Planners have granted temporary permission to station caravans. 

On Thursday, Rother District Council’s planning committee approved an application seeking retrospective permission to station a pair of caravans on land in Netherfield Road near Battle for the next three years.

While acknowledging the scheme would “harm” the High Weald National Landscape, officers had recommended approval both because of the personal circumstances of the applicants and the district’s lack of alternative Gypsy and Traveller sites.

A very similar recommendation had seen the proposals gain temporary permission in June last year, although this consent was quashed in February as a result of a judicial review application from the campaign group RAUDIN (Residents Against Unauthorised Development in Netherfield). 

Bernard Brown, a representative of RAUDIN, spoke against the latest application and argued the full weight of its harms had not been properly considered by the council.

He said: “At your site visit (...) you saw many signs of inappropriate development, but what you did not see was the poor state of the site just a few weeks ago… the poor condition of the site is not hearsay, it is witnessed through pictures included in my written objection.

“The applicants have been on the site unlawfully for four years. Another three years would mean their temporary use would be for at least seven years. There is nothing to suggest they would leave at the end of that period; their actions suggest the exact opposite.

“They should not benefit from their unlawful actions just because there is a shortage of traveller sites.”

Susan Smith, the applicant, said she and the other residents of the site have nowhere else to go.

“We are not there to upset neighbours or upset the people of Battle," she added.

“We are just there to have a place to live at the moment. Whatever the council says we do; we don’t go against the council. I think the council has a hard job because there are no properties for traveller sites.

“I am very, very upset about what has been said here today, because my place is clean. The council has been there many times and it has always been clean.”

Much of the committee’s discussion revolved around Ms Smith and her fellow residents’ personal circumstances. The committee heard how Ms Smith and another woman lived on the site , along with a total of five dependents; Ms Smith with her two adult sons — who she said had learning difficulties — and the other woman with her three younger children. 

In a report to the committee, officers had said “the best interests of children should be a primary consideration in any decision on the application.”

The committee also heard how the residents meet the definition of a gypsy or traveller, which officers said had meant the lack of alternative sites was another significant factor in their recommendation. 

Ultimately, the committee as a whole opted to support the officers’ recommendation.

The approval comes with conditions including a time limit requiring the caravans to be removed from the site on or before May 30, 2027. The conditions also include a restriction on who can live on the site.

For further information see application reference RR/2022/2791/P on the Rother District Council website.