Newark and Sherwood District Council tells government there’s no way the local council taxpayer will foot bill of up to £12m for Gypsy and Travellers pitches as flood defences for Tolney Lane are mooted

A council has told government it will not tolerate taxpayers having to foot as much as much as £12m for new Traveller pitches to meet requirements.

However, letters exchanged by the council and government, which have been seen by the Advertiser, show the plea is falling on deaf ears.

Local Government Minister Lee Rowley wrote back bluntly: “There is no central funding available at this time.”

Newark and Sherwood District Council must supply 118 new pitches within the next ten years to meet perceived demand within the Gypsy and Traveller community, but is struggling to find suitable sites.

There is a growing fear within Castle House that if future provision cannot be adequately addressed in in its Development Plan, it will surrender control of where sites are created, and will have to approve them, or have refusals overturned at a cost at appeal because inspectors will rule the target is not met.

The council now faces legalising several sites on Tolney Lane to help satisfy the needs’ assessment as well as attempting to secure funding for large-scale defences through public bodies and housing developer contributions to prevent the major floods that occur so Tolney Lane can grow still further.

In a letter to Mr Rowley, council leader Paul Peacock writes: “We have given up hope in trying to persuade government to review and revise the policy framework surrounding the housing needs for Gypsies and Travellers. What we will not accept, however, is that local taxpayers should fully bear the cost of this provision so I would ask you again to reconsider our case for financial support.”

118 new pitches represents a 31% uplift in numbers over the next ten years, compared to an 18% predicted uplift in the general population. The next highest requirement for pitches in Nottinghamshire is neighbouring Rushcliffe with five.

The data forecast is based upon the number of Gypsies and Travellers a local authority area has and how that number will increase. Newark has 320 pitches down on Tolney Lane alone.

Councils were asked to bid for funding through the government’s Traveller Site Fund. However, the district’s bid was turned down despite it being right at the top of areas needing the most pitches.

In another letter seen by the Advertiser, former Tory council leader David Lloyd wrote to Secretary of State Michael Gove: “The council is faced with the invidious choice of progressing a Development Plan that satisfies the government’s methodology on Gypsy and Traveller housing need at a cost of £12m or alternatively progressing one that falls marginally short of this but runs the risk of being determined unsound by a planning inspector.“

In his letter, copied in to Newark and Sherwood MPs Robert Jenrick and Mark Spencer, Mr Lloyd references irreparable community damage as a result of what he described as “our most significant challenge".

In a letter following up on an in-person meeting with Lee Rowley, Mr Lloyd writes that allocating money in the sums required amounted to two-thirds of its annual budget and would remove the ability to invest in other local priorities.

“We are a high performing local authority and as such want to do the right thing and progress our Development Plan to adoption. Not to do so will fling wide the floodgates that have already opened, preventing us from resisting Gypsy and Traveller housing from emerging in inappropriate locations. But the financial cost of progressing our Development Plan is to allocate £10m for 118 homes.

“The national system for identifying Gypsy and Traveller housing need is flawed. Despite having raised repeated concerns over many years, we are resigned to the fact that government is not willing to change a system to something that is more equitable.”

In his letter to Mr Rowley in June, Mr Peacock wrote: ”I won’t repeat the points raised in the attached correspondence [from David Lloyd] other than to say that our concerns are being realised. Gypsy and Traveller encampments are currently being established in small, rural communities and we are unable to resist them.”

Mr Rowley wrote back offering up Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities officials’ assistance in arranging an advisory visit from a planning inspector to support the council in drawing up a plan given the issues raised over potential soundness.

With regard to funding for the creation of the 118 plots the methodology says are needed, he wrote: “There is no central funding available at this time.”

He suggested re-applying should a central pot become available again or to apply to the £11.5bn Affordable Housing Programme, which is specifically for delivering thousands of affordable homes nationwide that are available to rent or buy.

“I trust that this letter makes clear the government’s position once again and assists you in clarifying your responsibilities as leader of the district council,” signs off Mr Rowley to Mr Peacock.