Minutes of
the NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN TEAM FOR SILVER LEYS AND MEADS WARDS
Held on 11th DECEMBER 2012 at 7pm
Cllr G Jones (Chairman)* / Mike Allen, Bishop’s Stortford Chamber of CommerceCllr P Demonti* / Gary Duncan, Countryside Properties*
Ralph Gilbert* / Brian Edwards, Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation*
Ian Hudson* / Rob Francis, Chantry Community Association*
Murray White* / Deborah Munro, Parsonage Residents Association
Cllr Colin Woodward / Bob Rivers, Bovis Homes (Bishop’s Stortford North Consortium)
*Present
In attendance: James Parker, Chief Executive, Bishop’s Stortford Town Council
Sue Belo (taking minutes)
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Mike Allen
Deborah Munro
Bob Rivers (David Barnes of BSNC in attendance in his place)
Cllr Colin Woodward
2. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19TH NOVEMBER 2012
The final minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true record, however, it was decided to keep the comments from Bob Rivers of BSNC and Gary Duncan of Countryside on file.
3. MATTERS ARISING
Bob River’s profile was awaited but once received, Sue Belo will circulate a document of all profiles to team members for final editing and approval.
Brian Edwards said that the Civic Federation was disappointed that the Neighbourhood Plan was restricted to Silver Leys and Meads wards and it would like this stated on record. It was noted by Gary Jones that there may be the opportunity to look at the whole town in the future.
Sue Belo had investigated funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government. Grants have to be applied for by the Local Planning Authority as funds are designed to cover their costs of support but it may be possible to negotiate some funding from EHDC for studies etc.
James Parker confirmed that a further £5,000 has been earmarked by BSTC for studies needed for the Neighbourhood Plan. This was in addition to the £5,000 already allocated for administrative support and research for the NP Team.
Brian Edwards stated that the Civic Federation is currently raising funds for a further Traffic Study using consultants familiar with Bishop’s Stortford and asked whether the NP Team might be able to contribute towards the cost of this. Rob Francis reiterated that their consultants were flexible and would be amenable to any proposals on traffic studies from the NP team. It was agreed that it would be premature to make any decisions at this stage. It was noted that the Civic Federation traffic study would cover the whole of Bishop’s Stortford. David Barnes stated that BSNC were already actively engaging with Herts County Council on traffic studies relating to the A120 and that they would be able to share these with the NP Team once the application was submitted in January 2013.
Terms of Reference for the Neighbourhood Planning Task and Finish Group have been agreed by Council and James Parker will circulate these to team members.
It was confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework takes precedence over any previous Local Plan.
Gary Jones informed the team of two recent meetings of EHDC that were relevant to the NP. The first was a meeting on 28th November of the District Planning Executive Panel relating to the new Local Plan where a number of documents had been put forward. These were:
· Updated population and household forecasts. The main difference is that they take into account supply factors, e.g. that Bishop’s Stortford has had a lot of additional housing in the past.
· Employment forecasts for East Herts
· ‘Duty to Cooperate’ which requires East Herts plans to be discussed with neighbouring authorities i.e. Uttlesford
· Chapter Five of a publication about further options on locations for future housing. 27,000 homes in East Herts are required, half of which may be carried forward to 2031. This figure includes 2,500 in Bishop’s Stortford North.
Gary Jones confirmed that EHDC still intend to publish the Local Plan in February/March for consultation April/June.
The second meeting concerned the NP Area Designation for Silver Leys and Meads which received full support from EHDC Executive.
A meeting last week of the Development Control Committee discussed two items of interest:
1) An enforcement action was decided on Foxdells Farm which is a Grade 2 listed building and needs urgent work to protect it. Bovis is one of the joint owners and David Barnes explained that work was already in hand.
2) An application for 160 houses in Buntingford was refused for several reasons, one being that the application was seen as premature. This was because the District Plan was not seen as being at a sufficient stage by which to judge the planning application. One of the other reasons given was the layout and design were not of a high standard and did not reflect local distinctiveness.
Murray White noted that similar reasons were given for the failure of the Dawlish NP as there was an absence of a Local Plan and an inadequate paper trail of how decisions were made.
4. REVIEW OF THE PROCESS
James Parker presented the next stage in the process as a possible way forward whereby the group divided into smaller lead teams which would work on their areas of interest. Gary Duncan said that it was commendable to have a structure in place but that the process has to have a purpose in shaping, in delivering, but to what end? It was important to know what that was.
It was agreed that the next step was to agree a vision for the area and that the Draft Design Brief could be used as a basis for this. It was noted that the Town Plan and 2020 Vision and People’s Vision also contain similar statements on a vision for Bishop’s Stortford. All members are to draft a statement on what they see as the vision for Bishop’s Stortford and send to Sue Belo or James Parker by 7 January. The first meeting in the New Year would focus on this subject, however it would still be important to tackle policies for the various issues at the same time.
James Parker presented the next stage of the process which gave the initial objectives for each lead team. These were for each team to identify the following for their high level issue(s) and make their stage 1 presentation at the scheduled meeting for that issue:
n What are the potential policy areas?*
n Significant interrelationships with other high level issues
n What do we agree on?
n What do we disagree on?
n Where we disagree, what would success look like for each side?
*In discussion this was clarified as also including ‘what are the outcomes we are trying to achieve as a result of the policies that will form the Neighbourhood Development Plan’.
In addition, teams would need to refer to relevant background documents during their discussions.
5. PROPOSED ORDER OF KEY ISSUES
James Parker presented the key issues discussed at the last meeting with the suggestion that these could be prioritised and grouped into similar areas. Gary Jones stated that Bob Rivers had written saying that there were four areas that should be prioritised as there was the opportunity to shape the forthcoming development for which planning applications would be made in the next few months. Otherwise the opportunity would be missed. BSNC and Countryside confirmed that their planning applications would be for up to 2,200 dwellings and 400 dwellings respectively. In response to a specific question asking if housing numbers were the maximum and would not increase at a later date, David Barnes stated that the application was for up to 2,200 dwellings and if more homes were suggested in future a new application would have to be made. However, the studies which had been undertaken indicate that the 2,200 dwellings would be the upper limit but it would depend on how the details came forward.
Members of the lead teams were agreed as follows:
Transport: Philip Demonti, Brian Edwards, Ralph Gilbert
Green spaces / Design: Gary Duncan, Rob Francis, Bob Rivers, Murray White
Affordable Housing: Gary Duncan, Ian Hudson, Bob Rivers
Stage 1 presentations for these areas would be held in the first few meetings of 2013 as follows:
5 February (Stage 1 presentation from the Transport Team)
26 February (Stage 1 presentation from the Green Spaces/Design Team)
19 March (Stage 1 presentation from the Affordable Housing Team)
Thereafter, programme to be discussed; James and Sue to provide a strawman.
6. FREQUENCY AND TIMING OF FUTURE MEETINGS
It was agreed that three-week intervals for management meetings were the best option with lead teams working on their issues outside these meetings. Dates for the first nine meetings in 2013 were agreed as follows and subject presentations assigned to the first four meetings:
15 January (Vision – all team members to submit contributions prior to meeting)
5 February
26 February
19 March
9 April
30 April
21 May
11 June
2 July
7. PREPARATION FOR NEXT MEETING
All members are to send their draft vision to James Parker or Sue Belo by 7 January. Sue Belo will circulate the slide presentation.
8. AOB
EHDC has asked for feedback on major omissions from the Draft Design Brief which has been circulated to BSNC, Countryside, Bishop’s Stortford Town Council and members of the NP Team. Gary Jones suggested that if members wished to comment that they should do so as individuals and copy to other team members. The Neighbourhood Planning Team would consider the document and make their comments as a team in due course.
David Barnes suggested that the team should make a visit to the site later in the Spring when evenings would be lighter.