Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document – Scoping, Issues & Options Public Consultation (Regulation 18)
The preparation of a Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document (DPD) is underway.
As a first step, we prepared a Scoping, Issues & Options document which provided background on both the current and potential future provision of Gypsy and Traveller pitches and Travelling Showpeople plots in the borough. We asked for your views on these matters and what sort of planning matters our policies should address.
The Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document – Scoping, Issues & Options (Regulation 18) is available to view and download below:
This consultation ran from 9.30am on Tuesday 28th February 2023 to 5.00pm on Monday 17th April 2023.
Publicity for the consultation is in line with the regulations, along with the Council's published Statement of Community Involvement. All consultation comments will be made publicly available on the consultation portal (https://maidstone.objective.co.uk/portal). This is so that interested parties can view all the responses that have been received. Published information will include the comment and responder name. All demographic and contact data will be removed. All data is processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. The consultation responses will be used to inform the next stages of the Development Plan Document.
Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Call for Sites
An early stage in the production of the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople DPD is a targeted Call for Sites exercise to identify potential new development sites to adequately and appropriately address the needs of local communities.
The Call for Sites ran from Tuesday 28th February 2023 and closed at 5pm on Monday 17th April 2023. Sites can be submitted either:
The Council is producing a Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople Development Plan Document (DPD). This DPD will form a part of the Development Plan, in addition to the Local Plan Review.
An early stage in the production of the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople DPD is a targeted Call for Sites exercise to identify potential new sites so that the needs of local communities can be adequately and appropriately addressed.
Two targeted Call for Sites exercises have taken place; the first between Tuesday 1st February and Thursday 31st March 2022 and the second between Tuesday 28th February and Monday 17th April 2023. The Council is currently assessing all of the sites received for their suitability for inclusion in the DPD. In the meantime, we have made all of the responses received available on our Google Drive.
Importantly, submitting a site through the Call for Sites does not mean that it will prove suitable for inclusion in the Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople DPD, or that it will get planning permission in the future. The Call for Sites’ purpose is to give the council a starting list of candidate sites to consider in the preparation of the Gypsy, Traveller, and Travelling Showpeople DPD.
The Statement of Community Involvement 2020 sets out when and how stakeholders and the local community can get involved in the preparation of local plans, neighbourhood development plans and supplementary planning documents, and be involved in the process of decision making on planning applications.
There was a temporary addendum in relation to Covid 19 which can be viewed here. As restrictions have been lifted this addendum has now been revoked.
We're required by government to prepare a Local Development Scheme (LDS). A LDS sets out the timetable for the delivery of planning policy documents like our Local Plan.
The Local Development Scheme 2022-2024 was approved by Full Council on 28th September 2022 and outlined the timetable for our Local Plan Review, the Design and Sustainability DPD and the Gypsy and Traveller DPD.
The LDS has been updated to reflect amendments to the timing of the Local Plan review and the Gypsy and Traveller DPD. The Local Development Scheme 2023-2025 was approved by Full Council on 22nd February 2023 and took effect the same day.
The public notice can be viewed here.
Local Development Scheme 2023 – 2025: Addendum
The Council is required to prepare a Local Development Scheme (LDS). A LDS sets out the timetable for the delivery and outline content of planning policy documents. The LDS 2023 - 2025 was approved by Full Council on 22nd February 2023 and took effect the same day.
The LDS outlines the timetable for the Local Plan Review, Maidstone Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople DPD and Design and Sustainability DPD.
The Council will be updating its LDS to reflect changes to the timing of the Design and Sustainability DPD. The current timetable indicates a public consultation taking place from September 2023, which will now take place at a later date. Once a revised timetable is approved, an updated LDS will replace the LDS 2023 – 2025.
The timetables for delivery of the Local Plan Review and Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople DPD remain unchanged