Minutes of the Extra Odinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on the 3rd November 2014
Birdham Parish Council
Minutes of the
Extra Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 3rd November 2014
at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
Present: Cllr Barker, Cllr Hamilton, Cllr Cobbold and Cllr Finch, Cllr Pocock (Chairman)
and Cllr Ayton.
Apologies: Nil
In attendance: The Clerk, Cllr Marshall (CDC) and 10 members of the public.
Absent: Cllr Churchill.
73-14 Declaration of Interests:
Cllrs Finch, Cobbold, Barker and Ayton declared personal interests as members of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.
74-14 To receive a presentation of the Neighbourhood Plan by the Chairman of the Steering Group.
Cllr Finch as the lead Councillor and Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group outlined the various methodologies employed to bring the plan to the level it was now at. In doing so she went on to thank members of the Council, residents and the professional assistance from the planning advisor and from CDC Planners for all of the considerable help that had been given to the group.
Initially it had been considered by some that the work could be carried out fairly quickly however, to do the job properly it had taken nearly two years of hard work to reach the current stage and there was still more to do.
Data had been compiled from interviews, surveys and open days, from coffee mornings and data mining. The document that is now before the Council is the culmination of all that work. It now required the signing off by the Parish Council prior to submission to CDC. After the CDC submission there would be one other opportunity for consultation and comments to be made then CDC would propose three names of Inspectors from which the Parish would choose one. If the inspector was happy with the plan he/she would recommend that it be referred to referendum which would be organised and paid for by CDC. Assuming the referendum was successful then the document would be considered a legal document which would be used in all planning applications for Birdham.
75-14 Residents Questions relative to the Neighbourhood Plan.
Q-If there are comments from the Inspector where do they go to?
A-Initially CDC would receive any comments from the Inspector and then feed them back to the Parish Council.
Q-If the Local Plan is not in force how does this reflect on the Neighbourhood Plan assuming it is accepted?
A-Provided there is no direct and obvious contradiction with the proposed Local Plan, there should be no problems. WSCC and CDC have seen the plan and have both been very helpful and complimentary.
Q-There have been various debates about the legality of a Neighbourhood Plan where a Local Plan does not exist. What happens in this case?
A-It has been considered that provided the Neighbourhood Plan is flexible enough to cover the policies in a draft Local Plan then again there would be no problems.
Q-It has been rumoured that the Leader of CDC has suggested that all Neighbourhood Plans in the District should be delayed pending the outcome of the currently disputed Local Plan.
A-The think is that the Neighbourhood Plan has sufficient flexibility built in to cater for any variation in the submitted Local Plan.
76-14 To determine the Parish Councils response to the proposed Neighbour Plan.
Prior to the decision to be made by the Parish Council the Chairman asked all Councillors for their thoughts and comments on the proposed Neighbourhood Plan.
Cllr Hamilton said that she had read the document and was amazed at the quantity and quality of the work that had been carried out and supported the adoption of the Plan.
Cllr Cobbold said that she would very much like to thank the team who had put together the plan and for the considerable of time and dedication they had put in.
Cllr Ayton agreed with the two previous Councillors comments and wished his thanks to be added.
Cllr Barker agreed with all that had been said and added her thanks to the team.
Cllr Finch said that it had been a lot of very hard work involving lot of people who had put in lots of hours to reach this stage and in the main where unsung heroes.
Cllr Finch went on to propose that the Draft Neighbourhood Plan, as submitted, should be adopted by the Birdham Parish Council and submitted to the Chichester District Council as a matter of urgency.
The proposal was put to the vote and was resolved unanimously.
The Chairman in final summation said that he had been very concerned about elements of the Neighbourhood Plan in the early stages but was very pleased that his concerns had been dealt with and either considered or incorporated. In closing he thanks the various people who had put so much time and effort into the production of such a document.
77-14 Date of Next Meeting:
17th November 2014 at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
There being no further business to discuss the meeting was declared closed at 7.25pm
Signed ___________________________ Dated ____________________
Chairman