Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Traveller site trebled in size
A traveller site on the outskirts of the city almost trebled in size without planning permission, it has been revealed.
The owners of Moate Farm in Fordwich were told two years ago that they could increase the number of caravans on the plot from six to 20.
Their bid had initially been rejected by the city council but the decision was later overturned by the Planning Inspector, who blamed the authority’s lack of traveller provision as the main reason for his verdict. But rather than stop at 20 caravans, it emerged in the summer that the number of motorhomes on the site off Stodmarsh Road had grown to 57. Authority spokesman Rob Davies said: “A council officer visited the site in August following an enquiry from a member of the public, alerting us to the fact that additional caravans had been brought onto the site. “We found that an additional 37 caravans had been brought onto the land, over and above those allowed by the Planning Inspector in 2018.” During the appeal two years ago, Inspector Richard Clegg said there was a “clear, existing need” for gypsy and traveller sites in the district, which was not being met by the council. Following the visit in August, the owner of the land decided to launch a retrospective bid to secure the green light for the extra motorhomes. Papers submitted to the city council attribute the unauthorised use of the site – which they admit had “been ongoing for some time prior to the outbreak of Covid-19” – to a dearth of gypsy and traveller camps across the district.
They read: “This is a matter resulting in extended family and members of the travelling community, who are known to the existing occupants of the site, doubling up for extended periods of time and seeking a settled base for them and their families. “There is a substantial need for more sites within the district that the council are unable to deliver.
“The proposed total number of static caravans, being 57, would not dominate the nearest settled population, nor would such an increase result in an unacceptable impact on the surrounding area.”