Connors v Forest of Dean DC, Bristol County Court, Recorder Blunt QC
Ms Connors is an Irish Traveller with 5 children, 2 of whom are disabled owing to a lung condition and hearing impairments. She had travelled all her life except for a short period in which she lived in a house. In June 2014 she had to leave a Traveller site in Stroud and relocated to the Forest of Dean District Council (‘FoD’) area.
R (Mulvenna and Smith) – v – Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Equality and Human Rights Commission [2015] EWHC 3494 (Admin), 4th December 2015
This case followed on from the case of R (Moore and Coates) – v – SSCLG (see the CLP website at:- (https://www.communitylawpartnership.co.uk/traveller-planning).
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have produced the report ‘Is Britain Fairer? The state of equality and human rights 2015’.
Whitcher – v – Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In this case Mr Whitcher, a Romani Gypsy, sought planning permission for himself and his family on his land in the area of the New Forest National Park.
In the Housing and Planning Bill which is currently going through Parliament, the Government propose to abolish Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessments. For a blog on this matter by Chris Johnson of CLP, Marc Willers QC of Garden Court Chambers and the independent planning consultant, Dr Simon Ruston, see: http://travellerstimes.org.uk/Blogs–Features/ASSESSING-THE-NEED-FOR-GYPSY-AND-TRAVELLER-SITES-.aspx