Once you have bought a piece of land you will need to submit a planning application to the Local Planning Authority (LPA).
If you need the help of a planner to do this, you can find a selection of planners here.
The majority of planning applications are unsuccessful so you must be prepared to appeal against the decision made if necessary. This can be an expensive process, so please so consider this before you begin.
If you are on any benefits, such as Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance, you may be entitled to free legal representation. However, it is very difficult to find solicitors willing and able to take this on. If you are on a low income and need assistance with your planning it may be possible to get help from Planning Aid, an independent organisation which assists people with planning issues.
Chapter 7Â also offer free planning advice by telephone for smallholders, caravan dwellers and other low impact and low income people with planning problems. You can contact Chapter 7 on 01297 561 359.
If you are not able to get free legal representation or help from Planning Aid you will need to employ the services of a private planner and if your case goes to appeal, it is likely to cost you several thousand pounds.
Once a planning application is submitted the LPA will assess your application. A planning officer will either recommend that it should be accepted or refused. Most Gypsy and Traveller planning cases will go to committee where local councillors will make a decision on whether you should be given planning permission or not. They can ignore the recommendations of the planning officer and make their own decision, which unfortunately often means a refusal. You then have the right to appeal against their decision to the Planning Inspectorate.
At a planning hearing or inquiry, the Planning Inspectorate will look at the merits of your case. Your chances of success at this stage are better, although nothing is guaranteed. Your best chance of success at the appeal stage is if you have strong personal circumstances. This usually includes having no other sites available to you or that you need to stay in the area for health and/or education reasons (your children attend the local school, you are registered with the doctor or you work locally).
Planning Policies
‘Planning Policy for Traveller Sites’ (PPTS) is the current planning policy on the provision of caravan sites for Gypsies and Travellers, including Travelling Showpeople. Since December 2023 the government planning policy has changed its definition of Gypsies and Travellers. In 2015 the PPTS defined Gypsies and Travellers 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
dependants’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.
This policy affected Travellers who were too sick or too old to travel, impacting their chances of site provision. However, the policy has since changed, defining Gypsies and Travellers 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 dependants’ educational or health needs or old age have ceased to travel temporarily or permanently, but excluding members of an organised group of travelling showpeople or circus people travelling together as such.
This means that Travellers who have ceased travelling permanently are still recognised as Travellers in the context of planning policy and are therefore ensured the chances of needs assessment and site provision.
Traveller site development in the open countryside and green belt areas is still very limited. These restrictions make it almost impossible for Gypsies and Travellers to get planning
permission on their own land in these areas. Whilst this is in part due to sustainability reasons, the PPTS recognises that policies must ‘reflect the extent to which traditional [ways of life] (whereby some Travellers live and work from the same location thereby omitting many travel to work journeys) can contribute to sustainability.’ It also states that ‘rural exception sites’ must be allocated in rural areas where land is unaffordable.
If you think you may be affected by these changes, please contact the Travellers Advice Team on 0121 6858677.
Research – Site provision in South East England
In 2020, we undertook a piece of research to ascertain if local authorities in South East England were meeting their requirements under the then-Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS) to identify a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide 5 years’ worth of sites against locally set targets.
The research found that:
- Only 8 out of 68 local authorities had identified a 5 year supply of specific deliverable sites;
- 15 local authorities had no identified need for new sites;
- By 2043, 1170 additional pitches are needed in the South East, for those meeting the PPTS definition, and a further 1025 for those not meeting the definition.
