Planning Application for New Transit Traveller Site to be Considered Next Week

A PLANNING Application for the building of a dedicated traveller transit site on land near Smallmead in Reading will be considered by committee next Wednesday (Oct 5).

National guidance means every local planning authority should seek to provide sites on which the Gypsy and Traveller community can live. In Reading an assessment found that there is a substantial unmet need for sites.

The proposed site sits on a narrow strip of land located close to the Re3 Recycling Centre and the Sewage Treatment Works (STW). It was identified following a comprehensive review of 80 possible sites in the borough which found the land at Smallmead was the only suitable site for a transit site in Reading.

The site can accommodate seven pitches, or up to 14 caravans, and is intended for temporary periods, ranging from a small number of days to a maximum permitted stay of up to three months at a time. The plans include connection for electricity, a serviced sanitary block per pitch, a play area and secure fencing and gating. The Council would hire a Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officer to manage the site on a day to day basis.

The full planning application can be found at https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/documents/s23593/WHI-212037-REG3%20Gypsy%20and%20Traveller%20Site%20Island%20Road.pdf

It outlines a range of consultation responses, including from a variety of relevant Council departments, and other bodies like the Environment Agency and Thames Water.

Objections to the site are outlined in the committee report. They include the location of the site in a flood zone and the fact it is located on the edge of the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone for the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Burghfield, although this is partly due to the methodology applied to the creation of zones which tried to avoid the splitting of communities.

Planning officers have reviewed both issues and consider that suitable safety refuges will be provided on site and, providing that there is adequate and ‘round the clock’ site management, the safety of transit site residents would be adequately protected. A detailed emergency plan, to cover evacuation in a flood event and an incident at AWE Burghfield, would need to be finalised in the event of a successful planning application. When considering the application next Wednesday (Oct 5), Councillors on the Planning Applications Committee will need to determine whether the proposed mitigation measures being put in place are sufficient to approve the application.

A number of consultation representations make direct or indirect reference to Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) associated with unauthorised traveller encampments and in relation to the proposed use. The committee report makes clear the planning application can only be determined on planning matters and states the concerns are not material to the assessment of the proposal, as they make assumptions about anti-social behaviour.

The Council also has a long-standing aim to reduce the impact and cost to the local taxpayer of illegal encampments on local communities in Reading by building a dedicated transit caravan site in the town. Under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, police have powers to seize the vehicles of those who have failed to comply with a direction to leave land, but only if a suitable pitch is available within a local authority area. Because there is currently no dedicated facility in Reading, the ability of Thames Valley Police to make full use of these powers is limited. The creation of a dedicated transit site could reverse that position if a transit site is approved.

Importantly, the report also outlines that national Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-policy-for-traveller-sites) states that if a local planning authority cannot demonstrate an up-to-date five year supply of deliverable sites, this should be a significant material consideration in any subsequent planning decision when considering applications for the grant of temporary planning permission.

The committee report concludes: “Officers consider that the granting of a temporary planning permission would be appropriate in this situation given the concerns raised as this would allow the outcome of the use of the site to remain under the control of the local planning authority in the medium to long term. It is considered that this safeguard would be sufficient and tip the balance marginally in favour of the proposal."

In acknowledging the difficult and competing tensions that a planning application of this nature entails, especially in terms of the natural environment, planning officers are recommending to Councillors that a temporary planning permission for a period of 10 years is appropriate in relation to the application.

The planning application will be considered in public at the Council’s Civic Offices on Wednesday October 5 from 6.30pm. It is also available for viewing via Teams on the Council’s website at https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=143&MId=4874 by clicking on the ‘link to watch meeting (live or on demand)’ link.