Upper Arley Parish Council
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KIDDERMINSTER FOREIGN PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 16th September 2019 at 7.30pm at Trimpley Village Hall Present Councillor Mrs. C. Gammond Councillor Mr. B. Phillips Councillor Mrs. L. Green Councillor Mr. C. Grainger Councillor Mr. G. Yarranton Councillor Mr. J. Gammond Mrs E Whitehouse (Clerk) Councillor Mr. C Jordan (arrived 8.15) District Cllr. J. Byng Dist. Cllr. P. Harrison 3 members of the public present 1. Police Report – Police were unable to attend, but sent the following report: “Burglary on Trimpley Lane, just after the bend on the way out of the main village. Smashed glass door to get in but nothing stolen. This happened on the 29th August - I did send it out to trimpleywatch. Theft from vehicle on a car park around Eymore wood. Window smashed and handbag stolen. Happened on 25th August” Cllr. Grainger asked if a check could be made to ensure the sign is still there, asking people not to leave handbags in cars at this location. Public Open Forum It was reported that Bridleway 576 was overgrown where you emerge onto the former golf club drive. Various E-mails had been circulating about the Golf Club site new sign – advertising a nature trail. The latest information from the planning authority was that although the sign was marginally above permitted limits, they were reluctant to fight this. They advised that the intention was to open a trail using the existing facilities. However, some of these were built without planning permission. Enforcement action was to be taken, but this had not yet happened. Officer Helen Hawkes has said that the Enforcement Officer was to meet with the landowner shortly, and that Planning permission will need to be obtained for some structures or they would be asked to have them removed. Cllr. Yarranton stated again that this was again an instance of retrospective applications for retention of some structures which had now been on site for 9 months or more. This was not the right way to go about planning, and he asked District Cllr. Byng to see planning officer Helen Hawkes about this, with a view to having structures removed Local Plan Councillor Mrs. Green raised the following issue: In the 2018 Pre-submission publication pages 223/224 dealt with the Land at Low Habberley WA/KF/3. On page 224 under “Reasoned Justification” the one line under this heading says “This site is well contained by solid boundaries on three sides”. However in the 2019 document on page 44 there is a revised reasoned justification for WA/KF/3 Land at Low Habberley. The one line from the previous document is to be deleted and the following is to replace it: “The site is located on the NW edge of Kidderminster’s urban area, approximately 1.5Km from the town centre. The retention and enhancement of the western hedgerow boundary will allow for an improved residential edge to Habberley when seen from the north and provide a strong defensible Green Belt boundary. The site has good access to local shops and schools. The impact of any development on the nearby Habberley Valley Nature Reserve and Local Wildlife Site should be balanced out through biodiversity net gain.” This now read as though it was the perfect site for development. Also she stated that it seemed unlikely that the development of 120 houses was going to benefit and create “biodiversity net gain”. Also Cllr. Green felt that the site already had a “strong defensible Green Belt boundary” being the Habberley Road. After discussion with the district councillors on these points, it was agreed that a further representation would be made from this parish, disputing some of the points. 2. Apologies For Absence: Received and approved at start of meeting from Cllr. C. Jordan, who was attending the Parish Forum on behalf of the Parish Council re an Agenda item of CCTV deployment in the Parish. 3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Cllr. Mrs. Gammond and Cllr. J. Gammond declared interests, being members of the Village Hall committee. Cllr. Phillips declared a pecuniary interest in respect of any Churchyard grant. Cllr. Grainger declared an interest in any item concerning Riddings Brook and also planning application 19/0428 (see planning). 4. Approval of the Minutes The minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council Meeting held on 19th August 2019 were approved and signed. 5. District and County Councillor Reports - inc. progress reports on other matters Items reported for attention by District & County Councillor and other matters arising. District Cllr. John Byng ) District Cllr. Paul Harrison) – Consultation on the Local Plan had re-opened and further - 57 - comments deadline is Monday 14th October. He explained that the land earmarked under WA/KF/3 at Low Habberley had come in late to the Planning Department as a possible site for development, and was quite low in priority originally, but as Wyre Forest now needed to make up house numbers after some sites were declared not acceptable for development, then the site at Low Habberley had moved up in priority. It was decided that the Clerk should make further comment on behalf of the parish council refuting some of the claims as in the discussion on revised wording minuted above in the Public Forum. Clerk was also to ask the District Council Arboriculturist to consider the roadside oaktree on Habberley Lane for a TPO. Localism – The District Council had e-mailed Stourport, Bewdley and Kidderminster Town Councils, in an attempt to start discussions on the transfer of considerable assets and services to Towns under the Localism act. The same expansion plan may also filter down to parishes. Cllr. Yarranton posed the question that, if these assets and services were to become the responsibility of towns and parishes, was there going to be a need for a District Council, and would not the public be better served with just an unitary authority. County Cllr. Hardiman – had sent the following report: “The County Council is undertaking a number of Adult Social Engagement events across the county. For details contact Marina Johnson, [email protected] Kidderminster’s Worcester Street Project is progressing well; the work is now focussing on the junction with Blackwell Street and Coventry Street. Local Issues: VAS Signs (posts): I shall be meeting with Paul Green, Highways Engineer this week and hope to clarify the actual costs in relation to the necessary posts and their installation so that I can communicate to the Parish Council my Divisional Contribution towards this project.” A vote of thanks was given to Cllr. Hardiman for this offer. 6. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT CONTROL: a) Previous planning applications – 19/0428 Proposed single storey side and rear extension and conversion of garage to habitable space at THE BUNGALOW, GREY GREEN FARM Approved 19/0349 – Mill Cottage Sandy Lane – This property had received planning permission for an extension, and it lies within this parish. However, the Parish had never been consulted. Clerk contacted the Planning Dept, who confirmed they had wrongly assumed that it fell in Kidderminster Town Council area, and not Kidderminster Foreign. Hence, the Parish Council had not received a consultation, for which Paul Round had sent apologies. Cllr. Harrision stated that he had personally highlighted this error to Planning Officers some time ago, but the error had not been corrected before the application had been decided, which was of surprise to Cllr. Harrison. 19/0494/FULL RED RIDGE SANDY LANE KIDDERMINSTER DY115QZ Erection of single storey side extension and attached lean-to store outbuilding. Awaiting Decision. b) New Planning applications: - 19/0526 Certificate of lawfulness:- Use of property for permanent residential occupation in excess of 4 years at THE WILLOWS HILL FARM, NORTHWOOD LANE, BEWDLEY, DY121AT Comment: “We have no evidence to either support or contradict the claimed usage, but if as stated by the applicant themselves that they have permanently occupied the property in excess of 4 years, (indeed for 13 years) we would query the Council Tax liability, including the back- dated liability over these years, and wonder if they have been charged full council tax for permanent occupancy. Could this please be checked and appropriate measures taken.” c) Compliance Issues/Appeals Easter Cottage – Awaiting appeal decision from the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol. d) Local Plans – Clerk tabled details of drop-in sessions for the Wyre Forest Local Plan which had been circulated district-wide, with a closing date for comments on 14th October. She would make further comment as detailed above in these minutes, concerning the land at Low Habberley. The County Minerals Plan was also open for comments until 30th September. A proposed site – Site Ref F008-2502 - fell partially in this parish, and a link to the consultation document was given on the Parish Council website homepage. Clerk would make representation as instructed – viz: “- We are concerned about the flooding that extraction from this site may cause - both in operation, and in taking away the natural drainage of the land. Flooding may be caused with extra water (from both quarry operations and depletion of natural drainage minerals) going into the nearby Honeybrook, and we would like assurance that this will be catered for, and that North Worcestershire Water Management has been consulted on all aspects of drainage from this site, and given full consideration to the impact on the brook mentioned. We feel that lack of a full investigation into this point may render consideration of this site unsound. - 58 - - The adjacent A442 is a very busy and dangerous road for site traffic to be exiting from/to this site. - Mud and sand quarry deposits on the road could exacerbate dangerous road conditions.