Gypsy family given time to quit Funding for new site
A GYPSY family who have set up home il- legally on a farm site near Yalding have been given until next Spring to quit. Levy Smith and his common-law wife Michelle, their two sons, daughter and fam- ilies, have been living at Lindfield Farm in Willow Lane since being evicted from a site in Caterham, Surrey, in 2011. Maidstone Council has repeatedly refused planning permission for the site – which the family has repeatedly appealed against. In the latest appeal the inspector, Wendy McKay, who visited the site in October last year, said the adverse visual impact on the locality outweighed any social or medical reasons for allowing the family to stay. Maidstone Council issued an enforcement notice on the Smith family in May 2012, after they moved four caravans, horses and vehicles onto the site, laid hardsurfacing and put up a number of timber buildings, without planning permission. The notice gave them a maximum of four months to leave the site, but the inspector conceded 12 months would be more rea- sonable in the circumstances, as they had nowhere else to go. Announcing her findings, she said: “ The four pitch caravan site with its associated
operational development and earth bund, appears as an alien and urban feature trans- forming the appearance of this part of the countryside and detracting from the char- acter of theWillow Lane environs.” The Smiths say it could take them 12 to18 months to find a new home but the inspec- tor said that granting full planning permis- sion for the development would not be appropriate, norwould the granting of tem- porary planning permission, although she accepted that ‘substantial progress’ was likely to have been made by 2016 with re- gard to the provision of alternative sites. She said: “Itwould be unreasonable to ex-
pect them to move and carry out the re- quired workswithin the timescale set out in the notice. “Whilst I have taken their personal cir- cumstances into account, I do not believe that any greater extension of the compliance period could be justified.” Three appeals – from Mr Smith snr, Mr
Smith jnr and one from Mrs Smith – were dismissed and the enforcement notices were upheld with variations to allow the families 12 months to vacate and reinstate the site. A retrospective planning application to
site six static and six touring vans on the site was not taken into account, as the ap- peal heard that the necessary fees had not been paid.
Maidstone Council has been awarded £1.3m by theHomesandCommunitiesAgency to pro- videanew15-pitchpublicgypsy site. Thefund- ing is conditional on the site being developed by March 2015, however, and the council is working with a provider of affordable and so- cial housing to try to find, and develop, a suit- able site.
Thenumberofunauthorisedcaravanswithin
the borough has reduced significantly from 104 in January 2011 to 43 in January 2012, reflecting the number of permissions granted by the council.
There are two existing public gypsy sites at Marden and Ulcombe which provide 18 pitchesand14pitches
respectively.Both sites are at full capacitywith low plot turnover and no foreseeable vacancies.
Even with the proposed newpublic site, the council still faces a significant shortage in gypsy site provision.
Cannabis plants worth over £14,000 seized
FIFTY cannabis plants believed to be worth more than £14,000 have been seized by police at a home in Marden. Officers raided an address in Stilebridge Lane where they discovered the mature plants in an outbuilding almost ready to be cropped. They also found suspected stolen property. A37 year-oldman from Maid-
stonewas arrested on suspicion of burglary and cultivating
A PLANNING application has been lodged to allow an addi- tional family to live at a gypsy site in Chart Sutton. Permission currently exists
for three mobile homes and two touring caravans at Little Appleby, Lucks Lane. John Smith Jr has applied
to site another mobile home in place of a touring caravan to enable his son Joseph Smith
cannabis and was taken into police custody. Detective Inspector Chris Ben-
son said: “This is a substantial amount of cannabis that we got to at just the right time, as the plants were almost ready to be harvested. This find means the cannabis will be destroyed instead of finding its way onto the streets of Kent, and that can only be a good thing.”
Plans to expand Romany site to house family
to live with his partner Karline and daughter Noah, who is five months old. A supporting statement
said: “They are homeless and have a young baby who has a skin condition which needs medical care. They sometimes stay in my tourer caravan, but because they would like more room and to be more comfortable, a mobile caravan
RAMBLERSfrom all over Maidstone met atWatering- bury Station to enjoy the annual Medway Valley Com- munity Rail Partnership SpringWalk.
Led by Bob and Christine Tolson, participants en-
joyed a leisurely guided walk to Teston Country Park along the north of the River Medway before returning along the south bank.
Plenty of fresh air and welcome sunshine en-route ensured thegrouphadahealthy appetitefor the splen- did cream tea available at the Riverside Restaurant upon return.
The eventwas one of a number arranged by the rail
partnership to promoteuse of theMedwayValley Line for leisure purposes and it also served to highlight the RailTrail Walkpacks available, giving full details of walks from each station along the line.
Two other events being held this summer are a music trainandcommentary trainwhenaninvited his-
32 South
torian speakerwill be on board to provide a live com- mentary.
Refreshments will be available and both eventswill be on – hopefully – sunny Sundays.
For a copy of the station walkpack or further infor- mation on future events please contact Ian Paterson
would give them a lot better quality of life. “We are a close Romany gypsy family and would like to stay living together. Joseph has been through a lot in his young life, losing his brother and witness- ing his murder affected him a great deal.” Maidstone Council will determine the planning appli- cation.
Ramblers right on track for annual railway walk
Consent given for mobile home
PLANNING permission was granted to temporarily station amobilehomeonlandwest of Church Hill, Boughton Monchelsea. The application for plot 4, which is surrounded by a total of four gypsy plots, included the retention of breeding pens for chicken and turkeys, bird units, an aviary and feed store. Applicant Mrs Brett was also allowed to site new brooding and rearing sheds. Planning officer Steve Clarke explained that the applicant lived in Sittingbourne and wanted to live on site to aid the running of the business. Cllr Stephen Munford,
the local ward member on Maidstone Council, pointed out that when the neighbouring gypsies were last year given planning permission to remain living on the site at appeal, this came with the condition that theywere forbidden from oper- ating a business from their homes. He said: “Could this be seen
as giving the gypsy and trav- eller
community less
favourable treatment? It would be saying that it is permissible to run a business but the trav- ellers’ conditions do not permit this.”
Members of the committee
felt this concern was not rele- vant because the application re- lated to an agricultural business that had to pass financial tests. The committee agreed to
grant planning permission for three years, after which the business’s viability would again be assessed.
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info@downsmail.co.uk
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