At a Meeting of the Menheniot Parish Council held in the Old School Menheniot on Thursday 18 February 2016 at 7.30pm there were present: Councillors: Mr Jeremy Tucker (Chair); Mr Bill Mowbray (Vice Chair); Mrs Pat Cade; Mrs Evelyn Easterbrook; Mrs Lilian Hooper; Mrs Sally Kendall; Mr Will Sneyd. Clerk to the Council: John Hesketh Minute Agenda Items Action 023 /2016 Chairman’s Welcome 024 /2016 Apologies for Absence Mr David Crocker. Mr Peter Sobey. Mrs Rachel Craig. Mr Tony Clarke. 025 /2016 Members’ Declarations A. Pecuniary/Registerable Declarations of Interests – Members must declare an interest, which has been declared on their Register of Financial Interests Form, relevant to the agenda. None. B. Non-registerable Interests – Members must declare non-pecuniary interests at the start of the meeting or whenever the interests become apparent. None. C. Declaration of Gifts – Members are reminded they must declare any gift or hospitality with a value in excess of fifty pounds. None. D. Dispensations – Members to consider any written requests for dispensations. None. 026 /2016 Public Participation Members of the public are invited to address the Council. There were four residents in attendance. Sue Walters, a planning consultant from Stu8 Ltd discussed proposals for a residential development on land adjacent to William Laundry Close (PA15/03149/PREAPP). These would be affordable-led, access would be staggered from William Laundry Close (in order to address road safety issues), hedges would be protected and any other issues raised in the Cornwall Council Affordable Housing Report would be addressed before an 1 application was submitted. The Chair welcomed the presentation and pointed out that the Cornwall Local Plan and Menheniot Neighbourhood Plan. In the MNP first survey, affordable housing was not identified as a priority by residents. This may be due to an under representation of young people taking part, and would be addressed in future surveys. Concerns were expressed about how ‘affordable’ these housing units would be, because previous developments in William Laundry Close had been built as affordable, but prices had been increased within a short time frame and local residents had been unable to obtain mortgages. Cllr Sneyd asked how many of the units would be affordable, and the Consultant was unable to specify how many because the current national ruling on numbers was under review. Councillors were keen to comment on the Pre-app, but were unable to do so in detail because of the current Cornwall Local Plan had not yet been agreed. The Chair asked that the developers should consider self-build and custom-build options in their proposals and be aware that the emerging Neighbourhood Plan would set our criteria relating to the village boundary and the numbers of affordable homes that would need to be incorporated in any full planning application; Consultant agreed that this would be considered. SITE 2 The Consultant asked if she might give a summary of an outline proposal to convert an old agricultural shed in Pengover to housing units that would consist of one commercial unit plus three affordable. Councillors asked that the proposal should be brought back to a public meeting when more detail was available, and they would comment on it in the light of the emerging Neighbourhood Plan. Mr Julian Maunder addressed the councillors on the matter of the damaged Pump House at Doddycross. Mr Maunder said that local residents had offered to donate £200 towards roof repairs and would take ongoing responsibility for future maintenance. The Chair thanked Mr Maunder for his offer and explained that would be discussing the matter later in the meeting. Before agreeing to accept their generous offer, councillors would need to be clear about ownership of the property, which was unclear at the moment, and other residents in the locality would need to be consulted. Agreed that the Clerk would make investigations about ownership of the Pump House and report back. Clerk Mr Chris Collins presented leaflets and a newsletter from UKIP that promoted arguments supporting the exit of the UK from the EU. Clerk accepted the documents but declined to distribute them to members pending clarification from our legal advisors on the council’s position on promoting political parties. Agreed that the Clerk should speak with CALC (Cornwall Association of Local Councils) for advice on the acceptance of political literature. Clerk Mr Peter Whitehead , a planning consultant, spoke on behalf of Mr Colin Sobey, whose planning applications (PA15/11634 & 11635) were due to be decided later in the meeting. Mr Whitehead explained that the current application had been made previously when planning legislation was less sympathetic to developments such as this. The new NPPF (national planning policy framework) was more accommodating, and he was hopeful that this council and Cornwall Council would approve the application. The client was aware of all of the conditions proposed by Historic Environment Planning, especially in relation to the siting of garages and external boundaries. They expected that the detailed concerns would be addressed by conditions that were being recommended by HEP. 027 /2016 Minutes of Meetings – Councillors were asked to AGREE to accept the following minutes as a true and accurate record. 21 January 2016 4 February 2016 RESOLVED to accept the minutes. Proposed by Cllr Mowbray. Seconded by Cllr Sneyd. All agreed. 028 /2016 Matters Arising from the Minutes Councillors received reports back on these actions. A Parish Notice Board (Clerk) That the carpenter he had approached previously was still engaged with other work in Liskeard, but would chase him up. C Benches Cllr Mowbray had spoken to Mr Whitehead who said he would prefer to locate the bench close to the graveyard. There are two locations possible: one is to the immediate left hand side of the lynch gate, and the other would be close to the bus shelter. Agreed that the Clerk should write to the Chair of the PCC and agree a final location with Mr Whitehead. Clerk 029 /2016 Planning Matters A Members considered the following applications: 16.01.16 PA15/11634 Applicant: Mr & Mrs C Sobey Location: Horningtops Proposal: Barn conversion to two houses Mr peter Whitehead had previously addressed the meeting (026/2016) and explained the circumstances surrounding the application. RESOLVED to support the planning application. Proposed by Cllr Tucker. Seconded by Cllr Kendall. All agreed. 16.01.15 PA15/11635 Applicant: Mr & Mrs C Sobey Location: Horningtops Proposal: Listed building consent for the conversion of existing listed barn to form two dwelling houses, conversion of existing barn as single dwelling, together with associated works. Councillors discussed the concerns raised by Historic Environment Planning and RESOLVED to support the application, subject to the conditions proposed by HEP. Proposed Cllr Tucker. Seconded Cllr Sneyd. All Agreed. 11.02.16 PA16/00831 Applicant: Miss Lauren Flawn Location: St Ive Proposal: Two bill boards measuring 8ft x 4ft displaying the company's name, logo, telephone number and website address. Elevated on telegraph poles. Treweatha Farm Merrymeet Liskeard Cornwall PL14 3LS. Councillors examined the location and siting of the proposed signage and were concerned about the impact the installation could have on the safety of road users. RESOLVED not to support the application. Proposed Cllr Sneyd. Seconded Cllr Tucker. All agreed and noted that the location of the proposed sign was too close to the junction and highway. Concerns were also expressed about the amount of copy on the sign, and suggested that fewer items to read would cause less distraction to drivers along the road. B Any applications received by Cornwall Council by the time of the meeting. Information only. None. C Planning applications approved by Cornwall Council – Information only 05.02.16 PA15/11160 Applicant: Mr and Mrs S Elliott Location: Minefield Cottages Menheniot Liskeard Cornwall PL14 3RY Proposal: Variation of Condition 2 (approved plans) to Application No. PA12/11820 dated 18th June 2013 (Appeal Decision Notice APP/D0840/A/13/2209913) for the construction of two houses with access drive and parking areas; namely to provide motor garage to unit 2. 05.02.16 PA15/11879 Applicant: Dr Tucker Location: 2 Trethawle Cottages Trethawle Horningtops Liskeard Cornwall Proposal: Conservatory to the front of the property D Planning applications refused by Cornwall Council or withdrawn by the applicant. Information only: E Planning Appeals decisions 21.01.16 PA14/05277 Applicant: Cornwall Housing Location: Horningtops Proposal: Provision for 15 residential caravan pitches and three ablution blocks. Decision: Appeal allowed. PA15/02786 Applicant: Mr Colin Maddever Location: Lower Trehurst Farm Proposal: Construction of an agricultural and equine building together with sand school and associated yard area. Appeal against the previous decision has been permitted. Agreed that Clerk should circulate documents to Councillors. Clerk F Neighbourhood Planning. Clerk presented a visual summary of the first Quick Questionnaire that showed the relative importance residents gave the topics listed. These were the percentage of respondents who considered the topic ‘important’.: Protection of the landscape 90% Transport links 89% Health facilities and wellbeing 84% Open Spaces 81% Schools 72% Affordable housing 71% Planning 67% Renewable energy and biodiversity 47% Commercial development/employment/enterprise 40% There had been a lack of replies from people aged under 44, and councillors agreed that any future surveys or engagement opportunities would attempt to reach this group. The draft results would be posted on the Neighbourhood Planning website www.menheniotparishcouncil.co.uk . Clerk is in process of organising a meeting of the new Steering Group. Clerk 030/2016 Environmental and Amenity Matters - A Receive an update on The Pump House at Doddycross. Cllr Easterbrook gave a verbal report on the history of the Pump House, and cautioned councillors against taking a position that would favor one group over another until clear ownership had been established.