A two year reprieve for the Linfoot Family in Chorley

MIKE DOHERTY

News reporter

Above: The Linfoots' case has attracted a good deal of media interest

By MIKE DOHERTY

THE LINFOOTS, a Romany Gypsy/Traveller family living in Lancashire, are celebrating after winning a two year temporary permission to be allowed to stay on their own land after a four year battle against Chorley Borough Council.

“We couldn’t really believe it, even when we heard the decision at the planning meeting,” says Patty Linfoot. “It’s still sinking in. It’s such a weight of my mind. We are safe and we have somewhere to live – for now.”

Despite the Council’s reluctance to allow the Linfoots to develop their site in the green belt zone, the Council had to order a stay of execution on an outstanding eviction order because it was pointed out that their five year development plan did not include an assessment of the number of local Gypsies and Travellers who would need somewhere to live in the future. Councillor Alistair Bradley, Leader of Chorley Council, says that the Council would continue to oppose the Linfoot’s proposal: 

“The authority’s position has been very clear on development in this location because we feel it is wholly inappropriate for the greenbelt, regardless of the applicant’s circumstances,” he said.

“However, a recent planning inspector’s decision not to progress the borough’s local plan because they consider our Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) to be out of date, despite it being valid until 2016, means we have no alternative but to consider approving a temporary permission while a new assessment is undertaken.

“Whatever the outcome of the new GTAA, we strongly oppose a development of this kind in the greenbelt and if a need for a Gypsy and Traveller site is identified, residents can rest assured that we will continue to oppose a permanent permission for this specific site.”

Michael Hargreaves, a planner with expertise in Traveller planning issues who is working with the Linfoots, explains that at the planning meeting, there were objections from a “hardcore” of local settled residents “based around, but not exclusive to, the neighbouring executive estate of Olde Stoneheath Court”, but the Linfoots also had “significant local support”, including local Showmen, small business owners and local settled people.

The Linfoot’s site is next to the M61 on the outskirts of the village of Heath Charnock, near the town of Chorley. The Linfoots have been planting willow trees around the perimeter to lessen the impact on their neighbors and to deaden the sound of the nearby motorway. Patty Linfoot, and Patty’s parents who live with them, are Lancashire born and bred. Patty’s dad, an English Traveller, used to work as a hawker and Patty’s mum, a Romany Gypsy, still tells fortunes at country fairs and funfairs. Mike is a successful self employed builder.

The Linfoots have “massive” support amongst the local settled people, says Mike Linfoot, originally from Yorkshire. The Linfoot’s three boys are popular at the local school and have many friends who come to play in the Linfoot’s yard. Patty Linfoot has been elected to be a Parent Governor at the local school and Mike Linfoot is a trustee of a nearby boxing club.

Mike Linfoot explains that four years ago, the Linfoots moved onto their land at Hut Lane and “immediately” applied for planning permission. He points out that many developers use the statutory right to appeal Local Planning Authority decisions, but with Travellers it is seen as ‘playing the system’.

Patty Linfoot says that they moved to the Chorley area because they wanted some stability and an education for their kids whilst continuing to live in caravans as an extended family with their horses, the way many Travellers have lived for generations. “I started to make friends amongst the local settled people after two women stuck up for me when I was called a ‘gippo’ by someone after a misunderstanding about one of my sons,” she says.

Mr Bird, Patty’s dad, says that it’s important for the next generation of Travellers to learn about computers and reading and writing. “I was a hawker, Travelling in this area and selling carpets from door to door for 40 years. Times have changed and the old stopping places are now closed off or built on,” he says. Mr Bird explains that it’s no longer possible to make a living as a hawker and that “Travellers will adapt to new ways”, just like they always have done in the past.

The Linfoots even have support from some of their nearest neighbors on Hut Lane. In a letter to the Chorley Guardian, a neighbor addresses the local residents opposed to the Linfoots: “I would appeal to the families who live close by to think long and hard about this issue,” he says:

“I’ve known most of the objectors for many years and see them as good family people. I would ask that they take a fresh look at the whole big picture of the travellers living amongst us and consider whether they really do want to be responsible for making them move on yet again.” In the same letters page, another neighbor puts forward the concerns of residents opposed to the Linfoots. He says:

“The greenbelt is protected for a reason, it is not there for ANY of us to develop in contravention of the planning laws, nor should anyone attempt to manipulate that system to their own ends.”

Yet, in a case of what seems like double standards at Chorley Borough Council, Travellers' Times has discovered that planning permission for Olde Stone Heath Court, where many of the objectors live, was passed without any similar concerns about green belt development being recorded in the council’s publically available planning documents. The estate was built on the site of a former hospital in the green belt zone between Heath Charnock and Chorley in 1996. Travellers' Times contacted Chorley Council who pointed out that the former Health Charnock Hospital was actually a brownfield site, but conceded that it was situated within the greenbelt.

Michael Hargreaves says: “The green belt is a technical planning term for particular areas between already existing development and for various reasons development often occurs within it.”

“Chorley Council should reconsider the merits of the Linfoot’s proposed development on this particular site and the fact that it is already next to a site that has been developed in the greenbelt zone. They must also acknowledge and represent the local support that the Linfoots have.”