ANGELA Rayner has been accused of making it harder for local councils to block traveller sites in a recent relaxing of planning rules.
The Housing Secretary has removed two key rules under which unauthorised camps could be opposed in changes to England’s planning rules yesterday.
Caravans parked at Appleby Horse Fair, an annual gathering for travellers in Cumbria Credit: Getty
Angela Rayner has softened planning rules surrounding traveller sites Credit: Getty
The reforms could leave more residents “forced to tolerate lawbreaking from a small minority of travellers” the Tories have warned.
Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly said the changes will make it easier for travellers to get sites “rubber stamped” retrospectively, “often when they’ve already erected permanent structures.”
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England has seen a 73 per cent increase in the number of unauthorised traveller caravans since January 2020, up from 2,860 to 4,950.
Previously, local councils would assess applications by considering any “potential environmental damage caused” by the camp.
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This included concerns about camps causing damage to green spaces or threatening biodiversity in natural areas.
Sites were only to be approved if they “provide a settled base that limits the need for long-distance travelling”, the rules stated.
Under the new rules both requirements have been removed making it more difficult for future planning applications to be blocked.
The Government has insisted that local councils still have all the powers they need.
Sir Cleverly said Labour had shown a “soft-touch” and said the Tories pledge to take “robust action”.
He added: “Communities across the country are being forced to tolerate lawbreaking from a small minority of travellers.
“But instead of siding with those who play by the rules, Labour are making it easier for travellers to set up illegal sites and get them rubber-stamped afterwards – often when they’ve already erected permanent structures.”
The changes stop local councils “from making their own decisions about what’s best for their areas” he continued.
He said: “Instead of this soft-touch approach to traveller criminality, the Conservatives will take the robust action needed to ensure equal treatment across the board.
“With the freedoms we gain from leaving the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR], we will crack down on unauthorised sites, end the two-tier system where travellers get special treatment, and stand up for local residents abandoned by Burnham.”
Shadow housing and planning minister Gareth Bacon said the new guidance will limit the ability for councils’ to oppose an encampment on environmental grounds.
Mr Bacon added: “Labour are watering down their planning changes to make it easier for a small minority of Travellers to break the rules and get away with it.”
The guidance “is a green light for Travellers to set up unauthorised camps” and will have “serious consequences for local residents” he said.
Officials admitted that Monday’s policy changes “may also mean that locations not well-related to existing settlements may be appropriate”.
They added in an explainer document published with the reforms that specific guidance on traveller camp applications would be published “in due course”.
This will also include more detail for planning inspectors.
Government sources said that reforms on unauthorised developments elsewhere would make it harder for traveller sites to get approval retrospectively.
The framework says when deciding on an application, planning officials should give “substantial weight” to whether an illegal development was “intentional”.
The new guidance adds: “In cases of unauthorised development where consideration is being given to an application for retrospective planning permission (or through an enforcement appeal, whether to grant planning permission in respect of a breach of planning control), if it is concluded based on evidence that the unauthorised development was intentional, that fact should be given substantial weight in considering whether to grant planning permission.”
This comes as the Conservatives announced it would allow police to ban travellers from unauthorised sites permanently.
These measures would mean once the travellers had been removed at the landowner’s request, police officers could bar them from returning indefinitely.
Travellers would also be unable to apply for retrospective planning permission.
A government spokesperson said: “The Tories left our planning system in a mess. Not only has this Labour government put in place incredibly strong safeguards for developments in the green belt, our planning changes have strengthened national policy on intentional unauthorised development.”
This comes after locals in one village in Kent say five traveller sites have appeared in their tiny village in just nine months.
Residents say they immediately reported the work to Maidstone Borough Council.
But when a council officer visited, they concluded the land had been requested for horse grazing and there had been no breach of planning permission at that stage.
Locals claim that on the next bank holiday weekend a team moved in.
They say several hedges were removed, fresh water pipes installed and a large mobile home brought onto the land.
The landowner has since submitted a retrospective planning application.
