A Government inspector heard that Waverley Council has failed in its statutory duty to provide an up-to-date assessment of the borough’s future Gipsy and Traveller needs.
Vital evidence that Inspector Mr. Richard Clegg needs to determine whether a group of gipsies can remain on land they own and have inhabited for years to the north of Lydia Park in the Parish of Bramley.
An eight day public inquiry into a Dunsfold Gypsy site has started
Barristers acting on behalf of the Doherty families repeatedly called for evidence of a costly and incomplete survey of need carried out by contractors. They claimed that relying on data from 2017 could not be considered robust data on which the Inspector needs to make crucial decisions affecting the lives of those affected by the outcome of appeals.
The public inquiry began on Tuesday and will continue until June 13, with a reconvening scheduled for November 12.
On numerous occasions through the inquiry one of the Docherty family barristers Mr Masters has accused Waverley Council of deliberately delaying the G&T Assessment, saying it was a ” tactic” used by the authority but this was rebutted by the Counci’s advocate saying: “it merely wanted to kill two birds with one stone and include all the up-to-date information of need in its new Local Plan. It is believed that the three sites are. Hill Tops, New Acres and Lydia `park have generated a huge future need, as young children are now adults with families. The council commissioned the costly survey of need and then halted it halfway.
Bramley Cllr Francesca Stern took the stand once more to provide a diatribe of statistics which she claimed proved that the concentration of gipsies and others unknown had grown exponentially. She said the village of Bramley and Waverley now had one of the largest concentrations in the country. She alleged that not everyone who lived there was a gipsy or traveller, and after inspecting the electoral roll, one name that appeared was not a gipsy name.
Confusion – Cock-up and controversy on day one of Stovolds Hill Gipsy Inquiry
Chairman of Hascombe Parish Council, Cllr Sarah Sullivan, took the stand to convey the concern that the huge influx of gipsies was causing the residents of Hascombe and the nearby villages of Dunsfold and Alfold.
She claimed the natural environment in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the views from footpaths on Hascombe Hill (overlooking the sites) were being damaged. Her residents wanted to live in “dark skies,” she said:
“The lighting from the site at night is similar to a large city. Most of the time, it is lit up like a Christmas tree. We can no longer see the stars or the planets.”
She claimed there was a surge of “internationals” occupying unauthorised development at Lydia Park, an intended development by people with complete disregard for the law.
She described Lydia Park as it once was: a long-established site where formerly local people had a good relationship with its occupants.
Asked if she had evidence or knew of complaints made by her parish council to Waverley about the alleged unauthorised development at Lydia Park and the appeal site, Mrs O’Sullivan either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer.
Even the Inspector looked frustrated and tried to intervene, but with little success.
Barrister for the appellants Alan Masters asked Cllr Sullivan if she was aware of other authorised development adjacent to the appeal site: eg, UK Oil & Gas permission to drill for gas at Loxley Farm, the consented housing development at Dunsfold Airfield, and the buildings at Thatched House Farm, and other commercial developments recently granted nearby.
Had her council objected to the nearby UK Oil & Gas Exploration site at High Loxley site or the extensive warehouse commercial development? She confirmed that she had objected to UKOG. Due to the damage it would cause to the Surrey Hills.
She heard that Waverley Planners or the High Court had approved all this recent development.
Cllr Sullivan did not respond to a Barrister’s suggestion that the vast expansion of Lydia Park – and the extension of the appeal site proved there was a huge local need for both gipsy and traveller accommodation and housing,
The Inquiry continues.
This has been an incredibly difficult Inquiry to follow on the webcast because a considerable amount of the time has been spent on exchanges between the parties and witnesses have been “noises off.” Participants have consistently failed to use their microphones.