Myland Community Council
Planning & Development Policy Committee
Minutes of the Myland Community Council Planning & Development Policy Committee Meeting held on Wednesday 17th June 2015, 7.15 pm @ Mile End Methodist Church, Mile End Road, Colchester, CO4 5ET
Present: Cllr John Stewart (Chair)
Cllr Jean Dickinson
Cllr Pete Hewitt
Cllr John Sutcliffe
The Assistant Clerk
There was one member of the public present.
047-15/16 Apologies
Cllr Dickson, Cllr Graham and Cllr Gray.
048-15/16 Declarations of Interest - Councillors to declare individually any interests they may have in the items on the agenda.If a Councillor declares a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any item on the agenda he/she shall withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held when that item is discussed unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Clerk.
Cllrs Dickinson, Hewitt and Sutcliffe declared a pecuniary interest in applications 151099 and 151091 due to the Application sites being close to their residences. All Cllrs had requested dispensation, in writing to the Clerk, on the grounds that so many members of the decision-making body (P & DP Committee) have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in the matter that it would “impede the transaction of the business”.
With regard to Applications 151099 and 151091 – North Colchester Urban Extension, Mile End Road, Colchester, as per provisions in the Localism Act and having had regard to all relevant circumstances, the Clerk and Chairman consider that dispensation be granted to all Cllrs on the grounds that so many members of the Committee have Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in the matter that it would “impede the transaction of the business” not to do so.
049-15/16 Have Your Say
Mrs White congratulated Cllr Stewart on his election as Committee Chairman.
She referred to paragraph 2(e) of the Planning & Development Committee Terms of Reference and asked whether the words “and conditions” should be included after the word “regulations”. Cllr Hewitt said he felt this was not necessary. He said a breach of conditions would be reported to Planning Enforcement officials. Mrs White said that regulations and conditions were two different things. The Chairman asked if Mrs White was referring to problems encountered on monitoring visits. Mrs White said regulations were to do with planning standards and conditions were to do with individual applications. The Chairman said that he would look at the Terms of Reference and take action if necessary.
Mrs White referred to paragraph 2(h) of the Terms of Reference and said that under this paragraph she would like to mention the bus stop on the north side of Mill Road between Romulus Close and Thomas Wakley Close. She said that the road floods at that point in heavy rain, which caused pedestrians to be showered with water. She said the dropped kerb area near the bus stop where pedestrians would cross to the island in the middle of the road was badly broken. She said anyone on a motorised vehicle would not be able to negotiate this crossing safely. She said that she had concerns about the narrow pavement on the south side of Mill Road, opposite the entrance to Thomas Wakley Close. She said she was happy to meet with a Cllr to point out these areas. The Chairman said he was familiar with the area and that Cllr Goss had been involved with discussions about extending the narrow pavement. Mrs White said that there was £100,000 available for traffic calming which was a separate issue. Cllr Stewart said he would inspect the area and take any action he felt was appropriate.
050-15/16 Chairman’s Announcements and Correspondence
The Chairman referred to the Finance & Staffing Committee’s request for potential spending. He said he would like to provide safety helmets and high visibility jackets for monitoring visits. He said the equipment could be kept at the MCC office and that the jackets would also be useful for winter visits where it would be dark in the late afternoon and early evening. He said both Health and Safety procedures and the professionalism of Cllrs should be considered at all times.
The Chairman said he would also like to provide ID cards which had been mentioned at previous meetings. He said he would like to suggest a business card with a photograph which could be laminated and put in a lanyard.
He said he would send information on safety equipment and ID cards to Cllrs for them to consider. He welcomed any comments and also any further items for consideration so that a decision could be made at the meeting on 1st July 2015.
051-15/16 Minutes of the meeting held on 20th May 2015 to be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman
The minutes of the meeting held on 20th May 2015 were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
Proposed: Cllr Dickinson Seconded: Cllr Hewitt (Unanimous)
039-15/16 Matters arising from the Minutes
Cllr Sutcliffe referred to the Monitoring report on Bluegates included in the minutes of the meeting held on 20th May 2015. He asked if the Clerk had checked that yellow lines would be painted at the entrance. The Assistant Clerk said that she and the Clerk had checked the TRO that had been issued and that a “No Waiting at any time” area was planned for the entrance to Bluegates.
Cllr Sutcliffe referred again to the Monitoring report and asked if Cllr Gray visited the site as had been planned. The Assistant Clerk said she had had no further update from Cllr Gray. Cllr Hewitt said action on the War Memorial was due to be taken by the Community Working Group and that they could look at this issue.
Cllr Sutcliffe asked if there was any update on whether any Section 106 money had been paid for the Bluegates development. Cllr Hewitt said this was being looked at.
053-15/16 Monitoring
The Chairman asked if Cllrs Sutcliffe and Gray were happy to continue with Monitoring visits. Cllr Sutcliffe said he was happy to carry on making monitoring visits.
Cllr Sutcliffe said that he had visited the new care home on Turner Road. He said that this was a new home for 60 residents built in four block units with two storeys, next to the NHS Microbiology Unit. He said it was currently well-advanced in construction. He said there was some roofing and a bit at the front to finish. He said access to the back of the building was via the service road shared with the Microbiology Unit. He said it was a well-appointed home. He said there was one lift to all floors with a lounge for each 15 room section, a main lounge and a dining-room on each floor as well as activity rooms. He said he had visited with a friend who was a professional carer, whose concern had been the small size of the en-suites to each room considering the size of the lifting equipment that was installed. He said that new regulations concerning the manual lifting of patients meant that carers had to agree to take on the risk to themselves if they wished to manually lift a patient. He said that meant that hoists were installed in each en-suite. He said the home was due to open in the autumn. He said the home was mainly for dementia patients and that a successful application for a variation of condition 31 of the original planning application meant that the home could now take patients under the age of 55, up to a maximum of 20% of patients. He said the site supervisor had been very helpful. He said in conclusion the construction was going well.
054-15/16 To consider and possibly resolve to agree the response to the ECC Statement of Community Involvement consultation (closing date 25th June 2015)
Cllr Stewart asked if it was possible for MCC to pre-register with ECC if they wanted to make a comment.
Cllr Dickinson said this was not possible.
Cllr Hewitt said that his response had mentioned the restricted time of some consultations. He said he had also said that the guidelines were comprehensive but that they were only effective if put into practice effectively and adhered to.
It was resolved to agree the response to the ECC Statement of Community Involvement consultation.
Proposed: Cllr Hewitt Seconded: Cllr Sutcliffe (Unanimous)
055-15/16 Planning, Licensing & Highways Applications/Appeals - To make recommendations, including requests for Section 106 money where applicable, on applications received (Appendix 1)
151099 – North Colchester Urban Extension – Phase 1c (Parcels R05 &R06) Mile End Road, Colchester – Application for Reserved matters for details of layout, scale, access, design and external appearance of residential and related development of Phase 1c (Parcels R5 &R6) of outline planning permission reference 121272 including associated landscaping – Deferred until 1st July 2015
151091 – Colchester North Growth Area Urban Extension, Mile End Road, Colchester – Application for approval of reserved matters following outline approval 121272 – landscaping details for parcels G09 & G10 within phase 1 of the Colchester North Growth Area Urban Extension – Deferred until 1st July 2015
056-15/16 To receive copies of Planning/Appeal Decisions
150473 – North Colchester Urban Extension, Mile End Road, Colchester - Reserved matters application for 105 dwellings on Phase 1B 9part of R7 and R8) pursuant to outline application no. 121272 – Reserved Matters Approved, 9 conditions, 29th May 2015
150651 – Volkswagen-Inchcape, Axial Way, Colchester, CO4 5XB – Internally illuminated pylon sign – Consent granted, 5 conditions, 26th May 2015
150664 – Colchester Park & Ride, Boxted Road, Mile End, Colchester – 1no. internally illuminated totem sign – Consent granted, 22nd May 2015, 3 conditions
150588 – Asda Supermarket, Petrolea Close, Colchester, CO4 5TU – Adverts to Click & Collect canopy – Consent granted, 5th June 2015, 6 conditions
150471 – 2 Walnut Drive, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5ES – Proposed conversion of loft space to form 2 bedrooms and bathroom with the installation of 6no. roof lights – Permission granted, 3 conditions, 10th June 2015
031-15/16 Date of next meeting – 1st July 2015, 7.15pm @ Myland Community Council Office, 101 Nayland Road, Colchester.
The meeting closed at 8:24pm
Councillor John Stewart ……………………………………………………….. Chairman
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