St Albans City and District Council’s legal challenge against the government over the number of pitches it is expected to provide for the accommodation of the gypsy and traveller community in the District will take place in the High Court on 27 and 28 July 2010.
The Council is challenging figures contained in the East of England Regional Assembly’s policy on ‘Accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in the East of England’. The policy forms part of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England which has been approved by the Secretary of State.
The Council issued and served legal proceedings on 27th August, 2009 in the High Court against the Secretary of State asking for those parts of the policy that relate to the District to be quashed on the grounds that the increase in the number of pitches is disproportionately high.
The Council has already made provision for pitches for the use of the gypsy and traveller community in the District at a level which is higher than in many other districts in Hertfordshire. There are currently 52 authorised gypsy pitches serving the needs of the gypsy and traveller community in the District. However, the Council is being asked to find space in the District for a further 28 pitches between 2006 and 2011, and another estimated 24 pitches between 2011 and 2021, making a total of 104. These figures are disproportionately higher than those for other local authorities in Hertfordshire.
Heather Cheesbrough, Head of Planning and Building Control at St Albans City and District Council, said: “While the Council appreciates there may be a need for more gypsy pitches across the East of England, it is not convinced that there has been a robust assessment of what that need actually is. Also, it considers that the proposed increase in number of pitches for the District is disproportionately high and that there has been no assessment of the impact of these on the local area. In addition, the Council is concerned that there is a strong likelihood that land in the Green Belt would have to be used to order to accommodate the proposed increase in the number of pitches.”
Contact for the press:
Amanda Wilkinson, communication officer
St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819317 E-mail: amanda.wilkinson@stalbans.gov.uk
www.stalbans.gov.uk
Notes:
1. The East of England Regional Assembly’s (EERA) policy on ‘Accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in the East of England’ must be followed by St Albans City and District Council in putting together its Local Development Framework (LDF), a document that sets out the spatial planning strategy for the district. More information on EERA’s policy is available on its website.
2. The Council is preparing the Core Strategy for its Local Development Framework (LDF). More information on this is available on the Council’s website.
3. David Holgate QC and Richard Langham will be representing the Council at the High Court hearing on 27 and 28 July 2010.