Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment Update

Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council have jointly commissioned an updated assessment of need for Gypsy, Traveller, and Travelling Showpeople pitches and plots within each area. This assessment updates the findings within the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment of 2017, and the updated report is available below:

• Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (August 2022)

The assessment relates to the need for pitches and plots between 2022 to 2038 for those people who meet the planning definition for Travellers as set out in the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (2015). The report also provides an assessment of need for those people who do not meet the planning definition for Travellers but associate themselves as Travellers, and who actively choose to live in a caravan rather than a house. The need for pitches and plots is broken down into five-year periods: 0 to 5 years, 6 to10 years, and 11to 15 years from the 2022 start date of the assessment.

We will refer to the assessment when preparing the new Dorset Council Local Plan and when taking decisions on planning applications for Travellers in Dorset Council area. For further information please contact the Planning Policy Team: