Gypsy circular supports personal permission

[Massimo ANDREIS ALLAMANDOLA]

 Casebook: Appeal case - Gypsies and travellers - Gypsy circular supports
personal permission , Planning - 22 September 2006

An inspector has granted a personal permission to an extended Gypsy
family in Surrey in line with latest advice accepting developments in
rural areas that are not subject to special planning constraints.

Permission was sought for three mobile homes and three touring caravans
on land outside green belts or areas of outstanding natural beauty. A
previous inspector upheld an enforcement notice in 2003 after ruling that
the site formed part of an open area that contributed to countryside
character.

He found no overriding need for extra Gypsy sites and ruled that the
family's personal circumstances did not justify even a temporary
permission.

The second inspector noted that the council had yet to commence work on
the Gypsy and traveller assessment required by Circular 01/2006, so the
scale of any unmet need was unknown. If additional sites were needed it
was likely to take two years to bring them forward, she found. This
counted in favour of granting permission, she held.

She was satisfied that the appellant had made concerted efforts to find
an alternative site without success. His grandparents had moved onto the
land since the previous appeal decision and both had serious medical
conditions, she recorded, while his eldest daughter had started school
and two further children had been born.

The inspector recognised that dismissing the appeal would render the
family homeless, forcing them to adopt an itinerant lifestyle contrary to
national policy. In her view, it would involve a significant interference
with their rights to a home and family life. In allowing the appeal, she
imposed conditions limiting occupation to the family and restricting the
number of caravans on the land.

DCS No: OT100-043-485; Inspector: Lucy Drake; Inquiry.
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