PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of Stondon Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 11 January 2017 at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall, Hillside Road, Lower Stondon Present: Councillors: - R Bragg (Chairman), G Simkins; N Benson (Vice Chairman); T Hudson; D Evans, A Marabese, B Haylett and G Lomax. Acting Clerk: -. J Stirling (AC) Also present were Ward Councillors R Wenham and, D Shelvey and 6 members of the public. 1589. APOLOGIES Apologies were received from Cllr P Robinson and Cllr I Delgano (CBC). 1590. Declaration from Councillors in relation to a disclosable pecuniary interest in any agenda item Cllr Evans declared a personal/prejudicial interest in items involving 1603 i) Allotments. Cllr Benson declared a personal interest in items 1597a) ii CB/16/05784/FULL and 1602b) 1591. Requests for dispensations for disclosable pecuniary interests Cllr Evans made a request. 1592. To grant any requests for dispensation as appropriate Cllr Evans was granted her request for dispensation in relation to Allotment items for a period of 4 years. 1593. PUBLIC COMMENTS ADDRESSED TO THE COUNCIL IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS ON THE AGENDA OR REQUESTING MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING A concern was raised in relation to the pause in the local plan and its impact on current applications. Cllr Wenham advised that further information will be made available once the White paper has been released by Central Government. Mike Cooper advised he completed a street clean and Gavin Simpkins advised us that the entrance to the Golf Course development will be completed in March as underground cables need to moved. Reports from Key Stakeholders 1594. Report From Bedfordshire Police Bedfordshire Police no longer be provide detailed direct reports to Councils. However, we now receive outline statistics on crimes in the area from a data extract provided by Central Bedfordshire but might be a month out of date. Additional information is available from www.police.uk We received the following updates Public order - (POA 1986 s. 4a) 28/12/2016 22:00 Birch Grove Lower Stondon Henlow Burglary in a building other than a dwelling www.stondon-pc.gov.uk [email protected] Signed _____________________________________ P a g e | 4 8 9 Date 24/11/2016 17:45 Meppershall Road Upper Stondon Henlow 24/11/2016 23:00 Meppershall Road Upper Stondon Henlow Making off without payment 18/11/2016 16:55 Bedford Road Lower Stondon Henlow Other miscellaneous thefts not classified elsewhere 10/11/2016 18:30 Goldfinch Place Lower Stondon Henlow Theft from motor vehicle 13/11/2016 19:30 Bluebell Drive Lower Stondon Henlow 1595. Report from Central Bedfordshire Council representatives Cllr Shelvey made us aware of the following items: - a) Following the issues raised and the excellent response to the Gas break in Ampthill CBC have organised an Emergency Planning Event on the 22nd February for Parish Councils. b) Draft Budget Plan has been proposed with potential savings of £15m of efficiency savings. CBC are planning to spend £189m on public services with over a third spend on adult social care. Some of this funding needs to be raised by CBC and this will be done by an increase in council tax of approximately 4.75% (with 3% on Adult Social Care and 1.75% on other services). c) Community Planning events - There are a number of community planning events and we are looking for your input towards the emerging Local Plan. This will take place on the 2 March at Shefford Baptist Church from 14:30 to 19:30. Please go along and give your input. http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/planning/policy/local-plan/community- planning.aspx d) BT Payphones – CBC objected to removal of 37 of the 80 proposed. The remaining 43 CBC asked BT to consider discussing with the community of potential use. e) Cllr Wenham is raising a petition to cable providers such as Virgin to cable the rest of Henlow and also look at surrounding villages, including Stondon. f) Cllr Wenham raised the closure of the RAF base. He recommended that Henlow PC and Stondon PC form a working party to discuss this in more detail. The main focus on potential community ownership of relevant assets and how we continue to access to these valuable community resources during and after the site closes. Cllr Weham suggested that Henlow PC Clerk will be in contact to offer dates for a meeting. It was agreed that Cllr Evans and Cllr Benson are part of the process and attend the meeting. 1596. Receive a report from RAF Henlow Indi Plummer sent her apologies. Indi will not be available to attend meetings as she is transferring to RAF Honington as part of the RAF Henlow closure. She advised us that WO Sarah Tuckwell would be a suitable contact for general community queries. We wish her well and thank her for input. Planning Matters 1597. Planning Applications a) Application i. CB/16/05871/FULL Shannon Close, Lower Stondon, Henlow, SG16 6EF - First floor side extension RESOLVED that we OBJECT to this application. OBJECTION is on the grounds that there are insufficient parking spaces available for the number of rooms. The Parish Council objection was raised on the grounds of their understanding of material considerations. We request that CBC planning Officers, utilising their expertise, advise the Parish Council if this is appropriate. Cllr Benson left the meeting. ii. CB/16/05784/FULL Consultation Expires:16 / 01 / 2017 6 Cherry Trees, Lower Stondon, Henlow, SG16 6DT- Single storey front and rear extension www.stondon-pc.gov.uk [email protected] Signed _____________________________________ P a g e | 4 9 0 Date RESOLVED that this application is SUPPORTED by the Council Cllr Benson re-joined the meeting. 1598. Planning Decisions a) Planning Decisions (Information only) i. CB/16/04893/FULL 20 Mayfield Crescent, Lower Stondon, Henlow, SG16 6LF - Granted ii. CB/16/04934/FULL 113 Station Road, Lower Stondon, Henlow, SG16 6JJ - Granted 1599. Chairman’s Announcements Cllr Bragg had no announcements but thanked the Acting Clerk for the hard work in the submission in opposition to the Welbeck proposal. Chairman and Vice chairman would not be available for the meeting proposed for 22 February but are available for the 1 March. It was agreed the meeting be re-scheduled. 1600. Approval of Minutes of Stondon Parish Council Meeting(s) The Minutes of the Stondon Parish Council Meeting, held on 24 November 2016 and 21 December 2016 were approved and signed by the Chairman. 1601. Clerk’s Report & Matters Arising Acting Clerk – James Stirling Play Area signs have now been installed and waiting for slightly better weather to install the sign for the Allotments as this is more complex. CBC have also fitted “No Dogs” signs to Play areas which are legally enforceable. SRA and Allotments now have their gates installed as promised by Bovis. The SRA Litter bins have now been emptied. Initially CBC had been approached but advised that access was a concern. VGS (Grass cutting contractor) was able to offer this service as they have the relevant licences. The Welbeck objection was submitted in good time. Still waiting feedback from CBC on the document and the proposed development Play area planning application - Due to ill health the play area planning application had not been done but will be addressed in the coming weeks. Pond excavation - Contractor has been contacted waiting for improved conditions before work can commence. 1602. Correspondence a) 31 Dec SRA re Dog Fouling notices b) 8 Cherry Trees Enforcement Investigation – awaiting update The new owners of 8 Cherry Tree, present at the meeting, advised the Council that they have made a new planning application to have the names on the document changed and are willing to abide by the original terms of the planning obligations. AC will keep council updated on progress of this application, which is likely to be considered at the next meeting on 1 March 2017. c) CBC - OSCAR Book Early to Avoid Disappointment d) Central Bedfordshire Council - budget consultation e) Bedfordshire Bugle f) (Reissued) Local Plan update. This has been delayed due to the proposed white paper being issued by central government. g) Wild Places Newsletter h) Missing £10k email from Garry Pratt (discussed in 1603 a). For clarity, a question was raised by Mr Pratt as what happened to the £10k promised by Bovis and why is never reached the S106 agreement. www.stondon-pc.gov.uk [email protected] Signed _____________________________________ P a g e | 4 9 1 Date 1603. To consider the following:- a) Bovis re Pond/drainage/play area/phase 2 conditions. Concern raised and potential to request greater detail from CBC. A number of changes in the areas in relation to the LEAP and LAP, moving equipment from one location to another, removal of outdoor gym from the equipment being installed along with a number of emails chasing the status being exchanged. To date no specific feedback on the changes have been received from Bovis. Additional emails are proposed to chase feedback. No information has been provided by CBC Planning. Resolved- AC to chase Bovis for additional information and escalate to Planning Enforcement if no suitable response received before next meeting b) Letter to CBC re Planning feedback – re Bovis Following a series of emails from Mr G Pratt to Planning a concern was raised as to the content of the original S106 and what happened to the monies (£10,000) as promised in the meeting notes (from the original planning application in 2012) for any potential improvements for the allotments. The planning officer had apologised during the planning meeting for the 2nd building works that had been proposed and approved.