'We'll do whatever it takes to stay' say travellers after camping and refusing to leave picturesque land near M25 | 2JJ2N1F | 2024-03-31 06:08:01
John Bailey has applied to change using land on the nook of Clement Road a
A FAMILY of "Present Individuals" claim they'll "do whatever it takes to stay" where they're dwelling on green belt land as they are saying all Traveller sites are "overcrowded".
John Bailey has applied to change using land on the nook of Clement Road and Church Street in Sutton-at-Hone in Kent, in a bid to create a permanent website for his household to pitch on.
The inexperienced area is near the M25 and at present accommodates round 25 adults and 12 youngsters.
They have owned it for 3 years and have used it for paddocks.
An software was submitted to Dartford council in November.
The proposal was to create seven everlasting plots for travelling Show Individuals which included storage, washing and testing areas for gear, as well as access and landscaping.
On March 14 though the plans have been rejected by the planning committee, saying it was an "inappropriate improvement" of the metropolitan green belt.
Mr Bailey advised KentOnline: "We aren't constructing blocks of flats, we simply need to park up, stay quietly and fit in with individuals. We have now obtained to do whatever it takes as we'd like someplace to stay. We're a family and we don't need to break the principles.
"We can't park up on the aspect of the street, we'd like land for our gear. We are just parking our homes.
"We perceive the land is within the green belt but there have been instances the place it has been overturned for different communities. Show Individuals would not have the same rights."
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> Show Individuals are not seen as an ethnic group as they do not descend from Romany, Roma or Irish Travellers and are referred to as Cultural Travellers.
The Traveller Movement (TM), which tackles discrimination and promotes equality, say they are a cultural minority with their id being linked to their family business.
Present Individuals are those who organise and run festivals, circuses and exhibits in the course of the summer months after which will settle in the course of the winter as a way to prepare for the following season.
The Bailey family have been operating funfairs in Kent for around 100 years.
Present Individuals typically need a lot larger spaces than other Travellers as they want somewhere to store their gear similar to truthful rides and kiosks.
Mr Bailey says he put in the planning software as a result of the prevailing Traveller sites in the county can't accommodate them.
COUNCIL REJECTED APPLICATION
Council officers of their report stated the native authority had "an sufficient provide of plots" and did not contemplate there to be "an unmet need [of sites] for travelling Show Individuals inside Dartford".
The family stated in their entry statement that they had been dwelling on a website in South Ockendon nevertheless it was "severely overcrowded" and "cramped" and had moved onto their land in Sutton-at-Hone with a view to improve their dwelling circumstances in March final yr.
Council officers though and slapped an injunction order on them, saying it was a breach of planning controls, to stop any additional improvement occurring.
An enforcement notice was then issued by the native authority which got here into impact in December, requiring the caravans and fairground gear to be eliminated inside 9 months.
APPEAL
Mr Bailey has appealed the choice with an inquiry more likely to take place in September.
He stated: "We had to do this. It won't have been the right factor to do however we would have liked someplace to stay. We'll go anyplace however there are not any websites for us and those there are, are all overcrowded. If there have been extra sites it will be ultimate."
In the submitted design and access statement it states the applicant accepted the change of use can be "an inappropriate form of improvement within the inexperienced belt", but would not end in any "other hurt", comparable to noise, visitors, or mild.
It also provides the appliance could possibly be thought-about as having "very special circumstances" including the unmet need of the group and a scarcity of other land and so ought to be thought-about for approval despite the fact that it was on inexperienced belt land.
The statement stated: "It is extremely troublesome to seek out sites appropriate and obtainable for Gypsies, Travellers and travelling Present Individuals outdoors the inexperienced belt in Dartford as evident by the truth that all Traveller and travelling Show Individuals's websites inside the borough are situated within the inexperienced belt.
"If the council considers there to be justification for the allocation of web sites in the green belt for Travellers, the identical ought to quite clearly be the case for travelling Showmen."
Nevertheless, council officials didn't assume the appliance met the requirements of being a "very particular circumstance" and beneficial it for refusal.
Neighbours lodged six objections to the appliance, elevating considerations about noise pollution, elevated visitors and use of the inexperienced belt land.
The appliance was also backed by 14 letters of help, which stated the household "do good work for the group", have been a "constructive addition" to the native space and are charitable with members as soon as being a part of Dartford Lions.
The family are because of attraction the councillors' determination to refuse planning permission.
The Sun Online has contacted Dartford Council for comment.
The households land is on green belt in Kent close to the M25[/caption]
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