Suitable ways to accommodate the future housing needs of Kent's gypsy and traveller population are being considered.

Maidstone council is launching a consultation about how and where accommodation should be built for the communities.

It will take place from Tuesday, February 28 until Monday, April 17.

The local authority is in the process of creating a development plan document which will provide people from the travelling community with a strategy and site options around Maidstone.

Cllr Paul Cooper, lead member for planning and infrastructure at the council, said: “We will be consulting on the future needs of the gypsy, traveller and travelling showpeople communities in the borough which will include promoting an integrated approach between existing and future sites and the wider local communities.

"We will be looking at balancing the needs of all communities whilst ensuring that infrastructure is provided and the natural and built environment is protected."

The Shepway cllr (Con) said the exercise was not at this stage about identifying "specific sites or pitches" but instead seeking views on the processes around site identification and assessment.

"We will be looking at the options that may be available to us so that we can meet the identified accommodation needs across the whole borough," he added.

As part of the consultation there is the opportunity for people to submit sites for consideration as potential options for allocation at the next stage.

The consultation will be available on Let’s Talk Maidstone when it begins. You can access it here.

In August, KentOnline took a deep dive into the complicated debate and the issues facing police and councils when clamping down on unauthorised traveller encampments.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which came into force at the end of June, grants law enforcement new powers to tackle illegal pitches.

Full use includes the ability to seize vehicles and arrest people where there is evidence of "significant damage, disruption or distress".

Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott, who supported the legislation, said at the time: "There was a sense of frustration before this was introduced that when there was an illegal encampment taking place, particularly in a local community facility, that the public authorities were not acting quickly enough to clear it away."

He hastened to draw a distinction between unauthorised and legitimate pitches.

"We do have to separate the two because the people on fixed sites are not causing the same problems as those breaking onto other people's land," the police chief added.