KING’S SOMBORNE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held in the Epworth Hall
commencing at 7.00pm on Monday 5 January 2015

Present: Cllr R Harwood (Chairman)
Cllr A Brock
Cllr R Curtis
Cllr J Evans
Cllr F Fahy
Cllr R Lane
Cllr J Werrett

In Attendance: Mr P J Storey (Clerk to King’s Somborne Parish Council)

Public Session

B/Cllr Ward, Mr Dyke (Open Spaces Warden) and 64 members of the public were present for part of the meeting. B/Cllr Ward confirmed he would liaise with TVBC on the MUGA opening arrangements.

Mr Pidgeon confirmed the Scouts’ hedge bordering the highway had now been cut. Mr Dyke asked when the groundworks around the MUGA would be finished and accepted the plan to do this when the warmer weather was with us.

1. Apologies for Absence

1.1 Received from Cllrs Jackson and Reeves; Cllr Whitehead not present.

2. Chairman’s announcements and Councillors’ questions

2.1 The Chairman wished all present a Happy New Year and explained the procedure for adjourning the meeting for public discussion on the Gladman Developments Ltd outline planning application scheduled for later debate.

3. To approve the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 1 December 2014

3.1 Proposed Cllr Lane, Seconded Cllr Brock, RESOLVED with Cllr Evans abstaining (absent) that the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2014 be accepted as a true record.

4. To consider any Matters Arising from those Minutes

4.1 Public session. The HCC lead councillor for public transport had replied to our letter complaining about the withdrawal of local bus services saying that HCC could no longer subsidise Stagecoach Service 68 at times other than when a school run was necessary because of low usage and that he saw no chance of this changing. Local MP Caroline Noakes had also written on our behalf to HCC seeking a rethink given we were a rural community.

4.2 Para 183.5 Cllr Curtis had arranged for an artificial path to the MUGA and was pleased to note the MUGA was now being used. Not so pleasing was the damage done to the security fencing, the use of bikes on the new surface and dogs being allowed inside the fencing.

4.3 Para 190.2 TVBC would now be organising competitions on the opening day which would now be in the February half-term, date to be confirmed.
5. Declarations of Interest and requests for Dispensations

5.1 Cllr Evans declared a Code of Conduct interest as a local business owner and would abstain from voting on Item 15, determination of comments on the Gladman Developments Ltd application.

6. To receive the minutes of the Planning Committee

6.1 The minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 1 and 15 December 2014 had been circulated with the agenda papers.

6.2 Proposed Cllr Lane, Seconded Cllr Curtis, RESOLVED unanimously that the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 1 and 15 December 2014 be received and accepted.

7. To consider Correspondence Received and determine any action required

7.1 The Clerk drew Members’ attention to correspondence received which included confirmation from Caroline Noakes MP that she had written to HCC on the matter of withdrawal of rural bus services; thanks from Test Valley School for sponsoring prizes and also a letter of thanks from one of the recipients; and an e-mail from a local resident complimenting the Parish Council on the choice of traditional street lights now installed in the conservation area.

8. To receive Councillors’ Reports

8.1 Cllr Lane reported on the planning meeting held earlier in the evening.

8.2 Cllr Evans, as secretary of the Local Flood Action Group (KSFAG), reported actions to date on flood preventative measures and that Grace Martin from the National Flood Forum was assisting in arranging a meeting with external agencies to determine future action in the Parish. The Environment Agency had agreed the principle of reprofiling the stream and anticipated the work being undertaken in early February. There were difficulties in identifying riparian owners because of the multi-use of the stream but in the longer term these should be overcome and leaflets on their responsibilities distributed.

8.3 Cllr Fahy had requested the repainting of various junction white lines in the interests of road safety.

8.4 Cllr Brock confirmed an update on the start work date for burying the electricity supply cables across the 3 Fields site was still awaited.

8.5 Cllr Fahy emphasised the need for riparian owners to understand their responsibilities so far as stream clearance was concerned. There was a leaflet outlining these which would be distributed by

9. To receive the RFO’s Report and Budget Monitoring

9.1 A budget monitoring report had been circulated with the agenda papers and was noted.

9.2 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Lane, RESOLVED unanimously that the Budget Report be accepted as tabled.

10. Payment of Accounts

10.1 Proposed Cllr Brock, Seconded Cllr Fahy, RESOLVED unanimously that the following accounts for December 2014 be approved for payment:

To For Net VAT Gross Chq/Internet
Mr P Storey Salary/expenses 671.85 5.21 677.06 Int
HMRC Tax/NIC 383.05 383.05 Int
BPC Shared costs 122.00 122.00 Int
Methodist Church Hall hire 250.00 250.00 1808
M Nias Clock electrical work 312.30 62.46 374.76 1809
Mr Rebbeck Grounds maint 119.00 119.00 Int
Totals 1858.20 67.67 1925.87

11. Revised Meeting dates for 2015

11.1 The Annual Assembly date had now been confirmed as Thursday 30 April 2015 and the AGM would be postponed by one week to Monday 18 May 20125 as a result of the General/local elections.

12 Clerk’s monthly report

12.1 The Quality Parish Scheme in its present format was to be abolished wef 31 January 2015 and replaced by a three tier system of recognition. As a QP Council, we would automatically qualify for the first tier on application but have to apply and be assessed to proceed to the second or third tiers. More information would be tabled when it became available and further discussion would take place on what the Council’s next step should be. In the meantime, the Clerk would apply for transfer of recognition to Level One.
Action: Clerk

12.2 The theft of flowers and wreaths from the Cemetery just before Christmas was noted with sadness.

12.3 Work would be undertaken on 8 January 2015 to crown lift the Yew tree in the Churchyard.

13. Resolution to adjourn the meeting

13.1 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Evans, RESOLVED unanimously that the meeting be adjourned and public discussion be allowed on the application by Gladman Developments Ltd on their proposal to develop up to 78 dwellings at the top end of Eldon Road.

The Chairman invited members of the public to express their views on the proposed development.

64 residents attended the public discussion on the Gladman proposals and a further 21 had contacted the Clerk by e-mail or letter with their comments.

A synopsis of those comments is attached at Annex A.

14. Resolution to close the public session

14.1 Proposed Cllr Harwood, Seconded Cllr Lane, RESOLVED unanimously that the public session be closed.

15. Determination of the Gladman Developments Ltd outline planning application 14/02819/OUTS

15.1 The Parish Council supported the views expressed by local residents and thought it appropriate to most strongly object to the proposal to develop up to 78 dwellings, with up to 40% of these being affordable, on land at the top of Eldon Road, King’s Somborne. The reasons for supporting the proposal to object are annexed.

15.2 Proposed Cllr Lane, Seconded Cllr Curtis, RESOLVED with Cllr Evans abstaining (Code of Conduct interest as a local business owner) that an objection be made to the Gladman Developments Ltd application to develop up to 78 dwellings at the top end of Eldon Road on the following grounds –

16. Date, time and place of next meeting

16.1 The next meeting would be on Monday 2 February 2015 at 7.00pm in the Epworth Hall, Winchester Road, King’s Somborne.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.05pm

GLADMAN DEVELOPMENT COMMENTS
Re application 14/02819/OUTS

The reasons for objecting most strongly include but are not limited to the following –

Contrary to local plan and national guidelines.

• proposed location is outside the settlement boundary and is in an area classified as countryside and as such cannot be justified
• is contrary to the previous and current local plan
• is considered to be in an unsustainable location
• is isolated at the extreme edge of the village
• the Local Plan envisages an increase of 36 new dwellings across 38 rural villages in Test Valley and King’s Somborne has already added 21 new dwellings when Lancaster Green was completed two years ago
• King’s Somborne has more than contributed its share

Current roads unable to cope safely with increased traffic flow and increased risk of accident

• very limited employment, shopping and other amenities in this rural location and very poor public transport support will necessitate vehicle ownership
• a conservative estimate of one car per dwelling, which ignores the probability of the 60% larger dwellings having more than one car, equates to a daily minimum of 156 return journeys which, together with delivery and other vehicles requiring regular access to the site, will generate more traffic noise and fumes and aggravate an already dangerous road safety situation on a narrow residential road which serves the existing estates
• potential for road damage to top end of Eldon Road beyond Lancaster Green which is single track as this section will have inadequate foundations to stand up to heavy commercial vehicles serving the site
• current lack of off-road parking in the Eldon estate is aggravated by an increasing number of dedicated disabled parking slots on the estate roads reducing their width to single track
• Eldon Road, joins another road (Furzedown Road) on which cars are regularly parked because of a lack of suitable off-road residential parking or by persons using the post office/general store located at the junction with Winchester Road
• poor sight line to south of Eldon Road/Furzedown Road junction because of the acute angle between the roads
• Furzedown Road joins the very busy A3057 at a junction with poor sight lines for drivers travelling north because of a bend in the main road. This junction is adjacent to the School the Church and public house, each of which generates parked cars at certain times reducing traffic flow to a single lane on Church Road which, in turn, increases the accident risk
• increased parking and traffic flow problems at junction of Church Road and Winchester Road where vehicles park to use or deliver to the post office/general store
Increased risk of road accident especially to youngsters

• many parents with young children walk from the Eldon Road area to the School along a narrow pavement beside parked cars which restrict drivers’ views posing a potential danger to these parents and young children
• proposal will affect those travelling to/from Winchester along Winchester Road where much of this road is unlit and does not have a footpath
• increase in traffic also will impact on the safety of pedestrians using the two village shops, walking to the School or to the bus stops on Winchester Road where no footpath exists

Lack of public transport

• lack of public transport in this rural area, made worse by the now severely limited bus Service 68 (two return journeys daily at school times), makes it difficult for those without their own transport to gain access to local employment in the Winchester, Romsey and Andover areas, and to access local town supermarkets, medical services, doctors’ practices and other amenities
• rural affordable development is not suited to those without transport seeking employment
• proposed development on the fringe of the village
• social problems such as isolation likely to arise with young families; King’s Somborne has been identified as a high risk area

No identified local need and lack of supporting infrastructure.

• the application is disproportionate to the current size of the village
• we believe currently there is no-one on the waiting list for social housing from local families and social problems arise when dwellings are offered to those from outside the local area with no local connections
• such housing should be placed where the most opportunities lie for those in need and where the necessary supporting infrastructure exists to cope with the newly generated demand for services

Detrimental change from village to collection of housing estates

• development on this scale would give rise to a significant change in the village landscape with the increased likelihood of turning King’s Somborne into a collection of housing estates to the distress of those who came here, or have lived here for generations, because of its rural appeal
• the necessary improvements to the supporting infrastructure if the development was to proceed would be detrimental to the conservation area at the heart of the village
• a development on this scale equates to 75% of the existing Eldon Road estate and would add 11% to the current number of dwellings in the village (719).
• density of the proposed development much more suited to an urban environment rather than rural
• previous developments in the village have been spread over decades enabling the community to absorb their impact; this would not be the case here

Lack of services supporting infrastructure.

• proposed site is within a known flood catchment area and being high ground contributed to last year’s flooding downstream in the village centre and beyond which in turn caused sewage drains to overflow into residential flooded areas to the distress of many; further large scale development can only aggravate this risk
• existing village infrastructure unable to support water supply, ground water removal and sewage disposal

Application flawed
• the application and its supporting documentation is flawed, contains errors and omissions, and has been written to justify the developer’s claims rather than to meet the needs of local people and potential house owners
• plans to alleviate the flood risk and manage sewage disposal appear minimal
• there is no all-weather path from the estate to the village amenities, public transport has already been severely curtailed, Test Valley Borough Council has evidenced it has more than a 5 year supply of land in the north of the borough which includes the village
• the application is selective in its use of data (ie uses both previous and current Local Plan information to suit its purpose) and it is quite clear from the wording used that Gladman has no interest in developing to suit the village or to meet local needs but only to obtain planning consent before selling on to another developer
• it is questionable whether the mix of small starter homes and larger dwellings, necessary for the developer to make a return on investment, can actually be fitted into the development area in question, together with open space, play area and, critically, vehicle parking where a feasible variety of dwellings could give rise to a need for 200 parking spaces
• mention is made of a 58/20 split not up to 40% affordable homes as stated elsewhere.
• the claim to offer employment to 68 local people is highly suspect
• the proposal to include cycle ways cannot be implemented either because some of the access roads are too narrow or the existing pavements cannot be widened to accommodate both cyclists and pedestrians
• some of the supporting specialist reports are limited in their scope
• an ecology report and an EU habitat assessment should have been included
• there has been no face to face consultation with the local community, as implied in the application, the consultation being limited to a leaflet drop to 550 houses which invited comments by return
• Gladman Developments Ltd are well known for this style of aggressive marketing as reported in the national press and are taking advantage of legal loopholes to attain development rights
• Gladman Developments Ltd is not the type of organisation with which the village wishes to do busine

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