FARINGDON TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of a Planning & Highways Committee Meeting
held on Tuesday, 7 October 2014 at 8.00 pm
in the Jubilee Room, the Pump House, Market Place, Faringdon
PRESENT: Cllrs Dr M L H Wise (Chairman)
Mrs J Boulton
Ms A Finn
M Greenwood
A Marsden
A Meredith
D Price
IN ATTENDANCE: Mr G Smith, Gary Kay Smith Ltd (up to and incl. Min 181/14)
1 member of public
Deputy Town Clerk
175/14 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs J Gregory and
Ms K Draper.
176/14 Minutes of Meeting: Tuesday 16 September 2014
The Minutes were AGREED and signed as a correct record of the meeting held on
16 September 2014.
The Chairman proposed that the agenda item dealing with Declarations of Interest be moved forward to this stage of the meeting and the item dealing with the Faringdon parking survey be moved forward for discussion after public speaking time so that the representative from Gary Kay Smith Ltd could leave the meeting early. This proposal was AGREED.
177/14 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
178/14 For Information
(a) The Deputy Town Clerk’s list of actions was received and NOTED, as follows:
Min No. / Action / Person/s Delegated / Action Taken108/14 / Pathway improvement required between Tesco and Southampton Street / Cllr A Marsden / Cllr Marsden has now received a response from Tesco (via Ed Vaizey’s office) stating that all works associated with the planning application have been completed and have helped to improve access for pedestrians.
Additional works may require work on land which Tesco does not own and new planning permissions.
As these works were not in the original agreement, Tesco is not in a position to undertake further improvements to pedestrian access at this time.
132/14 / Oxfordshire County Council to report back on position relating to Coxwell Road bus shelters / OCC / OCC has responded that Legal Agreement not yet been completed and is currently being progressed; works cannot be restarted on site until Legal Agreement signed. OCC still dealing with this matter.
169/14 / Comments on planning applications to be forwarded to District Council / Town Clerk / Submitted 17 9 14
159/14 / Town Council asked Planning & Highways Committee to seek clarification on various points before considering whether to proceed with agreement to transfer proposed by developer / Cllr Alex Meredith/ Deputy Town Clerk / Being progressed.
171/14 / VWHDC to be advised of Town Council preferences for Independent Examiner for FNP / Town Clerk / Email sent 17 9 14
Min 108/14: Cllr Marsden reported that at the meeting of the Traffic Advisory Committee on 3 October, C/Cllr Judith Heathcoat had stated she would look at getting the work paid for out of her own budget provided it was not too expensive. C/Cllr Judith Heathcoat, Cllr Marsden and the County Surveyor would assess the work and C/Cllr Heathcoat will establish whether she has enough money.
Min 159/14: It was NOTED that there was an item on this agenda to discuss this matter further.
(b) Planning Permissions granted/refused: It was NOTED that since the last meeting of the Planning & Highways Committee, there had been no planning permissions granted or refused by the District Council in respect of Faringdon;
(c) Swindon Borough Local Plan 2026 - Consultation on Proposed Modifications: It was NOTED that the deadline for comments was 30 October 2014. The Chairman asked that members forward any comments to the Deputy Town Clerk in order that these can be considered by the Planning & Highways Committee at its meeting on 28 October 2014.
179/14 Public Question Time
There were no public questions.
180/14 Public Speaking Time
The member of public did not wish to speak at this stage of the meeting.
181/14 Faringdon Parking Survey
Mr Smith gave a progress report. Public exhibitions had been held in the town centre on Saturday, 4 October as well as 7 October which had been well attended. The survey would run until 31 October 2014 with approximately 300 completed questionnaires returned to date with more anticipated. Mr Smith stated that the main areas of concern which people had highlighted to date were the general lack of enforcement on yellow lines, in particular, the parking on double yellow lines on London Street and Coxwell Street. Mr Smith proposed to carry out surveys on 31 October, 1/2/3 November which the committee approved.
Civil parking enforcement: Mr Smith agreed that he would draw up a briefing note on this matter for Planning & Highways Committee to consider at its next meeting on the 28 October.
182/14 Planning Applications were considered and decisions taken as follows:-
P14/V2155/FUL Retrospective application for temporary planning permission (12 months from date of approval) to install seven wall-mounted condenser units and a timber acoustic enclosure.
17-19 Folly View, Faringdon
For: Costcutter
A member of public spoke objecting to this application and referred to the letter of objection he had written to the District Council, copied to Town Council. Following discussion it was agreed to
OBJECT on the following basis:
· Although there is a Noise Abatement Order in place, the noise levels are still excessive; District Council should carry out an independent noise survey;
· Remedial action should be taken to improve a imperfect temporary solution to a permanent solution;
· Accompanying plans do not match application;
· Timber enclosure is unsightly. What happens to water?
· Photographs do not correspond to the existing situation;
P14/V2144/SCO Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion
Land South of Park Road, Faringdon
It was NOTED that the VWHDC had advised that the above request was being processed but that it was not inviting comments at this stage.
Once the planning application (to which the Scoping Opinion referred) was submitted, then Town Council would be invited to comment.
183/14 Thames Water
Written answers from Thames Water following questions raised at the last meeting of the Planning & Highways Committee were received, considered and NOTED. It was agreed that these should be posted for information purposes on the town council website as well as the community website.
184/14 Local Plan 2031 Part 1 - Housing Sites
Information was received from Planning Policy Vale which advised that the latest “submission” version of the Local Plan was due to be published in November for its final round of consultation prior to submission of plan to the government for independent examination and that a copy would be sent to the town council as part of the public consultation.
185/14 Salt & Salt Bins
It was NOTED that Oxfordshire Highways had agreed Town Council’s proposed new locations for salt bins, as follows:-
· Folly View Road;
· Marlborough Gardens near playground;
· A query had been raised by Oxfordshire Highways regarding the proposed location on the corner of Swan Lane and Church Street junction which OH advised was not suitable. OH had put forward a suggestion for a site on the block paved area on right hand side of the junction and this was approved by the members.
The total cost of the three news bins would be in the region of £550 + VAT; however, as there was only £500 in the Planning & Highways budget for 2014/15, it was AGREED that a request should be made to Finance & Audit Committee seeking an amount of up to an extra £100 from reserves to cover the cost of purchasing these three new salt bins.
186/14 Faringdon Neighbourhood Plan (FNP)
(a) It was NOTED that comments received on the FNP following the District Council’s 7-week public consultation had now been published on the District Council’s website. These comments, together with the FNP, would be forwarded to the Independent Examiner who, after examination, would send his report to the District Council and the Town Council. The report would be expected to set out whether the draft plan met the basic conditions and what modifications, if any, were needed to ensure it did. Cllr Wise stated that once the FNP had been approved, the Town Council needed to ensure that (a) the plan was implemented and (b) any other issues that had been highlighted as a result of the neighbourhood plan be moved forward;
(b) Land north of Park Road, Faringdon: The developer was seeking to have part of this land, currently designated for employment use, re-designated for housing. Due to the impact this would have on the FNP, Town Council had been trying to ensure that an error contained in a report drawn up by URS in the 2008 Employment Land Review, and perpetuated in the 2013 assessment, was corrected.
In addition, Cllr Dr Wise pointed out that following a noise survey undertaken in 2002, it was concluded that the majority of the site should be zoned for light industrial use. It was AGREED that the relevant planning officer be invited to the next meeting of the Planning & Highways Committee in order that this matter be explained to him.
(c) Public Rights of Way: The OCC Countryside Access Team was looking at ways in which to focus efforts on higher priority issues and meet community needs. The Deputy Town Clerk was asked to circulate to the committee members a copy of a map outlining the rights of way. Members were asked to bring back any comments to the next meeting of the Planning & Highways Committee on 28 October.
187/14 Transfer of SSSI, Coxwell Pit, Fernham Road, Faringdon
Cllr Meredith outlined various options that were available in order to progress this matter without further delay. Following discussion, it was AGREED that Town Council contact its solicitor to ascertain costs of reviewing the transfer of land deed as previously agreed to include the maintenance cost of £20,000 in order that Town Council would be in a position to agree and sign the Deed. Town Council would need either to budget for these costs or request Builders Ede to cover any costs incurred. It was FURTHER AGREED that a recommendation be made to Finance & Audit to meet these costs, once these had been received from the solicitor.
188/14 S106 Agreements
A meeting held on 30 September between Ged Cassell, (District Council Community
Infrastructure Projects Officer), Cllr Dr Wise, the Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk had proved very useful and the list of projects suggested for taking forward was agreed by committee. The next step would be for business cases for these projects to be put together and town council would need to research local information where applicable. A progress meeting would be held in a month’s time.
4&20 Business Park: Cllr Dr Wise stated that although there was an outline application to approve the site no agreement had been reached on the S106 agreement. The District Council Economic Development Team Leader had approached him with a view to discussing this S106 agreement. However, he felt that this matter was one that should be considered by Town Council as a whole, and not by a solitary Town Councillor. It was AGREED that the purchaser of the site be invited to the next meeting of the Planning & Highways Committee to discuss his future plans for the site.
P&H Mins 7 10 14
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