Clerk: Mrs. L Rampton

Parish Council Office,

Winscombe Community Centre,

11 Sandford Road, Winscombe,

North Somerset BS25 1JA

Tel: 01934 844257   Fax: 01934 844292

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Affordable Housing Working Party Meeting Notes

Tuesday 11th August 2009, 9.00 am.

The Weeks Room, Winscombe Community Centre

 

 

Councillors Present:    Steve Bridges (SB), Archie Forbes (AF), Avril Richmond (AR), Chris Sampson (CS).

Others Present:                        Richard Mead (RM)                    Summerfield Developments, developer appointed by ERHA

Clerk:                           Lynne Rampton (LR)

 

Apologies for Absence:       James Taylor (JT) English Rural Housing Association (ERHA) & (SC) Independent Planning Advisor appointed by ERHA

                                                           

 

Update. Following agreement of the Parish Council at the July meeting, the draft site exception site search report has now been made available for public comment. This can currently be viewed on the Parish Council website or is available in hard copy from the Parish Office or Library with a copy also being sent to The Railway Inn in Sandford. Notice of the document availability has been published on all Parish Council notice-boards and is included in the August edition of the Winscombe & Sandford Parish magazine. Following copies of the report being sent to local newspapers, articles have appeared in both the Cheddar Valley Gazette and Mercury. Notification of the report availability has been sent individually to those who have objected to the Parish Council of a possible affordable housing site at the end of Well Close with a copy also being sent to the spokesperson for the group at the February 2009 Parish Council meeting and NSC South Area Committee Public Meeting. A representative of the Mendip Hills AONB Services has been informed.

 

Since publication of this draft document, comments from a NSC Planning Officer concerning this have been circulated to all Parish Councillors and a number of emails objecting to any proposals on the Well Close site from one Parishioner and one letter of objection from another Parishioner being provided in hard copy to AH Working Party members.

Following a number of emails from the afore mentioned Parishioner requesting a response from a Parish Councillor SB will respond in brief to the emails and offer a meeting to discuss the concerns of the Parishioner.

 

Communication from the NSC Planning Officer [that has been responded to by (SC)] and the draft site exception Search Report was considered at the meeting in detail:

*       Site 3 (land at Mooseheart) has previously been considered to be amongst the four most preferable sites for a potential Affordable Housing development within the Parish but with no response to date being received from enquiries made in this regard. SB will make an appointment to visit Mooseheart to ascertain the availability of this site.

*       Although limitations regarding access for site 10 exist, this should be considered by NSC after options for the four most preferable sites have been exhausted.

*       The land owner of site 11 & 12 (top four preferred sites) has confirmed that they are not willing to relinquish this land for affordable housing at the present time. Verbal confirmation of this has been relayed by the land owner to some Parish Councillors with further confirmation sent to ERHA &/or their representatives that has been passed to NSC.

*       Covenants restrict land use of site 15. It was advised that confidential details of this, not made available to the Parish Council have been passed directly to NSC.

*       Site 16 is considered ‘land locked’ with access only being available through the animal feed shop – leading to possible loss of an employment site in the Parish.

*       Use of site 17 would again lead to loss of an employment site with added concerns of a close by brook feeding directly into a water course at Banwell.

Sites 15, 16 & 17 are considered by the Working Party to be remote from Winscombe village centre.

*       Site 19 is a private garden at the Churchill end of Sandford with a large willow tree & is remote from services.

*       Highway access from Greenhill Lane to site 20 is on a track considered inadequate from the A368 which is a road that constantly suffers from vehicles travelling at excess speed and is also remote from services.

*       Previous plans for site 22 behind the village shop have been rejected for development by the Parish Council.

*       Site 28: Land to the north of public house on Station Road. Land in this area has previously been considered & rejected by the Parish Council. This land is remote from required services.

It is suggested that either the comments of the NSC Planning Officer & response to this from the Independent Planning Consultant be incorporated into, or appended to the final document Site Search report.

 

Matters raised in relation to a possible development of the Well Close Site. RM advised that:

1.    Should the site progress to planning application stage, details of the street scene will be amended and include a bungalow adjacent to the last property on Well Close rather than a two storey house.

2.    Hedge alignments will be slightly amended by Summerfield on advice of NSC.

3.    A covenant would be placed on the remaining open space by the current land owners requiring this land to remain as undeveloped land in perpetuity for the benefit of Parishioners.

 

The quantity of potential homes in relation to the need identified by the 2008 survey was considered at the meeting. Consideration could be given to providing a number of sites for Affordable Housing in this Parish.

 

 

Following a two month period for public consultation on the draft ‘Site Exception Site Search & Selection Report’, ERHA now request confirmation from the Parish Council that they are in support, or not of a proposed development on the Well Close site situated within the AONB. Should support of the Parish Council not be forthcoming, ERHA have advised they will withdraw their interest from the site and a planning application will not be submitted by them.

 

It is therefore proposed that the Parish Council consider at the meeting to be held on 17th September 2009 whether it is to support or reject a proposed development for Affordable Housing in principle on land to the end of Well Close subject to reserving the right to comment on all matters appertaining from any subsequent planning application

 

 

 

Meeting closed at 10.25 am