FAQs - Gypsy and Traveller Sites Additional Focussed Consultation on Newly Submitted Sites (June 2023)

Local councils have a responsibility to assess the accommodation needs of all people living in the area. This includes allocating sufficient Gypsy and Traveller sites with pitches for caravans in their local plans.

The guidance and rules for how councils should write their local plans is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and in allied guidance specifically for Gypsies and Travellers in Planning Policy for Travellers Sites (PPTS) (2015). The PPTS requires local plans to have ‘specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide 5 years-worth of sites against their locally set targets… [and] specific, developable sites, or broad locations for growth, for years 6 to 10 and, where possible, for years 11-15’.

The emerging local plan for this area, the Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP), was submitted to government for independent examination in July 2021. The plan is being produced by Broadland District, Norwich City and South Norfolk Councils together with Norfolk County Council, which are together called the Greater Norwich Development Partnership (GNDP).

The partnership is currently seeking land to allocate in the GNLP for Gypsies and Travellers.  A Gypsy and Traveller Sites Focussed Consultation took place from January to March 2023.  Three further sites were put forward during that consultation and we are required to consult on them as part of the Local Plan examination.  No final decision has been made on these sites yet.

We are specifically consulting residents and parish councils in the neighbourhood of the three new sites, however anyone with an interest may comment on them.

The consultation documents and supporting evidence will have been emailed to specific consultees and are also available on our website at gnlp.org.uk.

You can submit a response form by email or post.  Download a response form and fill it in electronically or by hand and send it to us as an attachment to an email to gnlp@norfolk.gov.uk or by post to:

Greater Norwich Local Plan Team

City Hall

St Peter's Street

Norwich

NR2 1NH

You can also request a paper response form by contacting the GNLP team by email or by telephone at 01603 306603. Please be sure to include the site reference(s) in your comments. All comments must be submitted in writing as they will become part of the formal examination process for the GNLP and therefore must be available for the independent Inspectors to consider.  Therefore, we cannot accept representations by telephone.

The Partnership is committed to making sure that everyone who wants to have their say about site allocations has the opportunity to do so, however representations that are deemed to contain offensive comments will not be published.  

All comments will be published on our website in due course.  The name of the respondent will be published alongside their representation.  Contact details will not be published, and we will redact personal data from comments published online in accordance with our privacy notice.

Read the GNLP Privacy Notice

Access the Planning Inspectorate Privacy Notice

All comments made will be passed on to the independent Inspectors as part of the Local Plan examination process and therefore cannot be anonymous.

You may either submit a representation under your own name or write to your district councillor who may submit a representation on your behalf.

The term ‘Gypsies and Travellers’ does not cover a single, homogenous group, but encompasses a range of groups with different histories, cultures and beliefs including Romany Gypsies, Welsh Gypsies, Scottish Gypsy Travellers and Irish Travellers. These are ethnic groups recognised by the courts and declared to be protected “races” under the Equality Act 2010. However, some groups like showpeople and New (or New Age) Travellers fall outside the Equality Act 2010 definition.

The most recent version of the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS), published in 2015, changed the previous definition of Gypsies and Travellers for planning purposes by excluding those people who have permanently ceased to travel.

This change prompted a legal case which challenged the definition of Gypsies and Travellers for planning purposes as it excludes families that had stopped travelling permanently due to age, ill health, or disability.

In October 2022, the Court of Appeal ruled on the case saying that the objective of the PPTS 2015 in excluding households who have ceased to travel from needing a pitch could not be justified and ran counter to the stated aims of the PPTS and the NPPF.

Government guidance says councils must assess the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers. The Greater Norwich Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA), published in 2022, identifies a need for up to 50 new pitches between April 2022 and March 2038. However, since preparing the GTAA this figure has gone up to 52 pitches as 3 further pitches that had been anticipated through the redevelopment of an existing site are not now deliverable, whilst a site for one pitch has been granted planning permission in Yelverton. Further details on the GTAA are below.

The actual size of a pitch varies but is a space of land big enough to provide for one household. This may vary depending on the size of the household in a similar way to housing for the settled community, but generally means enough room for an amenity block consisting of a kitchen, bathroom and living room, plus space for 2 caravans and 2 vehicles. As a guideline a pitch will require approximately 300 square metres. 

There is no minimum or maximum number of pitches for a Gypsy and Traveller site. Smaller sites of 3-4 pitches can be suitable for one extended family. Sites of approximately 15 pitches can be successful but equally there are many successful larger sites that already exist.

The consultation includes one favoured site to deliver up to 5 additional pitches and 2 sites which are not considered suitable for allocation.

No. After a number of opportunities to submit sites for consideration for allocation in the Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP), no further sites can be submitted at this stage as the plan is close to the end of the examination process.

Once this consultation on three recently proposed sites closes at midday on 3 July 2023, the responses will be considered and recommendations made to the inspectors on whether sites could be allocated in the Local Plan.  The number of Gypsy and Traveller pitches required and the proposed approach to providing those pitches will be considered through the plan’s examination, most likely at GNLP hearings sessions in late July.

After that, in autumn 2023, preferred sites are very likely to be included in the Inspectors’ Schedule of Main Modifications to the GNLP.  There will be a modifications consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, Gypsy and Traveller sites are likely to be included in the GNLP once it is adopted in early 2024.  

A privately owned site is one where a Gypsy and Traveller family owns the land. A publicly owned site is owned and managed by a council or housing association which rents pitches to Gypsy and Traveller families

In both cases, sites need to have planning permission and to be licensed by the council to allow people to live there all year round.

A residential site is one where Gypsy and Traveller families live for most of the year and is their home. A transit site provides temporary accommodation.

The length of stay on a transit site can vary, but it is usually set at between 28 days and three months. A Gypsy and Traveller family may stay there before moving to a permanent pitch or perhaps if they are visiting – for example, to give care and support to a family member for a short period of time.

There are no current plans to provide extra transit sites in Greater Norwich as there is already one transit site which is in the process of being refurbished and is sufficient to meet needs.

Many people of Gypsy and Traveller heritage and ethnic background now live in settled accommodation and do not travel, or do not travel frequently. Nonetheless, many consider travelling to be part of their cultural identity and want to maintain a nomadic lifestyle. The law also recognises Romany Gypsies, Welsh Gypsies, Scottish Gypsy Travellers and Irish Travellers as defined ethnic groups, and this does not change with their nomadic lifestyle changing for reasons to do with old age, ill health, or living a settled lifestyle.

The government requires councils to have evidence on the needs of Gypsies and Travellers accommodation in their area. The partnership has regularly updated its evidence and its most recent Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) was completed in June 2022. The Greater Norwich GTAA was produced on behalf of the partnership by a company called RRR Consultancy.

The GTAA is a piece of primary research to understand how many Gypsy and Traveller pitches are required in the Greater Norwich area over the period of April 2022 to March 2038. It updates and supersedes the previous Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment which was prepared in 2017

The Gypsy and Traveller Site Assessment Information – New Sites June 2023 document (see section H2 of the GNLP website) is a piece of supporting evidence for this consultation. It explains how each of the sites performs against the criteria set for what would make a suitable Gypsy and Traveller site.

The Site Assessment process appraised each proposed site for its vehicular access, distance to local services and facilities, access to the main road network, adverse impacts on biodiversity and open space, land contamination and ground stability, flood risk, adverse impact on landscape and listed buildings, minimising impact on neighbouring communities, and the availability of electricity and water supplies to the site.

The Gypsy and Traveller Site Assessment Information – New Sites June 2023 document considers the three recently submitted sites. The site at Hevingham performs well in the assessment, so is identified as a favoured site.  The other two sites at Foulsham and Guestwick have been assessed as having significant constraints so are identified as unreasonable alternatives.

Respondents to the consultation can comment on both the draft policy for the Hevingham site in the Gypsy and Travellers Site Additional Focussed Consultation – News Sites June 2023 (see section H1 of the GNLP website) and the content of the Site Assessment document.

Undertaking a Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is a legal requirement for all plans and programmes such as local plans. The job of the SA is to ensure economic, social, and environmental issues are integrated and addressed at the earliest opportunity. The Greater Norwich councils appointed a company called Lepus Consulting to prepare the SA for the GNLP, and Lepus has done further work to produce the Sustainability Appraisal of the Greater Norwich Local Plan Gypsy and Traveller Sites and Policies. The SA work prepared by Lepus has been used to prepare the Site Assessment Information document as well as informing the policy for each of the proposed Gypsy and Traveller sites.

Respondents can comment on the content of the Sustainability Appraisal of the Greater Norwich Local Plan Gypsy and Traveller Sites and Policies (see section H4 of the GNLP website).

Undertaking a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) is a legal requirement for ensuring the protection of special habitats and species of international importance – such as the River Wensum and The Broads - as well as several others that have designations as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Areas of Conservation (SPA), SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), and wetlands designated under the RAMSAR convention.

The Greater Norwich councils appointed a company called The Landscape Partnership to prepare the HRA for the GNLP, and the Landscape Partnership has done further work to consider the proposed Gypsy and Traveller and produce the Habitats Regulations Assessment of published Proposed Submission Greater Norwich Local Plan – Gypsy and Traveller Sites Addendum.

Respondents can comment on the content of the HRA (see section H5 of the GNLP website).

This consultation does not include sites for Travelling Showpeople who form a distinct community separate to Gypsies and Travellers.  The Partnership has signed a Statement of Common Ground  with the Eastern Region branch of The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain which sets out how the community’s accommodation needs will be met.

The GNLP does not propose allocation of specific sites for people who live in a caravan but who are not of a Gypsy and Traveller ethnic background. Instead, the partnership is allowing a market-led approach on the basis that residential caravans are a tenure choice, often chosen for reasons of lifestyle.