Bramley Parish Council Minutes, 18th February 2013

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Minutes of Bramley Parish Council

held in the Village Hall on 18^th February 2013, at 7.30pm.

Parish Councillors present were:

Richard Wood, Claire Penfold, Alison Jayawardena, Malcolm Bell, Janet Grieve, Chris Wright Chris Holland joined late.

Also present were:

The Clerk, Borough Cllr. Jayawardena, 6 members of the public

ITEM          COMMENT                                                                                                                                                                   ACTION

1.0             Apologies                                                                                                                                                                 

                   Cllr. Tony Durrant, County Cllr. Keith Chapman, Borough Cllr. Tomblin, PCSOs

2.0             Minutes of the last meeting                                                                                                                                

                   Proposed Cllr. Penfold, seconded Cllr. Bell

3.0             Income and Expenditure

                   Budget update circulated. No comments.

                   Accounts for Payment

Approved, proposed Cllr. Jayawardena, seconded Cllr. Wright                                                                       

Cheques for approval January 2013                                                                                     

Litter warden pay                                                                                                                      £279.10

Ink Claim Cllr. Penfold                                                                                                               £13.90

Ink Claim Cllr. Durrant                                                                                                               £97.54

Ink Claim Cllr. Bell                                                                                                                      £26.97

Clerk pay and reimbursements/ink/office allowance/stamps/phone etc                       £916.91

Clerk reinbursement for 'Evohosting Ltd' - annual fee for website hosting                   £77.99

4.0             Planning and Development Committee report             

                   The minutes having been circulated, the Cttee welcomed Janet Grieve onto the Planning Cttee.

                   Cllr. Bell reported that the Local Plan allocations were due to be discussed at BDBC at the revised Cabinet meeting date of 28^th February and Bramley Cllrs would attend on the evening.

                   He also explained that the Ctte were clarifying some paragraphs in the proposals from the P&I committee relating to Neighbourhood Plan approaches to some additional numbers.

                   The current proposal is that Bramley village will be given an allocation of 200 new homes to be developed through Neighbourhood Planning, rather than being given a specific site(s) to develop over the local plan period. 

                   He noted that Strawberry Fields and Minchens Lane are shown as Category 1 sites and Bramley PC has requested that the village be given a respite from development to give the village time to develop a neighbourhood plan and to address infrastructure concerns, rather than be allocated a specific site. While this appears to have been taken on board, he explained that the Cttee was still concerned about premature planning applications from developers for these sites given their category listing, but it was felt that applications would be treated with sympathy regards to Neighbourhood Planning timescales.

                   He explained that while Bramley’s P&D Ctee had asked for the Cufaude Lane sites to be taken out, they are currently still in the report to Cabinet, and they equate to 820 new homes altogether. The P&D Cttee has objected to the sites being given BAS designations, but were told that this label remains as the sites are seen as extensions to Basingstoke, rather than meeting a housing need for Bramley.

                   His final statement was to reiterate that the Parish Council, and in particular the Planning Committee, have done all they can regarding the Cufaude Lane sites and have made several representations at the many meetings at the Civic Offices to defend the sites from being taken forward into the final proposals for the Local Plan.

                   Neighbourhood Development Plan                                                                                                                      

                   Cllr. Bell explained that leaflets were being delivered to every household in Bramley promoting the open session on 8^th March and that some people had already given their views as he was delivering to them. He explained that Bethan Bramley from BDBC was supporting the Cttee by providing maps and other information for the event.

5.0             Community Wellbeing Committee Report

                   Cllr. Wood explained that Cllr. Holland was standing down as Chairman for the Cttee due to pressures of his paid employment. He thanked Cllr. Holland for his efforts on behalf of the community and was pleased that Cllr. Holland will be able to continue working with the committee. He explained that Chris Wright will be taking over as Cttee Chairman.

                   Cllr. Holland updated the parish council regarding Transport improvements. He expressed the view that the improvements which are almost complete have enhanced the village.

                   He also explained that there had been a meeting whereby some proposals for managing the parking concerns of residents would be consulted on, and if the public agrees they can be taken forward. This will include some single yellow lines and other restrictions to prevent residential roads being clogged up.

                   He explained that the end of the cinder track will be resurfaced shortly, and that the closure notice is in effect to enable this work to be carried out. It was acknowledged that this was delayed more than the Parish Council would like and further enquiries would be made about when the work was likely to be carried out.

                   He reported that the Royal British Legion were considering their plans for developing the site but as yet no proposals are ready to be presented.

                   Cllr. Wood asked Cllr’ Holland to represent the current concerns about the number of pot holes still within the village, noting that some near pinch points for example were not easily avoided.

6.0             Borough Councillor Report

                   Cllr. Jayawardena explained that in line with Bramley’s response to the planning application for Razor’s Farm, HCC Highways are not happy with the current structure and are not happy for it to proceed. It is likely that the developers will amend their scheme for further consideration by the Planning Authority. He also explained that the proposed development site would draw on Chineham for its services and that there would be funding to extend schools. He explained that GPs are independent and managed as businesses, who receive more money depending on the number of people they look after.

                   He responded to Cllr. Bell’s comments regarding Category 1 sites and explained that these listings were part of the SHLAA process, which is not historical and has progressed into the Local Plan stages, and that the previous category listings did not mean that sites would or would not be developed at this stage. He reiterated the current stage being that Officer’s recommendations are being considered by Cabinet who will then make a decision.

                   Cllr. Jayawardena pointed out that new BT cabinets were being installed in Bramley which would enable superfast broadband for residents, with an expected date of ‘end 2013’.

                   He also reported that the Council Tax freeze had been approved by the Administration and that they had planned a 2 year freeze, meaning the charge would not have changed for 5 years. He reports that there had been £7m savings over this 5 year period, while maintaining services such as weekly bin collections and the introduction of glass recycling boxes.

                   He finally reported that the Manydown Executive were still promoting the site for development and they are appointing a project manager to assist in taking the site forward, in particular to address the infrastructure requirements for the area which cannot simply bolt onto existing services because it is a greenfield site with no current services such as sewerage/drainage etc.

Public Comments

                   Ray Morton commented on the apathy in Bramley regarding development, saying that only around 10 members of the public attended the meetings in Bramley about Cufaude Lane sites, whereas around 150 people attended in Chineham. Borough Cllr. Jayawardena suggested this was very telling about who felt affected by the development, and that while Officers must ensure Bramley is represented, many residents acknowledge that these developments will have more impact on Chineham as they will draw on its services.

                   Catrina Stockwell said that Chineham had displayed posters in Tescos which got them good attention for the meeting. It was explained that Bramley PC also promoted the Croudace meetings with the same posters, advertised on the village notice boards and online. It was also noted that the P&D Cttee were going to great efforts to promote the neighbourhood planning open session, and Paul Stockwell offered the advice that it generally takes a minimum of 3 ‘hits’ with information to the public to get people’s attention.

                   Catrina Stockwell on a separate subject asked whether there was any update on proposals made some time ago to erect ‘please turn off your engine’ signs at the level crossing. Cllr. Wood said this would be looked into.    

7.0             Parish Plan Group

                   Cllr. Penfold explained that they were planning a presentation at the Annual Parish Meeting in April, to report on the survey findings.

                   Clift Meadow Trust

                   Cllr Holland explained that he attended a meeting of the Trust and that the repairs to the Pavilions are hoped to be completed so that the pavilions can be back in use some time in April.

                   Youth Club

                   Cllr. Holland reported that he was in communication with Stephen Bate and Megan about the youth club and is hoping to review the contract between the Clift Meadow Trust and the youth workers to try to get the club re-established. He also explained that he was organising a youth club AGM.

                   Bramley Village Fun Day

                   It was noted that this would not be proceeding during 2013 but there would likely be a smaller event in the summer managed by the Church, followed by a village fun day in 2014.

8.0             Items for next meeting

                   Cllr. Wood explained that County Cllr. Chapman would like to attend to discuss events and exhibitions focussing on 100 years anniversary of WWI.

                   A report on the youth club AGM would also be available at this time and it was suggested that some youth club members might like to come along to address the parish council.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.10pm.

Chairman ................................................................................................Date.................................