Purpose

Cabinet
considered the outcome of the public consultation about the
proposal to apply for planning consent for the delivery of a site
for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation on land at Shottendane Road.
 
The
consultation responses highlighted a high level of public
opposition to the proposal set out in the consultation. Taking the
results of the consultation into account, the Cabinet agreed an
alternative approach.
 

Decision

Cabinet
agreed to:

1. 
Fully consider the findings of the public
consultation about the proposals for the land at Shottendane Road, as detailed in annex 3 of the
report.
2. 
Direct the Local Plan CAG to include land for gypsy
and traveller accommodation within the site assessments for the
next Local Plan iteration and to advise about an appropriate
threshold above which all sites will be required to set aside land
for Gypsy and Traveller provision.
3. 
In line with recommendation 1, in the event that the
land at Shottendane Road is allocated
for residential development in the Local Plan, include provision
for Gypsy and Traveller pitches within the site master plan, in a
way that addresses the relevant planning concerns raised during the
consultation wherever possible.
4. 
Note the update in relation to the North Thanet Link
Road set out in section 5 of the report.

5. 
Continue to contact central government in relation
to the requirement for further national funding for Gypsy and
Traveller provision.
 

Reasons for the decision

The decision was made for the following
reasons:
· 
The responses to the consultation highlighted a high
level of public opposition to the proposal set out in the
consultation and raised a number of relevant planning concerns that
would need to be addressed. 
· 
The agreed approach would ensure that many of the
concerns raised, including environmental impacts, highways impacts,
drainage and community relationships could be addressed and may
enable alternative site access arrangements that do not rely on
access via Caxton Road, which is already heavily parked and
congested. 
· 
The decision to wait for the outcome of the next
Local Plan review and, if Shottendane
Road is allocated for residential development, to integrate the
proposed Gypsy and Traveller pitches into a wider development
proposal provides for the best opportunity to design a development
that best fosters positive community
relationships. 
· 
The council will be required to make provision
within the next Thanet Local Plan for the accommodation needs of
Gypsy and Traveller households and therefore suitable sites will
need to be identified during preparation of the plan. One option
that will need to be considered is whether all new major housing
sites should be required to set aside a proportion of land for
Gypsy and Traveller accommodation. If this approach is adopted and
Shottendane Road is allocated for
residential development, any new requirements would equally apply
across all major sites.
 

Alternative options considered

Cabinet
considered a number of options, as follows:
 
11.1  Agree to submit a planning application in
line with the development proposals set out in the consultation
document. The responses to the consultation were largely opposed to
this approach. This report considers the responses to the
consultation and concludes that relevant planning concerns raised
during the consultation could be better addressed by integrating
new site provision for the Gypsy and Traveller community into
future residential housing sites, including Shottendane Road if it is allocated for residential
development within the next revision of the Thanet Local Plan. This
option was rejected.
 
11.2 
Agree to submit an amended planning application. Although the
proposals could be amended prior to submissions in response to
concerns about issues such as the loss of agricultural land, other
landscape impacts, water and drainage and highways impacts. The
details could not be fundamentally changed without more detailed
master planning for the whole of the Shottendane Road site. This option was
rejected.
 
11.3  Agree to defer further work on the provision
of Gypsy and Traveller pitches on the land at Shottendane Road until the outcome of the next
Local Plan review is known. In the event that the land at
Shottendane Road is allocated for
residential development, include provision for Gypsy and Traveller
pitches within the site master plan. The master plan to address the
relevant planning concerns raised during the consultation wherever
possible. This option was agreed.
 
11.4  Decide not to include Gypsy and Traveller
provision at Shottendane Road and look
for options elsewhere. Taking into account the level of identified
need this option was rejected. Any Local Plan policy that required
future major housing sites to set aside land for Gypsy and
Traveller accommodation would include the land at Shottendane Road, if it is allocated for
residential development.