SOUTHWICK PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman – Cllr. K Noble

Minutes of the meeting of Southwick Parish Council held in the Village Hall, Southwick at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 16 June 2015

Present

Cllr. K Noble             (Chairman)

Cllr. S Carey

Cllr. A Doel

Cllr. Z Grant

Cllr. J Jones

Cllr. S Jones

Cllr. F Morland

Cllr. E Pomeroy

Cllr. D West

Roger Coleman (Clerk)

Wiltshire Council Cllr. Horace Prickett attended.

There were nine members of the public present initially.

1071.   Welcome and Introductions.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1072.   Apologies.

Apologies for non-attendance were received from Cllr. G Masters and from PC Hough, Neighbourhood Policing Team.

1073.   Declaration of Interests.

Cllr. Pomeroy declared a personal interest in planning application 15/04637/FUL and did not vote on the matter.

1074.   Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on 19 May 2015.

Minute 1041. Delete ‘Cllr. Noble’. Insert ‘Cllr. Carey’.

The Parish Council then resolved that the minutes of this meeting were a true and accurate record.  The Chairman signed the minutes.

1075.   Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting held on 19 May 2015.

Attendance List: delete second entry of Cllr. K Noble.

Amend second mention of Minute 1064 to read ‘1064A’.

(New) Minute 1064A:  Delete ‘also resolved’. Insert ‘suggested’. Delete ‘will’. Insert ‘could’.

The Parish Council then resolved that the minutes of this meeting were a true and accurate record.  The Chairman signed the minutes.

1076.   Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT).

a.         PC Mark Hough of the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) had sent the Clerk a written report prior to the meeting (shown in italics). The Clerk read out this report to the Council thus:

There were 74 rural occurrences in the last calendar month of which 10 were in the village. 4 of these were crimes.

Anti-Social Behaviour – 1.

8/6 Teeside – Report of eggs having been smashed on a bungalow window. Isolated incident with no suspects.

Burglary – 0.

Drugs – 2.

6/6 Southwick Country Park – x2 youths given street warnings for possession of cannabis.

Thefts – 3.

27/5 Wesley Lane - Suspect unknown has used hacksaw to remove and steal the top of a Blue Council Refuse Bin Left in the Street. Bizarre.

6/6 Wynsome St - Unknown suspects have stolen the IP's Moulton bicycle which was leant against railings next to the pedestrian crossing at the location. The sector is still suffering from an increase in cycle thefts.

4/6 Southwick CP - Unknown suspects have gained entry to IPs vehicle and stolen property from within, They smashed the front passenger window and have stolen a work bag and handbag.

Violence – 1.

29/5 Hollis way – Fight between 2 local youths who were from the same peer group. Unsurprisingly when the dust setting no complaints were made.

Domestic matters – 2.

No offences

Criminal Damage – 1.

26/5 Southwick Country Park - Suspects have used unknown instruments to cut down trees, uproot them and cut bark from others.  Suspects have also spray painted names and  mobile telephone numbers on trees and swear words onto a bread oven.  A fire has also been started using a wooden bench and branches. There have been other reports of this nature in the past week. I have a few suspects. The councils are looking at having the matter locally resolved with any located offenders being made to do reparation work in the park.

Traffic - 0.

Other matters:

I have now spoken to two vehicle owners in relation to parking on the pavement on Wynsome Street. You should hopefully now have no further problems. If you do please send the registrations to me.

No current series or priorities

Police Constable Mark Hough
Community Beat Manager Trowbridge Rural (ET16) – Trowbridge & Bradford-on-Avon Sector

Tel - 101 ext 725528,   E-mail: Mark.Hough@wiltshire.pnn.police.uk

End of Report.

b.         There were no matters reported by councilors..

1077.   Finance

a.   The current financial position was reported as follows:

The Clerk reported that he had received cheques totalling £192 from R Johnson for advertisements in the Southwick Village News for the period May 2015 to April 2016. As the publication of the next and subsequent issues was uncertain he handed the cheques to the Chairman for safe keeping.

b.         The Council resolved to make the payments shown under ‘Accounts due for payment’ above.

1078.   Planning

a.   The Council noted the current status of the following planning applications:

b.         The Council examined the following planning applications and resolved to send comments to Wiltshire Council as shown (in italics):

The Parish Council supports this planning application.

The Parish Council objects to this application on the grounds that it is over development.

Councillors noted the various letters from parishioners relating to the proposed Solar Farm developments and the comments made by parishioners and applicants made at the Open Forum.

Cllr. Morland commented that North Bradley Parish Council had objected to this proposed development and that Southwick Parish Council should take note of that decision. He stated that Wiltshire Council had not complied with the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations when registering this planning application and this fact and the recent Appeal Hearing (Gifford Hall – Daniel Gerber case) that Wiltshire Council lost on Appeal may lead to further legal challenges. He added that two recent Appeal cases involving Solar Farms – one at Little Chalford; the other at Snarlton Farm – had resulted in different Appeal decisions (the former was dismissed; the latter allowed) – and this indicated that views regarding the interpretation of the Wiltshire Core policies in respect of Solar Farms were very subjective. He recommended that the Council objected to this planning application.

Cllr. Carey spoke in favour of the proposed Solar Farm commenting that the objections voiced by North Bradley Parish Council could not in a number of cases be substantiated and he countered these objections. He invited councillors to support the planning application.

There ensued a lengthy discussion on the merits or otherwise of the planning application and possible financial contributions from the applicant to the Parish Council.

There was a proposal from the Chairman to support the planning application.

The Council resolved to support the planning application by a majority (For: 6, Against: 2, Abstentions: 1). Cllr. Morland voted against the proposal.

The Parish Council supports this planning application.

Similar discussions to those in respect of planning application 15/04570/FUL took place concerning this planning application following which there was a proposal from the Chairman to support the planning application.

The Council resolved to support the planning application by a majority (For: 8, Against: 1). Cllr. Morland voted against the proposal.

The Parish Council supports this planning application.

c.         The Clerk reported that there were no planning applications received after 8 June 2015:

d.         The Clerk drew the attention of Council to the pending Appeal Hearing in respect of planning application 14/07284/FUL (The Poplars Residential Park) that was to be heard on 29 July 2015.

The Council resolved that the Clerk writes to the Appeal Inspectorate as follows (in italics):

Southwick Parish Council strongly objects to the proposed development.

The reason that the original Appeals were allowed (Appeal A: APP/Y3940/C/12/2178840 and Appeal C: APP/Y3940/A/12/2178838) was down to specific family needs and permission was granted for their specific personal use and for no other persons. These very specific conditions were stated by the Appeal Inspector and if this new Appeal were granted it would overturn the original Appeal decision and betray the integrity of the planning system.

Clerk’s Note.

The Appeal decisions state at Appeal A, Para 72(1) and Appeal C, Para 74(1):

‘The occupation of the site hereby permitted shall be carried on only by the Mr Laurence (Lawrence) Cash and Mrs Theresa Cash and their resident dependants. Should the land cease to be occupied by these persons the use hereby permitted shall cease and all caravans, structures, materials and equipment brought on to or erected on the land, or works undertaken to it in connection with the use, shall be removed and the land shall be restored to its condition before the development took place’.

Cllr. Morland stated that it was now too late for comments to be sent to the Appeal Inspector in respect of APP/&3940/W/15/3018497 (Whittakers Farm, Hoopers Pool).

1079.   Members Reports/Wiltshire Council Report.

Wiltshire Council Cllr. Prickett reported the following:

• Consultations on the Hopper Bus Service are continuing but it is looking promising.
• The Bus Service 234 will cease on 2 August  but the Faresaver Bus Service is revising its timetable and there will be a Saturday service.
• The southern leg of the T1 Hopper Service is to be removed.
• The Rail Replacement Bus Service for August following the temporary closure of the Westbury Bath Spa railway line has now been published.

Cllr. Pomeroy reported that the Royal Mail collection times had changed recently. He also reported that the grass cutting in the village was erratic with some areas being left uncut. Cllr. Prickett stated that this problem was now being addressed by Wiltshire Council and Cllr. Noble added that this issue had also been discussed with Mark Banks, Wiltshire Council.

Cllr J Jones stated that the Southwick Country Park Noticeboard had been destroyed by vandals and that a replacement will cost £1100. She added that the Area Board had given £900 towards a new one and that she will be writing to the Parish Council for a ‘top up’ donation.

The Chairman reported that there may be a need to re-visit the proposal for waiting restrictions at the laybys in Wynsome Street because she had learned that they may be owned by the residents, although this was disputed by some councillors who argued that they were now part of the highway. Cllr. Noble commented that one of the laybys had been designed to house dustbins.

1080.   Clerk’s Report.

a.         The Clerk brought the following matter to the notice of the Council:

• Wiltshire Council had given permission for the Parish Council to co-opt a new member.

b.         The Council noted the date of the next meeting:

• Ordinary Parish Council Meeting – 21 July 2015 at 7.30pm.

There was no other business and the meeting concluded at 9.55pm.

Chairman                                                                                                 

Southwick Parish Council                                                                                          

ACTION LIST – Meeting 16 June 2015

Action 1 (16/6/15)       Clerk.

Min1076                      To make payments.

Action 2 (16/6/15)       Clerk.

Min 1077                     To send comments re. planning applications to WC.

Action 3 (16/6/15)       Clerk.

Min 1077                     To send comments re. pending Appeal to Appeal Inspectorate.

Details of the Actions are contained in the minutes.