Notes of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Meeting

NOTES OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING MEETING

MONDAY 12THNOVEMBER 2012 AT 3PM

IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE TOWN HALL

1. PresentRepresenting

Councillor Ken BrownMorpeth Town Council– Chairman

Councillor Graeme TrotterMorpeth Town Council – Deputy Chairman

Councillor David ParkerMorpeth Town Council

Councillor Nic BestMorpeth Town Council

Ian CampbellProject Coordinator

Councillor Mike SharpMitford Parish Council

Councillor David CowansHepscott Parish Council

Councillor Andrew KellyHebron Parish Council

David RowlinsonNorthumberland County Council

David LodgeGreater Morpeth Development Trust

Michael WrightNewcastle University

Rupert LitherlandNewcastle University

Clerks

Ms Gillian TurnerMorpeth Town Council

Mrs Angela LoganMorpeth Town Council

Mrs Dee CotaMorpeth Town Council

Apologies for absence were received from David English (Northumberland CC),

Cllr R Thompson(Morpeth TC), CouncillorsStonell and Doherty (Pegswood PC),

Cllr Watson (Hebron PC)

The Chairman welcomed all members present and invited introductions.

1. Notes of the meeting held on 8thOctober 2012

The notes of the meeting were approved with the following amendments and it was requested that these be circulated to all members of the Group.

Item 1 – In the absence of Cllr Ken Brown, Chairman, the vice Chairman Cllr Graeme Trotter took the Chair. Cllr Ken Brown arrived at 3.25pm but did not assume the Chair.

Item 3 b –Support & Resources

A presentation will be given to the Steering Group in January 2013 by the students from Newcastle University.

Matters Arising

Action - A formal letter to be sent out to organisations that are identifiedas key stakeholders informing them of this and the important part they play within the plan.

1. Launch Update

The members were advised that a solid response was received from all three launch events, with the most popular event been on the Market Place in Morpeth. 200 people have expressed an interest in being involved in the plan process with between 15-20 people signing up to each of the topic groups and cross cutting theme groups. It was identified though, that the majority of people who were involved are in the 40+ age groups and that more work was needed to attract the participation of younger people.

The Chairman expressed his disappointment of the lack of coverage of the launch events in the Morpeth Herald newspaper. He advised that after speaking to them, hopefully more information would be in this week’s Herald.

A large-sized article is also to be published in Inside Morpeth which will be distributed around the 27th/28th November 2012. It was agreed that this article would be circulated to all members of the Steering Group. Hebron Parish Council did advise that they did not receive the last edition of Inside Morpeth.

Mitford Parish Council advised that they have had positive comments about the Neighbourhood Plan website. It was agreed that all information to go on the website should be sent to Dee Cota and that a website update – including number of visits – will be given to the Steering Group each month. The notes from each of the working groups will also go onto the website. Chris Offord (a former planner) has been asked to look at the website from both a personal and professional point and view and give feedback.

Actions-Email everyone who submitted an interest in The Morpeth Neighbourhood Plan, asking for feedback on the website.

-Email all members of the Steering Group with the statistics gathered at the three launch events.

-Email the article from Inside Morpeth to all members of the Steering Group

Northumberland County Council was asked if The Morpeth Neighbourhood Plan could go onto the countywide website and were advised that David English is looking at this.

1. Plan Area

It was reported that only a small amount of feedback was received on the plan area during the launch events. One of the main points identified was for Clifton to be included within the plan. Clifton is part of Stannington Parish and they are looking at developing their own Neighbourhood Plan.

It was proposed that we keep the plan area of Morpeth with the four neighbouring parishes but offer help and support to Stannington Parish Council with their Neighbourhood Plan. Stannington can also send a representative to the Steering Group meeting to observe.

It was agreed to submit the plan area to the local planning authority and the members were advised that a meeting with Northumberland County Council was organised for Tuesday 13th November regarding the Core Strategy, Issues and Options.

1. Topic Groups and Parish Panels

The members were advised that dates and times have been confirmed for the inaugural topic group meetings to be held at Morpeth Town Hall.

Local Environment – Monday 12th November, 7pm to 8.30pm

Housing – Tuesday 13th November, 7pm to 8.30pm

Local Economy – Tuesday 20th October, 7pm to 8.30pm

Heritage – Wednesday 21st October, 1pm to 2.30pm

It was proposed that each group appoints a scribe within the group and after the Chair has agreed the notes of the meeting, these would be forwarded to Dee Cota to go onto website.

The members were advised that scoping work was to be completed in the topic groups by December 2012, research to take place in January/February 2013 and an evidence based report prepared by April 2013.

It was agreed that the Chair from each of the Topic Groups would keep the Parishes up-to-date and that a representative from the Parish Panels, if possible, would attend the topic groups. Cllr Andrew Kelly advised the members that very little feedback had been received from Hebron Parish but he would keep everyone informed and encourage them to participate in the topic groups. Cllr Mike Sharp also advised that Mitford Parish Council is encouraging people to join the existing Topic Groups in Morpeth.

It was proposed that a report from each of the Topic Groups and Parish Panels was given to the Steering Group and it should also be reported how many people in each of these topic groups were from the neighbouring parishes. It was also suggested that Topic Group information should be put into the local press.

The members were also advised that Champions are still required for each of the Cross-Cutting themes and that the Chairs of the Topic groups should advise members of their individual groups of this.

1. Membership of Steering Group

It was proposed that the number of Morpeth Town Council Representatives will be reduced from 9 to 5 members. This proposal will go to the Planning and Transport Committee on Wednesday 21st November 2012 and then onto Full Council on Wednesday 28th November 2012.

1. Update on Support/Resources

Newcastle University

Students are currently undertaking an Infrastructure Audit and so far have taken a broad look at the initial concerns and areas they will focus on. They are now in the process of evidence gathering.

CABE

Colin Haylock an environment expert and also the President of the Royal Town Planning Institute will be facilitating two workshops in Early 2013.

Planning Aid

They will provide people who will give advice on community engagement and community consultation. It was suggested that they meet up with a representative from Pegswood.

Some other support is also coming from past planners:

Hugh Edmundson – will provide support to the Housing topic group

Martin Laidler – offering support on reviewing technical reports

Colin Pearson – to prepare a baseline report on education

Chris Offord – support to topic groups

1. Any other business/Date of next meeting

There was no other business to discuss. The next meeting will be held on Monday 10th December 2012 at 3pm in the Council Chambers of Morpeth Town Hall.

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