Jones v Green

The statutory definition of a gypsy requires a nomadic habit of life; residence in a caravan is relevant evidence, but is not a necessary condition. A person may retain gypsy status while maintaining a permanent base. Where planning permission authorises development already carried out and is subject to a condition limiting accommodation to statutory caravans, the inspector must determine whether the existing units satisfy that definition. A collateral permission for associated structures does not cure a possible inconsistency between the grant and the condition.

An inspector granted retrospective planning permission for the stationing of three units of mobile living accommodation and ancillary storage, including touring caravans, at land occupied by a family claiming gypsy status. The permission included a condition limiting the accommodation to units falling within the statutory definition of a caravan.

On a statutory appeal under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Gibbs J quashed the inspector’s decision. He held that the inspector had failed to address whether two units, which had timber extensions or connections, were statutory caravans and whether the formal permission was consistent with the development on the ground. The central issues in the appeal were whether those matters affected gypsy status and whether they were necessary to the validity of the permission and condition.

1. Appeal dismissed. The court upheld the quashing of the inspector’s decision on the ground concerning the framing of the planning permission and condition. The appellant was ordered to pay the respondent’s costs, and permission to appeal was refused.
2. The requirement for gypsy status under the Caravan Sites Act 1968 is a nomadic habit of life. It is wrong to treat residence in a caravan as a legal prerequisite. Residence in a caravan may be a relevant factor, as explained in Clarke v Secretary of State [2001] EWHC Admin 800, but it is not a sine qua non. A gypsy may have a permanent base from which he travels and to which he returns, as recognised in Wrexham County Borough Council v The National Assembly of Wales [2004] JPL 65.
3. The inspector’s finding that the third defendant had not abandoned his nomadic way of life was not undermined by her failure to decide whether units 2 and 3 were statutory caravans. Their status was not materially relevant to the third defendant’s gypsy status, particularly since the inquiry had focused on the unit he occupied.
4. That conclusion did not dispose of the separate question concerning the permission. The inspector granted permission for the development already carried out and imposed a condition allowing no more than three units of mobile living accommodation falling within the statutory definition of a caravan under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, as amended by the Caravan Sites Act 1968. If units 2 and 3 were not statutory caravans, the condition could be repugnant to the grant because the permission would authorise the existing development while the condition described a different category of accommodation.
5. The inspector therefore had to determine the statutory status of units 2 and 3 before granting permission in those terms. The court did not itself decide the factual issue. Nor could the permission for the timber structures under appeal C cure a possible inconsistency in the permissions under appeals A and B. The judge’s reasoning that there was a sustainable argument about the units’ physical configuration was not an impermissible fact-finding exercise.

• Court of Appeal (Civil Division) [2005] EWCA Civ 1727: appeal dismissed. The court upheld Gibbs J’s order quashing the inspector’s decision and ordered the appellant to pay the respondent’s costs.
• High Court, Administrative Court: Gibbs J allowed the statutory appeal under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and quashed the inspector’s decision.
• Secretary of State’s inspector: appeals against refusal of planning permission and enforcement notices were allowed, with planning permission granted subject to conditions.