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 February 2016

Present

Cllr. K Noble             (Chairman)

Cllr. A Doel

Cllr. D Jackson

Cllr. J Jones

Cllr. S Jones

Cllr. G Masters

Cllr. F Morland

Cllr. E Pomeroy

Cllr. S Carey

Cllr. D West

Roger Coleman (Clerk)

Wiltshire Council Cllr. H Prickett attended.

PCSO Andrew MacLachlan of the neighbourhood Policing Team attended (Part-time).

There were seven members of the public present initially.

1181.   Welcome and Introductions.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1182    Apologies.

There were no apologies. All councillors were present.

1183.   Declaration of Interests.

There were no interests declared.

1184.   Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting held on 19 January 2016.

The Clerk reported that following representations from a councillor he had amended Minute 1173d, last paragraph to read:

‘Cllr. J Jones reported that the pavement outside the school was still unrepaired and was in a poor condition. Cllr. Pomeroy commented that he had reported this some two meetings ago and that a Job Number was given to Cllr. Prickett for him to progress the matter. Cllr. Pomeroy repeated his concern regarding the condition of the road at School Lane.’

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

1185.   Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT).

a.         PCSO MacLachlan had sent a written report to the Clerk prior to the meeting and PCSO MacLachlan summarised the main points in the report for the benefit of the meeting. He advised councillors that Sgt. Louis McCoy has now joined the team as Deputy Head.

PCSO MacLachlan stated that the current priorities were ‘Missing and Absent Persons’ and he reported the following local crimes:

• Over the last month there have been two separate incidences of cars being damaged on Frome Road, by making scratches to the paint work. Although these have not been explicitly linked, they were very similar occurrences and have happened a week apart. In both scenarios, a care workers' car has been damaged while parked outside an address that they are attending. We will bear this in mind on patrols, and ask you to phone 101 if you see any suspicious activity.

• On the 28th January 2016 we received a report of suspicious activity in Chantry Gardens; a male in a white van following a group of children. Enquiries were made with a vehicle matching the description given, but no suspect was identified.

There were no other occurrences with the potential for community impact

b.         Cllr. Pomeroy reported that a motor vehicle had been parked and unused for at least six weeks at Wesley Lane and that that it was causing a significant obstruction.

1186.   Wiltshire Council Report.

Cllr. Prickett gave a report on the following topics:

• The defective pavement /paving slabs outside the school (Refer to Minutes 1184/1173d) had been reported to Wiltshire Council and it is in the works programme to address.
• Community First are running a ‘Neighbourhood Plan Workshop’ – sponsored by DCLG on 16 March 2016.
• Public Transport (Bus Services) Survey/Consultation and the need for the public to respond.
• A request has been made for a Speed Indicator Device (SID) to be provided – although the possible cost of the device is proving contentious.
• The Resilience Planning Workshop held at Southwick Village Hall was very successful and the ‘Message in a Bottle’ scheme was also progressing well.

1187.     Highways/Environment.

a.         The Council noted the installation of the Village Gateway scheme, although the ‘gate’ was narrower than had been agreed with Wiltshire Council. The Clerk was asked to make enquiries of Wiltshire Council and the Parish Council resolved to withhold payment of the Parish Council contribution (£1000) until a satisfactory answer had been received or a wider gate had been installed.

b.         Cllr. Doel reported that Poles Hole road was ‘sinking’ and that it needed attention by Wiltshire Council.

1188.   Neighbourhood Plan.

Cllr. Morland gave a report on the Rode neighbourhood Plan and made observations in respect of Policy 11, Map 3 ‘Sites of Ecological Importance’ and Policy 8, Appendix 1 in respect of the ‘Macmillan Way’.

Cllr. Carey proposed that the following comment be sent to Rode Parish Council in respect of the Neighbourhood Plan – ‘Southwick Parish Council is disappointed that little attention was paid to the parking of HGVs at Rode Common Farm and the miscellaneous developments taking place without planning permission e.g. mobile home. The Parish Council resolved that such a comment be sent.

The Clerk confirmed that he had made a formal application to Wiltshire Council for the Civil Parish of Southwick to be designated as a Neighbourhood Area.

1189.   Finance

a.         The current financial position at 31 January 2016 was reported as follows:

The Clerk confirmed that the Parish Council had received a VAT Refund from HMRC of £2051.68 of which £1489.91 had to be repaid to the Southwick and North Bradley Scout Group. The Parish Council resolved to make the payment of £1489.91 to the Scout Group.

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

1190.   Planning

a.         The Clerk reported that the current status of extant planning applications was as follows:

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

The Parish Council objects to this proposed development for the following reasons:

1.  Appeal Decision APP/Y3940/C/12/2178840: The Appeal Inspector ruled ‘Occupation of the site shall be carried on only by Mr Laurence (Lawrence) Cash and Mrs Theresa Cash and their resident dependants’ – The area of occupancy was defined in red and shown in Plan A.

Appeal Decision APP/Y3940/W/15/3006435: The Appeal Inspector ruled that occupation of the site was to be restricted to the ‘immediate family’ of Mr & Mrs Cash. Similar wording to that used in the earlier Appeal was used by this Appeal Inspector.

This application (15/11405/FUL) if approved would permit someone NOT a ‘dependant’ or ‘immediate family’ to occupy the site or will result in the need for them to traverse the site – contrary to the decisions of the two Appeal Inspectors.

2.  The statement by Ruston Planning (at Paras 53 & 54) made in the planning application, on behalf of the applicant, makes reference to Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA 2014). The figures quoted in GTAA 2014 are now obsolete following the ‘new’ definition of Gypsy/Traveller (Reference: DCLG Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, August 2015) and the statement by Rushton Planning now carries no weight.

3.  The criteria stated at Wiltshire Core Strategy, Core Policy 47 (‘Meeting the needs of gypsies and travellers’ that provide guidance re. Gypsy & Travellers are not met. In particular –

Criterion 1:  There is a watercourse through the site.

Criterion 2:  There is NOT a safe and convenient vehicular and pedestrian access to the application site and there is a significant highway danger.

Criterion 4:  There is a lack of amenity space/playground space and circulation space, exacerbated by the additional roads.

Criterion 6:  The development will have an unacceptable impact on the character and appearance of the landscape and the amenity of neighbouring properties. It is not sensibly designed to mitigate any impact on its surroundings.

Criterion 8:  Development of the site is not appropriate to the scale and character of its surroundings and existing nearby settlements.

The Parish Council resolved to request Cllr. Prickett to ‘call-in’ this application.

c.         The Clerk reported that no further planning applications had been received.

d.         The Council noted the correspondence relating to the Hanwha Q CELLS/WSE Bradley Road Solar Farm and the agreed payments.

e.         Cllr. S Jones requested the Clerk to contact Wiltshire Council to request additional time for parishioners to provide comments in respect of planning application 15/11405/FUL. This request was prompted because of the current unavailability of the Wiltshire Council Planning Portal to allow examination of the application and associated documents.

1191.   Wiltshire Council – Public Transport Strategy Review.

The Chairman asked the Clerk to place this item on the Agenda for the next meeting.

1192.   Website.

Cllr. Carey stated that a number of additional links to local organisations had been added to the website.

1193.   HM The Queen 90^th Birthday Celebrations.

The Parish Council resolved that the sum of £300 be donated to Southwick Women’s Institute for a Birthday Celebration Tea Party to be held.

1194    Members Reports.

Cllr. Pomeroy/Cllr. Noble – Parishioners who currently and previously declared an interest on becoming a co-opted member of Southwick Parish Council should be advised that a vacancy exists and to declare whether they are still interested in being consider as a co-opted member.

Cllr. Carey offered his apologies for not being able to attend the March Parish Council meeting.

1195.   Clerk’s Report.

a.         The Clerk stated that he would not be present at the August meeting.

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

• Ordinary Parish Council Meeting – 15 March 2016 at 7.30pm.

There was no other business and the meeting concluded at 10.00pm.

                                                     Chairman                                                                                                

                                                     Southwick Parish Council         15 March 2016        

ACTION LIST – Meeting 16 February 2016

Action 1                       Clerk.

Min1187                      To contact WC (Kirsty Rose) – Gateway Scheme.

Action 2                       Clerk.

Min1188                      To write to Rode PC – Neighbourhood Plan.

Action 3                       Clerk.

Min1189                      To make payments.

Action 4                       Clerk.

Min 1190                     To send planning comments to WC.

Action 5                       Clerk.

Min 1190                     To request Cllr. Prickett to call-in planning application 15/11405/FUL.

Action 6                       Clerk

Min 1194                     To contact possible co-option candidates.

Details of the Actions are contained in the minutes.