Gorsley & Kilcot Parish Council Newsletter Winter 2020 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2019/20 Earlier in the year, when the Annual Parish Meeting was cancelled due to the first national lockdown, it was decided to delay the issue of our annual newsletter in the hope that it would not be too long before the Covid pandemic was brought under control. Eight months on there is at last light at the end of the tunnel with rollout of the approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine expected to start in hospitals on 7 December. Your Parish Council feels it is now time to give you an update on what we have been doing on your behalf and our future plans, as far as we can predict anything at present. A copy of this newsletter will be posted to those households who are not on our email distribution list. To save paper and postage costs in future please sign up to receive newsletters and updates by email. Just send an email to [email protected] with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Coronavirus While the nature of the parish and our limited resources restricted how much support we were able to provide during the initial lockdown, the low number of requests for assistance received by the parish clerk indicates that the community helped each other to deal with this unprecedented Page | 1 pandemic. Thank you to everyone for whatever you did to help your fellow inhabitants of the parish during these trying times. Meetings The Parish Council has continued to meet during the past few months, in accordance with the local government association guidelines, using ZOOM. Details of the dates of meetings are listed on our web site (www.gkpc.co.uk) and the parish noticeboards at Kilcot Cross and Christchurch. If anyone wishes to participate in a virtual parish council meeting details are available on the website or you can contact the parish clerk, Mrs Arin Spencer ([email protected] or 07484 619582). In an effort to disseminate details of meetings to a wider audience we have recently taken the decision to publish a resume in the Chimes so that those without access to the internet can easily see what the Parish Council is doing. Financials Despite ever increasing costs GKPC remains in a healthy financial situation and holds reserves in line with local government guidelines. As a result, it has been decided not to increase the precept for the financial year 2021/22. Planning Over the past 18 months the Parish Council has provided comment on the applications shown below with their outcome. In addition, we have engaged with Forest of Dean District Council (FODDC) on a number of planning enforcement issues, some of which remain ongoing. Aston Ingham Cricket Club, Stockings Field Mill lane Kilcot (P0681/17/FUL): Erection of extensions and internal alterations to Cricket Club pavilion. (Demolition of existing store). Approved Land at Lovers Walk, Gorsley: Outline planning application for 9 proposed dwellings with all matters reserved except access and layout. Approved on appeal (not in our parish). Briery Hill House, Briery Hill Lane, Kilcot: Change of use of agricultural land for the stationing of a shepherd hut for holiday letting and for the provision of two car parking spaces. Approved on appeal. Holmbury, Kempley Road, Gorsley: Erection of replacement garage and associated works. Demolition of existing garage. Approved Page | 2 Briery Hill Lodge, Briery Hill Lane, Kilcot (P1621/18/FUL): Change of use of agricultural land to domestic curtilage and erection of garage block. Approved Briery Hill, Briery Hill Lane, Kilcot (P0147/19/LBC): Proposed replacement of windows on Northeast elevation and repairing of all other windows. Partially approved on appeal (repainting of windows only). Orchard House, Aston Ingham Road, Kilcot: Erection of single storey sunroom, first floor extension to create additional bedroom, installation of Velux windows to kitchen and erection of oak framed canopy with associated works. Demolition of existing conservatory. Approved Barn at Little Bull Hill, Kempley Road, Gorsley (P0076/19/FUL): Erection of a replacement stable block and feed store including the change of use of existing horse box and stable to provide farrier forge and workshop. Demolition of existing field shelter. Refused The Annexe, Standfast, Kilcot Hill, Ross Road (P0424/19/LD1): Application under section 191 to confirm whether the use of an existing annexe as an ancillary annexe together with attached conservatory is lawful. LDC Issued Orchard House, Blue Lane, Kilcot (P0552/19/FUL): Erection of a single storey side extension with associated works. Approved Orchard House, Aston Ingham Road, Kilcot (P0750/19/FUL): Proposed manège for private use and triple hay timber/garden storage building. Approved Quarry Farm, Aston Ingham Road, Kilcot (P0953/19/FUL): Construction of an equestrian manège. Approved Brookfield Cottage, Sterrys Lane, Gorsley (P1386/19/FUL): Erection of a stable block with attached hay and feed store for equine use. Approved Briery Hill House, Briery Hill Lane, Kilcot (P1387/19/FUL): Proposed weddings and events use of the house and garden, together with the erection of an orangery and associated works. Demolition of Aviary. Approved Orchard House, Blue Lane, Kilcot (P1463/19/FUL): Erection of a two storey side extension with associated works. Withdrawn. Hartleys Barn, Ross Road, Gorsley (P1555/19/FUL): Conversion of garage to annexe ancillary to main dwelling including associated works. Approved Page | 3 Ford Farm Poultry Sheds, Ford Lane, Kilcot (P1882/19/FUL): Replacement of existing former poultry buildings with 3 no. dwellings, bat houses and associated landscaping works. Approved Briery Hill House, Briery Hill Lane, Kilcot (P0057/20/DISCON): Discharge of conditions 03 (Details of eaves, windows, doors, gutters, cills, openin and fixed lights), 04 (Joinery details) and 05 (brick, flooring and roof slate details) relating to planning permission P1388/19/LBC. Approved Brookfield Cottage, Sterrys Lane, Gorsley (P0141/20/FUL): Erection of a first floor extension and a two storey extension with associated works. Refused Brookfield Cottage, Sterrys Lane, Gorsley (P0750/20/FUL): Erection of a two-storey extension with associated works. Approved Tree Tops, Stoney Lane, Kilcot (P0816/20/FUL): Erection of a single storey rear extension. Demolition of existing conservatory. Approved Briery Hill House, Briery Hill Lane, Kilcot (P0978/20/FUL): Installation of a domestic heating oil storage tank within the existing parking area of ‘The Granary’ including the installation of a new below ground oil feed line and the erection of a shallow protective wall on two sides of the oil storage tank. Decision pending. Planning Enforcement EN/0062/17 Hedgerow Replacement Notice on land adjacent to B4221: The Parish Council continues to engage with the Planning Enforcement Team on this matter. The land was recently sold and the Enforcement Team has advised the new owner that they expect replanting of the hedge to take place this year. EN/0095/17 Barn at Little Bull Hill: Unauthorised use of field for storage of construction equipment etc. Monitoring of this site by enforcement officials remains ongoing. EN/0078/20 Land at Kilcot Cross: An appeal against the enforcement notice and against the refusal of the planning department to consider the retrospective planning application for the works undertaken so far has been lodged. The Parish Council will be submitting its objections when consulted as part of the appeals process. Page | 4 Road Safety Speed, particularly on the B4221, clearly remains a concern for many in the parish. The Parish Council continues to actively support the Community Speed Watch (CSW) programme, which is being re-energised by Gloucestershire police with the intention of making greater use of the information supplied by CSW participants to warn or prosecute where appropriate. Unfortunately the availability of equipment and lockdowns have seriously limited the number of times it has been possible to carry out speed checks this year. To address the equipment availability issue a speed gun of the same type used by the police has been purchased so that we can conduct checks whenever we wish. As a result, once Covid restrictions allow, we will be implementing a regular programme of speed checks at the various accredited locations in the parish. Additional volunteers to help conduct speed checks are always welcome; if you would like to take part in CSW, or would like any further information, please contact our Parish Clerk, Mrs Arin Spencer. While our attempt to get Herefordshire County Council to impose a 7.5T weight limit on their part of B4222 has made no real progress, other than it still being on their list of traffic regulation orders awaiting funding, we have recently been approached by Aston Ingham Parish Council with a view to implementing a joint, cross county border, approach to traffic issues on the Aston Ingham Road. We have not given up on the idea of installing an additional Vehicle Activated Sign, ideally a mobile one similar to that at Highleadon. However, it remains the case that this is not likely to happen until funding by the Police and Crime Commissioner, or a similar organisation, for such schemes becomes available again. Local Transport Plan Parishioners may recall that in 2016 Gloucestershire published its Local Transport Plan setting out their plan until 2031. The document is now being updated to provide a plan out to 2041 and is at the consultation stage. As part of that exercise we have highlighted that there has been absolutely no progress on the intention in the 2016 version to reduce HGV traffic on roads like the B4221 and that this remains a priority for rural settlements such as ours. Similarly, we have expressed concern that the plan seeks to place Page | 5 increased emphasis on the use of public transport while our bus service continues to be further emasculated on an almost annual basis.