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As a matter of principle, KCC is opposed to any
development of land without prior consent. We advise any
prospective developer that they must discuss any proposals for any
development with their local planning authority first, and must
obtain planning permission before starting any works.
The council is committed to supporting immediate action taken by
local planning authorities leading to the removal of any
unauthorised development.
Unauthorised Developments (defined by government as, "the use of
privately owned land with the agreement of the land owner/occupier,
but without permission") are managed entirely by the relevant
District Council Planning Authority. We are, until the South East
Plan comes into force, the Strategic Planning Authority.
Since the duty on County and District authorities to provide
'enough' Gypsy Sites was repealed by the then Government in 1994,
very few new Local Authority sites have been created in England
& Wales and some that have fallen into disrepair have been
closed. It is widely acknowledged by most commentators that there
is a national and local shortage of permanent residential and
transit sites.
The Housing Act 2004 and a new Planning Circular on Gypsy and
Traveller Planning introduced a legal duty on District, Borough and
Unitary Councils' Housing Authorities (but not County Councils)
from February 2006.
The act exists to assess the accommodation needs of gypsies and
travellers as they do for other sectors of society, and include in
their Local Development Frameworks a plan for addressing any
projected shortfalls to 2011, and identify suitable land for
sites.
The County Council has no duty in this area of work but we are
doing what we can to support Medway and Kent District Councils -
for example, we have been hosting a Countywide Group which seeks to
bring a lot of this work together, and share best practice.
District and Medway Councils should publish their final reports
assessing gypsy and traveller accommodation in their respective
areas during the summer of 2007.
Local authorities are then required by 15 October 2007, to
submit two planning options to the South East England Regional
Assembly - the first based on data coming out of the accommodation
assessments and the second taking account of the pattern of
environmental and planning constraints in each area.
We are supporting a Countywide Member Group which aims to agree
and submit a Kent and Medway position to the Regional Assembly.
The Regional Assembly plans to consult on proposals for pitch
allocations across the region during May to August 2008 before
submitting advice to the Government by the end of 2008.
Once endorsed by the Government, Local Authorities will be
required to reflect additional pitch allocations and identify
suitable land in their local plans, known as Local Development
Frameworks (LDFs).
Under the new arrangements, the responsibility for identifying
land suitable for additional sites in District areas, whether they
be public or private, residential or transit, falls on District and
Medway Councils, although we will offer support and guidance where
we can. |