MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SCARCROFT VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT GROUP HELD ON 11 FEBRUARY 2013IN THE VILLAGE HALL SCARCROFT AT 8pm

Present:

Councillor Ruth Middleton, Chair

Councillor Breeda Murray, Vice Chair

Councillor Gary Jameson, Secretary

In attendance: Josephine Mundy, Minute Secretary.

Peter Hart, Parish Clerkretiring

Gina Carter Parish Clerk designate

Cllr Paddy Procter, Cllr Paul Thompson, Walter Allen, Peter Campbell, Jacky Jackson, Nick Lane Fox, Malcolm Lobley, Rob Murray, Roger Shirley, Kate Wainman,

1 INTRODUCTION AND APOLOGIES

The Chair introduced the Committee and welcomed Mr Nick Lane Fox, President of SVDWP. Apologies for absence were received from David Cross and Tom Wainman, Treasurer.

2MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Minutes of the last meeting held on 10 September 2012 had been posted on the web page. The Chair said that there were a number of corrections to those minutes and therefore she suggested, and it was agreed, that the meeting should focus on that night’s agenda.

3ANYMATTERS ARISING

It was agreed that items could be picked up under the agenda items.

4ANNUAL REPORT 2012

The report was available on the web page and hard copies were available at the meeting.

The Chair highlighted the main headings in the report which detailed the purpose of The Neighbourhood Plan, the stages involved in preparation, independent assessment, community referendum and legal standing.

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Pg 3 para 3 of the report – Neighbourhood Plan Designation. The lead community members were Cllrs Procter and Middleton. They reported on their development of mutually supportive relationships with neighbouring parishes particularly Bardsey as the boundary of Scarcroft’s plan included part of that parish e.g. the land and houses off Syke Lane.

Cllrs Procter and Middleton were also leading on achieving a more sustainable community. The focus was on renewable energy, new homes should have space for recycling bins, encourage reduced vehicle use and affordable homes.

Pg 6 para 7 – Development Site Appraisal. Lead Community members were Cllrs Middleton and Murray, Rob Farnell, Mike Linter and Gerry McLucas.

The Chair explained the Red, Amber and Green “traffic light system” used to rate the sites which were set out in the report:

Green – comfortable with the site

Amber – possible option

Red – against development of this site

These sites would be kept under review as the process developed. For example, the NP site which was “Green” for development of 50 homes initially had potential for further development. The Leeds City Council Executive Board would be meeting in spring to consider the Strategic Housing Land AvailabilityAssessment.

If any of the Red sites were put forward the Group would question and seek a full explanation for that change.

The Localism Officer had sent an update on the timeframe for the process and the Chair would arrange for this information to be posted on the web page. (ActionRM)

The Chair informed the meeting that the Localism Officer role would cease on 31 March 2013 and on behalf of SVDWP she had thanked Mr Birkbeck for all his guidance and help and in forging links on matters of mutual interest with neighbouring parishes.

The Secretary of State would be asked to agree site adoptions in 2014 and the Neighbourhood Plan would be used to guide that decision in respect of our village.

The Chair said interplay with neighbouring villages was important and cited the proposal for the university site in Bramham. The site had potential for 3K houses and it could impact/reduce Scarcroft’s future development as the Bramham site could provide the majority of the 4.6k homes needed in north Leeds.

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MrNick Lane Fox said that the Bramham NP Steering Committee believed that the proposed size of the development would meet with some opposition.

The Chair reported that SVDWP was liaising with Jeremy Goode the site agent for the NPower site. In reply to a question by Roger Shirley, the Chair said that Jeremy Goode had confirmed that the only building on site which was listed was the Mansion House and the Group had stated that it should be retained. There was potential to convert that into apartments.

Pg 9 para 10 – Improved Community Services – the Chair said that there was a lot more work to be done to firm up this section of the NP. It had been proposed that the cricket pitch, pavilion and swathe of land fronting the A58 be given to the community as public open space. The land could then be used for community services the improvement of which had been highlighted in the response to the questionnaire.

5PROTECTED/HISTORIC SITES UPDATE

Roger Shirley tabled a paper on the work of the sub group. The team comprised himself as Chair and 5 other members: Isobel Shirley, Peter Campbell, Gary Jameson, Malcolm Lobley and Paul C Thompson.

30 sites had been identified in the survey and of those 22 had been reviewed. The sites were listed in the Annual Report para 8 pgs 7/8 that list had been classified and assessed and were subject to peer review. The sub group had devised an analysis system. Photographs had been taken at site visits and each member has taken a lead on number of sites to visit and investigate. The sub group had held three meetings. 8 sites were still to be reviewed and the work would be completed towards the end of March. Mr Shirley outlined the timetable for completion of the project saying the first draft of the sub group’s report would be completed by end of March, interim report by end of May and the final draft by end of June. The next meeting of the sub group would be held on 18 March at the New Inn at 8pm.

The Chair suggested, and it was agreed, that the report should take the form of an appendix or supporting document to the NP.

During discussion it was agreed that some of the sites such as the old water mill by the old railway line should be visited as part of the route on the village walks in June. Cllr Thompson would liaise with Cllr Wright and post the information about the walks and route on the web page. (ActionPT)

In conclusion, the Chair thanked Roger Shirley and the sub group for their comprehensive study and the progress made.

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6HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE

In the absence of David Cross the Chair covered this item during her report on the Annual Report but the minutes correspond to the agenda order.

The Chair said that David Cross was the lead community member for this project. The Group would be working with Olav Arnold and Lionel Scott who were compiling a more detailed history of the village. The history of the village was of particular importance to set the context of the Neighbourhood Plan.

7COMMUNICATION PLAN

Roger Shirley presented a paper entitled Strategy Paper for Communication Policy. He said that the purpose of the plan was that SVDP and the Parish Council intended to keep residents and other organisations informed about the development of the NP. He was Team Leader of the Working Group which comprised: David Cross, Gary Jameson, Tom Wainman, Cllr John Wright and Bob Jackson.

Mr Shirley said that it was recognised that wider participation in the decision making process of the NP was essential in order to achieve a high level of consensus within the community.

He and the Chair of the SVDWP would agree a communication strategy to assist the NP process. It would be underpinned by the following standards of practice: Openness; Discussion; Timeliness; Clarity of language; Coherent Management.

He highlighted the objectives of the group and the methodologies for internal and external communications

In conclusion Roger Shirley said that the community should make more use of the new technology in communicating with residents and other organisations and the web page and local notice boards needed to be kept up to date.

It was agreed that the Communication Plan and the work by Breeda Murray on the evidence for plan should be form part of the NP.

The Chair agreed that the SVDWP and Parish Council should be more proactive and suggested that Communication Group put forward items for inclusion in the Bardsey, East Keswick and Thorner newsletters.

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Peter Hart said that the Parish Council could make a contribution to funding articles/adverts/publicity. It was agreed that Gary Jameson to take this forward and it would be a standing item for future meetings. Cllr Jameson concurred saying it was important to revive the impetus within the community as ultimately residents would be asked to vote on the NP. Cllr Paul Thompson said that Sandra Thompson would be very happy to add items in the Scarcroft column of the Wetherby News. (ActionGJ)

The Chair and Roger Shirley both emphasised the need to have an audit trail and it was agreed that Gary Jameson would action. (ActionGJ)

8POLICIES AND GUIDANCE FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

The Chair reported that SVDWP wished to see high quality design standards in future development. The historic elements of the NPower site to be retained and an area of public open space created. The existing open and green spaces were to be protected and improved wherever possible such as footpaths, cycle paths, bridleways, maintaining hedgerows, tree preservation orders, reduction of water discharge, and maintenance of the natural environment.

Affordable housing should be part of that development. Affordable housing would comprise some social housing and was likely to be provided by a Registered Social Landlord/Housing Association. However affordable actually meant homes that were affordable so that a wider social mix could access e.g. young people wishing to stay in the area they grew up in could buy; residents wishing to downsize; key workers/professionals; rent to mortgage properties or 50/50 rent to mortgage. Home working was another aspect which could be achieved with improved communication and Tom Wainman was leading on this aspect. New housing must be sustainable,

Increased housing could impact on local schools. The policy was on protecting the built environment e.g. brownfield sites to be developed rather than greenfield.

The Vice Chair, Tom Wainman and Diane Townsend- Evans were helping to develop those polices and the Chair would be working on the design standards. Volunteers were very welcome to work with the 4 members of the core group. Cllr Procter, Chair of the Parish Council, offered to do some work on affordable housing.

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9PROJECT PROGRAMMING

The Chair said that a great deal of work had been achieved but there were some major projects to complete before the NP could be put together. Item 8 – Policies and Guidelines was the largest and would take about 4 months. Cllr Susan Wilson had agreed to proof and edit the Plan in its final stage which was expected to be at the end of July 2013.

In reply to a question from Mr Shirley about Leeds City Council timeframe, the Chair said that although there was no deadline, if a developer came forward before the NP was in force, the community would not have the legal power to challenge that development if it so wished. Using the NP as evidence, they would, however, be able to comment as informed citizens via the Parish Council.

The Chair said that she would forward a copy of the Annual Report to Leeds City Council. A meeting had been scheduled for March for exchanging information and checking compatibility with the City’s plan and inter alia, SHLAA. (Action RM)

The Chair congratulated everyone on their hard worked and thanked them for all their contributions.

10DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting was scheduled for 15 April 2013 at 8pm in the Village Hall. The June meeting had been postponed as it clashed with the date for the Parish walks. A new date would be agreed and reported to the April meeting.

11ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Before the meeting rose at 10.05pm the Chair of the Parish Council proposed a vote of thanks to Cllr Middleton for leading on the plan and all that had been achieved.

The meeting noted there was a leaflet available in the Village Hall about the book being written on the history of the village. There was a meeting about the Village Hall scheduled for Wednesday 13 February 2013.

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