I spent part of Tuesday evening at Test Valley Borough Council's Southern Area Planning Committee.
The planning committee considered a proposal for a gypsy and traveller site with three pitches in Embley Lane. The Hampshire Chronicle have kindly covered the story here: https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/.../23589647.east.../
Approval was granted by the committee, with the 6:4 vote in favour split along party lines. The 6 Lib Dem members for, the four Conservatives against.
To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. In fact, I am furious.
We have a duty to our Gypsy and Traveller neighbours to meet their need for housing. That is undeniable. It’s also the case that there is an unmet need for our local G&T population currently. We must do all we can to meet that need, which is why there is significant work ongoing to identify the capacity of existing sites for expansion and to bring forward the proposed site in Bunny Lane.
The fundamental point for me in the case was whether the applicants form part of our local community and therefore whether we had a duty to meet their housing need.
I spent a long time talking with the Gypsy and Traveller liaison officer who confirmed the applicants have no local connection.
Simillarly, my colleagues in Wellow spoke with the local gypsy and traveller community, who confirmed that none of them knew of either the applicants' families.
So the committee was presented with the perverse position of there being a recommendation to grant permission for a site due to unmet need, which did not in any way contribute to meeting that need.
As I told the committee, "It is the officers’ role to make a recommendation. But it is your role to decide. You do not have to follow their advice. The Local Plan is our document. All of ours. We, the Council, approved it. We the Council agreed our policy and its requirement applications should only be approved if they meet our own gypsy and traveller accommodation needs.
It is within your gift now to defend it. You are the decision makers and I would respectfully suggest it is your role to uphold the principle that the Council and its councillors are the decision makers in these matters."
It is unusual for the planning committee to take a decision with such a profound impact for the rest of the borough. I very much hope the Lib Dem members of the committee who saw fit not to defend our policy do not rue the day they chose to do so.