Community defends gypsy life from planners

[Gerrard Winstanley]

Tue 16 Nov 2004	
Community backs couple's bid to save gypsy-style home
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1320902004

FRANK URQUHART 

PEOPLE in a Highlands village have rallied behind a young couple who 
want to continue living in a gypsy-style caravan on the outskirts of 
their community. 

John Gibson and his partner, Maz Pinto have lived for the past three 
years in a brightly painted horse-drawn wagon at the small steading 
they bought in the Moray village of Urquhart. 

And although so-called travelling people have been involved in bitter 
clashes with communities in rural England, this couple have been 
welcomed as an integral part of the village, selling home-grown 
produce from a roadside stall or taking their vegetables by handcart 
to markets in Elgin. 

Last Christmas the village church used the small stables, where the 
couple keep Clydesdale horses and ponies, for a Nativity service. And 
the pair's pony-and-trap was one of the main fundraisers at a recent 
"fun day" in the village. 

But Moray Council officials are opposing plans for Mr Gibson to retain 
his horse-drawn home as a permanent residence, claiming the proposal 
is contrary to the local development plan, and would set an 
"undesirable precedent" for similar applications elsewhere in the 
area. 

Tomorrow, councillors will be urged at a meeting of the authority's 
environmental services committee to take enforcement action against 
the couple and remove the wagon from the site. 

But in an unprecedented move, more than 200 villagers in Urquhart and 
in neighbouring Lhanbryde have submitted a petition to the local 
authority, requesting it to allow the couple to remain in their 
caravan home because of the "unique" circumstances of their 
application. 

Members of the environmental services committee yesterday visited the 
couple's home ahead of tomorrow's vote. 

Mr Gibson told councillors: "We just want to be allowed to get on with 
our life in the style we have chosen. 

"We are not bothering anybody and just want to be left alone." 

The couple also made it clear they were not connected to the 
travelling-people fraternity and only wished to be allowed to tend to 
their animals and grow enough vegetables to make a living. 

Colin Keir, a design consultant from Urquhart who is leading the local 
campaign in their support, said the couple had proved to be a 
tremendous asset to the village and should be allowed to stay. 

He told The Scotsman: "They don't cause any harm and should be left in 
peace to live their life the way they want to. They have been a great 
addition to the village. 

"They are not gypsies. They do live off the land, but the fact is that 
they purchased the land they live on, and they have put down roots 
here." 

Another villager, who did not wish to be named, told The Scotsman: 
"John and Maz have put more into the village in the short time they 
have been here than many people who have lived here for years. 

"The pair of them have put a real spark into the community. It would 
be dreadful if they were forced to leave because of some stupid 
planning regulation." 

She added: "I think a lot of people would like to live their way, but 
they don't have the courage. 

"But the Gibsons haven't a worry in the world." 

However, Angus Burnie, the acting development control manager of Moray 
Council, is recommending the authority to take enforcement action 
against the couple. 

He states in a report to the committee that the horse-drawn wagon used 
by the Gibsons as a home falls into the definition of a caravan under 
planning rules. 

Mr Burnie continues: "The policy is clear, and states that no new 
residential caravan sites will be permitted, except for a new caravan 
on the basis of temporary necessity. 

"This case may be unusual but is not unique and, if approved, the 
proposal would set a precedent for similar proposals elsewhere."


This article: 

  http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1320902004