ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Planning Meeting
Thursday 1st October 2009
Minutes of the planning meeting Thursday 1st October 2009.
Present: Cllrs. P Lusk (Chair), D Beechey (Vice Chair), R Balkwill, G Beechey,
M Holden, P Illes, D Johnson, R Kidson, D Murray, J Nelson, S Pledger.
Public Session:
Two members of the public were present.
Presentation by Mr M A Holland, Chief Executive, Shropshire Housing Group.
The chair introduced Mr. M Holland of the Shropshire Housing Group and thanked him for attending the Council meeting. Mr Holland is currently the Chief Executive of the Shropshire Housing Group and he had agreed to provide an overview of affordable housing issues in general terms.
Mr Holland began by outlining the planning background in relation to housing at a national, regional and local level. He went on to define what affordable housing is and he defined three types – rented housing, local authority housing and low cost sale housing.
The providers of affordable housing are either local authorities, housing associations, community land trusts or private developers with the costs being met by landowners, homes and communities agencies, local authorities, housing associations, community land trusts or other public bodies. The design and standards of affordable housing was controlled by ECO homes, the Code for Sustainable Homes, planning conditions or building regulations. Parish councils often had a key role to play in the development of affordable housing through the production of their Parish Plans and Village Design Statements, their involvement in the new Local Joint Committees and section 106 agreements. Mr Holland advised parish councils to always be careful in choosing partners in the development of new affordable housing and not accepting a partner as part of a larger agreement without first ensuring that the suggested body is appropriate for the council.
Mr Holland went on to show a wide variety of new affordable houses recently built in the county and then took questions from the floor. He was able to provide information on design and environmental standards of new housing, standards relating to supported housing for the elderly, building methods and finance and the availability of extra care housing locally.
At the end of presentation the chair thanked Mr Holland for his wide ranging, authoritative and informative talk and for giving up his time to lead the discussion on a very important topic.
Personal:
None
Prejudicial:
Cllr. Nelson declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 5.
Cllr. Nelson informed the council that Mr Terry Close had been appointed to give a valuation of council land at 27 Grange Park and adjacent properties. No fee had yet been agreed with Mr Close.
A copy of the amended Old School Deed of Surrender was distributed to all members. Cllr. Nelson reported that after taking professional advice he was able to recommend it to the council. After one question on item 3, page 2, of the Deed of Surrender Cllr Balkwill proposed that the document should be signed. Cllr. Holden seconded the proposal which received unanimous approval.
Cllrs. Lusk and D Beechey duly signed the Deed of Surrender on behalf of the council.
The chair went over the present situation regarding the search for a suitable property in tandem with the Shropshire Council Community Access Point. The clerk had written to the trustees of the Red House outlining the council’s requirements and had asked the trustees to give consideration to a move into their property on the ground floor with access to a more private room upstairs. Cllr. Nelson had also written to Shropshire Council outlining an offer which they might wish to consider regarding 82b High Street which included the lowering of the floor to enable disabled access at no cost to the tenants. Cllr. Murray had contacted Mr Brian Bennett about the raising of the pavement outside the current Parish Office but had to date received no reply.
Resolved: The clerk to write to Mr Brian Bennett asking for an update and plans for the raising of the footpath outside 82b High Street to prevent flooding.
Cllr. Pledger asked for the details of the arrangements with Shropshire Council and Cllr. Murray urged the council to find out the rents of available properties in the village.
No planning applications were submitted to the council.
Cllr. Murray informed members that the application for the Hollies in Cross Road was being considered on 3rd November 2009 if individual councillors wished to attend.
Cllrs. Kidson and Murray reported that they had agreed a response to Shropshire Council’s “Planning Policy Directions”. They both believed that there were good grounds for considering Albrighton a key centre and they disliked the reference to “rural” tourism in an area which included so many obvious tourist attractions. There were also concerns about employment in the area if DCAE Cosford was to become an army barracks and the high tech “corridor” down the A41 was to deteriorate. The two councillors felt that the notion of Bridgnorth as the major centre in the area was not sensible when Albrighton was positioned almost halfway between Wolverhampton and Telford with excellent transport links to both. The failure to recognise the importance of Telford with very few references to it in the document was a major weakness of the report and Cllrs. Kidson and Murray both felt more work need to be done in this area. There was also concern about the vagueness of stated objectives which failed to define future actions and the absence of any reference to Cosford was disappointing when it was such an important influence in the Albrighton area.
The oral report was well received by fellow councillors who thanked them for their hard work in producing a draft response. It was agreed that authority should be delegated to Cllrs. Kidson and Murray to submit a response based on the observations made during the meeting on behalf of the council in time for the deadline.
Cllr. Beechey reported that two outlets in the village had recently been granted a liquor licence and there had been no reference to the parish council regarding their suitability.
Resolved: The clerk to write to Shropshire Council to enquire whether parish councils should be consulted in the decision to grant a liquor licence.
A letter had been received from Mr Mark Pritchard MP expressing concern over options being discussed with regard to the Princess Royal hospital, Telford, asking the council to support his Community Petition and moving a motion of support for the hospital, its services and staff. A copy of the letter had been distributed to all councillors who all expressed their appreciation of the work that goes on at the hospital and for the dedication of the staff. Cllr. D Beechey outlined the issues facing the two hospitals in the county which would have to be resolved at some point in the near future. He urged caution and encouraged members not to feed the anxieties of residents who might be worried over a possible reduction in service. Cllr. Illes suggested that members should wait to see the official report and accompanying documentation before reaching any fixed view in order to avoid a premature conclusion that might prove to be misguided when the full facts were known. He proposed that the council should wait for the formal consultation to be completed before it registered any view while giving its support to the hospital in general terms and for the service it offers to local people. The motion was seconded by Cllr. Pledger and unanimously approved. The chair was encouraged to suggest a spokesperson be invited from the PCT to talk at the Albrighton Area Local Joint Committee once the consultation was under way.
Resolved: The clerk to write to Mr Mark Pritchard MP giving him an outline of the council discussion and informing him of the members’ conclusions.
A suggestion from Mr D Thompson that it might be helpful if he was to report to the parish council on the latest situation regarding the proposed development east of Shaw Lane, Albrighton was welcomed by councillors.
Resolved: The clerk to write to Mr Thompson inviting him to talk about the proposed development east of Shaw Lane, Albrighton at the planning meeting on 7th January 2010.
Signed……………………………………………….Date………………………………
Chairman