15.4 The methods of assessing and calculating the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers are still developing. In 2003 a crude
estimation of additional pitch provision was made at a national level based predominantly on information contained within the Caravan Count. 32 The Guidance on Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments also contains an illustration of how need for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation might best be calculated.33 In addition, guidance for Regional Planning Bodies has been produced, which outlines a systematic checklist for helping to ensure that GTAAs are accurate in their estimation of accommodation need based upon a
31
Niner, P. (2003) Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller Sites in England, London: ODPM.
32
Niner, P. (2003) Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller Sites in England, London: ODPM.
33
range of factors.34 It is from combining these guides that our estimation of supply and need is drawn. In particular, residential accommodation need is considered by carefully exploring the following factors:
Current residential supply • Socially rented pitches • Private authorised pitches Residential need 2007-2012
• Temporary planning permissions, which will end over the assessment period.
• Allowance for family growth over the assessment period. • Need for authorised pitches from families on unauthorised
developments.
• Allowance for net movement over the assessment period between sites and housing.
• Allowance for potential closure of existing sites.
• Potential need for residential pitches in the area from families on unauthorised encampments.
Pitch supply 2007-2012
• Vacant pitches over the assessment period.
• Unused pitches, which are to be brought back into use over the assessment period.
• Known planned site developments.
15.5 Each one of these factors is taken in turn, and illustrated at a Study Area level initially. This is then applied to each district and broken- down by local authority.
15.6 Within the guidance for producing GTAAs there is also the
consideration of ‘new households likely to arrive from elsewhere’. It remains unclear from the findings if movement between the Study Area and elsewhere will affect the numbers of Gypsies and Travellers
requiring residential accommodation across the Study Area. As this accommodation assessment (in line with other accommodation assessments) only included Gypsies and Travellers within the boundaries of the Study Area, it is impossible to present a reliable estimation on the need for accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers currently living elsewhere. It is felt that those Gypsies and Travellers who arrive from elsewhere will probably be balanced by those Gypsies and Travellers who move on from the area and leave vacancies. For simplicity, both elements (new households and private site vacancies) are omitted.
34
http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/209/PreparingRegionalSpatialStrategyreviewsonGypsie sandTravellersbyregionalplannings_id1508209.pdf
15.7 The issue of demand from outside the Study Area is of particular relevance given the location of the unauthorised development on Westrum Lane, which sits on the border between North Lincolnshire and West Lindsey. Although the site is technically in West Lindsey, it would perhaps seem appropriate for the local authorities to work in partnership in addressing this demand, particularly as some/most of the households have located there from the authorised site in Brigg. Our findings suggest that the vast majority of households are happy where they are and content living in the Brigg area. For residents on this site it is immaterial whether the site is located in West Lindsey what is most important is that the site is in Brigg. Our findings suggest that it is likely that households on this development would take up a pitch on an authorised site across the border in North Lincolnshire, as long as it is in the Brigg area, if one was available. As such, these households have been included in the pitch requirement calculations.
15.8 It should be noted that this is a relatively novel situation and one which we have not encountered in previous GTAAs. Though planning
authorities and the planning system is predicated on bounded jurisdictions, Gypsies and Travellers do not tend to think in terms of local authority boundaries. Therefore, there is a need to be both pragmatic and innovative in terms of the response to this particular unauthorised development. Moreover, there are obvious benefits to this in terms of cost-saving for the two local authorities involved.
15.9 The assessment period referred to above relates to the 2007-2012 period with an alternative approach taken to making estimates beyond this point for 2012-2016. As a result of the impact that the creation of more authorised pitches may have on the Gypsy and Traveller
community (in terms of households’ characteristics, travelling patterns, settlement patterns) it is unwise to consider each of the above factors beyond the initial assessment period. Instead we use a simple estimate of family/household growth to illustrate likely natural increase in the Gypsy and Traveller population. This is applied to both a Study Area and local authority level.
A cautionary note on local authority pitch allocation
15.10 Because of the historical inequalities in pitch provision, Gypsies and Travellers have constrained choices as to where and how they would choose to live if they had real choice. So while choices for the non- Travelling community are generally much wider, as there is social housing available in every authority in the country, there are no local authority sites in 138 of the 353 local authorities in England, and only in 71 authorities is there more than one site. Some authorities have no authorised private sites. Over time, this has inevitably meant that Gypsies and Travellers have generally moved to areas they see as offering the best life chances; for example, an authority which provides a site; an authority which is perceived as having more private
other way (slower enforcement, transport links, friends and family resident, etc.). Therefore, there is a tendency, when the need for additional accommodation is assessed, for the assessment to further compound these inequalities in site provision. For example, authorities which already provide Gypsy and Traveller accommodation (publicly or privately) are assessed as having greater need for additional pitch provision than authorities with little or no pitch provision. This is compounded further the longer-term the assessment is made (i.e. to 2016).
15.11 As requested in the research brief, we have identified Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs at a sub-regional and a local level. This has been done on a ‘need where it is seen to arise’ basis. However, the results of this apportionment should not necessarily be assumed to imply that those needs should be actually met in that specific locality. This distribution reflects the current uneven
distribution of pitch provision and the Gypsy and Traveller population across the Study Area. Decisions about where need should be met should be strategic, taken in partnership with local authorities, and the Regional Assembly – involving consultation with Gypsies and
Travellers and other interested parties – which will take into account wider social and economic planning considerations such as equity, choice and sustainability.