Kettering village traveller site must be restored after planning inspector's ruling

Families living on fields they bought close to a Kettering village have been ordered to leave the site within six months and complete work to restore the land.

The land near Loddington was bought by eight members of the Irish Traveller Delaney family who chipped in to buy the farmland to give their children a chance to go to school and register with a GP.

However, after the family had cleared the land and applied for retrospective planning permission, stop notices from the then planning authority, Kettering Borough Council (KBC), were issued.

Lakeview Caravan Park in Cransley Road has been home to eight families but, after an eight-day planning inquiry, Inspector John Murray dismissed the residents’ appeal to use the land for residential use, upholding the enforcement notice.

Michael Collins, a Lakeview Caravan Park resident, said: “I don’t know what the future holds for us. We are absolutely devastated. We are hoping to stay there. I’m so worried for my kids. There was hope that the children were going to go to school here, but not now.”

The development on privately-owned land was described by KBC as a flagrant breach of planning permission – a permanent stop notice came into effect in October 2019. KBC was superseded by North Northamptonshire Unitary Authority.

In his 50-page decision letter Inspector John Murray set out the requirements of the notice that are to:

(1) Cease the use of the land for human habitation.

(2) Permanently remove from the land all caravans, vehicles, buildings, portable toilets, machinery, equipment and personal items, and other items and works associated with human habitation.

(3) Take up and permanently remove from the land all hard core, road planings and other such materials deposited in and on the land and forming areas of hard standing. Remove from the land all materials and rubble arising from this step.

(4) Restore the land to its condition before the breach took place by re-seeding it with grass seed.

Mr Murray concluded: “In this case in addition to the continuing harm to landscape character and appearance, I have found significant risk to highway safety and ongoing ecological harm.

"In these circumstances, it would not be appropriate or proportionate to sanction the continuation of that harm for a period of years added to the harm and risk which has already existed since October 2019.

“Even if conditions could be applied, for example in relation to drainage measures, they would be even more unduly onerous in connection with a temporary permission."

Sloping down towards Cransley Reservoir, the site has been cut and filled to create eight terraces, each side of a central driveway. Neatly-maintained pitches are separated by smart timber fences with extensive amounts of hardstanding provided by gravel chippings, but concerns had been raised over possible pollution to the nearby reservoir.

Harms carrying ‘significant weight’ identified by the inquiry were those to highway safety and to the ecology of the area. Adding to the harm was the nature of the ‘intentional unauthorised development’ exacerbated by ‘irreversible elements of harm to the environment and archaeology’.

Although the appeals had been lodged in November 2019 and March 2020 by the families against the stop notices, the start of the inquiry was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, as the appeals were deemed unsuitable for a ‘virtual’ inquiry.

A public notice giving the reason for the inquiry said: "Without planning permission, the making of a material change of use of the land from a use for agriculture to a use for the stationing and human habitation of caravans, the construction of an area of hard standing together with a hard standing means of access and erection of a breeze block building on the western side of the site adjacent to the point of access onto Cransley Road without the grant of planning permission."

The inquiry opened in November 2021 but was adjourned two days later, when one of the participants fell ill. The inquiry resumed in May 2022 and sat during two consecutive weeks.

In his conclusion Mr Murray acknowledged the impact of the decision on the 21 children living on-site.

He said: “The public interest in resolving this matter quickly must be balanced against the interests of the site residents, including 21 children.

"Though the children are not in school, having to leave a site which has been their home base for so long will involve significant disruption, even for those used to a travelling lifestyle.”

Alan Durn, chairman of Loddington Parish Council, said: “Loddington Parish Council raised over £100,000, from community donations, to employ a highly skilled team of professionals to assess the suitability of the development.

"We are very pleased with the Planning Inspector's decision, which was delivered at the end of a lengthy and very thorough process where all the relevant factors were carefully considered.

“This site was never an appropriate location for any sort of development and the village are looking forward to it being returned to its original state.”

Local authorities are legally required to provide space for travelling communities. A Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment for North Northamptonshire was published in March 2019.

The report showed that an additional 110 pitches are needed for pitches for Gypsies and Traveller households, that met the planning definition, in North Northamptonshire. Travelling Showpeople need 14 additional plots.

To enable the Delaney family to restore the landscape they were given six months to leave the Cransley Road site – a deadline that will expire at the end of February 2023. They have until the start of May 2023 to re-seed the plot.