Suffolk Cross-Boundary Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation ...

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1.4. Following the Housing Act 2004, local authorities have been preparing to develop and implement strategies to respond to the accommodation needs of the Gypsy and Traveller communities living in their areas as part of their local and sub-regional housing strategies. In terms of sub-regional housing strategies, all authorities except Waveney are a part of The Greater Haven Gateway sub-regional housing strategy. 3 Waveney is part of the Great Yarmouth & Waveney sub-regional housing strategy. 4 These sub-regional housing strategies will feed into the overarching Regional Housing Strategy (RHS) for the East of England. 1.5. Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs) are designed to provide the evidence needed to inform these strategies. However, as well as presenting evidence and information on accommodation needs at an immediate local level the evidence collected and analysis produced has a wider regional role. The assessment of accommodation need and pitch requirements are also to be fed into the Regional Planning Body (RPB), in this case the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA), for inclusion into the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), in the East of England Plan. The RSS then specifies pitch numbers required (but not their location) for each local planning authority (LPA) in light of the GTAAs conducted and a strategic view of need, supply and demand across the region is taken. The local planning authority’s Development Planning Document (DPD) then identifies specific sites to match pitch numbers from the RSS. 1.6. Each DPD is subject to examination in public and one of the tests of soundness will be whether it is founded on robust and credible evidence: data received from GTAAs are fundamental in providing such an evidence base for the RHSs and RSSs. 1.7. The Examination in Public of the East of England Plan concluded that a Single Issue Review of the Accommodation Needs of Gypsies and Travellers was required. As a result district councils across the region need to complete Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs) by early 2007 and the vast majority of GTAAs, across the East of England Region, have now been completed. 1.8. In order to comply with the CLGs increasing emphasis on taking regional strategic approaches and also recognising the diverse and heterogeneous characteristics of the Gypsy and Traveller populations, it is considered good practice for several authorities to commission such work jointly. Thus, in terms of the Suffolk authorities, St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath took part in the Cambridgeshire GTAA, and this Suffolk study is the final step in this initial process towards generating a more robust regional and local understanding of the current provision, gaps and accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers across Suffolk. 5 3 http://www.ipswich.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4DF6AE82-D4DE-46D9-BB5E- BC1DA2466679/0/SubRegionalHousingStrategy20062010.pdf 4 http://www.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/sub_regional_strategy.03.06.pdf 5 As well as residential accommodation this study seeks to additionally explore the need for transit pitch provision in the Study Area in order to assist the RPB in developing a strategic view of accommodation need. 28
1.9. The primary aims of the study were to: 1. ascertain the number of Gypsy and Traveller households currently with an accommodation need and projections over the following 10 year period; 2. assess the needs and aspirations of all the travelling communities for accommodation in the respective areas, regardless of form or tenure; 3. inform future reviews and development of a range of policies, plans and strategies; and 4. inform the emerging Local Development Frameworks (LDF) and the Single Issue Review of the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy on the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs. 1.10. The objectives of the study were to provide information on: • suitability of existing sites with respect to location; • current tenure types and tenure preferences for caravan dwelling/movement between housing and caravans; • attitudes to current site provision (socially rented and private provision); presence on unauthorised encampments; • implications of planning refusals on unauthorised developments; • migration patterns and transient settlement patterns; • household composition and demography, including patterns of extended family living; • health, education and other social requirements which may influence the location and type of provision; • measures used by housing services (homelessness, housing advice and local authority housing registers) regarding their accessibility and appropriateness for Gypsies and Travellers; • the need for additional or expanded housing support services; • strategies for involving Gypsies and Travellers in the development and management of all accommodation types; • whether there is need for additional residential and transit sites within the districts/boroughs; and • the size, type and preferred location for any additional provision required beyond that identified in existing development plans. 29
Page 1: Suffolk Cross-Boundary Gypsy and Tr
Page 5: Acknowledgements This study was gre
Page 8 and 9: Strategy (RSS), in this case the Ea
Page 10 and 11: • By far the most preferred form
Page 12 and 13: Recommendations and key issues 8. T
Page 14 and 15: • authorities should ensure that
Page 16 and 17: Authorised private Gypsy and Travel
Page 19: List of Tables Table 1: Location of
Page 23: Glossary The following terms are us
Page 27: 1. OVERVIEW 1.1. This research was
Page 31 and 32: 2. POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT 2
Page 33 and 34: “Persons of nomadic habit of life
Page 35 and 36: ‘level playing field’ for plann
Page 37 and 38: days. Thus it becomes very difficul
Page 39 and 40: 3. THE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 3.1.
Page 41 and 42: • the particular experiences that
Page 43 and 44: approach impossible. However, effor
Page 45: Table 4: Interviewees by Gypsy and
Page 48 and 49: Suffolk (126) and Ipswich (80) reco
Page 50 and 51: unauthorised encampments (i.e. visi
Page 52 and 53: unauthorised land is largely due to
Page 54 and 55: Figure 7: Total number of caravans
Page 56 and 57: 4.23. At the time of the assessment
Page 58 and 59: 4.41. The number of sites/pitches o
Page 60 and 61: Numbers of Gypsies and Travellers i
Page 62 and 63: Table 8: Characteristics of unautho
Page 64 and 65: Trends of unauthorised encampments
Page 66 and 67: Other Gypsy and Traveller groups 4.
Page 68 and 69: total sample. This was followed by
Page 70 and 71: Table 12: Reasons for residing acro
Page 72 and 73: 4.103. Other people on both private
Page 74 and 75: Living on unauthorised encampments
Page 76 and 77: “If we find a piece of land, some
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“It’s hard to explain, in a hou
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However, during this 12 month perio
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4.155. Because the travelling way o
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4.167. The vast majority of people
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usiness such as scrap dealing, buil
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Table 21: Facilities to be present
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Table 24: Views on type of accommod
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form of accommodation. In addition,
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5.15. The survey of Gypsies and Tra
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accommodation. In the absence of mo
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5.34. However, similar to residenti
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Table 27: Estimated residential nee
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5.47. Because of the historical ine
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• The legal and other costs of ac
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With the ‘settled’ community 6.
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the provision of transit/transient
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Recommendation 19: Authorities need
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Recommendation 31: It will be an im
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encampments that currently occur ac
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Unauthorised encampments rarely ben
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Suffolk Coastal Council Jan Council
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120
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Authority Current authorised provis
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traditional age where households ar
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01/2007 = 56) which equates to roug
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Context The assessment of accommoda
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Ipswich Borough Council. Jenny Morc
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Consultation event attendees Attend
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Consultation event feedback One of
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need that may be ignored if there i
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