A Labour MP has called on the Government to address the “chronic under-supply” of Gypsy and Traveller sites across England.
Mary Kelly Foy said planning decisions on these sites “have frequently been underpinned by prejudice”, with just 30 created over the past 30 years.
The MP for City of Durham tabled an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which proposes that Gypsy and Traveller sites are included in spatial development strategies.
Speaking in the Commons, she said: “Today I rise to speak to amendment 134, in my name, that works towards addressing a long-standing and deeply entrenched failure in our planning system, the chronic under-supply of Gypsy and Traveller sites across England.
“And my amendment seeks to increase fairness into the system to enable, rather than hinder, the provision of adequate, culturally appropriate accommodation for Gypsy and Traveller communities.
“For too long, the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers have been overlooked by the planning system.”
She added: “The Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes by 2029, if that ambition is to be truly inclusive, it must include everyone, and that means by making space, literally and politically, for communities who have been moved on, fenced off and forgotten.”
Ms Foy said just 30 sites have been created over the past 30 years, adding: “Decisions on Gypsy and Traveller sites have frequently been underpinned by prejudice, whether overt or institutional.
“Too often, proposed developments are blocked or delayed by local opposition that’s not met with political will or leadership.
“Site delivery also suffers from a lack of inclusion at the strategic planning level, where Gypsy and Traveller site provision can be absent from local plans and excluded from land allocations. And this absence isn’t an accident, it’s a result of years of structural marginalisation that this Bill must now correct.”
Ms Foy said the UK is “seeing a troubling trend” with the number of socially rented pitches declining.
She argued that leaving out Gypsy and Traveller sites from future strategies would be “repeating mistakes of the past”.
