OSWESTRY RURAL PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 24 th June 2014 At Rhydycroesau Village Hall Present – Councillors – R Milton – Chair J Barlow, P Broomby, S Chalk, E Evans, S Jones, M Lee, J Middleton and A Milner 1.0 APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were received from Councillors I Ashley (work), W Cheetham (on holiday), V Byrne (on holiday), V Edwards ( work), P May ( sick) and P Milner ( sick) At this point the chair stated that item 4 on the agenda, a visit by West Midlands Ambulance Service, would be brought forward so that the speakers could go if they wished to before the public participation started. 4.0 Robert Marsh spoke about the ambulance service in Shropshire. – Mr Marsh praised the location that they were in at Rhydycroesau and said that they have had no call outs to the location this year. They have 1178 other hamlets to serve in SY10 area and there have been 231 emergencies from April – June 2014. Most people in the Parish area do not abuse the ambulance service and a review has been done which looks at the views of patients and nurses. The upside is that ambulances are available but the downside is that patients have to be taken into Oswestry. There are 10 ambulances in Oswestry but in any emergency a community responder will arrive first and assess the situation and an ambulance will follow if required. Questions followed. Q. Cllr S Chalk asked whether it would be advantageous to acquire defibrillators for the Parish? A. Mr Marsh replied that defibrillators are in heated boxes, are easy to use and cost £1000. Some are funded by the Community ambulance service who will train people to use them and co-ordinators are needed to check them once a week. Lives have been saved by these community defibrillators. British Heart Foundation can also help with acquiring them . Q. Cllr J Barlow commented that figures of emergencies had gone up by 20% recently Why was this? A. Some of the emergencies were drink related and also the figures seemed to be higher in the daytime and they were trying to analyse these figures. Q. Cllr P Broomby – At what point is a helicopter needed . A. This is on a case by case basis and the ambulance men and control room would decide if a helicopter needs to be called in. 1 Q. A member of the Public, Mrs D Wakefield asked to speak and was allowed. She asked if someone had a stroke, which hospital would the patient be taken to. A. Telford is the specialised hospital in this area. Q. Cllr E Evans – Do Shropshire and Welsh ambulance services co- operate with each other. A. There is cross county working with Wales/Cheshire/Ellesmere Port and Shropshire import more ambulances than export them. He also added that a number of hospitals in Shropshire were being looked at and there will be more urgent care services in the future. There will be a lot of money going into the Health Service to improve it. Q. Cllr J Barlow asked if post codes were used to find locations A. Not often because they had a CLI system that matched land lines against addresses. If a caller is on a mobile but does not know where they are told to go to the next junction of the road to help with locating them. Mr Marsh was thanked for his presentation and left at this point. 2.0 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There were twenty two members of the public who recorded their presence at the meeting. The first speaker was Mrs Rosemary Harper from Maesbury who was speaking in support of the planning application 7.8 on the agenda. 14/02643/OUT - Land At Maesbury Marsh. She commented that this application would be a natural extension to the village, considered as in-fill, sustainable, close to the main road and easy to access the national road network. The access will have little modification and adjoining residents will not be affected. She asks the Parish Council to support this application. The second speaker was Mr Malcolm Andrew speaking for himself and his neighbour, Mrs Lloyd Williams. He had spoken at the last Parish meeting and could see no further additional information regarding the Little London Lane, Trefonen proposed development, 7.7 on the agenda.The agent had brought some correspondence to the meeting for councillors but Mr Andrew stated that they could not decide after a few moments perusal. Councillors should not make a decision as the fundamentals cannot be changed. Housing on a greenfield site outside the village boundary that will affect the rural setting and will affect the location and diameter of the location including Offas Dyke path. Traffic at Bellan Lane is impossible with 90% blind bends and limited passing places. Mr Andrew has been advised by the planning officer and the clerk that there is no link between this application and the one for the Barley Mow. He 2 requested that the Council supports all the residents in opposing development in any form at this site. The third speaker was Mr Howard Martin who spoke on planning application 14/00426/OUT – Development Land at Chapel Lane, Trefonen, 7.4 on the agenda. He wished to make 3 important points. Firstly that the development at Whitridge Way, Trefonen was a separate application and has nothing to do with this application. The many comments on the Shropshire planning portal following the drop in at Trefonen Village hall showed a skewed response because the agent of this application did not attend. Also, that he discounted the personal abuse but took on board some comments and the houses now face outwards not inwards as first planned. The development is to meet the need of second time buyers who have outgrown their current residence. There are 11,000 population so the adverse comments are from a small number. The fourth speaker was Mr Rob Bennett who is the agent for Mr D Jones. He wished to ask for support for the development 14/01510/OUT - Land on south side of Little London Lane, 7.7 on the agenda.. He was aware that councillors were unable to make a decision at this meeting because although details had been sent into Shropshire Council planning they had not appeared on the planning portal. A Highway’s consultants report is in on the portal but other information will follow. A vote was taken that councillors would defer their decision until the information is available. All councillors were in favour. The next speaker was Mr Phil Hayes, a Trefonen resident wishing to speak on behalf of the Trefonen Rural Protection Group (TRPG). The protection group has been formed to avoid any large scale development in Trefonen. Representatives of the group want to meet the Parish Council to discuss what can be done in Trefonen. Comments regarding planning application 14/00426/OUT Land at Chapel Lane were Highways – a mini roundabout on the junction of Chapel Lane/Chapel View should not be used because the nature of the position of the devel;opment would remove the green area there. A landscape Impact Assessment is needed. Ecology – a pond with newts is present and 4 surveys should have been undertaken between Mid March and Mid June. There is no evidence that this has been undertake. The last speaker was Andrew Heaton who wished to comment on the planning application on Little London Lane, Trefonen. He stated that English Heritage was not a statutory consultee. Dr George Nash spent an hour looking at the site and will provide a report to Shropshire Council. He has already produced a report for the development at Whitridge Way and it was of a very good quality. 3.0 DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS Councillor R Milton declared an interest in planning Application 14/02077/FUL. Ridgewood, Coedygo – Close Neighbour 4.0 Visit by WMAS ( see above) 3 5.0 POLICE REPORT CSO Kurt Mabe attended and reported the following incidents since the last meeting: Theft of a bulldozer from Weston, Morda, High Risk missing person incident in Trefonen, Suspect gas man- always ask for ID for any unexpected visitors at the door, P C Dale has done speed checks in Trefonen and although no one was reported for speeding it was a deterrent to some vehicles who were pushing the limits. CSO Mabe was thanked and he left following the report. 6.0 MINUTES To confirm the Minutes of the last meeting on 27 th May 2014 The minutes were proposed as a true record by Cllr J Middleton and seconded by Cllr S Chalk. All councillors were in favour excepting Cllr M Lee who abstained because he had not attended the May meeting. ACTION: 14.6.1 Put copy of May minutes on Council website 7.0 PLANNING MATTERS Councillor M Lee read out the recommendations from the planning sub-committee. 7.1 14/02395/FUL- Hamilton House, Oswestry Road, Trefonen - Erection of an extension to garage – Cllr P Broomby read out an email received from Cllr J Barrow regarding an ongoing investigation by the enforcement officer at Shropshire Council regarding this property. It was proposed by Cllr M Lee and seconded by Cllr S Chalk that a decision on the application is deferred until the outcome of the investigation is decided. All councillors were in favour. 7.2 14/02266/OUT - Proposed Dwelling SW Of, Crickheath, Shropshire - Outline application for the erection of one dwelling and garage to include means of access. The planning sub-committee recommended that the Council do not support this application.