Petitioner calls for rethink on Traveller and Gypsy pitch planning laws - Essex

From the Essex County Standard

A homeowner is calling for planning laws for Gypsy and Traveller communities to be made fairer.

Dozens of planning applications for Gypsy and Traveller pitches have been submitted on land surrounding the Great Braxted farmhouse where Bill and Annie Hopkins live.

Mrs Hopkins does not believe planning laws are equal and is asking Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government, to consider the issue and prevent further expansion of the Lea Lane site.

More than 280 people have signed her petition on the Change.org website, which needs 100,000 signatures to trigger a parliamentary debate.