Details of the consultation can be found at www.goeast.gov.uk. The deadline for comments is Friday 16 May. Those who comment should be able to participate in the Examination in Public (EiP) to be held in October. Those who do not comment at this stage will not be able to participate in the EiP.
The issue will almost entirely revolve around the figures for new pitches in each district which EERA has presented. Many local residents are expected to be objecting to any provision for Gypsies and Travellers so in order to be sure of adequate representation of their views, Gypsies and Travellers are being urged to make a submission, and if possible copy it to Steve Staines, Planning Researcher at Friends, Families and Travellers, who is working on this matter. His email is steve@gypsy-traveller.org.
If you know about the situation on the ground in any part of the East of England Region, please contact Steve by email or by phone (07845 930065) so that he can get an overall appreciation based on local knowledge and can use the information to make a representation to the EiP in October which will be as effective as possible.
To read the EERA proposals in full, and to comment on them on-line, go to http://goe-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal/rssissue/gt. You have to register and log in to comment on line. Alternatively you can email comments to gtreview@goeast.gsi.gov.uk or post them to:
Barbara Bay, Panel Secretary, Planning Inspectorate, 4/02 Kite Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN.
Background information:
- Councils in the East of England have been told the number of Gypsy and Traveller pitches they need to allocate by 2011 by the East of England Regional Assembly Planning Panel.
Sufficient Gypsy and Traveller sites will mean: - Families can avoid constant eviction, which impacts badly on their health and life chances.
- Gypsy and Traveller men and women's lifespan is 10 years less than everyone else.
- Gypsy and Traveller mothers are more than 20 times likely to have a child die than the rest of the population.
- Gypsy and Traveller children have difficulty in getting a decent education (Commission for Racial Equality, ‘Common Ground’, 2006 page 13).
- The general public, taxpayers and councils will be saved the cost and inconvenience of unauthorised encampments and developments.
- Gypsies and Travellers will be helped to become part of the wider community.
- It is worth noting that a growing number of Gypsies and Travellers are playing active roles in schools for example as classroom assistants and school governors and are performing other valuable roles in the wider community. The main thing that helps Gypsies and Travellers to play such a positive role in the community and accessing services is having a secure and decent place to live.
It is therefore important councils: - Start looking for land now and developing (residential and transit) sites that Gypsies and Travellers can rent or afford to buy as soon as possible to tackle the acute shortage of sites ---without delay or prevarication.
- Ensure that land found should be near services and allow Gypsies and Travellers to feel part of the wider community.
- Determine that poorly located and environmentally unsuited places should not be chosen.
- Plan to consult Gypsies and Travellers on site design.
- Should avoid evictions wherever possible and implement ‘fast track’ site plans so that Gypsies and Travellers facing eviction can be relocated to new sites. This avoids the cost of a forced eviction and enables Gypsies and Travellers to access services.
- Take note of research by the Ormiston Trust which found 72.6% of Gypsies and Travellers in a survey they undertook felt that 1,220 net additional residential pitches was not a sufficient estimate of the level of unmet need for residential pitch provision in the East of England.
These are the pitch allocations for your area? Are they enough?
Let the East of England Regional Assembly know what you think.
The first of the 3 sets of figures against each area denotes numbers of authorised pitches in 2006. The middle set of figures denotes the extra pitches specified as required over the period 2006-2011. The final, right-hand set denotes the number of pitches proposed in place by 2011.
Basildon-----------116------81------197
Braintree----------25-------16------41
Brentwood---------10-------15------25
Castle Point--------0--------15------15
Chelmsford--------35-------46------81
Colchester---------7---------15------22
Epping Forest------94-------49------143
Harlow-------------34-------15----- 49
Maldon------------ 39-------15----- 54
Rochford-----------3---------15-----18
Southend-----------0--------15------15
Thurrock-----------70-------44------114
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