FOURTH SPECIAL REPORT
The Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs
Committee has agreed to the following Special Report:—
RESPONSE FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO THE NINTH
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE: TRAVELLING FAIRS
The Government's response is restricted to those
aspects of the Report's recommendations and conclusions which
relate to the role of the planning system and to Government policy
on travelling showpeople's planning needs: Recommendations (c),
(f), (h), and (j).
Recommendation (c)
We are very strongly in favour of an urban renaissance.
No large community ought to be without a central focus for public
entertainment, a place where events such as funfairs can be held.
Villages, towns and cities with such spaces ought to ensure they
are designed to make holding funfairs easy, with good access to
services such as water and electricity, while those which do not
have such areas ought to be striving to get them, as recommended
in the current Planning Policy Guidance Note 17 (PPG17). Further,
we recommend that the revised PPG17 make specific reference to
the value of historic travelling fairs and the role which they
can play in the regeneration of town centres (paragraph 23).
The Government shares the Committee's view of the
value of historic travelling fairs and agrees that they can make
a contribution to the vitality of towns. The planning system has
a vital role to play in providing and safeguarding informal recreation
and open spaces. Amongst their other functions, these open areas
are the ones most often used by travelling fairs. The Government
will be setting out proposals to help local authorities secure
stronger protection for valuable open space in a draft revision
of Planning Policy Guidance Note 17 (PPG17) "Sport and Recreation",
which will be issued for public consultation soon. This will help
to ensure that the sites which can be used by fairs are available
in the future.
Recommendation (f)
It is clear to us that many local authorities
are not properly considering the needs of travelling showpeople,
either during the preparation of their development plans, or when
considering individual applications for sites for travelling showpeople's
depots. We welcome the undertaking given to us by the Local Government
Association to draw the attention of its members to the existence
of Circular 22/91, so that it no longer "languishes in the
bottom drawer" of planning officers' desks. Local authorities
must take their responsibilities towards travelling showpeople,
as outlined in Circular 22/91, as seriously as they take their
responsibilities to any other sector of society (paragraph 36).
We note what the report says about the practical
operation of the Department's Circular 22/91 "Travelling
Showpeople" and welcome the undertaking from the Local Government
Association to draw its members' attention to the Circular.
Recommendation (h)
All local authorities should heed the advice contained
in Circular 22/91 and ensure that they consider the needs of travelling
showpeople when preparing their development plans. We emphasise
that the primary responsibility for ensuring that adequate provision
is made for the needs of travelling showpeople in a particular
area lies with the local planning authority. Nevertheless, it
would greatly assist the process if the Showmen's Guild of Great
Britain became more vigorously and systematically involved in
the drawing up of both regional and local development plans. Where
no provision for showpeople's sites is made in the development
plan for an area where the Guild has identified a need for such
sites, an appeal should be made to the Secretary of State (paragraph
43).
Although the Committee emphasises that the primary
responsibility for ensuring that the needs of travelling showpeople
are met lies with local authorities, Circular 22/91 encourages
local planning authorities to discuss travelling showpeople's
needs with them at an early stage; for example, when local plans
are being drawn up and before any planning application is submitted.
The recommendation encourages the Guild to lodge
an 'appeal' with the Secretary of State where no provision is
made for showpeople's sites in development plans but a need has
been identified by the Guild. There is in fact no right of appeal
to the Secretary of State in relation to development plan proposals
but there is a mechanism through which concerns can be raised
and representations made during the preparation or reviews of
development plans. Objections to deposit drafts of plans are made
to the local planning authority rather than the Secretary of State
and objectors will usually have the opportunity to make representations
at a hearing. Revised Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG12) "Development
Plans" sets out the roles of both the Inspector and the local
planning authority. It also sets out the Secretary of State's
reserve powers that may be used before adoption of the development
plan. Where planning permission has been refused or an enforcement
notice issued by a local planning authority in relation to a particular
showpeople's site, the lack of provision for such sites in the
development plan for an area in which the Showmen's Guild has
identified a need for them will be one of the material considerations
to be taken into account in determining any appeal.
Recommendation (j)
We do not accept the view that circulars have
to be re-issued by the Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions in order to re-enforce them, nor that cross-referencing
to other planning guidance is necessary. Far more important is
demonstrating how a well-run authority has interpreted and applied
the advice contained within the guidance. Either the Showmen's
Guild or those involved regularly with these planning issues should
consider publishing a good practice guide for the benefit of local
planning authorities. The Showmen's Guild should discuss with
the Local Government Association whether it would be appropriate
for such a guide to be produced as a joint publication between
the two organisations (paragraph 45).
The Government generally agrees with the Committee's
view that the Department's Circulars do not need to be re-issued
nor that cross-referencing to other planning guidance is necessary.
We consider that the advice contained in Circular 22/91, if properly
applied by authorities, continues to meet the needs of travelling
showpeople withing the planning system. The interpretation and
application of central Government policy at local level is key.
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