Inquiry will determine if Gypsies can stay or go

After lodging an appeal against Warwick District Council’s refusal of permission to allow them to stay there, the 13 families are to be the subject of a four-day planning inquiry which starts on Tuesday.

They had moved on to the site off Kites Nest Lane and Brownley Green Lane during a bank holiday weekend in May last year, after which they submitted their application to the council.

Speaking to the Courier this week, one of the Gypsies, who would only name himself as Richard, said: “We need somewhere to live. We need to educate our children and we need doctors. We need a normal way of life.

“We are sick and tired of being made to be illegal. The Government is making us be illegal when we don’t want to be.

“It’s getting to a state when we haven’t got a choice but to do what we have done.”

Richard said the group, who have lived in different sites around Warwickshire, chose the site because it is close to shops and schools and now they feel well settled.

He said: “If you go to the local pub, shop, garage and schools and speak to people there, you will find that no one has got a problem with us. Everybody is nice to us.

“I hope the inspectors see why we have done what we have. There is a need for a place for us in Warwick district and the site is a sensible one.

“Whatever happens, we will not be going anywhere anyway – we will take it to High Court if necessary. We have got nowhere else to go.”

Warwickshire County Council’s Gypsy liaision officer Robert Leahy said the most recent Gypsy and traveller accommodation assessment, which was carried out in 2007, identified a need for 163 pitches in Warwickshire, which included 11 in Warwick district.

But district councillor Sue Gallagher (Con, Leek Wootton), who represents the Beausale area, said the inquiry was concerned with planning enforcement.

She said: “Nothing has changed. They are there without planning permission. It does not matter whether they are Gypsies or not. It’s a group of people on a greenfield site without planning permission. That’s what the appeal is for.

“This is not a Gypsy hunt.”

The Gypsies’ application to the district council for permanent pitches was rejected in June last year.

More than 400 objections had been lodged, as well as a petition with 333 signatures, against the applications for 13 pitches for mobile homes, 13 touring caravans for nomadic use only and 13 utility day rooms, on the site.

Residents in the area formed the group Friends of the Green Belt (Frog) in opposition to the settlement. The Courier attempted to contact the group and other residents this week but no one was available for comment at the time of going to press.

Objections had largely centred around the fact that the land is green belt and should therefore remain untouched. Flooding issues and the fact that the Gypsies had already set up home before the application was lodged were also highlighted as areas of concern.

The council gave the group 12 months to leave the land and for it to be restored to its original state and a High Court injunction was issued, preventing them from bringing in any further developments.

But because the community has since lodged appeals against both the refusal and the order, planning law meant the council has been unable to stop them from continuing to live there.

The inquiry, which takes place at Leamington town hall, will begin at 10am.