Cash for providing Hampshire traveller sites plus more power over planning breaches

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has pledged Government will match the council tax revenue raised on every traveller home on new legal sites for six years.

Records released by his department last night reveal that there are 215 caravans in the south, mostly on legal sites. But around 60 of those are “not tolerated” by councils, which means they are taking action against them.

The New Homes Bonus was drawn up as an incentive for councils to pass new housing development schemes after the abolition of government housing targets.

But gypsy and traveller sites will receive equal treatment where they are valued for council tax, according to the department.

The Government is concerned about unauthorised traveller developments and encampments and the effect they have on local communities and wants everyone being treated equally and even-handedly in the planning system.

Officials said they were also working on proposals to strengthen the powers that local authorities have to enforce against breaches of planning control and to limit the opportunities for retrospective planning applications in relation to any form of unauthorised development.

Mr Pickles said: “Unauthorised developments have created tensions between travellers and the settled population. We want to redress the balance and put fairness back into communities.

“Like the rest of the population, the majority of travellers are law-abiding citizens and they should have the same chance of having a safe place to live and bring up their children.

“These changes will put travellers who play by the rules on an equal footing.

“But at the same time, we will not sit back and allow people to bypass the planning rules that everyone else has to abide by.

“That’s why we will strengthen the powers that councils have to enforce against breaches of planning rules and tackle the abuse of the planning system.”