Salfords and Sidlow Parish Council Minutes ONLINE 12 October 2020 Meeting Opened at 7:30Pm and Closed at 8.35Pm
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
- Salfords and Sidlow Parish Council Minutes ONLINE 12 October 2020 Meeting opened at 7:30pm and closed at 8.35pm. Email: [email protected] Website: www.salfordsandsidlowpc.org.uk Councillors (Cllrs) present: Apologies: Attending: 1. Cllr James Allen (JAll) Cllr Paul Edwards 0 members of public 2. Cllr Jim Blackmore (JB) 3. Cllr Martin Burton (MB) 4. Cllr Wayne Clarke (WC) Chairman Apologies 5. Cllr Caroline Clarke (CC) 6. Cllr Mark Lodge (ML) 7. Cllr Stephen Rolph (SR) In attendance: Claire Minter (CM), Clerk 1. Apologies for absence Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr Edwards due to a bereavement in the family. Councillors sent their condolences and best wishes to PE and his family. 2. Code of Members' Conduct - Declaration of Interest SR declared an interest in 20/01876/F as he lived close to the property. The Clerk had authorised a dispensation to enable SR to remain in the meeting and speak on the application but not to take part in any vote. There were no other declarations of interest. 3. Public Notices - Councillors Surgery – Friday 6 November 2020 – 19:00 – 19:30hrs - Parish Council Meeting on Zoom – Monday 9 November 2020 at 19:30hrs - Tree Planting Event - Saturday 28 November – 11am to 3pm – Salfords village hall 4. Public Session There were no members of the public 5. Acceptance of Last Minutes The minutes were approved and recorded as a true and accurate record of the meeting on 14 September 2020. 6. Planning Applications See attached Appendix B –September/ October 2020 Planning List with full commentary. JB advised 5 of the 8 Councillors attended the Councillor surgery on Friday 9 October when all planning applications were reviewed. The Councillors agreed to respond to 3 planning applications with 1 object and 2 no objection with comment. 1 Planning decisions made by R&BBC Refer to Sheet 323 October 2020. There were 3 planning applications: ▪ 2 Approved ▪ 1 refused Horse Hill Sarah Finch (SF) has confirmed the dates for the judicial review hearing: 17-18 November. It will most likely be conducted online. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government may also get involved in the case too as they are now addressing national planning policy directly. MB had circulated meeting notes from the Horse Hill overview on 24/9/20 1. The second hearing which failed, the judge said SF did not qualify for the single claimant cap as she was supported by the Weald group, so this increased to £10,000 costs. 2. Failure from the second hearing which lead to the appeal actually improved the current situation, as the Appeal court judgement was decided by a more senior Judge than the hearing will have on the 17/18th November. 3. The decision on 17/18th can be appealed by either side (given permission). 4. Apparently, the SCC planning officer believed the UK/EU emissions were just a target not something to be complied with. 5. Oil use needs to fall 80% from current levels to meet the 2050 target 6. Oil companies generally were suggesting oil was required for plastic to make their case. 7. There are still 4 arguments but with crossover, the key element is “The failure to assess Carbon emissions both Indirect or Downstream Impact” 8. The SCC Environmental statement pre dated the Govt Net Zero Target 9. The judge for the hearing is not known yet, but it will be a virtual hearing and there will be an invitees list. The Parish Council has subsequently written to Crispin asking him to communicate this case to the attention of Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP and support the UK pledge which committed all countries to work to limit further rises in global temperatures. Picketts Lane R&BBC has heard nothing so they will be writing to the to the Agent to say that the Enforcement Notice Decision has been held in abeyance. Redhill Aerodrome There is no update and the Clerk has chased R&BBC Route 4 Plane Wrong have decided not to continue their Judicial Review challenges to both DfT and the SoS. Councillors agreed to arrange a meeting with Plane Justice to receive latest update. The Clerk reminded Councillors about the Horley TC Virtual Briefing on the MHCLG White Paper - Planning for the Future – 13/10/20 @ 6.30pm Action ▪ Clerk to respond to 3 planning applications with 1 object and 2 no objection with comment ▪ CM to arrange meeting with Plane Justice, WC/JB and MB ▪ Councillors to attend the Horley TC Virtual Briefing on the MHCLG White Paper - Planning for the Future 2 7. Meeting Reports The following meetings have been attended: - ▪ 16/9/20 – Building a two-way conversation with your community SALC – CM ▪ 16/9/20 - R&BBC southern locality meeting – CM ▪ 17/9/20 - GTR Community Engagement Officer site visit to Salfords Station – SR ▪ 22/9/20 – Gatwick Airport Community engagement - SR ▪ 24/9/20 – Horse Hill – MB – see above ▪ 29/9/20 - 2nd wave planning exercise with R&BBC and the VCS – CM ▪ 29/9/20 – SLCC Clerk meeting – CM ▪ 08/10/20 – SALC Planning briefing on white paper consultation – WC/ SR A - Building a two-way conversation with your community SALC – CM As previously mentioned, S&SPC are already communicating well with residents. Recommendations to consider are to hold open forums which are topical, meet the Chairman/ Councillor sessions, carry out surveys (ideally once a year – a resident survey), consider using Social Media for live videos/ quick quizzes. Most important make the topics relevant to our community. We should have a strategic plan outlining the communication approach for the year. This should all be linked to the aims and objectives of the Council. B - R&BBC southern locality meeting – CM This was the last of these meetings that the Clerk had been attending fortnightly which were changed from the Southern area meetings and became more regular at the start of Covid 19. C - GTR Community Engagement Officer site visit to Salfords Station Those present; Parish Cllr. Stephen Rolph, Rob Whitehead Community Engagement Officer (Southern and GX) | Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Karen Smith; SAF Ticket Office Clerk, a local resident who is a Salfords station supporter and wild flower protector within station grounds The prime reason for Mr Whitehead’s visit was to try and ascertain which set(s) of Ground Maintenance Contractors are responsible for the repeated visits to the station with resultant heavy-handed strimming that has effectively removed all wildflower growth on the site – three strims this year, twice after plants were in flower and 3rd time of whatever stragglers remained. Mr Whitehead provided a map setting out which parts of the station grounds are the responsibility of Network Rail then the areas delegated to Govia Thameslink Railways – GTR and we learnt that further areas may have been handed to SABA the current car park operator under contract to GTR. The concern of the heavy-handed approach of contractors use of weed killer on anything with green leaves was raised the timings of strimming (3 times per annum) – twice just after flowering time, the third time, this week when there was only struggling plants to cut down. Ideally the PBF measures of low height barriers around the major wildflower areas plus ‘Do Not Spray’ signage may be a way forward to help all contractors identify wanted plants and not to indiscriminately use strimmers and weedkiller. Mr Whitehead suggested that another measure to encourage horticultural success is to consider ‘Adopting the Station’ either by the Parish Council supported by enthusiastic residents or a local resident’s support group. He is happy to speak at a Parish Council meeting. 3 GTR’s Karen Smith used Mr Whitehead’s visit to show him where Network Rail were failing to properly litter pick their own enclosed areas plus shortcomings in the station building habitat and in CIS data to her in the station ticket office. Currently passengers on the platforms receive updates from the platform indicators before she is aware of train changes & cancellations. Councillors were in support of adopting Salfords train station but it was fundamental that the community take it on so the Parish Council would support residents to make this happen. Councillors agreed to invite Rob Whitehead Community Engagement Officer (Southern and GX) | Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to present to Council more detail behind the scheme. WC asked JA if this is something he would be interested in being involved with as he was a regular commuter (pre Covid) and JA confirmed he would be happy to be involved and be a conduit to the community. The public would also be able to attend the meeting. D - 22/9/20 – Gatwick Airport Community engagement SR was one of four local Councillors to attend and submitted questions prior to the meeting There was a question and answer session GAL confirmed that as a result of the downturn in their passenger numbers around 1300 GAL employees could be made redundant One significant topic to emerge is that of landing & takeoff slots. Apparently individual airlines apply for slots to match their business plans and the airlines can sell these on to others. BA & Virgin having ceased to use LGW still have control of their slots. This in turn means that airlines wanting to come and use LGW have to obtain their own new slots which may only be available at possibly less commercial times. Furthermore, airlines becoming insolvent will have their slots i.e., assets sold on by their Administrators to pay off their outstanding debts and no doubt the Administrators fees. De-carbonisation - the Airport are keen to improve east & west transport links to Gatwick and GWR’s introduction of a semi fast 2nd train each hour from Reading to Gatwick and return could help to encourage Gatwick passengers to use the train for these areas.