Gypsies Must Not Be Exempted From Our Planning Laws - Daily Express

THE letter from Solihull Council announcing a decision to planning application 2010/694/S is fairness and reason itself.

It lists six grounds on which permission for the proposed development is being rejected, from its impact on the green belt, the loss of a designated local wildlife site, flood risk and the danger of extra traffic on a narrow, winding country lane with no pavements.

There is nothing to hint that the proposed development – for 10 Gypsy caravans – has already become notorious.

But nearly two years since the Travellers’ planning application was rejected by Solihull Council and 15 months after their appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate the caravans are still there.

It is a different story for the Meriden residents who have been staging a protest since the caravans arrived on May Day Bank Holiday 2010.

Earlier this week they were served with a notice to remove a tarpaulin and wood stove which they have been using to maintain a vigil at the site.

They have been given until March 31 to remove the structure or face having it removed for them at their expense. The residents say they will comply.

As with other battles with illegal developments, the Meriden Travellers have been quick to issue accusations of racism against those opposing them. knoW that some pretty horrid comments are made about Gypsies and Travellers in the heat of these planning battles but to try to label all objectors as racist is offensive and wrong – and not just because objectors and Gypsies are patently of the same white Caucasian race.

What offends so many people about illegal Gypsy and Traveller encampments is that we have one group of the population which is so blatantly breaking the rules and yet the authorities so often seem to be letting them get away with it.

On the Friday evening before May Day 2010, just as planning officers were knocking off for the weekend, the Meriden Travellers submitted a planning application and moved on to the site – a field which they had bought for £100,000.

By the following Tuesday morning when the planning officers arrived back at work the Travellers had already laid hardcore and established their caravans. It was too late to issue a notice ordering the travellers to stop their development.

Instead the whole business had to grind its way through the planning process, ensuring the caravans would be there for months at least.

You might have thought that planners would by now be wise to the ruse and would have changed the way they operate, perhaps to ensure that there is always a planning officer on duty, day and night.

Yet instead the planning system has been tweaked in the travellers’ favour. In the same week that the Meriden site was occupied a freedom of information request revealed the existence of a secret memorandum which the Labour government had sent to planners demanding that travellers be given special consideration on human rights grounds for developments that wouldn’t normally be allowed.

The document claimed that Gypsies and Travellers needed special rules because many had an “aversion to bricks and mortar” and that “the sense of enclosure can be distressing to people who have been used to outdoor living”.
I know racism when I see it and claiming that a group of people is genetically programmed to live in caravans is a prime example. It is not just offensive – it is also wrong.

Most people who identify themselves as Gypsies already do live in ordinary houses. According to some reports the leader of the Meriden Gypsies used to live in a £1.4million mansion. He has also posed alongside a very smart classic Jensen sports car.

The wealth of so many Travellers shatters claims that they merit special treatment because they’re poor.

That said, if there are people who prefer living in caravans the planning system should recognise that and try to meet the demand - but not just allow a group of people to do what they like, wherever they like.

There are very good reasons why we have a planning system, become one big sprawl from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Water supplies would be compromised, landmarks destroyed, roads would be overwhelmed and wildlife decimated.

Flooding is a particular issue with unauthorised Traveller sites: if you cover a field with hardstanding then rainwater will quickly slosh away to neighbouring properties.

But if we are going to have a planning system then in common with all other laws it must apply, and be seen to apply, equally to everyone.

The principle that all are equal under the law is a cornerstone of justice in any democratic state.

As Chris Huhne has just found out, being a Cabinet minister will not stop you having to answer a criminal charge.

And by the same token, being a Traveller should not allow you to escape enforcement action for breaches of planning law.

Moreover when enforcement action does need to be taken, it should be quick.

The longer a planning battle is allowed to drag on the nastier it will become. Solihull council needs to get on and enforce its own planning decision very soon.