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 15th September 2009, 9.00 am.
The Weeks Room, Winscombe Community Centre
Councillors Present: Steve Bridges (SB), Archie Forbes (AF), Geoff Luckett (GLu), Avril Richmond (AR),
Chris Sampson (CS), Mike Williamson (MW).
Others Present: Will Bryant (WB) & Charlotte Brace (CB), NSC Housing Strategy Team
Clerk: Lynne Rampton (LR)
Apologies for Absence: Richard Mead (RM), Summerfield Developments, developer appointed by ERHA
Update. Following agreement of the Parish Council at the July meeting, the draft site exception site search report has now been available for public comment for a two month period. The AH Working Party has recommended at their meeting held on 11.08.09 that comments from the NSC Planning Officer and response from the Planning Consultant engaged by ERHA be appended to the draft report. To date the Parish Council has received objections to this document from two Parishioners with English Rural Housing Association (ERHA) receiving objections from 3 individuals – all of those objecting are against development on the land at the end of Well Close. Until such time as the report accompanies a planning application, the report should not be regarded as anything other than a ‘DRAFT’ report. WB advised that the Parish Council in their opinion must be sure the exception site search correctly identifies and prioritises land before proceeding with plans for any potential site.
Confirmation has now been received by the Parish Council that owners of site 3 as identified in the draft ‘exception’ site search & selection report have no desire to sell any part of their land at this time or in the foreseeable future.
The Villages Housing Survey carried out in 2008 gives a housing need figure for around 100 affordable homes for this Parish and it has been confirmed that ERHA has received a number of ‘registration of interest’ forms from this Parish. An analysis of the NSC register will take place close to any planning application stage to ascertain the number of our Parishioners with housing needs at that time although it was accepted that Parishioners may be reluctant to put their details forward onto a housing register. Assurance was sought that should this Parish Council proceed with the provision of affordable housing, the homes provided will benefit our Parishioners. This matter is addressed in the North Somerset Futures Local Development Framework Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) that can be viewed on the NSC website using the following link:
http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C613C710-AEBD-4E54-A906-3703D1A57A5A/0/publication_20080805_AffordableHousing.pdf appendix 10 – Heads of Terms – model legal agreement for rural exception sites, Occupancy of the Rural Affordable Housing Units Occupancy conditions for the homes are laid out in this document in priority order with residents of the Parish being given priority (i) followed by residents of adjacent Parishes in North Somerset as priority (ii).
Clause (vii) states “after a rented property has remained void for 3 months and or an owner occupied property marketed as affordable housing for 12 months, occupancy will be allowed for other residents of North Somerset eligible for affordable housing on the basis of short term lets only, until a resident in sub-paragraphs (i) to (vi) above becomes available.”
Given the results of the housing survey carried out, consideration could be given to the provision of a number of sites should take-up on a first development be good. Consultation on the draft ‘exception’ site search and selection report may also identify other areas of land for consideration. Should land at the end of The Chestnuts proceed to development, six affordable homes may be provided with 20 extra care housing units being allocated on the Sandford Station site.
The Parish Council is in favour of providing affordable housing in this parish and it is recognised that suitable affordable housing is needed to enable young people and families to remain in the Parish & keep our village shops, schools and other facilities open. It is now asked by ERHA in principle to support or reject a proposal to provide Affordable Housing on land to the end of Well Close reserving the right to comment fully on all matters appertaining to any subsequent planning application. This matter appears as an agenda item for the Parish Council meeting on 17th September 2009 and will be considered by the full council subject to advice from Avon Local Councils Association and the National Association of Local Councils being received.
Suitability of the site on land at the end of Well Close
1. Flooding Issues – it is reported by RM of Summerfield Developments at a meetings held on 14.01.09 & 03.03.09 that a main drain amounting to 50% of the drainage in this area was blocked and has now been dug out. Other ditches in the vicinity also have not been maintained.
2. The site is situated in the Mendip Hills AONB and an opinion from the AONB Service has been sought regarding the draft ‘exception’ site search and section report. Development is proposed on the lowest section of the field next to existing built form but circumstances to justify building in the AONB must be significant.
3. Other issues raised by Parishioners for consideration include traffic and pedestrian congestion.
4. Policy H/5 of the NSRLP states NSC’s preferred approach would be to ensure that affordable housing in the rural areas is, where possible, located close to local facilities and/or well served by public transport.
Because the land to the end of Well Close is the only site currently available in the previously identified top four sites is not reason enough alone to agree to development of this site.
Meeting closed at 10.10 am