites for Gypsies and Travellers and poor health and education.
Accommodation issues contribute to many of the inequalities that Gypsy and Traveller
communities experience, and are frequently a source of tensions between travelling and
settled communities. The Government and the Council acknowledge that these inequalities
and tensions must be addressed, but it is crucial to ensure that the planning system is not
abused and that development is located in the most appropriate locations.
245.
Together with the NPPF, the 2015 Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) sets out how
local planning authorities should plan for the future accommodation needs of Gypsies and
Travellers in their area. The PPTS highlights that the traditional and nomadic way of life of
Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople should be facilitated, while respecting the
interests of the settled community and that planning authorities should make their own
assessment of need, using a robust evidence base to establish accommodation
requirements. Local Planning authorities should set pitch targets for Gypsies and Travellers
and plot targets for Travelling Showpeople which address the likely permanent and transit
site accommodation needs of travellers in their area.
246.
Gypsies and Travellers are defined in the PPTS as ‘Persons of nomadic habit of life
whatever their race or origin, including such persons who on grounds only of their own or
their family’s or dependents’ educational or health needs or old age have ceased to travel
temporarily, but excluding members of an organised group of travelling showpeople or circus
people travelling together as such’.
247.
The Council is required to specifically and separately address the future accommodation
needs of Travellers who meet the PPTS planning definition of a Traveller over the plan
period. For those Gypsies and Travellers who do not lead a nomadic lifestyle (i.e. that have
ceased to travel permanently and do not therefore meet the PPTS planning definition), there
remains a requirement for the Council to continue to assess and plan for their needs as part
of its wider responsibilities to plan to meet the accommodation needs of its settled
community. Additionally, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equalities Act 2010 protect the
cultural choice of Gypsies and Travellers to live in mobile accommodation. In accordance
with the NPPF and the Council’s public sector equality duty, these needs are also addressed
in Policy P6.
248.
The Council has commissioned an updated GTAA to identify the future accommodation
requirements of Gypsies and Travellers in Solihull over the period 2020 to 2036. However,
the Covid-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the completion of the household
interviews that are required to support this work and at the time of publishing this Draft
Submission Plan, the 2020 GTAA has not yet be finalised. Notwithstanding this, the GTAA is
assessing the needs of all Gypsy and Travellers in the Borough, including those who meet
the planning definition of a Gypsy or Traveller and those who do not. The GTAA will also
include an assessment of need for any households that it is not possible to interview – this is
referred to as undetermined need and the GTAA will include recommendations on how this
need should be addressed.
249.
Historically, the Council has demonstrated a positive and proactive approach to making sure
that the needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community have been met, and it will continue to
do so. In 2014, the Council adopted a Gypsy and Traveller Site Allocations Plan to address
the pitch requirements as set out in the previous 2012 GTAA. The Site Allocations Plan
allocates sites to meet the identified need of 38 permanent residential pitches between 2012
and 2027, in full. Whilst most of the allocated sites now have planning permission, there are
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