LITTLE WALTHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Transcription

1 LITTLE WALTHAM PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting held on 2 December 2014 at 7:30pm in the Memorial Hall Present: Councillors Peter Brown (Chair Item 14/185 14/189) Tony Campen Mark Goff Jackie Ketley Edith Robertson (Chair from Item 14/190) Malcolm Taylor Austin Weir County Councillor John Aldridge 14/185 To receive any apologies for absence. City Councillor Graham Pooley due to a prior engagement 14/186 Consideration of Minutes of 4 November 2014 It was agreed that the draft minutes were a true and accurate record of the meeting and should be signed by the Chairman. 14/187 Declarations of Interest None declared. 14/188 Public Forum- to receive any representations from the public Mr Bradley and Mrs Raymond raised concerns about Item 14/190.1 regarding the demolition of the garage block and the building of two 2-storey houses. Neighbouring properties would be overlooked. They took issue with the suggestions by the applicant that there was no demand for the garages and that parking and access was not an issue. Cllr Aldridge stated that he believed that Belstead Farm Road had no re-opended. He was also willing to set up a meeting with the developers so that concerns of residents and the Parish Council could be made known. 14/189 Neighbourhood Policing Team No report had been received. 14/190 Planning 14/ /01748/FUL - Garage Block, Brook Hill - The demolition of five garages and the construction of two 2-bed dwellings with associated external works and parking. The Parish Council strongly objects to this application in its present form. The application is for a site situated in the centre of a small bungalow development. The contruction of two storey buildings would be completely out of keeping and would overshadow neighbouring properties with one bungalow overlooked by three windows. The Council is also concerned that some of the supporting evidence does not ring true. The development has no off street parking with refuse freighters and delivery vans frequently have to mount the pavement and verges to gain access. Parking in this area of the village is very congested at all times the busy doctors surgery on Brook Hill is open. The Council simply can t understand how the applicant came to its conclusions on the parking situation. Also to suggest there is no demand for their use of the garages is not true. At least one is occupied and the Council understands that other residents have applied to the landlord to rent garages but have been denied.

2 The Parish Council recognises the need for affordable housing in the village and is itself pursuing a small scheme with CHP as its partner. In its view an application would be acceptable if it were for two bungalow properties with a larger footprint in provide two bedrooms. 14/ /01775/FUL - Replacement Blenheim Cottage, Back Lane - Temporary on-site accommodation in the form of a 6 berth caravan within the building curtilage for use during construction of the replacement dwelling - as approved under permission 11/00244/FUL. Cessation of use for accommodation within 3 months of completion of the main dwelling. The Parish Council takes the view that should the application be permitted, then there should be strict time limits imposed concerning the commencement of the temporary accommodation and the length of time it can be used, in addition to the cessation of use following the completion of the dwelling. Not to impose such conditions would mean the occupancy would be completely open-ended. 14/ /01662/FUL - Little Belsteads, Back Lane - Retrospective application for a driveway and five bar gate. No observations. 14/ /01829/OUT - Pondside Nursery, Braintree Road - Outline application with all matters reserved for the construction of 6 dwellings and garages. Little Waltham Parish Council strongly objects to this application. The application seeks permission to build 6 detached houses on the land currently occupied by Pondside Nursery, and largely disused. The site is in open countryside and is outside the Defined Settlement of Chatham Green, as shown in SADPD 8, adopted in February In the January 2012 Inspector s Report into the Site Allocations DPD, the Inspector specifically mentioned the Chatham Green DSB, saying UABs and DSBs are drawn tightly around the existing edges of settlements where land is not allocated for development, reflecting the CS objectives for managing growth and accommodating most new development in Chelmsford and its northern extensions.... As defined, including for example at Chatham Green, Danbury and Ramsden Heath, the DSBs help to avoid the consolidation of more dispersed patterns of development; they also protect land of predominantly rural character that contributes to the setting of the borough s settlements and local distinctiveness. As a result, the UABs and DSBs assist in achieving the objectives of the CS and national policy. The Adopted SADPD specifically says in section 3.16 Chatham Green is a small rural community close to the A131. It has a recreation ground and pub, but there are no shops. It is very rural in character and appearance. The DSB is drawn tightly around a closely grouped ribbon of residential development in the north and compact commercial activity in the centre with a built-up appearance. It excludes some of the buildings set in large gardens including Bailey's Farm, Bakery Cottage, The Windmill Public House and Chatham Green Yard/ Pondside Nursery. This is to protect the character of the village from too much infill development which would be inappropriate to a village of this size and harmful to the countryside. Granting permission for housing

3 on the application site would therefore clearly be contrary to the City Council s adopted strategy. The site is described in the application as brownfield, but it is agricultural land. The planning consent to use it (01/01903/FUL) specifically said that it could only be used for horticultural purposes, and only in conjunction with the applicant s activities at his adjoining site. Additionally, the applicant only has personal permission to use the land, and in the event that the land ceases to be used for the applicant s horticultural business, it would revert to agricultural status, or nil status, but certainly not brownfield. The applicant s argument that the land is untidy and would look better with houses on is fatuous the land has been deliberately made untidy in recent years, following the applicant s successful appeal to remove the planning condition banning outside storage. The Site Allocations Consultation Feedback Report (October 2010) included, on page 8, a specific rebuttal of the applicant s claim that the application site is a suitable brownfield site for housing. The report said of the Pondside Nursery/Chatham Green Yard site The Borough Council does not accept the site comprises a suitable Brownfield land development opportunity. It has been discounted due to its position which is neither within nor adjacent to the proposed new defined settlement boundary for Chatham Green. The village lacks service provision such as a school and local employment opportunities to make it suitable for new development. More sustainable sites for residential development have been identified in Urban Areas and as part of the North Chelmsford Area Action Plan. It would not accord with local and national planning policies including PPS1 and PPS7. The access to the site, on Chatham Green Lane, was constructed with agricultural consent only, and in the face of considerable opposition from local residents. The lane is very narrow and has no pavements and poor sightlines. We consider that this access is unsuitable for the additional traffic which would be created by new housing. Moreover, the applicant intends to continue running his commercial business from the rest of the site, using the same access, leading to a significant number of both commercial vehicles and private cars using the field gate access (permission for which was agricultural consent on the assumption of minimal use only). We ask that this application be refused. 14/191 Planning Results 14/ /01458/FUL - Central Diamond Drilling Ltd Store Rear of 26 The Street - Demolition of commercial building and replacement with one detached 3 bedroom dwelling with garage. Application Permitted. Noted. 14/192 Essex County Council Correspondence - none received.

4 14/193 Chelmsford City Council Correspondence 14/ from the Tree Officer concerning Tree Works at Winckford Close. The Clerk reported that due to administrative oversight, the recent works had been carried out without the appropriate notifications being made. The Clerk was seeking to regularise the matter with the City Council. Noted. 14/194 General Correspondence 14/194.1 Various e.mails for residents concerning the parking of a white van at the southern junction of The Street and Brook Hill. The Clerk reported that he had received a significant number of complaints from residents about the white van parked outside of the shop at the southern junction of The Street and Brook Hill. It was agreed that whilst there were no parking restrictions in the area, there may be a problem with sight lines at this busy junction and that the Clerk should seek to contact the vehicle owners to ask them to move the van to a safer location and to liaise with the Police and other authorities as necessary. 14/194.2 Letter from the Community Engagement Officer at the Rural Community Council for Essex, seeking the support of the Parish Council for a local project promoting knowledge of healthy rivers and education surrounding river pollution. It was agreed that the project should be supported. 14/194.3 Drakes Lane The Clerk reported that no new correspondence had been received. 14/195 Amenities Working Party Report Cllr Goff informed that Council that further quotes had been received for the repair of the safety surface in the play area. It was agreed that Play Maintain should be engaged to carry out the work at a cost of (excl. VAT) 14/196 Replacement Football Goals The Clerk reported that the repair work had been carried out at a cost of 300. Cllr Goff was seeking to source replacement wheels. Agreed. 14/197 Picnic tables The Clerk reported that he had yet to identify a similar and suitable picnic table to those already sited in the play area. The Clerk and Cllr Goff confirmed that the cost was likely to be between 600 and 900. It was agreed that one table would be purchased this year. 14/198 Affordable Housing Project The Clerk reported that CHP were in liaison with the agents of the site owners and would report further in due course. Noted. 14/199 Dropped Kerbs between Little Waltham Village and Broomfield Hospital. The Clerk reported that he hoped to submit an application to the local highways panel during January /200 River Maintenance and recent flooding Following the recent flooding, the Clerk was making enquiries of the ECC Flooding Officer about scheduled Environment Agency maintenance to the River Chelmer. A report would be made to a future meeting. Noted. 14/201 Finance 14/201.1 Budget and Precept 2015/16 Subject to an amendment to allow for a cost of living salary award, the Council approved the draft Budget as presented by the Clerk. It was noted that whilst proposed expenditure would exceed income, the shortfall could be made from the reserves. In order to reflect increased costs incurred by the Council, it was agreed that the precept required by the Parish Council should be sufficient to reflect a 1.2% increase in Budget. This was in line with the CPI figure for October 2014.

5 14/201.2 Payments for approval of 1, listed below. In addition payments to DW Maintenance for gardening and additonal work in November ( ) and K Wooley for the goalpost repair ( 300) were agreed. 14/201.3 Current account balance at 21 November was /202 Matters to be raised by members for the next agenda. - Domsey Lane - Affordable Housing - River Maintenance 14/203 The meeting closed at 8.40pm. Payee Item VAT Total * DW Maintenence Gardening (October) * T Payne General play area works * MD Landscapes Grass Cutting (October) * RBL Remembrance Wreaths * Ms M. Utley Flower Festival Grant Clerk Salary (Sept) Clerk Mileage (60 x 45p) HMRC PAYE A Fuller Surgery Garden Cllr Brown Web Security (reimbursement) Cllr Brown Web Hosting (reimbursement) Cllr Brown Mileage & parking Good Companions Grant Total Receipts Source Type 3/10/14 Coop Bank Interest /10/14 VP Bequest Interest 25.95