Home Farm earmarked for Gypsy settlement site - Surrey

AN "URGENT need" to house Gypsies could lead to a new settlement site being created in Effingham.
Guildford Borough Council (GBC) has earmarked three potential sites, including Home Farm, after past cases in which a shortage of sites resulted in Gypsies moving on to land then applying for planning permission retrospectively.

A "scoping" assessment of the GBC-owned Home Farm site, which is bordered by Calvert Road, Orestan Lane, The Street and the A24, will now be carried out to assess its suitability for gypsy pitches.
GBC leader Tony Rooth said: "We have an established Gypsy and Traveller community in the borough, which has an urgent, unmet need for pitches."
But at a public meeting last Thursday, Effingham councillor Liz Hogger branded the council's plans "too little, too late". Mrs Hogger referred to Government regulations issued in 2006, which oblige councils to conduct Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessments.
GBC's review five years ago concluded that 30 pitches should be created by 2011, but the meeting heard that only two pitches have been set up, which Mrs Hogger claimed has led to planning laws being flouted.