Minutes of the Meeting of Tangley Parish Council

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF TANGLEY PARISH COUNCIL

HELD ON MONDAY 11th DECEMBER 2017 AT 7PM

AT TANGLEY PARISH VILLAGE HALL

91/17 OPEN FORUM

Chris Pitt updated the meeting about progress with regard to Superfast Broadband. Charlton Down and Wildhern need more attention and Shaun Dale, Programme Director at Open Reach, has not responded about Wildhern. We need to escalate the process by holding an open public daytime meeting in the parish hall and inviting BT and HCC to attend so we can question why Wildhern and Charlton Down are not yet included in the update. Hatherden has also slipped to May 2018.

Chris Pitt reported that an inebriated youth had collapsed in the road outside Patchington House and an ambulance was called. This arrived within 10 minutes as it was in Hatherden but Chris Pitt pointed out that Hungerford Lane, on which Patchington House is located, runs out at the pond crossroads and picks up again by The Fox. This of course is incorrect as Hungerford Lane becomes a track beyond the pond crossroads and resumes on the Conholt Road. The road up past The Fox is NOT Hungerford Lane and we are proposing renaming this to Fox Hill to avoid future confusion. Chris Pitt also advised that Wildhern is listed as being on Charlton Down Lane on Google Maps.

Tony Allen and Steve Donson were at the meeting to present their revised/proposed development of Plough Farm. Steve Donson stated that he has no plans to refurbish the chicken sheds after the lease runs out in September 2019. The tenants do not wish to renew the lease and have not made any offer to buy the farm. He said that he acknowledged the parish wanted a scheme which included homes for first time buyers and downsize houses for local residents. He acknowledged that his proposed development could only progress if it has the support of the local community. He wants to clarify if Plough Farm meets the parishes development needs as he believes that it does.

Tony Allen stated that the original proposal showed 16 properties, less 2 which already exist. The new plans show 13 houses, less the 2 which already exist so the new development would equal 11 new dwellings. Ecology, drainage, traffic surveys, etc. all need to be addressed but the cost of investigating these areas is huge. There is no mains drainage or gas in Wildhern.

The new proposal has retained all of the smaller units. The chicken sheds will all go and the land will return to agricultural use or be landscaped. The footpath running through the farm will have to be retained. All new development has been moved from the land behind the existing houses in Wildhern but TVBC may insist on installing a play area on this green space and this is not something the developer has any control over.

The south west corner of the site will be dedicated to additional parking for the benefit of the village, residents, their guests or visitors who come to walk. The exit to the road will be for pedestrian access only with no vehicular access shown. All the new homes proposed on the plan are self-sufficient for parking. The new scheme is now at the bottom end of what is acceptable in terms of being a viable development and the mix of housing has been retained as opposed to building 6 or 7 large houses.

Dick Stevens asked if the development included social or affordable housing. Tony Allen explained that TVBC would dictate the mix according to local housing needs. Ray Curtis stated that Section 106 is a levy charged to the developer by the Borough Council. He asked whether TVBC took the money from the developer and built the social/affordable houses themselves but Tony Allen said that in 90% of cases these houses were built by the developer.

Chris Pitt asked if there would be any risk of contamination when the chicken sheds were dismantled. Tony Allen said the risk would be minimal. Nick Francis asked if there would be a need for street lighting but Tony Allen said this was unlikely as the road into Plough Farm is not an adopted road so there is no need to install street lighting. There is currently only limited broadband connectivity in Wildhern but more houses would increase the demand for a better service which may be beneficial. Dick Stevens said the proposed development, using average national statistics, would generate 500 extra car movements per week looking at national movement data which states 7 car movements per day per house on average.

Dick Stevens’ personal view was that the new proposal was a much better scheme but there are some residents who will still object, including him, to any development. The site is partly in an AONB although apparently development is taking place in adjoining counties on AONB designated land. Highways issues are a real problem as the village lane is narrow and construction and demolition traffic will be huge and may require access for at least 18 months. He questioned whether the rest of the site would be developed at a later date and the potential for this is a worry.

Ray Curtis stated that there is traffic currently generated by the chicken farm which involves large feed lorries and chicken transporters coming through the village, in addition to the farm staff. He also pointed out that traffic coming to and from the site will enter and exit in both directions.

Tony Allen believes Plough Farm will be designated a brown field site by the Borough Council but Wildhern residents have been advised that Plough Farm is a green field site. Steve Donson has put the entire site forward for consideration for development by TVBC as part of their SHELAA survey (Strategic Housing & Economic Lane Availability Assessment). The Clerk was asked to contact TVBC to ensure we are advised if the land is included and deemed to be suitable, available and achievable once the results of their survey have been collated.

Ray Curtis stated that in his view Plough Farm will be developed in the future as there is a national demand for land. If the parish reject Steve Donson’s scheme he will sell his land and someone else will develop it so why not work with the owner. He stated that any future decisions will not be made in the village but remotely by disengaged parties. Steve Donson confirmed that he will sell the land within 2 years but this is his second option. His first option is to work with the parish to agree the suitable development of the site. If this fails the site may sell to another chicken production company who farm the site more intensively or to a large housing developer. Annie Bullen said this was blackmail but Steve Donson said this was not the case as it was fact.

Nick Francis noted that all new proposed buildings are 28m from current dwellings but said he had a garage and outbuildings on the back of his boundary. Tony Allen advised that the industry standard is 20m and the distance only applies to residential buildings, not garages. The new proposal has allowed for an increased distance of 28m as the owner acknowledges that the site is a rural one. Tony Allen again stated that he and Steve Donson wished to work with the village to secure an acceptable outcome for the site.

92/17 PRESENT

Brian Comley (Chairman), David Eldred, Nigel Bull, Charles Haswell, Steve Kershaw and Martin Thomson. The Clerk was in attendance. 10 members of the public were present including Steve Donson (owner of Plough Farm) and Tony Allen (Planning Consultant for Steve Donson).

93/17 APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Cllr. Peter Giddings (TVBC), Cllr Kirsty Locke (HCC) and Tim Strong.

94/17 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The minutes of the last meeting held on 23 October 2017 were approved and signed. The minutes were proposed by Martin Thomson and seconded by Charles Haswell.

95/17 SUPERFAST BROADBAND UPDATE

Chris Pitt updated the meeting in the Open Forum about progress on this matter and his full update is attached to these minutes. The parish council are extremely appreciative of all Chris Pitt’s efforts to obtain an acceptable outcome for all concerned but feel the parish must add some weight to the case.

What can YOU do?

This would be a good time for all Tangley Parish residents to support each other by expressing their own concerns that this publicly funded contract, managed by HCC and delivered by BT/Openreach, is not bringing timely and competitive broadband speeds to everyone in our rural community.

Contacts are -: HCC (), Openreach () and their CEO () and our MP ()

96/17 HIGHWAYS

David Eldred reported onthe meeting he attended with Steve Kershawand TVBC Street naming officers on Wednesday 6 December 2017.

Phase 1: The Order in Council of March 2015 involving Hatherden Lane, Goddards Lane and Sambourn Lane

This Order has not been fully implemented by the Post Office responsible for street names and post codes. This is because of questions and replys not being answered by TVBC at the time of the consultation nearly three years ago. This has resulted in the old road names still being used by the Post Office and the emergency services among others. The officer at the time has apologised for what has happened. A new officer, Anna Murray,is now in the position of Street Naming Officer at TVBCand was at the meeting. The parish council is of the view that as the problem was caused by TVBCit should be resolved by TVBC as soon as possible without the involvement of the Parish Council.

Phase 2 Two Hungerford Lanes

The street naming officers stated that the Hungerford Lane in Tangley is recorded as Andover Road by TVBC so there is no problem. It is believed that the Post Office has a different data base showing it as Hungerford Lane. If this is what has happened there is a continuing problem. More enquiries are needed to establish who is using what.

The matter of instating a 40mph speed limit for Charlton Down was discussed following a letter received from Mandy Ware, Traffic Management Officer, HCC to Cllr. Kirsty Locke which she very kindly forwarded. The Chairman agreed to write to Mandy Ware to address the anomalies in the criteria employed for instating a speed limit in neighbouring parishes where the same criteria applies but a speed limit has been implemented but precludes Charlton Down and Wildhern from having a speed limit. Tim Strong had e-mailed the councillors to inform them that Hurstbourne Tarrant does not meet HCC’s criteria. It was discussed that if there are no police resources to enforce speed limits then they are pointless anyway. It was questioned why the criteria was based on the number of properties along a road and not by the volume of traffic. The Chairman’s letter will address this.

97/17 SPEEDWATCH & SLR PARTNERSHIP SCHEME

Speeding in Charlton Down continues to cause concern but the new volunteers can’t operate the SID in Charlton Down as there is no speed limit in place, so the closest the SID can be deployed is Wildhern, however there is no update with regard to suitable sites having been approved for the SID to be used in Wildhern. It was questioned whether the SID was currently being deployed at all and the problem seems to be that there are only two team leaders who have to be present whilst the SID is being deployed. The SpeedWatch Group is also waiting for training dates for the new volunteers.

98/17 DEFIBRILLATORS (AED’s)

The light does not appear to be working on the newly sited AED at Matthews Cottage, Hatherden. The bank up to the AED is also steep and slippery so steps need to be installed to allow safe access. This unit still needs to be added to our HeartSafe scheme and a QR tag obtained so Steve Kershaw will request an invoice for this so the unit can be inspected in line with the other 6 in the parish.

99/17 FOOTPATHS & RIGHTS OF WAY

The HCC Rights of Way team have asked the parish to nominate 5 paths to go on their annual cutting schedule. It was decided that footpaths 3, 4, 6, 8 & 11 would be submitted and we have swapped footpath 5 (old Roman road) for footpath 4 (Pigeon House Farm).

There has been no progress due to a lack of response from the landowner about possibly removing the stiles on the footpath behind the school and beside Tuppence Cottage in Hatherden. The Chairman volunteered to contact Jeremy Dunning about this matter.

100/17 PLANNING

17/02764 FULLN - Rooklands, Clarkes Lane, Tangley – Front and rear extensions – no objection

17/03093/FULLN - 2 Pollards Cottages, Clanville –Garage conversion to residential use - support

TVBC has conducted a Strategic Housing & Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) and Steve Donson, the owner of Plough Farm, has put forward the entire curtilage of his land in the hope that TVBC will include the area in land earmarked for development and will designate the site as being a brownfield one. Local residents have been advised that Plough Farm is a green field site but Tony Allen, the owners planning consultant, felt that it would be classified as a brownfield site.

101/17 FINANCE

The Clerk advised that the bank balance is £12,023.49 after all cheques and payments had been reconciled to the last bank statement. £5,422.23 is held on behalf of the Sports Group and £196 on behalf of the SpeedWatch Group. The bank reconciliation was then signed by the Chairman as a true account. The following cheques were then approved and signed:

000939 - £ 35.00 ICO Annual Subscription (retrospective)

000940 - £321.54 Clerks Salary – November (retrospective)

000941 - £630.12 TVBC Groundworks (retrospective)

000942 - £ 36.00 CPRE Annual Subscription (retrospective)

000943 - £ 61.00 Adam Keppel-Green re. annual website hosting (retrospective)