Help shape the Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is preparing a Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan.

The consultation begins on Friday 18 September and runs until Friday 30 October.  Its results will help inform the content of the plan.

Councils are required by government to identify the accommodation needs of Gypsies, and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in their areas and prepare a plan to show how these needs will be met.

The Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan sets out how future accommodation needs for Gypsies, and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople could be met up to 2031.  The District Council wants the community's views on the various approaches chosen to address questions such as the size and location of new gypsy and traveller sites.

The District Council's evidence shows a requirement for a further 29 new pitches to meet need up to 2019 with a further 27 pitches by 2031.

The consultation is based on 17 questions and includes the following:
 

• Revised pitch requirements
• Proposed preferred areas of search for new sites
• Some existing sites becoming permanent
• Safeguarding current sites with permanent planning permission and      no occupancy restrictions
• Comments on other known sites that the Council is not proposing to      allocate or safeguard

Do it online
Use our interactive document which allows you to click and comment online or go straight to the online representation form

Do it by email
By downloading a form and emailing it to planning.policy@stratford-dc.gov.uk

Do it by post
Alternatively, forms can be posted to: FREEPOST RSLH – ZYKJ – TYAZ, Stratford on Avon DC, PO BOX 5341, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 1LE

Do it in person
Print out a comment form and hand it in at the District Council offices, Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6HX

Copies of the form can be provided on request.

Following the consultation, the District Council will prepare a proposed Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan, which will go out to further public consultation later this year.  This document will include detailed planning policy and guidance to inform and manage future gypsy and traveller development, as well as allocating suitable sites.

Cllr Chris Saint, Leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council says: “The District Council has a duty to plan for the gypsy and traveller community and identify sufficient provision to satisfy local needs.  The Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan will be part of the Local Development Framework and enable the District Council to resist gypsy and traveller sites in unplanned and inappropriate locations.  The Gypsy and Traveller Local Plan will play an important role in this by ensuring that sufficient provision is available to meet identified needs."