The furore over the last twelve months about illegal Gypsy encampments has had a negative effect on the funfair industry. A number of developments of winter sites for showmen have received knocks when local councils have refused them planning permission, possibly in part due to a knee jerk reaction to the Gypsy 'problem'.
Perhaps the most serious of these is at Gotherington near Cheltenham where 17 travelling showmen have been fighting for the last 4 years for permission to use the land they own for winter parking. They have good support in the local community, have encountered no problems over the last 4 years, yet the council will not entertain the idea of them having use of the land. On 28th of November the council are at the High Court trying to win a decision to have the showmen, both men and women, committed to prison. Hopefully due to the extended families found on the fairground the children should be spared the ordeal of being taken into care, but who knows?
I have heard people in the past claim that everyone including showmen and Gypsies should follow the same rules but, as an example, the site we occupy which was purchased and developed by my father in law took him almost 20 years to obtain planning permission, he had numerous sites in the area and fought and won 2 public enquiries before he finally was able to legally occupy the site. A short time later he applied for permission to build 2 houses on a piece of land he owned, this was granted within about 6 months with no hassle, so there is an apparent inequality and dare I say it racially motivated bias endemic within the planning system.
Perhaps the most serious of these is at Gotherington near Cheltenham where 17 travelling showmen have been fighting for the last 4 years for permission to use the land they own for winter parking. They have good support in the local community, have encountered no problems over the last 4 years, yet the council will not entertain the idea of them having use of the land. On 28th of November the council are at the High Court trying to win a decision to have the showmen, both men and women, committed to prison. Hopefully due to the extended families found on the fairground the children should be spared the ordeal of being taken into care, but who knows?
I have heard people in the past claim that everyone including showmen and Gypsies should follow the same rules but, as an example, the site we occupy which was purchased and developed by my father in law took him almost 20 years to obtain planning permission, he had numerous sites in the area and fought and won 2 public enquiries before he finally was able to legally occupy the site. A short time later he applied for permission to build 2 houses on a piece of land he owned, this was granted within about 6 months with no hassle, so there is an apparent inequality and dare I say it racially motivated bias endemic within the planning system.