Minutes of Council held on 15th February 2010
Birdham Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 15th February 2010
at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
Present: Cllr Tilbury (Chairman), Cllr Meynell, Cllr Mrs Leach, Cllr Ms Huskisson,
Cllr Mrs Cobbold, Cllr Churchill
Apologies: Cllr Mrs Parks
In attendance: The Clerk, County and District Councillor P Montyn and Cllr P Jones, and 7 members of the public.
107-09cl. Chairman’s remarks
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.
108-09cl. Declarations of interest
Cllr Mrs Cobbold declared a prejudicial interest in planning application BI/10/00321/FUL
109-09cl. Minutes of the meeting held on the 18th January 2010.
Resolved: that the minutes of the 18th January 2010 be signed as a true and accurate record.
Proposed by Cllr Mrs Cobbold and seconded by Cllr Mrs Leach
110-09cl. Matters arising from the Minutes
i) Land Bequeathed to the council – The Clerk reported that he had written to the solicitors expressing the Councils concern over the delay in completing the bequest in a reasonable time frame and requested a response by first post on the 15th February. The hard copy response was received from the Solicitors on Saturday the 13th. The basis of the letter was to request an answer to whether the Council will take ownership in its right or through a trust. The Clerk has spoken to the Councils solicitors and is awaiting a response.
ii) Co-Option of Councillors – Expressions of interest had been received from Mr N Way and Mrs M Barker. It was intended that should both remain interested then co-option would take place at the meeting to be held on the 15th March 2010.
iii) Bus Shelter Seat – The seat is on order with an expected delivery time of approximately 2 weeks. Once in receipt of the seat we can then obtain the plaque and permission from WSCC to install.
iv) Notice Board – A notice board belonging to the Council is held at the Birdham Stores. The owners had given permission for the notice board to be fixed to the wall of the stores by the Post Box. However, it is not certain if the notice board is of an exterior quality. Further checks will need to be made.
v) Drainage Meeting – The Chairman apologised to the Council but had no alternative other than to re-arrange the proposed meeting to the 1st of March 2010.
111-09cl. Clerk’s Report:
i) The Clerk commented on the Minerals & Waste Strategy document and although it seemed unlikely that Birdham would experience any direct impact, areas earmarked for minerals extraction in the South of Chichester may at some point affect traffic flows.
ii) The Clerk also reported that the Parish Councils response to the Core Strategy had been uploaded to the CDC website although later it appeared that this had not been the case and was later uploaded with the help of a CDC Officer. The response was also circulated to other Parishes on the Peninsula via the West Wittering Clerk. However, we have not yet seen any other responses with the exception of those submitted by West Wittering Parish Council.
iii) The Clerk reported that he had attended the Annual Meeting with the Parishes at CDC on 19th January. The topics under discussion where the LDF Core Strategy, the Review of Governance and Community Accountability and Planning Enforcement Strategy.
iv) A new edition of Model Standing Orders has been received from SALC which appear, on first reading, to be better written and more relevant to Parish Councils. Currently this is being compared with existing Standing Orders and will be fed into the Agenda in due course. In turn the new SO’s have had a knock on effect relative to other legal documents under which the Council must operate.
v) Contact with the Police has been established to determine if it was possible for an officer to bring the Council up to date and to offer a strategic overview. This has in principle been agreed with the Police and it is anticipated that an office will attend the 15th March meeting.
vi) Reports from Members of WSCC/CDC
Cllr P Montyn commented that what had not been said at the Annual Meeting of the Parishes was that CDC Councillors had not been happy with the old system of Enforcement and had recently set up a committee of both Councillors and Officers to monitor the new system.
Cllr Montyn then went on to say that the Government grant awarded to WSCC and CDC had been derisory and that both Councils would be increasing their respective Council Charges by 2.5%.
Commenting on the A27, Cllr Montyn reported that the A27 Stakeholders Group had met and where extremely unhappy with the Governments modelling and extrapolation of data based on data collected in 2003. No serious consideration had been given to an alternative to the current road system ie a Northern route by-pass.
It was stated that 18 gangs are working to fill in the potholes created by the recent bad weather with approximately 500 holes being filled on a daily basis. So far the cost was estimated to be in the region of £4million and was rising. Requests for pothole repairs could be made on line through the WSCC website.
Cllr Montyn said that a letter had been despatched to the local electricity board to determine why the Birdham area had been the subject of a number of lengthy power cuts
112-09cl. Planning matters including CDC decisions:
Applications
i) BI/09/05164/DOM The Snipe, Lock Lane, Birdham
This application is to link The Snipe to its adjacent building. The Snipe is an historic building within Birdham as it was originally built as the lockkeeper’s house for the Chichester Canal in the early nineteenth century – the equivalent of the Richmond Arms (now the Waterside) at the Canal Basin in Chichester. Our concern is therefore to see the spirit and integrity of the original building maintained while adapting it to modern use. The south elevation incorporates an existing extension.
Our only concern is with the amount of glazing on the north elevation. Although this faces north we would wish to be reassured that the sun, especially when lower in the sky, is not going to reflect off this glazing, spoiling the view from the Harbour. Even non-reflective glass would help to avoid this.
The Council has NO OBJECTION to this application.
ii) BI/10/00075/DOM 3 St James Close, Birdham
This is a revision to a previous application. We are pleased to see the reassurance that there is no intention to rent out this unit separately. We have NO OBJECTION to this application.
iii) BI/09/04868/DOM Boughtons, 26 Greenacres, Birdham
This application is for an extension to the existing house and will overlook Chichester Harbour. As with all applications facing the Harbour, one of our concerns is that the glazing does not cause such reflection from the large amount of glass as to spoil the view from the Harbour. We would ask that the Planners look closely at this aspect of the plan, both for quantity of glazing and materials, and ask for no-reflective glass to be used.
The Council has NO OBJECTION to this application
iv) BI/10/00079/DOM Kinderhook, Court Barn Lane, Birdham
The Council has NO OBJECTION to the revisions to the original plan for this garage.
v) BI/10/00321/FUL Yendor Farm, Hundredsteddle Lane Birdham
It was agreed that this item should be deferred to the next meeting of Council following a site visit.
Decisions
vi) BI/09/05065/TPA 32 Walwin Close, Birdham
REFUSE. The reason given by CDC for refusal is as follows; The 3 no. Oak trees (T1-T3) are part of a line of boundary Oak trees which form a significant feature in the local landscape and appear to be in adequately sound and healthy condition. The tree surgery proposed in the deposited application would result in excessive reduction of the trees' landscape impact and undue detriment to the visual amenities of the locality. (A more appropriate course of action would be through management of the trees' size and impact through a scheme of approved surgery for which a further application would be required).
113-09cl. Correspondence:
i) A request from the Village Hall has been received to rent the playing field for the purpose of a car boot sale on the 24th April, 29th May, 31st July and the 28th August and a reserve day of the 18th September in case any of the other days is rained off.
It was agreed that this should be supported.
ii) A request has been made by the Parish Clerk of West Wittering to consider a Twinning Link with SANGUINET in France. Although it was felt that the Council could not consider twinning at the moment, exploratory talks should be held with the School and the Church to determine any possible interest.
iii) A letter of has been received from the Treasurer of St James Church thanking the Council for its donation of £325.00 towards the upkeep of the Churchyard.
114-09cl. Reports:
i) Play area and playing field - No problems have been reported and the hedge has been cut back.
ii) Village green and pond – Nothing to report
iii) Police and Neighbourhood Watch – Nothing to report
iv) A complaint had been received concerning overhanging branches. On inspection none could be found.
115-09cl. Finance:
A financial paper had been prepared by the Clerk and was circulated to Councillors. This showed:
Balances held at Bank: £50131.61
Designated Funds: £25945.60
Creditors: £1249.71
Resolved: To accept the financial report.
Proposed by Cllr Mrs Leach and seconded by Cllr R Meynell.
116-09cl Reports from Councillors attending meetings:
Cllr Mrs Cobbold reported that she had attended a meeting of the Solent Shoreline Management Plan. Further information could be found on the website.
117-09cl. Public session:
There were no questions from members of the public
There being no further business to be dealt with the meeting closed at 8.13pm