646 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE WORTHEN WITH SHELVE PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT STIPERSTONES SCHOOL ON MONDAY 26TH MARCH 2012 PRESENT were C Jones (Chair), N Southwick, B Ince, A Stacey, J Price, F Dale, J Ellis, R Graves, R Foster, S Morris, B Jones, J Hudson, Paul Davies and Cllr H Kidd. Members of the public (details on file) 1. Apologies D Nevison, B Jones – private commitment 1a. Declarations of interest in accordance with the Parish Councils (Model Code of Conduct) Order 2007. An Interest was declared by J price item 6g and F Dale – item 6f 2. Public Forum. a. Police Report. The Clerk read out a police report. b. Heather Kidd reported that the wind mast application had been withdrawn by EDF. This was due to two local land owners withdrawing from the wind farm project. National Grid will announce route and substation at the end of May. This follows local elections in Wales. Two wind farm applications in Powys have been refused by Powys Council. Hope School did not have a very good OFSTED report. Staff and governors are working very hard. When a school is on special measures the LA oversees the overall running of the establishment. This function is still carried out by staff on a day to day basis. The school is currently looking for a federation partner. It is important that the school remains open. Police have undertaken speed checks in Marton and Worthen. They have caught some offenders. This exercise will be extended of the next three months. The police could only carry out enforcement for half an hour at a time due to light flashing. They did not have enough resources to take action against people flashing oncoming traffic. c. The Chair invited members of the public to speak. Derek Rowson requested an update on the access to the land at Prospect House. The Chair moved agenda item 4a to allow Cllr Price to update the MOP, the public forum was closed. Cllr Price has 34 letters with more expected. An application for the route to be recognised on a definitive map has gone to Shropshire Council. The owner of the property is aware of this. Letters will be replied to by Shropshire Council and a consultation will be carried out amongst user groups and stakeholders. This will include the Parish Council. There is 86 years of usage evidence. HK has more letters to support this claim. The chair reopened the public forum. Vincent Chidley tried to use the route last week and was approached by the owner of the land. His mother is 95 and has used this pathway extensively for over 60 years. He will be submitting a letter. Charles Ruxton spoke regarding the planning application at Rowley. The application has been amended to three additional cabins from nine which still equates to a 100% increase. He is concerned as there are gaps between the cabins that this is development by stealth. S Ruxton. Stated that they are experiencing intermittent noise from the existing thee cabins when they are occupied. She stated that an 80th family party was disrupted by noise from the camp site. During the season noise disruption occurs even on a Sunday evening past 12 o’clock at night. The new proposal could see parties of up to 28 at the site all year round. They have run a rural retreat for the last 20 years and are listed in the Natural Retreat Magazine offering peace and quiet. The nearest walk would go past the six cabins which have balconies that look ahead. Rowley is a very small hamlet with not too many facilities this development could erode the peace and tranquillity of the area. Alan Dignan is concerned at the infrastructure and condition of the road network, which has deteriorated over the last three years. There has been an incredible increase in traffic. Lots of the vehicles are from people staying at the site. The Brockton to Rowley route has very few passing places and cars have to use private drives to park in to allow traffic to pass. He is concerned that we are losing habitat and fauna and here appears to be a marked increase in litter from fast food outlets in Minsterley and Shrewsbury. He has given photographs of verge and road damage to HK in order she 647 forward them to planners. They live about 2.5 miles away and, if the wind is in the right direction, they can hear noise from the site. William Edmundson regularly picks up litter from the road side. He is concerned at the inconstancies in the application. The application claim the site is very busy however on checking the online booking site there appear to be few bookings. The site is not overly busy, if it were, it would be horrendous and with three more occupied cabins intolerable. The reference on the online booking form to Hen and Stag parties has been removed by the owners. There seems to be a disconnection between the application and the current situation. Colin Hallet has looked a t the website for the site and there appear to be few holiday bookings over the next 9 months. They experience noise disturbance. The feedback from users of the site on the internet appears to be from groups. Brian Ince asked what percentage of the road is narrow and single lane. It was approximated at 85%. Helen Fairweather from the Landscape Partnership Scheme advised that they have been allocated funding from the Heritage Lottery. They are now planning the way forward for the scheme in the hope of securing £2 million in the summer of 2013 if they get it right. The Scheme is looking at habitat, wildlife, historic remains and events, special landscape, geology, farming and industrial heritage. They are looking at training schemes, skills training, and apprenticeships to enable people to gain new skills to help then to live in the area. The partnership includes England and Wales as it is a cross borer imitative. The difference in culture between the two countries is part of the heritage and the scheme would like to develop this in a positive manner. HF will forward more information to the clerk to distribute. R Graves asked if churches could obtain monies from the scheme. HF advised that this would not be the case. JH states that the border people from both England and Wales are already integrated through marriage etc and have successfully merged the two communities. She felt that using funding for this would be a waste of money. HF stated they were open to all suggestions so that they can move forward with this project. There are already a team of farmers interviewing local farmers for feedback and early indications are that farmers would like more opportunities to come together with the rest of the community and look to encourage younger people into farming. The team are also working with Young Farmers. FD advised that the Farmers Weekly magazine had an article about the desire to attract 60,000 new entrants into farming. She gave website details. The Chair closed the Public Forum. She invited Members of the Public (MOP) to stay for the rest of the meeting. 3. The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held at Worthen Village Hall on 27th February 2012 already circulated, were agreed and signed as a true record. Proposed B Ince, Seconded J Ellis. 4. Parish Matters a. Footpath, Prospect House, Snailbeach – please see item 2c. b. Samdev – site and housing allocation. The clerk advised that a consultation will be taking place until 8th June on land that has been put forward for development in the Parish. HK and the clerk will arrange a community event in Worthen following training by the Planning Team. c. Proposed Wind Turbine Development. The clerk, due to comments made about the Parish Council, took the unprecedented step of emailing the planning application response to all parish newsletters for inclusion in the April edition. This application has been withdrawn. d. Repairs to Worthen Church wall. The Clark has received one quotation for £1350.00 and requested details of local builders who are experienced in these works. The clerk has been notified that the damaged was caused by a bin lorry reversing into the wall. Unfortunately, this event took place some time ago and no registration details were taken, nor was the Parish or Church Council notified. Due to the cost of the repair the council may have to make an insurance claim. 648 e. The clerk has been advised that repairs to three street light sin Worthen cannot be undertaken due to Asbestos in the street light casing. The clerk is in contact with Eon to find a solution to this problem. f. Street Lights – The clerk will investigate part night lighting cost reductions. g. Request for independent place plan area has been refused for the time being. This situation may alter in future. h. A M advised that a glossary of planning terms can be found on line at the end of the Core Strategy document. i. R Graves reported that the bank past Ash Cottages was still rough due to water erosion. Clerk to report. J. S Morris reported an accident in the Hope valley involving a vehicle that went into the brook. k. P Davis reported that the solar panel at the Hemford crossroads has been bashed and needs to be looked at urgently. The clerk will report to Jason Hughes. HK reiterated her request for moveable signs along the Hope Valley and will email Jason Hughes and Chris Edwards.