Minutes of the Tilsworth Parish Council Meeting held at Stanbridge and Tilsworth Hall on Tuesday 16th January 2018 Present: Chairman P Pennington, Parish Councillors C Quantrill, P Mitchell, G Box & P Dillamore, Clerk M Whiting,17 members of public 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received and accepted from Ward Cllr Versallion. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declaration of interests. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 20th November 2017 were a correct record and signed by the Chairman 4. PROGRESS UPDATE FROM LAST MEETING Maven insurance claim of £315 was received on 17th November and repairs and reinstatement of the bollards have been completed by Village Garden Services. Clerk unable to obtain vehicle registration details from Police due to Data Protection. Clerk contacted Maven Insurance to pursue a reimbursement, however received email from claims handler on 20th December to advise they were unsuccessful in getting the vehicle information from the Police and have now closed the claim as settlement complete. Cllr Quantrill unable to source notice board approx. 90cms x 60cms costing under £30. Clerk to order online. 5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Residents were in attendance to object to the Kingswood Nursery planning applications and wish to know the parish council’s views. The Clerk read out a draft objection on behalf of the parish council. Resident’s comments were noted and included in the objection. Residents requested copies of the parish council objection and will register their own comments with CBC planning department. Clerk will submit the parish council objection to CBC planning department tomorrow and will upload the objection to the Tilsworth Parish Council website and a paper copy will be placed in the notice board. The th application consultation expires on 7 February 2018. Request Ward Cllr Versallion to ‘Call in’ the application. Cllr Mitchell advised there are still complaints regarding vehicles parking on pavements at the Top Green by The Anchor pub and Tudor Cottage owner has been advised a tree from their property has fallen onto the public footpath. 6. PLANNING CB/18/00017/FULL Kingswood Nursery, Dunstable Road, Tilsworth, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9PU Application for 5 static and 5 touring caravans with hard standing, and infrastructure. (Part Retrospective) OBJECT on the grounds the proposal is contrary to Green Belt policy as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states in policy E that traveller sites (temporary or permanent) in the Green Belt are inappropriate development. No Very Special Circumstances have been demonstrated to overcome the harm to the essential characteristics of Green Belts being their openness and their permanence or the visual harm to the character of the Green Belt which would result from the proposed additional development. Previous application 12/01274/FULL for 1 gypsy pitch and dayroom was refused by CBC. It was approved on appeal in December 2014 with conditions. The stationing of additional caravans and vehicles would reduce the openness of the Green Belt and represent further encroachment in the countryside, and have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the area, therefore the proposal is considered to be inappropriate additional development in the Green Belt for which there is no justification and is thus contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Policy for Traveller Sites. NPPF states in section 14, when assessing the suitability of sites in rural or semi-rural settings, local planning authorities should ensure that the scale of such sites does not dominate the nearest settled community. We believe further expansion of this site would contravene this policy. Creation of further hard standing will add to the problems of flooding already existing in the area. This added to the foul smelling drainage ditches, believed to be from sewerage, will exacerbate the problem with foul smells. We believe this to be a health and safety issue without proper utilities and sanitation. NPPF states in section 4 K. for local planning authorities to have due regard to the protection of local amenity and local environment and in policy B 10 d) relate the number of pitches or plots to the circumstances of the specific size and location of the site and the surrounding population’s size and density e) protect local amenity and environment. 1 Signed by Presiding Chairman -------------------------------------- 19th March 2018 Minutes of the Tilsworth Parish Council Meeting held at Stanbridge and Tilsworth Hall on Tuesday 16th January 2018 The previous application for 1 gypsy pitch was permitted with conditions. These conditions have been disregarded many times and despite many enforcement notices and visits, there has been little compliance. If additional pitches were approved, we feel this would lead to further planning enforcement issues. Condition 4. stipulates ‘The occupation of the site hereby permitted shall be carried on only by the following persons: Anthony Fitzharris Senior and Tina Fitzharris and their resident dependants, Anthony Fitzharris Junior’ and 6. ‘No more than two caravans…shall be stationed on the site at any time.’ These conditions have already been broken with additional caravans and other persons already occupying them and we are very concerned that the 5 touring pitches will quickly become static and sublet to other G&T families, thus creating a commercial business and permanent site within the Green Belt. The site was also being prepared for a long time and there seemed to be no urgency or need for immediate occupancy previously. There were 17 members of the public in attendance at the parish council meeting held on 16th January. All members present objected to the application and will make their own representations to CBC planning. They feel there has been inadequate consultation from CBC. Neighbouring properties and land owners, including Tilsworth Golf Club, have not been consulted with. Residents and the parish councillors feel the current site is not monitored adequately, there has been an increase in fly tipping in the area, and there has been a lack of enforcement from CBC enforcement officers. There is also a concern there is a conflict of interest with Planning Enforcement Officer Mike Bailey giving the applicant Pre-application Advice. The Law should apply equally to everybody. The CBC Local Plan needs to identify G&T pitches and locations to retain control over where development should be located, rather than the current proposed ad hoc way of ‘they will be delivered through planning applications' which will result in speculative development. CB/17/06004/FULL Granary Farm, Stanbridge Road, Tilsworth, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9PW Erection of detached garage with games room above. No objection. 7. POLICE REPORT Clerk circulated Police crime data spreadsheets link to Cllrs. 4 offences reported in Nov & 0 in December. Beds Police are increasing Council Tax by £1/month for the next 24months for a Band D household. 8. CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL Posters have been received to advertise Local Plan and Budget 2018 consultations. Both will be placed in notice board. CBC are proposing a 3% increase in council tax, resulting in a total weekly increase of £1.64, £85.28pa, for a Band D household. 9. CBC LOCAL PLAN The consultation on the Local Plan is open between 11 January and 22 February 2018. Details forwarded to Councillors, posters to be displayed in notice boards and a link put on our website. Concerns raised that there is a contradiction with not identifying G&T pitches through the local plan 'because they will be delivered through planning applications.' & the first page of the summary attachment which states 'Why the Local Plan is important?’ ‘Having an up-to-date plan in place also means that we retain control over where development should be located, rather than it being delivered in an ad hoc way as a result of speculative development, sometimes without sufficient benefit to local communities.' At the 12th September Stanbridge Parish Council meeting, it was minuted 'Ward Cllr Versallion advised that CBC had recently lost the Mile Tree Road in Heath and Reach G&T Planning Appeal case due to lack of G&T sites provided by CBC and agreed until a local plan is adopted, will keep losing appeals.' Ward Cllr Versallion to raise with the Local Plan team and Clerk to forward comments. 10. CHRISTMAS TREE Chris & Andy Connor organised light switch on event. Andy has said to Clerk that he wishes someone else to take this on. Cllr Pennington will take on and arrange a handover with Andy & Chris and thank them for their hard work. 11. SPEEDWATCH Cllrs Pennington and Mitchell have assisted with Stanbridge speed watch sessions. It has been interesting and also successful. Most sessions are held in Stanbridge although also carried out in front of the community hall in Tilsworth parish. Only require a minimum of 2 trained operators to run a session and all are welcome to assist with sessions. 2 Signed by Presiding Chairman -------------------------------------- 19th March 2018 Minutes of the Tilsworth Parish Council Meeting held at Stanbridge and Tilsworth Hall on Tuesday 16th January 2018 12. BANK RECONCILIATION The following bank reconciliation and accounts had been provided to Councillors prior to meeting: Balance at 31.03.17 b/fwd £ 10,034.11 Plus income to date £ 11,882.86 Subtotal £ 21,916.97 Less payments to date £ 7,478.40 CLOSING FUNDS BALANCE £ 14,438.57 Represented by balance at 30.12.17 Community Account £ 14,966.57 less unpresented cheques £ 528.00 CLOSING BALANCE £ 14,438.57 DIFFERENCE £ 0.00 Unpresented cheques 100974 £ 144.00 100975 £ 384.00 £ 528.00 In accordance with Financial Regulation 2.1, Cllr P Mitchell signed the bank reconciliation and the original bank statements as evidence of verification.