15 Feb 2023
A controversial bid to build a fourth travellers site on Green Belt land in a small village on the outskirts of St Albans has been granted at appeal.
Planning permission has now been granted for use of land as residential for gypsy and traveller families and the stationing of four static and four touring caravans with associated hardstanding, parking and related plant and infrastructure at land adjacent to The Mill House, Coursers Road, Colney Heath.
The Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment 2019 (GTAA) identifies a need within the district of 72 permanent gypsy and traveller pitches, of which 44 pitches are needed between 2018-2023 and 10 pitches between 2023-2028.
Prior to the hearing the Court of Appeal issued a judgement regarding the interpretation of the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites 2015 (PPTS) and the application of that policy to gypsies and travellers who have ceased to pursue nomadic lifestyles.
The Court of Appeal found that the PPTS was unlawfully discriminatory with its main objective to make it harder for elderly and disabled ethnic gypsies and travellers to obtain planning permission.
The case, and its implications for the SADC case for the need for gypsy and traveller pitches and the imposition of conditions, was discussed at the hearing.
But a representative of SADC present at the appeal hearing was unable to advise how, if at all, the council was considering any impact of the 2022 judgement on its assessment of need. The appellant considered that it would inevitably mean that the need for pitches would be higher than that assessed in the GTAA.
The council confirmed at the hearing that only 19 pitches had been granted consent since 2019, and there remains a significant shortfall of pitches within the district.
This would still be the case whether the need figure is amended or not to take account of the 2022 judgement.
The council confirmed at the hearing that there was no availability at its gypsy and traveller sites. The appellant submitted evidence demonstrating that there are currently 177 people applying for a pitch on one of the council’s 10 sites.
Planning inspector Zoe Raygen said: “Based on the evidence before me, I am satisfied that if the appellant and their family were not able to live on the appeal site then they would have nowhere else to go. I give the lack of suitable and available alternative sites considerable weight.
“The council confirmed at the hearing that it has no current policies relating to the provision of gypsy and traveller pitches and indeed has not done so for a considerable time given that the current Local Plan was adopted in 1994.
“The emerging Local Plan has been withdrawn and there is no certainty as to when a new one would be in place and what the level of allocations would be in that plan.
“In the meantime, any need would require to be met through the determination of planning applications on an ad hoc basis with no development plan policy direction. Consequently, there has been a persistent failure of development plan policy to meet the needs of gypsies and travellers in the district over a lengthy period of time to which I give significant weight.”
In November 2019, the traveller community won a 19-year battle to set up permanent residence on Nuckies Farm – which is also in Coursers Road – after gaining planning permission on the Green Belt land on appeal.
Local councillor Chris Brazier responded to the result of the appeal: “This decision now leaves Colney Heath supporting four traveller sites within less than one mile from one another. We have no shops, no buses, no secondary school and no health facilities. We now have the majority of St Albans traveller site provision with no financial aid, I’m looking at this decision to see if I can take it for Judicial Review.”
