GYPSY, TRAVELLER AND TRAVELLING SHOWPEOPLE SITE ASSESSMENT WORK

Horsham District Council has engaged consultants to carry out a study to assess sites in Horsham District involving key local stakeholders and to develop a shortlist of potential Gypsy, Traveller, and Travelling Showpeople sites to meet identified local needs. This work will contribute, along with those stakeholders, towards developing a spatial planning approach for the location of Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople sites.

It is considered that this front loading approach by working with Parish Councils and the settled community will ensure a clear evidence base for future policy preparation, as well as offering a way forward in the interim, if community support is forthcoming, for any of the sites identified.  This work has commenced with two workshop sessions held on the 23 June 2011 involving key stakeholders, including Members, Parish Councils, West Sussex County Council representatives and Friends, Families and Travellers.

The consultants have also made a call for sites to local landowners, developers and agents; and are looking at sites constraints information. The Council will also be reporting on the work to the Horsham Association of Local Councils on the 18 July 2011. The study will be completed September 2011.

The results will inform the Core Strategy Review process. The work may also be used to inform planning decisions, particularly on retrospective and renewal of temporary permission applications. Overall this approach accords with current national guidance and appears to accord with the Government’s proposed approach set out in the consultation document 'Planning for Traveller Sites' in Policy B, Annex A of the draft planning policy statement (available to download on the DCLG website).

As background to this work the West Sussex Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (published 2007) indicates a need for 39 pitches for Horsham by 2011: and the Travelling Showpeople Study (published 2008) indicated a potential need for 2 pitches by 2011.

The Partial Review of the South East Plan indicated a need for 50 G&T pitches and 5 TS pitches for Horsham up to 2016. However, this work was not completed and the draft policy which included these targets was not adopted.