Council endorses independent evidence on Traveller needs - Yorkshire

From Selby District Council

Selby District Council last night (10 September) endorsed new evidence setting out how many new Traveller pitches are required in the district between now and 2028.

The independent review carried out by experts in this field concludes that 33 new pitches are required during this time, with a need for 19 new pitches within the first five years. The 'front-loading' of the requirement like this is because the Council has not provided any new pitches over recent years leading to a backlog of demand.

Without this new evidence the Council is open to planning appeals and legal challenge when dealing with Traveller site planning applications, and is unable to adequately protect itself against Traveller developments or unauthorised encampments within the district.

Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping, Cllr John Mackman, said, "It's a statutory duty for us to have in place an evidence based assessment of needs of Travellers in the Selby district. We also need to deliver the pitches required in accordance with the assessment and national planning policy. This is exactly the same principle that applies to other types of accommodation such as housing for the settled community.

"This evidence based report will give us a clear direction in terms of the number of pitches required up to 2028 and the necessary guidelines for considering the location of new sites. It also means that we are in a stronger position to defend appeals and protect against any illegal development, which in turn will help us to protect the district's greenbelt land."

Looking forward, there is currently an application pending for 15 new Traveller pitches at Burn. This application, if approved by the Planning Committee would meet nearly 50% of the districts needs to 2028 and will be assessed by the Council's Planning Committee in accordance with statutory planning policy, including all relevant evidence such as this new Needs Assessment.

Having been endorsed by the Executive and the Council, the report now stands as the Council's evidence base for Traveller pitches to 2028.