The Draft London Plan published yesterday by the GLA has been cautiously welcomed by London Gypsies and Travellers (LGT). Yet for families who have been waiting for years in overcrowded, insecure or temporary accommodation, the real test will be whether this will be the time when time plans translate into action and targets into homes.
“We are cautiously encouraged by the new explicit inclusion of accommodation and facilities for nomadic ways of life in the new draft London Plan” Nancy Hawker, LGT’s Policy and Research Officer said. “It’s not perfect, but after decades of missed targets and broken promises, if the minimum targets are met and other guidance is followed across London Boroughs, it would still be a huge step towards a truly inclusive and diverse city.”
Highlights of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation provisions in the Draft Plan include expectations for Plan-making authorities (LPAs) i.e. Borough Councils to:
- Adopt stated targets for Gypsy and Traveller pitches in each Borough, totalling 867 across London as a minimum.
- Allocate a Gypsy and Traveller transit site and/or make provision for negotiated stopping.
- Identify pitches in need of refurbishment and/or provision of enhanced infrastructure
Additionally there is a welcome, if understated, recognition that “past delivery has been slow”, there is “uncertainty” in Census data and that there is a “pattern of historical under-delivery that urgently needs addressing.”
The framing of targets as minimum numbers Boroughs are expected to deliver, rather than as an assessment of need is welcomed by LGT, who has previously expressed concerns that the GLA’s 2025 Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTANA) undercounted need and didn’t accurately reflect the reality facing Gypsy and Traveller communities. LGT assesses the actual need for culturally suitable accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers across London is closer to 2,000 pitches.
Less encouragingly, the targets in some boroughs are disconcertingly low, particularly in Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark and Sutton. A requirement included in the previous plan – that new pitches should be available before families are displaced by development – is no longer included. This is important as there can be long delays in securing approval and building new sites. Residents in Lewisham, for example, waited 17 years for a promised replacement site to be confirmed after their site was closed in 2009 to make way for a bus depot.
The real test for any plan is its delivery and, in this case, whether it provides the homes families have been waiting on for decades whilst stuck in overcrowded, unsuitable, insecure and temporary accommodation.
Gypsy and Traveller communities recount with a mixture of resignation and scepticism having stood at this turning point – a new London Plan – multiple times since 2004 waiting for new caravan pitches that never come, regardless of the identified need and their participation in consultations.
“Who’s counting? We are. Our communities will keep watching and calling for the sites to be built that families have needed for so long. We hope it leads to action and urgency from Councils in getting sites built.” said Philomena Mongan, LGT Community Engagement Worker. “We will start with pushing for one new site in every borough, negotiated stopping across London and refurbishments of the council sites that are in bad disrepair.”
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