TIBBERTON & CHERRINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held at the Village Hall, Tibberton, at 18:00pm on Wednesday 26th July 2017.
Present: Cllr J Berry (Chairman)
Councillors: R Belcher, S Burrell, N Eyles, M Fawcett and
K Rowson
Clerk: J Major
17/17 Apologies and Declarations of Interest
Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr Hilton.
Cllr Hames was absent.
17/18 Planning - New application for consideration
TWC/2017/0499: Outline application for the erection of 3 dwellings on site of 64 Plantation Road, Tibberton.
Councillors raised a number of concerns about this application:
· The cumulative effect of planning applications approved over the last three or four years will have on the general infrastructure of the village.
· On the principle of development, the application does not constitute infill. The land to the east of the site is agricultural land.
· The current application is a few metres away from the site of planning application TWC/2016/0016, at 62 Plantation Road which was refused by TWC.
· With regard to access, Plantation Road is one of the “greenest” and most rural part of Tibberton and none more so than at its western end where the application site is located. It is also, probably, the narrowest road in the village. Concern was expressed at the increased traffic levels that the planning applications already approved in the immediate vicinity will bring to this lane.
· It is part of a well-trodden route used daily by resident dog walkers. There are no footpaths, nor is it possible (or desirable) to have any introduced. The narrow road is flanked by soft verges and there is no suitable place where passing places/laybys for traffic might be incorporated. It is feared these verges will be decimated by the increased traffic this and other developments would bring and may prompt calls for the lane to be made “one way”. This would be totally at odds with the culture of village life as it currently exists.
· Plantation Road is totally unsuitable for construction traffic. It is not possible for large trucks, or indeed anything bigger than a “white van”, to approach the site without causing serious damage to the soft verges in this narrow lane.
· The existing property on the proposed site does not have access to a main sewer and the proposed development would need to clearly demonstrate how foul sewerage will be dealt with.
· The water level in this part of the village is very high. Local farmers advise the land (as evidenced on the application’s aerial photograph) is simply too wet to be ploughed. This leads to concerns as to whether adequate soak away arrangements are able to be made.
· From an ecological standpoint, there are a number of trees in and around the site that are subject to TPOs. Concern was expressed that the proposed development of this site could not be done in a way that would not damage the trees/their shallow root structure.
· The site is sandwiched between two areas for which planning applications have been submitted: TWC/2016/0446 and TWC/2017/0355. Both generated ecology reports which make plain the existence of badger sets (adjoining this application site to the north) and great crested newts (adjoining this application site to the south). It is not conceivable that both the newts and the badgers are not also prevalent in and around the area of land covered by this application.
Cllr Eyles proposed the Clerk produce a report, based on these points raised at the meeting, to be circulated for agreement by Councillors before being submitted to TWC in objection to this application. This was seconded by Cllr Belcher and agreed.
.
17/19 Date of next meeting: Wednesday, 26 July 2017 at 6pm in the Village Hall.
The meeting closed at 18:50.
John Major Parish Clerk
17/13