Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document
Search form responses
Results for Homes England search
New searchMAIDSTONE GYPSY, TRAVELLER AND TRAVELLING SHOWPEOPLE DEVELOPMENT PLAN DOCUMENT (DPD) REGULATION 18(C) CONSULTATION On behalf of Homes England (‘the Heathlands Garden Community Site Co-Promoters’), we write in response to Maidstone Borough Council’s (‘MBC’ or the ‘Council’) Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document – Preferred Policies and Potential Sites (Regulation 18c) Consultation We welcome the Council’s Regulation 18c consultation on the forthcoming Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople (GTTS) DPD, and with it the Council’s ambition to meet the full pitch needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community. As promoters of a major site within the Adopted Local Plan, the co-promoters are conscious of the role that all sites can play in helping to meet the need for GTTS sites across the borough. The Co-Promoters broadly support the Vision and Objectives of the draft DPD and acknowledge that Heathlands may play a proportionate role in helping the Council meet its need for pitches. Policy TR1:Spatial Strategy identifies a need for 529 pitches across the plan period, with paragraph (2)(c) identifying the roll that Garden Communities at Lidsing and Heathlands play in meeting need beyond year six of the plan as broad locations for growth.
It is not clear from the policy TR2: Approach to Meeting Accommodation Needs what number of pitches broad locations are expected to deliver. However, for promoters to incorporate G&T provision within broad locations the DPD needs to provide surety on the number of pitches required. This should be proportionate to the scale of the development and overall unmet need and take into account development timeframes of the overall schemes.
TR3: Safeguarding Permitted Sites seeks to safeguard existing sites. Whilst the purpose of this policy is to ensure no loss of existing sites, it should include flexibility to allow for the re-location of sites where this would not result in a net loss of pitches.
Whilst the Co-Promoters support the inclusion of site layout guidelines at Policies TR8 and TR9, we recommend that consideration be given to limiting the number of pitches on each site. Finally, experience shows that long term management of sites that are provided through larger developments needs careful consideration. Therefore the DPD needs to provide clarity on the future management and responsibility of any sites provided through the broad locations. In summary, whilst we welcome the consultation and the Council’s ambitions to meet the full needs of its GTTS community, the draft DPD as set out requires further clarity in terms of pitch provision in broad locations. The Co-Promoters would be happy to discuss further the potential to meet an appropriate level of need within Heathlands, having regard to Local Plan Policy LPR4a requirements and project deliverability and viability.
