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Calderdale does not have an official site and councillors heard Local Plan inspector, Katie Child, has asked the council to commit to submitting a development plan document on gypsy and traveller sites within one year of the plan being adopted.

This will be for permanent and transit sites and will also set out specific site allocations, Place Scrutiny Board councillors heard.

An assessment of need will include interviews with community members.

Joe Cannon, from Manchester, pictured at Appleby horse fair in 2021 with his horses and wagon. The fair at Appleby-in-Westmorland is an annual gathering for Gypsy, Romany and travelling communities. Hundreds of travellers attend the event who traditionally come to buy and sell horses and it offers an opportunity for the traveller community to come together to celebrate their heritage and culture. Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Planning lead Richard Seaman said in planning terms there are similarities with the process for selecting sites for the settled population. The assessment will form the baseline against which informed decisions would be taken thereafter.

Board Chair Coun Regan Dickenson (Con, Rastrick) asked why the council had not been looking for traveller sites as the draft Local Plan – awaiting the inspector’s decision – was being developed, and where they might actually be.

“We can expect there would be strong local objections to this,” he said.

Mr Seaman said need, and whether transitory or permanent, had to be identified before sites were identified.

Calderdale Council Public Health Director Deborah Harkins has spoken about inequalities and discrimination travelling communities often faced.

The council would look at land it owned itself or there might be a “call for sites” approach if anyone had land they wished to sell and which could be used, issues ranging from air quality to schools being a factor.

“There are a lot of levels of screening you would need to go through to identify a suitable piece of land,” said Mr Seaman.

Sites where stopping was tolerated would also be explored, said Public Health Director Deborah Harkins, who had spoken about inequalities and discrimination travelling communities often faced.

Coun Dickenson said it was a more complex picture than expected.

Coun Dave Young (Lab, Calder) said it would be truthful to say where sites were concerned that all councillors would be thinking “not in my ward” because all knew objections would be “overpowering”.

Councillors had heard the council should engage with them to assess what the traveller community’s needs were while also ensuring effective enforcement on illegal encampments.

Local Plan: Space for a site for travellers must be identified in Calderdale, planning inspector tells council