Published: Friday, 26th January 2024
A consultation on possible new sites for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople opens today (Friday 26 January) and anyone in the borough can comment.
The consultation will take place in two phases – this consultation, the first phase, will ask people for their views about a number of possible sites and it runs until Friday, 8 March. The second phase will take place during May and June, to consult specifically on proposed site allocations and policies.
The council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for development and regeneration, Cllr Jim Moriarty, said: “This is consultation is an important piece of work that will help us to gain approval for our new Local Plan – without it, our Local Plan cannot be adopted and this would have significant knock-on effects for all planning applications in the borough.
“I’m keen that people take part in order to make sure their voices are heard. You don’t have to live near one of the possible sites identified, you just need to live in the borough.
“Please make sure that your views are taken into account.”
In 2023 the council updated its Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment as part of the work to complete a new Local Plan for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. This work is legally necessary for the area’s new Local Plan to be adopted.
Local Plans set out a vision and a framework for the future management and delivery of development in an area over 15-20 years. It is a key document councils use for making decisions about local planning applications.
Without a Local Plan in place, a council would have less authority to determine planning applications. Without this guiding local development policy framework it would have to rely on broad national planning policies and guidance alone and therefore it would have limited ability to refuse unsuitable development.
The new Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment found that the council needed to provide an additional 97 pitches over the next 15-20 years to meet its legal obligations to accommodate gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople. Of these, 71 are needed within the next 5 years (by 2027/28).
Some of these pitches could be delivered through expansion of existing sites but expansion alone will not deliver enough pitches. As a result the council has spent several months working to identify potential new sites.
It is now ready to ask people for their views on the range of possible sites it has identified. Feedback from the consultation will be used to inform the second consultation phase (May-June 2024), regarding proposed site allocations and policies, which will be submitted to the planning inspectors as part of the ongoing Local Plan examination.
Residents can read more about the sites and take part in the consultation here
The consultation is open until 8 March 2024. The second phase of consultation is expected to take place in May and June.