Permission has been sought to change the use of land at Biscovey Road, St Blazey, into a Gypsy/Traveller pitch featuring a mobile home, touring caravan, day room and secure storage container.

A planning, design and access statement has been prepared by XL Planning Ltd to support the application by Mr P Rowe, which is retrospective in part as a hardstanding surface already exists on site and shipping containers are currently being lived in. Cornwall Council has served a planning enforcement notice.

The statement reads: “It should be a point of common ground that there is an identified need for the provision of additional Gypsy/Traveller sites in Cornwall. The lack of additional sites in Cornwall is something that should be given considerable weight in the determination of this application.”

The site is accessed from Biscovey Road, which in turn enters on to the classified Par Moor Road, A3082. It is located approximately 250m south of the St Blazey residential area which contains shops, bus stops, public houses, petrol filling station, junior school and church; 400m to the west is the popular Par Market, again with extensive shopping facilities.

There are no neighbouring dwellings or buildings located nearby that would be “unduly affected by the proposal”. It is considered that the proposal will sit comfortably within the site and the surroundings.

The planning application says: “Cornwall Council cannot demonstrate an up-to-date five-year supply of Gypsy and Traveller sites.

"The most recent assessment of the need for sites in Cornwall, commissioned in 2015 as part of the preparation for the Cornwall Local Plan, identified a need for 139 pitches at that time. That figure increased to 198 by 2020 through family formation and to 318 pitches by 2030.

“The Cornwall Annual Monitoring Report 2018 indicates that the council has been approving pitches in the Mid-Cornwall area at a higher rate than for the first five years. Nevertheless, to meet the target for the remaining years of the plan, the average approval rate would need to be significantly higher than the current rate. As a result, the council may struggle to reach the target set out in the most recent assessment.

“In accordance with the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (PPTS), this inability to demonstrate an up-to-date five-year supply of Gypsy and Traveller sites is a material consideration which should be given significant weight in relation to this application.”

XL Planning Ltd adds: “As a Romani Gypsy, the applicant has a protected characteristic for the purposes of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) set out in the Equality Act 2010. The non-availability of alternative sites for Gypsies and Travellers in Cornwall points to an inequality of housing opportunity for the applicant.

"Furthermore, refusing this application could result in an inequality of opportunity between the applicant compared with the settled community, not least in terms of access to health care facilities, which the applicant will demonstrate are essential in his case.”