A group of Romani Gypsy families have won an appeal to turn a former park-and-ride car park into an official Traveller site.

An application to convert the former Wigmore Coach Park, off the M2, has today (June 12) been granted permission by a planning inspector.

The news means the group of 15 adults and 14 children will be able to stay there for the foreseeable future.

The group have been living at the park-and-ride site for nearly two years, after being temporarily moved there by Medway Council in July 2023 on a three-month basis.

But, after they did not leave in October, the local authority issued a possession order for the land and later took them to court in a bid to evict them.

Speaking to KentOnline previously, Tina Herring, who lives at the site, said: “I think that it's down to the council and the government to supply permanent places for each and every one who needs them and to not just keep moving us around because they're not going to solve the problem, are they?

“Instead, they should just automatically get their heads together and say, ‘We need places for these people to let them have a normal life’.

“They've got to stand up and meet our needs instead of keeping pushing us on.”

The dispute was escalated to Canterbury Crown Court after Medway Council claimed it had intended to sell the site but, with no steps having been taken to do this, a judge ruled the local authority had interfered with the Travellers’ human rights by trying to turf them off.

But last May, before the events unfolded in the court, the group had applied for planning permission to turn the park-and-ride, in Maidstone Road near Bredhurst, into an official Traveller site.

It had previously been used by people who commute to London on the Kings Ferry coach services.

The application was refused by Medway Council, but an appeal was lodged against that decision at the beginning of this year.

A hearing took place on May 28, with planning inspector Paul Griffiths ruling in the Travellers’ favour.

He pointed out that there was an estimated shortfall of 56 pitches for Travellers in the Towns, adding: “I heard that the occupiers are happily settled, and having a base, albeit an insecure one, has allowed the children of school age living on the site to attend schools, and school places to be found for those coming up to school age.

“It is well established that in cases such as this, there is no more important single consideration than the best interests of the children involved.

“It is abundantly clear that these best interests are most effectively served by a settled base that allows for attendance at school.

“Moreover, having a base has allowed proper contact with medical services, and registration with local GPs, for the health issues of some of the occupiers to be addressed, and for the children to receive their immunisations.”

Conditions are in place that the site must only be occupied by Gypsies and Travellers and that a limit of 10 touring caravans could be stationed there, and no static caravans.

Councillor Satinder Shokar (Lab) has been a huge supporter of the minority group, advocating for their rights and for them to stay where possible.

At the hearing, he provided witness statements for the families.

Speaking on the judgment, he said: "This is another key victory for these families, offering further hope after years of repeated planning refusals.

“With over 90% of applications refused nationwide, until these figures change, the long-term trend of cultural apartheid against the GRT community will persist."