Planning Permission Granted for The Pastures
The London Borough of Sutton’s proposals to extend and upgrade their existing Gypsy and Traveller site has just received unanimous planning approval at Committee. The 23 pitch proposals were commended as a “clever design” by the Ward Councillor and as “a step forward in terms of the Council’s obligations to cater for this particular community” by the Chair.
The Pastures is an existing over-crowded Council-owned site of 15 tenanted pitches for gypsies and travellers in Banstead, which has a site allocation in Sutton’s Local Plan for extension and redevelopment to meet the Council’s identified future needs. HTA began engaging with the existing community in late 2021 to understand residents’ wishes for transforming their site to incorporate larger and additional pitches for this growing community. Three co-design workshops were held on-site where residents of all ages commented on options and helped to refine a layout that catered for everyone’s needs.
The phased proposals feature 23 larger pitches arranged around a central courtyard comprising a larger central community hall and landscaped amenity space for children to play safely. Each of the residents’ pitches includes space for their static home, mobile caravan and car parking, along with a zero carbon amenity block. To meet the residents’ aims to improve pedestrian safety, a new loop street provides improved servicing access, dedicated footways, and an improved junction and bus stop on Carshalton Road. Being surrounded by a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), biodiverse planting and new trees are proposed around the site's perimeter.
The planning application was prepared through a collaboration of HTA’s architecture, landscape, planning, sustainability, communication design and principal designer services.
