Joint Community Forum Meeting

28.03.2017

Attending Parish Council - Ros Hart & Lavinia Milner Parish Meeting - Arthur K Thomson - Michael Bish & Cllr Henry Potter, Boxgrove Ward Bury Parish Council - Rosemary Trent Cocking Parish Council – David Imlach Compton Parish Council - John Popplewell & Julia Moulton Parish Council – Peter Thomas Parish Council – Carole Moller and Parish Council - Andrew Leno & Cllr Andrew Shaxson, Ward Parish Council –Maureen Timms, Bill Black & Cllr Norma Graves, Fernhurst Ward Parish Council – Chris Welfare Parish Council - Geoff Keech, Nick La Hive & Pippa Jacobs Parish Council - Sarah Lydiard-Wilson Harting Parish Council - Sheridan Bowman, Chris Healey & Cllr Andrew Shaxson, Harting Ward Parish Council - Simon Laking & John Murray Lavant Parish Council - Adrian Blades Parish Council – Caroline Neville Parish Council – Ray Cooper & Peter Wilding Lynchmere Parish Council – Sandie Moore Town Council – David Coote Parish Council – Simon Pudge & Jeremy Parker Parish Council - Lynda Bell Plaistow & Parish Council - Cllr Nick Thomas, Plaistow Ward with Parish Council - Eddie Lintott & Lucy Petrie Parish Council - Carola Brown West Lavington Parish Council - Tony Jones Parish Council - Sharon Burborough Parish Council - Jill Sutcliffe & Keith Charman with Redford Parish Council – Adrian Hearle WSCC - Cllr Janet Duncton, SDNPA - Nat Belderson, Chris Paterson, Lucy Howard, Andrew Lee CDC - Andrew Frost, Amy Loaring, Steve Hansford

Apologies  John Dwane, Bignor Parish Meeting  Ann Tyrrell, Parish Council  Sandy Macqueen, Graffham Parish Council  Barry Clarke, Marden Parish Meeting  Neil Ryder, Trotton with Chithurst Parish Council  Parish Council  Milland Parish Council  Stoughton Parish Council  Cllr Mike Hall, Ward Member for Lavant  Shona Turner, CDC

1. Andrew Shaxson welcomed everyone to the third joint meet of the North East/ North West and extra welcome to those that came from South of the Downs

2. Minutes of the last meeting – no issues arising.

3. South Downs National Park

Andrew Lee - South Downs National Park

The SDNPA went live on the 1st April 2011 The priorities for the park are:  Building the foundation - Have created a Partnership Management Plan & drafting the Local Plan.  Landscape, biodiversity & cultural landscapes – o Heathlands Reunited project o Rother & Arun Rivers trust – Changing land management methods o Secrets of the High Woods – looking at archaeology underneath woods  Enjoyment & Understanding o Centurion Way extension – next phase to get through the tunnels and to Cocking o South Downs Way – Preserving the path. Tap into organisations that use it to raise money. o Learning and Outreach – Recognised Dark skies reserve. South Downs alphabet. Take the lead campaign.  Economy & Community o Farming and Brexit -95% of the park is farming or forestry o Encouraging the farms that work together on conservation issues to work together in light of Brexit o Food and Drink Portal – website hub. Facilitation site to put local suppliers in touch with each other

Lucy Howard – Planning Policy

Mineral & Waste – Working with WSCC to write a minerals plan which they have just finished consultation upon. It will be submitted to Government in May for Examination. Have agreed that the SDNPA is not suitable for large extraction sites.

Local Plan Consultation on pre submission in Autumn. It recommends medium level of development, spread across the villages and towns of the National Park. There is an affordable housing policy 50% on sites of three or more and includes a policy on dark night skies. It also takes into account the 50 Neighbourhood plans in the SDNPA.

Chris Paterson – Communities Lead

Chris’s job is to be a conduit for communities into the National Park, working with 176 town and parish councils.

He helps with:

 Community Led Planning, which includes, Parish Plans  Village Design Statements  Neighbourhood plans  CAAMP  Local Landscape Character Assessment

It is really important for area to have plans as it helps with planning development and meeting local needs. Questions Q. Is the SD National Park the second largest English national park in area or the third? A. Neither. A number eg Cairngorms and Snowdonia, Lake District and newly extended Yorkshire Dales, are larger.

Q. Will there be improvements to the South Downs Way crossing points? A. Currently working with WSCC highways on this, ensuring that signage isn’t obtrusive.

Q. How does developing a Community Land Trust work with the local plan and housing allocation? A. Once a CLT is formed, come and talk to us about possible sites which might be suitable

Q. Will SDNP get involved in enforcement; there is currently a ‘black hole’ in communication? A. We have doubled capacity but this is still only two people. Enforcement is part of the s101 agreement between the SDNPA and CDC. We need tangible examples if this is not working. Andrew Frost added that the CDC team is now at full strength.

Q. Concerned to see that the mineral plan does not have a hierarchy of energy like earlier documents had. A. The Minerals Plan follows on from the Partnership Management Plan and is a different sort of document. It will not have the same hierarchy of energy as the PMP.

Q. What will SDNPA do to improve communication with parishes? A. District Councillors will be added to monthly emailed newsletter list

Q. What is the SDNPA approach to equine facilities? A. Hope to have a balanced view as there are widely differing opinions about the impact of these developments.

Q. What is the park doing about large extensions; large houses being built and second home ownership? A. This area is still using the relevant 1999 Local Plan policies. We have a new housing mix policy in the pre-submission plan and a policy on replacement homes. Need to feed the concerns of parish council members about the current proposals into the consultation on the local plan.

Q. What’s the stance to applications for mineral extraction outside but on the edge of the park? A. SDNPA would comment and WSCC have a duty to take the national park purpose into account.

Q. What are the priorities on permitting mobile phone masts? A. There is a difficult balance between conserving landscape and supporting rural economy

Q. A number of extra development sites located in a number of communities have been proposed or changed since the consultation on the Local Plan Preferred Options last autumn. Are you confident that the Pre-submission consultation for soundness currently earmarked for September 2017 will satisfy the criteria for public consultation without producing a separate ‘Site Allocation DPD’? A. Yes. The consultations done on the Issues and Options and Preferred Options plus extra work with the parish and town councils clearly meets the regulations.

4. Future Topics  Issues with Local policing  Closure of local facilities.  State of the roads  Large lorries on small roads  Large extensions