Basildon District Council have failed in their challenge to a grant of planning permission to a gypsy family who they claim have abandoned their nomadic status.
The council sought to quash an inspector’s decision to allow Rachel Cooper and her daughter, Elizabeth Cooper, to house their families in mobile homes and other structures on land to the rear of Fanton Hall Cottages, Harrow Road, North Benfleet, Wichford, Essex.
Finding in favour of the gypsies, Sir Richard Tucker held that the council had failed to establish that the inspector’s decision had been flawed. He stated that the Coopers had stopped travelling and had occupied the site following the failure of the council, and other local authorities, to provide sites for gypsies, and in order to give their children a stable education.
He said: “They have lived there not by choice, but out of necessity. They would prefer to live by the roadside, but find it impossible to do so.”
The council now face a £6,000 bill for the Coopers’ legal costs. They have also been refused permission to appeal, and must ask the Court of Appeal directly if they wish to take the matter further.
Basildon District Council v First Secretary of State Queen’s Bench Division: Administrative Court (Sir Richard Tucker) 14 October 2003.
Linked to: Council challenge grant of planning consent to gypsies
References: EGi Legal News 24/10/03