Gypsy wins bid for farm stay - Kent

THE family of a Gypsy jailed for eight years for an unprovoked attack in a Faversham pub have been told they can stay at a site in Ospringe.

Gypsy Wayne Willett appealed for him, his partner Sheree, their two sons Wayne Junior and Billy and baby daughter Charlotte to remain at Tootsie Farm in Elverland Lane, Ospringe, where they live in a mobile home and a caravan.

Government planning inspector Victor Ammoun has now ruled that the family can stay at the farm with temporary planning permission for four years.

Neighbours had fought the appeal, claiming the development had spoilt the landscape of the picturesque Newnham Valley, which is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

In his report, Mr Ammoun said he had granted permission because of a shortage of alternative sites for Gypsies and Travellers in the borough.

He found Swale Borough Council had failed to provide the number of pitches required up until 2011, and could not show that it would have any more for the next five years.

Mr Ammoun said Mr Willett also needed a stable home as a condition of his release from prison.

He has served half his sentence for a knife attack in the garden of the former Hole In The Wall pub in Preston Street, Faversham, in 2007.

But he admitted the development "undermines the objective of AONB designation", by failing to conserve or enhance the protected landscape.

Swale planning officer Graham Thomas was left surprised by the ruling, after a similar appeal was rejected for a caravan at an AONB site at Blind Mary's Lane, Bredgar.

He said: "The decision to allow a further four years is hugely disappointing for the council, and contrasts sharply with decisions by the same inspector two days prior to support our enforcement action in very, very similar circumstances where our case was fully supported, and the one year to clear the site upheld."

Mr Thomas added: "This is very difficult for the council to deal with, when decisions appear so inconsistent."