To advise Members of the outcomes from the 2013 Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment.

That Members’ consider the contents of the report and accept option 1 (see report) to allow the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTAA) to go forward and to be considered in further detail, paying specific attention to wider consultation at the Local Plan Visioning Day session on 27 January 2014 to which all Members have been invited.

It was recommended that Cabinet accept the report put forward as part of the evidence base for the Local Plan.  The evidence within the report shall allow the Council to plan for future provision for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation and shall provide robust evidence in order to assess future planning applications for such accommodation.  It was the duty of Local Housing Authorities to include assessment of the accommodation needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community under the Housing Act 2004.  Failure to have an up-to-date assessment of these needs could lead to the Local Plan being found unsound.  Due to the implications of the report findings and their wider impact beyond the Local Plan the GTAA recommendation to Cabinet supersedes a separate consideration by the Local Plan Working Group.

Option 1

Members consider the contents of the report and accept to allow the findings to be used to inform future policy.

Option 2 (Do nothing)

Not publishing an up-to-date assessment of the need for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation in the District and using it to develop numbers in the Local Plan would place the Plan at risk of being found unsound.  Delays in publishing an up-to-date GTAA could have implications upon the Local Plan timetable.