Minutes of Meeting of Roseland Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) Steering Group
at Portscatho Memorial Hall, 7 pm on 21st May 2014
1. Present Parish / Other Steering Group Member?
John Adams JA Ruan Lanihorne Y
Brian Chenoweth BC St Just Alternate
Keith Fletcher KF St Just Public
Julian German JG C Councillor N
Ralph German RG Gerrans Y
David Giles DG Ruan Lanihorne Y
David Hall DH Ruan Lanihorne Y
Colin Hastings CH Gerrans Y
David Hubbard DHu St Just Y
Derek Julyan DJ Philleigh Y
Michael Lobb ML St Just Public
Paul Mace PM Gerrans Y
Jon Smith JS Veryan Y
David Spreadborough DS Philleigh Y
Sue Wagstaff SW Veryan N
Graham Webb GW Veryan Y
Apologies: Julie Johns, Christine Williams, Brian Willis, Rob Wing
2. Declarations of Interest - None
3. Open Period
KF reported that the LLCA had gone well and that he was awaiting the paperwork from June Crossland (JC) to enable the Village Character Assessment (VCA) to commence.
KF also enquired of JS if any recent contact had been made by/to the National Trust – No
JS reported that JC and Kath Statham (KS) had commented that the Roseland LLCA group was the best and most motivated they had encountered
4. Minutes of the Meeting on 16th April 2014
Acceptance of Minutes proposed by DHu, seconded by DH.
5. Matters Arising - None
6. Chairman’s Report of 16th May 2014
JS requested comments but first drew attention to item 6 as he wished the SG to recognise the considerable work put in by JA on the draft Plan.
JS advised that batches of the next letter would be handed to the SG for distribution in their Parishes, and JA stressed the need to deliver these quickly as the letter includes an advertisement for the public meeting.
JS asked JG to explain item 8 – producing a design guide will take a lot of work and time and there is a definite need for Conservation Area Management Plans, however they will still have weight in the planning process. JS assured the SG that Sarah Arden (SA) had confirmed that the Carrick Design Guide can be adopted in the interim, and although Cornwall Council (CC) can offer advice/guidance they will be unable to offer any ‘work’ assistance on a Roseland Design Guide. DS recognised there would still be considerable work required after the Plan is accepted and DH suggested there should be strict time lines set for the Design Guide to prevent any ‘drift’. JS explained the need for an evidence base.
JA suggested that after the Plan is accepted and a short ‘breather’ will need to ascertain which of the 8-9 projects are of interest and who can commit time to them. JS explained that work will not stop but time frames are still to be decided.
Report acceptance proposed by GW and seconded by DG
7. Finance Report
JS advised that he had submitted his third report to the Community Development Foundation (CDF) within which he explained that there may be a need to agree a change of use for some of the money. The grant expires at the end of 2014 but the CDF have indicated they are looking into the possibility of rolling it over into 2015
Acceptance proposed by DHu and seconded by DJ
8. Draft Plan Document
JS explained that a copy of Version 16 had been sent/delivered to all members of the SG, to all Parish councillors and clerks and to all other interested parties for comment and feedback.
He also advised that a positive meeting had been held on 20th May with Planning Aid which produced 10 pages of comments and Angela Warwick and Sue Walters had subsequently submitted suggested amendments to the draft. During the meeting Jo Widdecombe had offered NPIER which means that an examiner will preview the draft Plan.
The MT had today also met with SA who had suggested some merging of policies and some deletions.
The MT have yet to meet with the AONB and are awaiting feedback from CC with regard to Affordable Housing and Renewable Energy. CC however have offered the services of Rob Lacey to check the policies and comment on conformity with Cornwall policies.
JA explained that the MT have a self-imposed tight schedule focussed on going to consultation on 1st July which he believes it is achievable, however there are 2 areas which may cause a problem – Affordable Housing and Renewable Energy. The policies in the Plan express the views of the community but could conflict with CC. JS confirmed there is still work to be done to resolve some issues. Also SA has 2-3 weeks work with the Strategic Environment Assessment. JA explained that after the 6 weeks of consultation he will adjust the Plan to accommodate the comments that have been received.
JS then asked each person at the table for their comments/questions but also offered a separate meeting to discuss the draft Plan in more detail if it was required by the SG:
BC - “Well presented document”
DHu – “No comments tonight”
DH – “Superb document. Readable, interesting, good for the public”. He has gone through the document in detail but suspects he will be repeating other’s comments.
(At this point JA suggested that the comments from the various consultees could be circulated to the SG – supported by GW. PM suggested would be better to hold a workshop to discuss in more detail)
DH (cont.) – He felt the photos should be more diverse and include more of landscape and woodland but none of specific businesses
DG – Praise for and thanks to the MT for all their hard work
RG – Thanked JA for his superb work. Raised the subject of the number of houses to be built i.e. 1-5 or 6-10 – JA explained that this had already been raised by Planning Aid and CC. Also queried location of green field sites – JA agreed that needed clarification.
GW – Accepts there is still a lot of supporting information to go in the draft (JA encouraged all to provide comments/feedback so can improve the introduction and evidence base) Also felt need to stress the importance of services.
PM – “Very good, well presented document” but very much biased to landscape. He has produced written feedback to submit.
DS – Felt the foreword should have more ‘teeth’. Disappointed by the lack of response from stakeholders but hopes they may respond during the consultation period. Re: policy HO12 – he has already encountered problems with the planners over views.
DJ – Declared an interest in farming as not mentioned in Plan – it has changed from family run farms to commercial enterprises who do not care for the environment and also put up large buildings. He said he spoke for farmers as many have not replied as feel the Plan is not relevant to them.
At this point JA explained that the MT is aware of the community’s concerns but the policy regarding permitted development was removed after referral to the planners. GW suggested a future project to look at the changing face of farming in the Roseland. DG stated that all farm buildings should have solar panels but JG explained cannot enforce, only recommend.
JG - “Plan is excellent” Hopes that the couple of policies with problematic wording have already been picked up.
In light of the support, JS said a 2 hour workshop would be held on a date to be advised
9. Roseland Area Profile
GW explained that the document was still to be completed as awaiting final input from Parishes. He considered this a starting point and invited comments and input – JS asked that SG members direct their responses to GW
JG suggested should refer to the agricultural look and value of the Roseland, not just how many people employed.
10. Pre-consultation/LLCA Event on 14th June 2014
JS explained that the event was set up for JC and KS to present the work of the volunteers on the LLCA and conduct a value assessment with local people.
The MT had decided to use this event to present the draft Plan and obtain feedback. JS encouraged members of the SG to attend during the day and asked them to encourage others to attend and contribute. The SG stated the numbers of posters for the event required in each parish.
JS also asked that the maps are completed and made available for display at the event.
DG requested some notes to assist SG members with enquiries from the public at the event
11. AOB
DHu enquired whether the Plan would be represented at events on the Roseland through the summer – JA responded that had already been considered but format not yet decided.
DH wanted to make it known that he had been approached by various people showing appreciation for the letter advising the results of Q2.
JA handed out batches of the next letter to the head distributors in each Parish and discussion followed regarding which properties should receive a letter.
JS requested that all head distributors provide JA with a full list of all distributors in each Parish for the Evidence Base
Meeting closed at 8.55pm S Wagstaff
CHAIRMANS REPORT 16 MAY 2014
- This report covers the period 12 April 2014 to 16 May 2014 inclusive.
- During this period the management team held four meetings: 15 and 29 April, 1 and 12 May.
- Jon Smith, Colin Hastings and John Adams have been present at all MT meetings. Sue Wagstaff has attended three. In addition Graham Webb has attended one meeting. Philip Martin and Mark Datson attended the meeting on 15 April to give their views on the proposed Design Guide. The meeting on 29 April was with Sarah Arden, Principal Planning Policy Officer with Cornwall Council and her colleague, Hilary Gooch, Environment Officer.
- Roseland Online and Roseland Magazine. We have continued to place articles in the magazine with identical copy being placed on Roseland Online. Similar material was also circulated by email and put on Facebook.
- www.roselandplan.org Work continues to regularly update the site.
- The draft plan has been finalised and printed copies will be circulated to all Steering Group members in preparation for a full discussion at the Steering Group meeting to be held on 21 May. In addition copies will be forwarded to all Parish Councillors and to the professional consultants so that consultations can take place over the next four weeks. Once again the MT would like to record their thanks to David Hubbard and Graham Webb for their contributions. In addition it is necessary to write again to the community to update them on the progress of the plan. A draft has been sent for printing and will be distributed at the Steering Group meeting next week.
- Local Landscape Character Assessment. A review meeting took place on 10 May at which the work needed to finalise the project was agreed. The final part of the project will be a public meeting scheduled for 14 June at Gerrans Memorial Hall. Following that the LLCA document will be finalised for inclusion in the Neighbourhood Plan.
- Following an initiative from Julian German we are now able to take an in depth approach to producing a Roseland Design Guide by delaying its production until after the Neighbourhood Plan is finalised. This will now be produced as a Supplementary Planning Document, preceded by Conservation Area Management Plans. This will ensure that we have more robust controls over what development takes place in our villages and hamlets, and will allow the local community to directly influence their content.
- Parish Council Meetings. The Chairman attended and made reports at the following meetings: Ruan Lanihorne 17 April, Veryan 22 April, Philleigh Parish Meeting 28 April, Gerrans 6 May, St Just-in-Roseland 12 May and Ruan Lanihorne on 15 May.
- The Chairman had a meeting with Cornwall Community Land Trust on 15 April to discuss different approaches to providing affordable housing on the Roseland. The meeting was very useful and the Chairman will be scheduling further meetings.
Jon Smith
Chairman
16 May 2014