Town Hall invaded in gypsy protest


ANGRY villagers packed Maid- stone Town Hall in protest at gypsies setting up sites without planning consent. The borough full council


meeting was delayed for several minutes as Boughton Monchelsea residents struggled to find standing room in the main chamber. Many spilled over into an ad- joining room to watch the de- bate on a TVscreen. An estimated 75 locals were


there to press councillors to re- fuse retrospective planning per- mission and to take enforce- ment action against unautho- rised development in Church Hill.


They claim it is damaging the


open countryside. Many more disgruntled vil-


lagers – those who had come to show their disgust at plans to cut parish council concurrent functions grants by 30% – had also descended on the Town Hall.


Stephen Munford, chairman


of Boughton Monchelsea Parish Council, spoke in support of a 700-signature petition against the three-plot development, south of the primary school. He quoted PM David Cameron’s “we are all in this to- gether” speech, saying it was a call-to-arms. He said his com- munity had spoken up and was


Joint protest: opponents of the gypsy site plans and of Maidstone Council’s cuts in grants to the parishes join forces at the Town Hall.


not willing to let planners spoil the village. Residents felt they had been


“let down” by the borough council and urged that forth- coming planning applications be refused. Mr Munford added that the Government had said gypsies should not be allowed to set up sites retrospectively. “Reject these applications –


we demand it!” was his rallying cry. Long, loud applause greeted his speech. Mayor Cllr Eric Hotson, who earlier said he was delighted to see so many members of the public, congratulated Mr Mun- ford on his clarity. He said the petition would be referred to the planning committee. A proposal to place a total of


six caravans on plots one, two and five have been submitted to Maidstone. Plot three was granted consent to become a caravan site last February. The applications refer to 17


persons (eight adults and nine children) living at the combined sites. The parish council has cited a Government circular re- ferring to human rights. Locals say gypsies have a right to a place to stay but that should be balanced against the rights of long-standing residents to enjoy their homes and school. In correspondence with the borough, they argue: “The rights of the settled community are being undermined.”  The issue is likely to go be- fore the planning committee in


due course, unless officers de- cide against the plans. However, they are waiting on the results of related planning appeal deci- sions.


Committee vice-chairman Cllr


Clive English explained: “The difficulty is that the petitioners were asking the council to do something illegal. They asked the full council to give instruc- tions on applications that will come up to the planning com- mittee. “The full council can only


make it clear to the planning committee that this issue is of considerable public concern, but it will have to be deter- mined by the committee. “Planning committee chair-


man Cllr Richard Lusty could make reference to it in his chair- man’s comments if he so chooses. Personally, I feel that would be unwise because there should be no question of pre-de- termining the application. “The obvious danger is that if


we do turn them down or im- pose conditions that the appli- cants feel are unduly harsh, there would be grounds for ap- peal because the committee would have effectively pre-de- termined the application,which is a hard thing to explain to a large number of people who have signed a petition.” Petition over grants: page 15


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