ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Planning Meeting

Thursday 4^th March 2010 at 7.15 pm in the Red House

Minutes of the Albrighton Parish Council planning meeting held on Thursday 4^th March 2010 in the Red House.

PRESENT: Cllr. D Beechey (Vice Chair), N Hester, P Illes, D Johnson, R Kidson,

J MacLachlan, J Nelson, S Pate, S Pledger.

PUBLIC SESSION:

No members of the public were in attendance.

1. APOLOGIES:

Cllrs. R Balkwill, G Beechey, M Holden, P Lusk (Chair). D Murray, M Pate.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:

Personal:

Cllr. S Pate declared a personal interest in agenda item 6.

Cllr. S Pledger declared a personal interest in agenda item 6.

Prejudicial:

None.

3. PARKING IN NEWHOUSE LANE:

Cllr. Pledger reported that the consultation period for the proposed new parking regulations in the vicinity of Newhouse Lane and Cross Road had been extended until 1^st March and letters explaining the proposals had been distributed to residents in the area. Cllr. Kidson said that because of the new housing at The Hollies in 18 Cross Road it would make sense to extend the no parking zone past the proposed new development. Cllr Beechey said that there had been no further developments beyond those reported and the council would now need to wait for the outcome of the public consultation.

4. PARKING AT ALBRIGHTON STATION:

Cllr. Beechey reported that there had been no new developments with regard to parking at the railway station and it still remained a problem. London Midland would not spend money on widening the station approach unless there was a return on their investment which would mean charging for parking. Cllr. Hester said that the proposed development east of Shaw Lane offered the best chance for additional parking reasonably close to the station and Cllr. Nelson said that the provision of such a resource had already been discussed in preliminary talks. Cllr. Kidson was concerned that without additional parking the future of the station could be in doubt, particularly as Cosford station was being developed, and wondered whether the land used by Heartwood adjacent to the A41 could be considered although there were obvious difficulties with access and the lack of pavements under the railway bridge.

5. THE FUTURE LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED NEW MEDICAL CENTRE:

Cllr. Nelson reported that he had attended a meeting with members of the medical practice and Shropshire Council planners which had proved to be productive and useful. An outline application in a green belt area would need a lot of supporting detail and it was important that the medical practice secured the site on a conditional basis at the earliest opportunity. The funding from the PCT had become more complicated with other centres seeking new facilities but all concerned remained confident that an application to the PCT would be successful. There would need to be a public consultation at a later point that would concentrate on three issues:

• The convenience of the location;
• The principle of development in the green belt;
• The design of the new facility.

The consultation would have to be after the site had been secured but before an outline planning application had been submitted.

Cllr. Pledger said that discussions at a recent meeting had asked for a letter of support for the project from the parish council to the PCT. Members agreed that a letter should be written but it was necessary to liaise with the doctors concerned in order to highlight the issues which would be supportive of the current priorities. Cllr. Nelson agreed to liaise with the medical staff and the clerk to ensure that the letter gave maximum support to the ongoing discussions.

6. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE GRANTS COMMITTEE:

Cllr. S Pate informed members that there had been a meeting of the Grants Committee prior to the full meeting of council which had reviewed four applications for funding. Its recommendations were as follows:

• A request had been received from South Shropshire Crucial Crew which had asked for £5 per head for 34 young people from the Albrighton area who were attending a five day event in June. Cllr. Pate said that this organisation always gave good value, had provided all of the supportive paperwork and the committee recommended a grant of £170 be made as requested. The council supported this recommendation and the clerk was instructed to make the money available at the earliest opportunity.
• The Albrighton Swimming Club had asked for a grant of £529 + VAT for a new set of steps to the pool. The present steps were in a very poor state and new ones were urgently needed before the swimming season began in app. six weeks time. Cllr. Pate reported that all of the paperwork was in place and the committee recommended that the council should purchase the steps on the club’s behalf in order to be able to reclaim the VAT. Councillors agreed to support this recommendation in full but asked that Cllr. Beechey approach Donington with Boscobel Parish Council for a contribution towards the cost.
• The Albrighton Players had requested a grant of £500 towards the cost of their next production of Improbable Fiction by Alan Ayckbourn which requires specialist props and rig. The company intended to obtain them from the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough where the play debuted which had put up the production costs for this performance considerably in excess of the norm. Cllr. Pate said that the submission to the council was of high quality and met all of their criteria and the committee recommended that the application should be approved in full. The council supported this recommendation and the clerk was instructed to make the money available at the earliest opportunity.
• The Melville Club had asked the committee for a grant to help with the costs of general maintenance of their building which amounted to £1,600. Cllr. Pate reported that this application was a retrospective request which the committee felt it could not support as it contravened their rules on making retrospective payments. Cllr. Nelson proposed that the clerk should write to the Melville Club offering the council’s support for their work which might attract funding in the future but refusing the current application on the grounds that the council could not make retrospective payments. The proposal was seconded by Cllr. Kidson and agreed by the council.

7. REPORT ON THE PLANNING COMMITTEE VISIT TO THE HOLLIES,             

CROSS ROAD, ALBRIGHTON:

Cllr. Kidson informed the meeting that he had attended the on site meeting on 2^nd March and the planning committee meeting in the afternoon. The application for a single dwelling at the Hollies had been approved subject to conditions despite the fact that 31 objections had been received. Cllr Kidson felt that the procedures in committee were unsatisfactory in that documents had been distributed without time to read them or give thought to the contents and the fact that two conditions relating to this development had already been ignored in relation to the premature clearing of the site.

Cllr Kidson proposed that the parish council should write to the planning authority expressing concern over the safety of school children using Newhouse Lane Primary School and requesting that parish councillors attending future planning meetings should be allowed to look at the documentation prior to the discussions. He further proposed that the parish council should write to the highways department asking it to extend the zig-zag lines further down Cross Road or put a bus stop sign for the school bus parking at the end of the school day. Cllr, Nelson, in seconding the proposal, suggested that the letter to highways should seek their advice in light of the permission granted to the application at The Hollies. The Council gave their approval to the writing of both letters.

8. PLANNING:

Planning applications:

10/00432/FUL Erection of a single storey entrance lobby; external paved area; landscaping works; re-roofing; internal alterations; Shrewsbury Arms, High Street, Albrighton.

The council recorded no objections.

10/00433/LBC Alterations in association with erection of entrance lobby; demolition of existing structural walls; re-roofing; internal alterations affecting a Grade 2 listed building, Shrewsbury Arms, High Street, Albrighton.

The council recorded no objections.

9. CORRESPONDENCE:

Cllr. Beechey went through the correspondence which was received and noted. Arising from the correspondence the clerk was asked to write to Gas Alliance about the state of the roads and pavements in the Cotswold Drive/Fairlawn area of the village asking for a proper reinstatement of the highway and the council land at the junction of Cotswold Drive and Station Road.

Materials were circulated for the next council meeting on the 18^th March relating to the Shropshire Core Strategy.

Cllr Hester pointed out that two road signs in the village were pointing in the wrong direction and asked the clerk to bring them to the notice of the highways department.

New materials relating to tree protection orders were noted and the clerk was asked to consult Mr John Bulmer to discuss a possible submission to the county as part of the consultation which was due to expire on 29^th March 2010.

10. TIMES AND DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS:

• Finance committee meeting Thursday 18^th March 2010 at 3.00 pm in the Parish Office.
• Parish Council meeting Thursday 18^th March 2010 at 7.15 pm in the Red House.
• Parish Council planning meeting Thursday 1^st April 2010 at 7.00 pm in the Red House.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.30 pm.

Signed……………………………………………Date……………………………..

Chairman