MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SOMERBY PARISH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP

15th November 2016

Somerby Methodist Hall

Present Mary Anne Donovan (Chair)

Tom Allen

James Brown

Melanie Davies

Angela Fisher

Ros Freeman

Pat Fynn

Colin Marlow

Carl Powell

Christine Tolond

Minutes taken by Kathryn Staley

ACTION
64. / WELCOME/apologies
Apologies were received from Colin Marlow (arrived late).
65. / DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
None were declared
66. / Adoption of Minutes of Meeting held: 25TH OCTOBER 2016
The minutes were unanimously agreed and adopted.
Proposed by Mary Anne Donovan Seconded by Pat Fynn
CHAIR’S REMARKS
67.
68.
69.
70. / MAD asked whether all members had returned a signed copy of the Code of Conduct. It was confirmed that they had.
MAD proposed that the members contact stakeholders relevant to each theme group. KS will check which of the stakeholders have already responded and provide an updated list to the members.
On 24th November MBC are hosting a consultation meeting to discuss their approach to Section 106 and housing funds from the Government. MAD has been invited but is unavailable so asked if anyone else would be available to attend. MAD will forward the details to members.
MAD has spoken to James Beverley at MBC. A meeting will be arranged with him after 24th November, probably with the Housing theme group. / KS
MAD
MATTERS ARISING
71. / Communication
MAD reported that Lesley Walker has volunteered to put together a public awareness campaign built around the questionnaire, utilising the village shop, pubs and other means. Angela Clarke has also said that she will display information in the shop window regarding the status of the Neighbourhood Plan.
THEME GROUPS
72. / Housing
TA reported that several meetings have been held. He has handed over the Chairmanship to AF and RF. The group were still dissatisfied with the guidance received from their YourLocale facilitator. He had explained that the questionnaire would be the most important thing in informing what the Housing group do. AF and others have been very proactive in putting forward proposals for the questionnaire. The Melton Local Plan consultation is taking place from 8th November to 19th December; the Parish Council will be responding to this and the NP Housing group need to be in a position to provide evidence from the Somerby sites. This needs to be done as a piece of work alongside the NP, and would be acknowledged as a ‘stake in the ground’ from the NP Group, giving credence to the group. RF added that Derek from YourLocale saw the NP group and the Parish Council being of one mind in this matter, and that a joint strategy would be required. Derek had offered to perform independent surveys of any sites put forward, including those in the SHLAA and those currently ruled out, plus any others that may come forward. The Housing groups agreed that this was potentially very useful but were unsure whether this was included in the YourLocale remit or was an additional piece of work requiring additional payment. TA was concerned however that flagging up additional sites for availability would ‘open the floodgates’ to developers. JB has spoken further with Derek who explained that his surveys would work on a 26-point criteria, rather than the 10-point criteria used by MBC. However, given the time available before the consultation period end, Derek felt that the process would have to be pared down in areas. MAD confirmed that there is £2500 in the budget for Site Options/Housing & Environment Sustainability reports. However she felt that it would better to have the Housing Strategy more firmly established before proceeding.
73.
74. / Infrastructure, Economy and Facilities
PF reported that they had looked at transport and tried to define those things that could actually be influenced by the NP. There is very that can be done regarding the bus service.
The group has looked at the existing facilities in preparation for addressing the question of what else is wanted, taking into account demand and potential usage.
CP has created a business questionnaire. It was felt that many businesses would not make the effort to complete the questionnaire and there had been discussion around the best way to maximise responses. CP has compiled a list of local businesses. It is proving difficult to capture the home workers’ details. CP asked the group if they could pass him details of any that they know of.
CT has investigated the Broadband status within the Parish and has been assured that all of the villages now have Superfast Broadband. Individuals need to contact their provider to gain access to it.
Historic & Natural Environment
MAD reported that they are doing an inventory of natural and historic features in the Parish. These will then be assessed using a scoring matrix, moving on to developing issues and options around the environmental audit which will become the basis for developing draft policies by March 2017. / All
QUESTIONNAIRE
75. / AF has circulated a document with suggestions for questions relevant to Somerby Parish compiled following research into other NP questionnaires together with the results of the Housing Needs Survey.
In terms of demographics it was felt that a wide range of age groups needed to be covered to encompass both the aging population and the increase in Under 6’s. AF will re-assess the age categories required.
It was agreed that a question about Registered Disability was a good idea.
It was agreed that the questionnaire should only be sent to residents of the Parish.
PF stressed that there needs to be a defined purpose for the questionnaire and that this would inform the questions that needed to be asked.
The questionnaire will be distributed to every person over 18 (i.e. multiple questionnaires per household).
The questionnaire will be a combination of free text, 1-5 scales and tick boxes.
PF will send AF the summary of current facilities that she has compiled.
The theme groups will produce their own questions for the relevant sections.
It was agreed that there should be a question about the establishment of new employment opportunities in the Parish.
It was agreed that a question about children commuting out of the Parish to school would provide useful data in terms of transport/traffic.
It was agreed that there should be a question about the speed of traffic in specific locations causing concern. KS will forward the most recent Community Speedwatch data to the Steering Group.
AF asked the Steering Group to send her suggestions for wording for the ‘Parish Events’ question.
CM requested that Question 6 be amended to include the requirement for visitor parking.
After some discussion about whether to ask for opinions on the existing SHLAA sites, it was agreed that AF would look at the wording used on the Uppingham NP for this question.
CP presented the second draft of the Business Questionnaire.
MAD presented the Environment Questionnaire so far.
Next steps: MAD explained that, once the questions are finalised, we need to contact YourLocale to format, print hard copies and produce an online version of the questionnaire. YourLocale will also analyse the results. AF suggested that after Christmas would be a better time to distribute the questionnaire. MAD proposed that YourLocale be contacted w/c 21st November to discuss the next steps.
It was agreed that there would be a financial incentive for questionnaire completion, with 3 prize winners drawn at random from the responses which provide their contact details. / AF
PF
All
KS
All
AF
NP BUDGET
76. / The Parish Council has asked the NP Steering Group to put together a more detailed budget. JB has offered to produce this. MAD will provide due dates on the schedule of works for the NP.
PF asked about the time extension required on the Locality grant. Gary Kirk has informed us that the deadline for spend is December 2016. JB will look into this. / JB/MAD
JB
77. / MLP CONSULTATION
Cllr Leigh Higgins has communicated a preference for a ‘clustering’ strategy with regard to housing allocation across Parishes, which mirrors the preference of Somerby Parish Council and local residents. He intends to put forward an amendment to the Melton Local Plan on this issue. MAD proposes that the NP should write to MBC to support Leigh’s amendment. Evidence will be required. TA suggested that the next Housing group meeting should focus on this. MAD will email further details to TA.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS / MAD
78. / PF asked whether there would be a contribution for Towards. AF will send a short article. / AF
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
79. / The next meeting will be on Tuesday 13th December at a venue to be confirmed.
Going forward MAD proposed that the Steering Group should meet every 3rd week on a Tuesday.

Adopted and signed this …………… day of ……………………………………… 2016

Chair …………………………………………………………..

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