Curtlee Hill, Wootton, , NN4 6ED Telephone: 01604 705055 Email: [email protected] __ Minutes of the Extraordinary meeting of Wootton Parish Council held on Tuesday 31st January 2017 at 7:00pm.

Present: Chairman Cllr S Homer, Vice-Chairman Cllr J Servent, Cllr M Jones, Cllr V Watling, Cllr K Lever, Cllr Horsley, Cllr Rayner, Cllr Waite, Cllr Green & Cllr Barfield

Also present: T Charteress (Parish Clerk), County Councillor Phil Larratt, Borough Councillor Jonathan Nunn & representatives from Collingtree, , Hackleton, Great Houghton, & Quinton Parish Councils; 0 members of the public

Item no 020/17 To receive apologies Apologies were received from Cllrs De Vere-Burt & Barfield due to illness 021/17 Declarations of Interest There were no Declarations of Interest from Members 022/17 To discuss and consider a joint Parish strategy following site of the draft South Local Plan (Part 2A) Preferred Options consultation (Part 1), documents County Phil Larratt explained the current position with the Local Plan from South Northants. He stated that the proposed Local Plan shows two reserve sites for development; he explained that the Borough Council will be responding to the proposed plan. The Chairman Parish Councillor Sara Homer, invited the meeting to share their thoughts regarding the two proposed developments.

Leader of the Borough Council, Councillor Jonathan Nunn said the commitment of the Borough remains as strong as ever against these developments, he pointed out that these sights are reserve sights. Councillor Nunn explained that the Borough Council does not have a five-year housing land supply which does complicate things but doesn’t make the Borough’s position any different.

County Councillor Phil Larratt said there was potential at the north of the town to deliver the infrastructure and that they are desperate for a bye pass in . He also explained that the brownfield sights in the Borough are already included in plans for housing. Councillor Larratt explained that the Borough Council does not have a housing needs analysis and that a piece of work needs addressing which incorporates the entire Northampton area. Councillor Larratt also stated he would like to see more development in the villages. Councillor Larratt said the A45 is managed and owned by Highways and that is why local changes cannot happen. A Growth Management Scheme has been produced by Highways England. Councillor Larratt also stated a meeting was taking place with Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP regarding safety on the A45.

Collingtree PC said they fought the Bovis application who still gained planning for 1000 houses; they stated the A45 cannot cope and the Roxhill application needs opposing on mass. The Parish Council are very much against all the new developments; there is no provision for hospitals.

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Rod Sellers former chairman of Collingtree PC and Hunsbury and Collingtree Residents’ Alliance who have been fighting the Bovis plan. He explained that he had just come from a meeting with and regarding the Northampton Gateway. The meeting agreed that the impact of either of the rail freight developments is enormous and they are going to work together to challenge the proposals. He said the combined firepower of 6 Parish Councils would be enormous when looking at individual applications. East Hunsbury Parish Council stated they were involved in the action group to fight the Bovis application; they said one of the models used just seem to be clutching at figures. None of the developers are interested in the road network and there is a lack of school places. They expressed concerns about the Newport Pagnell road and flooding at Grange Park; secondary problems with other roads including the A43 & junction 15a becoming congested. Wootton Parish Council explained there were no mention of medical facilities & no increase in the hospital proposition. Wootton is being swamped & will continue to flood with more houses. A suggestion was made for Parishes to all call an Extraordinary Meeting on the same day, to contact the press and come up with a solution. Contact should be made with Parishes to the north of the town and SNC needs to be lobbied. School provision is critical. Policing will become more difficult. A statement was made saying every dwelling averages two cars per house with 7 movements per day. Great Houghton PC said they had been involved before in pulling Parish Councils together and said it seemed to work better as a group. The census shows that the number of proposed housing is too large and the volume is not needed. More infrastructure is needed. Great Houghton village has become a rat run. Hackleton PC said there were two main issues, schools & roads and that roundabouts are not the solution. The proposed housing is in the wrong place and reiterated the Parish Councils should all stick together. The B526 can’t take anymore. The developments will also create a problem with a knock-on effect on the Brafield Road. Grange Park PC reiterated everything previously said and asked how do we move forward as a group, what happens next? Every time a development threat comes together there is no money to amend the infrastructure. There is provision for the aging population. Quinton PC want to work together. They stated their concerns on roads, flooding and said that that 1.5 million vehicles use the Quinton Road every year. Hardingstone PC advised the meeting that they had previously fought a planning application and won only to have lost on appeal. Hardingstone PC advised meetings with everyone, placards, road mitigations, traffic surveys, TV, radios etc.

Following these discussions representatives suggested an Executive Committee is created to oppose the proposed sites included in the draft SNC Local Plan. The meeting suggested two members from each council are appointed to represent their Parish Council and that this would be administered by Wootton Parish Council.

This being an extraordinary meeting of Wootton Parish Council Cllr Mick Jones proposed that: Wootton Parish Council establish an Executive Committee (EC) and send an invitation to all neighbouring Parish Councils. The Parish Councils wishing to accept this invitation must do so formerly through their individual Parish administrations. The main requirement of this invitation is to elect two Parish Councillors to serve as members of the EC for an unspecified time. The two elected EC Parish Councillors could also be given delegated power by the Parish Councils to act on their behalf and at present there is no financial requirement to this invitation.

RESOLVED: to join an executive committee with other Parishes to form an action forum. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Kim Lever

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