ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Planning Meeting
Thursday 4th February 2010 at 7.15 in the Red House.
Minutes of the Albrighton Parish Council planning meeting held on Thursday 4th February 2010 in the Red House.
PRESENT: Cllrs. P Lusk (Chair), D Beechey (Vice Chair), G Beechey, N Hester,
P Illes, D Johnson, R Kidson, J MacLachlan, D Murray, J Nelson, M Pate, S Pledger.
PUBLIC SESSION:
No members of the public were in attendance.
Cllrs. R Balkwill, M Holden, S Pate.
Personal:
Cllr. M Pate declared a personal interest in agenda item 4.
Cllr. S Pledger declared a personal interest in agenda item 4.
Prejudicial:
Cllr. J Nelson declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 3.
Cllr. Nelson withdrew from the meeting for this item. The Chair informed the council that written confirmation by email that the county wished to locate the new access point at the parish office in 82b High Street had been received. The parish council would be a subtenant of Shropshire Council and both offices would relocate into the Red House once the ground floor refurbishment was completed. The details of the tenancy had still to be agreed together with the redesign and décor of the present office. Cllr Pate proposed that the suggested arrangements should be accepted which was seconded by Cllr. Pledger and agreed by the council.
Cllr Kidson had outlined a number of proposals in his report which had been circulated to members. He said that three Councillors attended the last meeting but the Chair of Donington with Boscobel Parish Council had left shortly after the start of the meeting and declared that he intended to resign from the committee. Cllr. Kidson reported that the Albrighton Cricket Club had no need for grants before the end of the season and it was in a position to apply for suitable loans for new changing facilities. With regard to the swimming club Cllr. Pate reported that the repair work to the pool had been commissioned and the pool should be ready for the beginning of the new season. The committee still had to resolve the issue of CRB checks and meet the costs of increased insurance which could increase the subscriptions by as much as 70%. The CRB checks could be managed by Cosford with regard to the lifeguards to save money and Cllr. G Beechey asked Cllr. Pate to determine whether the administration charge associated with the CRB checks could be paid by the county. Cllr. Pate agreed to look into this request. Members were informed that the Primary School’s Chair of Governors had asked the Parish Council to bear the cost of running the changing rooms through the swimming season. The council agreed to consider this request. Some members of the swimming club committee are due to withdraw their services but the meeting was assured that other volunteers were available to fill their places. Cllr. Kidson reported that the council was still waiting for a proposal from Ms Carolyn Healey regarding the draft joint management arrangements for the Abney Avenue playground and the council funding for the Donington Nature Reserve had not yet been paid.
Members considered the options outlined in Cllr. Kidson’s report regarding the future management of funds from the two parish councils involved. The Chair of Donington with Boscobel Parish Council had made it clear that he wished the funding to be passed to the Joint Leisure Committee who would then make decisions regarding its allocation. He objected to Albrighton Parish Council taking action with regard to leisure funding independently of the Joint Leisure Committee. Cllr. Kidson said that reports from the committee had been passed on to members of Albrighton Parish Council for their information and consideration in their regular meetings but this had not happened with regard to Donington with Boscobel Parish Council. Cllr. Pate said he was totally opposed to a delegated budget to the committee and Cllr. D Beechey also felt that this suggestion should be rejected. The Chair also expressed his reservations regarding this proposal. Despite these difficulties Cllr. Murray felt that the council should persevere and try and make the Joint Leisure Committee work although a replacement for the Chair of Donington with Boscobel Parish Council would be needed. Cllr. Hester agreed and Cllr. Kidson felt that it was a useful way of encouraging partnership between the two councils. He proposed that the council adopt section 8b of his report regarding the formal arrangements for the Joint Leisure Committee without item ii which makes reference to a delegated budget. The proposal was seconded by Cllr. Murray and agreed by the council. Cllr. MacLachlan was proposed to fill the committee vacancy from Albrighton Parish Council by Cllr. Pate and seconded by Cllr. D Beechey. The proposal was unanimously agreed. Donington with Boscobel Parish Council will be asked to fill their vacancies.
Cllr. Nelson offered his thanks to Cllr. Kidson for his hard work on behalf of the committee and felt that he had acted in an exemplary manner. His comments were supported by all members of the council.
The Chair informed the council that the Albrighton Road Safety Group was active and it had written to ask the Parish Council to fund the cost of a new Vehicle Activated Sign. Cllr. Pate reminded members that the county had recently undertaken a survey of traffic movement in the area and had reported on the speed of vehicles on neighbouring roads. He agreed to look into this matter and report back to the council at its next meeting before a decision to consider the purchase of a speed visor is taken. Cllrs. Illes and Pledger were the council representatives on the Road Safety Group and the clerk agreed to find out the date of the next meeting and pass on the details to the two members concerned
Tenders for the refurbishment of the War Memorial had been circulated to members prior to the meeting which Cllr. Johnson explained in more detail. He reminded members that the proposals would need to be approved by Ms Sarah Lowe, the Conservation Officer for the county, and a grant would need to be obtained for up to 50% of the cost. He recommended that the quotation from P B Complete Landscapes, Albrighton for £4,300 including VAT be accepted. Cllr Pate seconded the proposal which was unanimously agreed by the council.
Cllr. Nelson reported that the steering group had met with the doctors’ representatives regarding the proposal to site the new medical centre at Cross Road, Albrighton. He said that the doctors were negotiating to buy a field, which was approximately five acres in size, and put in a planning application once the breeding season of any newt population was over. The doctors were consulting the planners with regard to the details of their proposals and seemed to have their support despite the fact that the land was in the green belt and ultimately may need a decision from the Secretary of State. Cllr. Nelson suggested that the council could invite a senior planning officer such as Richard Fortune or his manager to a future meeting in order to ascertain their commitment to this project. Cllr. Pate seconded this proposal and he reminded Councillors that the land concerned was once designated for housing. Cllr. Murray informed members that the applicant could apply for planning permission before a purchase of the site was agreed. Cllr. Nelsons proposal was agreed by the council and the clerk was asked to invite appropriate planners to the meeting on 4th March 2010. Cllr. Nelson suggested that the discussion should be restrained at present as the doctors are not yet ready for a public consultation.
Planning Approvals:
09/03169/FUL Erection of extension to dwelling and a conservatory 50B High Street, Albrighton.
Received and noted.
09/03344/LBC Demolition and replacement extensions to dwelling Old Farm House, Church Lane, Albrighton.
Received and noted:
Planning permission refused:
0903263/FUL Erection of a single storey extension to dwelling Meere Barn, Newhouse Lane, Albrighton.
Received and noted. Cllr. Pledger asked if reasons for this refusal were given. None were supplied in the notification but members felt that the fact that the property was in the green belt was likely to have been a key factor.
The Chair went through the correspondence.
There was further discussion on the Cross Road traffic management proposals prompted by the letter from the Chair of Governors for Albrighton Primary School. Members felt that all of the points raised in the letter had been adequately dealt with in the talks with the county and needed no further action.
It was agreed that the letter from Shropshire Council relating to the Local Development Framework should be placed on the agenda for 18th February.
Cllr. Lusk and his wife were nominated for the chance to receive an invitation to a garden party at Buckingham Palace on 22nd July 2010.
The clerk was asked to complete and return the statement of truth to the Land Registry regarding council ownership of the village green.
The report from Cllr Kidson on the all parliamentary group on sewers and sewerage was received and noted.
Cllr. Murray raised the issue of council land in Worthington Drive that had been annexed by householders to enlarge their gardens. The chair reported that a valuer had been appointed and he will present his report to the council shortly.
Future agenda items are to include a discussion on tourism with representatives from Shropshire Council and dates for the compaction skip in 2010/11.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.08 pm.
Signed…………………………………………Date…………………………….
Chairman