MINUTES of MEETING OF THE BERINSFIELD NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND ORDER(s) STEERING GROUP held on Monday 13th July, at 7 p.m.in the School Hall, Abbey Woods Academy, Berinsfield.
PRESENT :-Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely,Chairman of Berinsfield NDP Steering Group
Councillor Edwin CroftBerinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Ken HallBerinsfield Parish Council
Councillor D. EldridgeBerinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Ms.J. GarveyBerinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Ms. A. JonesBerinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Mrs.R. StockfordBerinsfield Parish Council
Mr. A. LeadbitterLand owner
Mrs. J. LoganSOHA Housing
Christopher RobertsPlanning Consultant, Turley.
Mr. Mark Williams,Business Director, BCB/Vice-Chairman
Vice-Chair - Dorchester Parish Council
Mr. R. AdamsFuture resident
Mr. K. ChrispResident
Mrs. J. EldridgeResident
Ms. A. ThackerResident
1.Apologies for absence were received from Mrs. S. Croft, Mr. G. Farrant and Councillor F. Workman.
2.Declarations of Interest. Councillor S. Scott-Ely declared an interest as owner of site BER24. Mr. A. Leadbitter declared an interest as owner of site BER18.
As there were new members present at the meeting, the Chairman asked those present to introduce themselves and declare their interest in the village:-
Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely, Chairman of the Berinsfield Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group, Vice-Chairman of Berinsfield Parish Council. Freehold owner of Queenford Lakes Water sports Centre, (site BER 24), has tenants which include – Berinsfield Fishing Club, Oxford Wakeboard and Ski Club and Williams Performance Tenders.
Councillor Joanne Garvey, Member of Berinsfield Parish Council and Communications Co-ordinator for the Berinsfield Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group.
Councillor Edwin Croft, Member of Berinsfield Parish Council
Councillor David Eldridge, Member of Berinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Ken Hall, Chairman of Berinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Mrs. A. Jones, Member of Berinsfield Parish Council
Councillor Mrs. Rose Stockford, Member of Berinsfield Parish Council
Mrs. Jackie Logan, “Resident Involvement Manager”, SOHA Housing.
Mrs. Jill Eldridge, resident of the village.
Mr. Mark Williams. Business Director of Berinsfield Community Business, Vice-Chairman of Dorchester Parish Council and tenant of site BER 18.
Mr. Christopher Roberts, Planning Consultant, Turley.
Mr. Ralph Adams, currently negotiating to purchase a property in the village.
Mr. Andrew Leadbitter, jointly owns site BER 18 with his sister.
Mr. Ken Chrisp, resident
Ms. A. Thacker, resident.
Annette Loveland, Clerk to Berinsfield Parish Council and Secretary & Finance Co-ordinator of Berinsfield Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group.
3.To approve the Minutes of the Berinsfield Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group meeting held on 18th May 2015
It was AGREED that the minutes of the meeting of the Berinsfield Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group meeting held on 18th May 2015 should be approved.
4.Review Plan following six week statutory consultation period into the Pre-Submission version of the Neighbourhood Development plan.
The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely explained that the Neighbourhood Development Plan area had been agreed by South Oxfordshire District Council in October 2013, following which a scoping report was prepared and a sustainability appraisal carried out leading to the draft Neighbourhood Development Plan. There has been extensive and transparent consultation with residents and businesses via leaflets and questionnaires, the Parish Council website, village functions such as the school and village fetes and regular articles in the parish magazine - Your Village Voice. The following statutory bodies were asked to take part in the six week consultation and responses have been received:-
South Oxfordshire District Council
Oxfordshire County Council
SOHA Housing
Environment Agency
Natural England
Historic England
Unfortunately at the time of the meeting the official response had not been received from South Oxfordshire District Council, only the preliminary response of an Officer.
Responses were also received from residents and representatives of businesses in Berinsfield (EAG) and Dorchester.
The responses are being analysed and as a result, there may be some slight amendments to the Berinsfield Neighbourhood Development Plan which the steering group will need to consider at the next meeting.
Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely asked Members of the Steering Group to inspect the display of drawings and plans that had been prepared by Architectural Students from Oxford Brookes University for the consultation at the village fete on Saturday 11th July. The students had visited the village and Councillor Scott-Ely and Councillor Ms. Garvey had met with them in Oxford. They had shown the area that would be required to accommodate 109 houses and also the area required to for a larger number. The Steering Group found the display interesting and wished to thank the Students for all their work. The expenses incurred by the Students in producing their plans and drawings and literature would be reimbursed by the Parish Council. It was AGREED that the Parish Council should also be asked to consider making a donation to the students to recognise their efforts and hard work. Copies of the plans and schemes produced by the young architects purely for illustrative purposes and to encourage the debate will be available for viewing via the Berinsfield Parish Council.
5.Feedback following the consultation exercise at the Village Fete on 11th July.
Mrs. Eldridge asked to speak about the questionnaire used at the fete and said she was distressed by the fact that some of the questions raised more than one issue and she could not split her answer to the questions, in particular with regard to the fact that she would like to support a cafe at the former gravel pit (BER24), but would not support a hotel. Mrs. Eldridge explained her reasons for not supporting the construction of a hotel in Berinsfield.
As owner of the site, the Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely asked the group for their permission to speak about the proposal in his capacity as landowner. He stated that he had been advised by an SODC Councillor – Mike Whelpy to consider the site for a hotel in view of the employment proposals for the Culham Science Park. Consultants had advised that in order to be viable in the location it would need to have a minimum of 120 bedrooms and be able to accommodate conferences for large employers in the area and not be in competition with the more rural hotel accommodation in the area. A 120 bedroom hotel would provide employment for approximately 85 full time staff who would ideally be local residents who could walk to work, and approximately 250 ancillary workers, such as food suppliers, laundry etc. Councillor Scott-Ely informed the meeting that he does not intend to build the hotel himself, but that it had been put forward as a recommendation in the plan and there had been fairly strong support for it from the outset in the first consultation. Any development of a hotel on this site would still be subject to planning approval and the Parish Council and residents would have an opportunity to make further comments at that point.
Councillor Mrs. Stockford asked if car parking could also be accommodated on the site and was informed that it is an 80 acre site, 60 acres of water and 20 acres of land and that there would be adequate room for car parking on the site. There was also a query as to where any proposed entrance to the site would be located. Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely confirmed that he is not negotiating with anybody who is looking to build a hotel at the present time, but once the NDP passes referendum, he would meet with Consultants again to move the proposal forward with the view to making a planning application. He is happy to share the hotel consultant’s report with any interested party and a copy is available via the Parish Council.
Councillor D. Eldridge stated that he also found it difficult to give “yes” or “no” answers to the questions on the questionnaire. The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely pointed out that when a referendum is held, there will only be an opportunity to state “yes” or “no” with regard to adopting the Neighbourhood Development Plan. It is inevitable that some aspects of the plan will not please everyone but it is important that the plan (which is primarily about housing and local employment) is supported by as many residents as possible otherwise SODC will make the decisions on how and where the village grows and Berinsfield would also not then qualify for the 25% CIL contribution.
Councillor Ms. Garvey, the NDP Communications Co-ordinator, read through the questions in the fete questionnaire and gave a verbal breakdown of the responses. The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely and Councillors Ms. Garvey and Ken Hall considered that the questionnaire exercise had been extremely positive and that they had not spoken to anybody at the Fete who had not heard at least something about the NDP or did not feel Berinsfield should pursue a Neighbourhood Development Plan. The people who attended the Fete and completed questionnaires were not people who usually attended Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group or Parish Council meetings and the chance to understand more about the challenges and opportunities facing the village was very well received by the community. The responses on the questionnaires will be analysed and details will be posted on the Parish Council website.
6.Update on Technical Support from Locality, Green Belt Study and Solar Farm proposal on BER25. The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely informed the meeting that the Neighbourhood Development Group had originally been successful in obtaining a grant from Locality which had been used to engage an expert to assist with the preparation of the Sustainability Appraisal. A further application has recently been made for technical support, which has been successful, and the Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group now has the services of a planning expert from AECOM who will be in touch with the Chairman when he has read through all the documents on the website and will provide the Steering Group with guidance about the final stages of Neighbourhood Development Plan. Locality has been fully informed about the village being washed over by the Oxford Green Belt.
Green Belt. Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely explained that at the present time development can only take place on previously developed land within the parish (whether redundant or in continuing use) or for several specific forms of development including buildings for agriculture and forestry, facilities for outdoor sport, outdoor recreation, cemeteries and mineral extraction. South Oxfordshire District Council had originally made provision in the Core Strategy 2027 for a green belt review at Berinsfield, but this has not yet happened and is now a district wide study of the Oxford Green Belt which will not be available until late July, early August, 2015 . The study is widely expected to recommend that some land around Berinsfield be removed from the Green Belt to allow for future growth.
Proposed Solar Farm. Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely informed the meeting that Councillor Ms. Garvey is currently in contact with Sirius SBC Renewables- the company that is interested in applying to construct a solar farm on site BER25, the former Wally Corner landfill site off the road to Drayton St. Leonard. Dr. Mark Hinnells, of Susenco, a renewable energy company, had advised the NDP Steering Group to specify in its Neighbourhood Development Plan support proposals for a solar farm in the village but that it should be a community-led scheme which would allow the village to directly benefit from the scheme. Councillor Ms. Garvey is in contact with the company and is hopeful that they will consider opting for a scheme with ongoing benefits for the village as opposed to a scheme whereby the village obtains a one off lump sum. Further information should be available in due course.
7.Next Step in the process The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely informed the meeting that there will probably be the need for some fine tuning of the Neighbourhood Development Plan and Orders when advice is received from the expert appointed by Locality. Following this South Oxfordshire District Council will need to consult again for a further 6 week period before appointing an independent examiner to examine the document to assess whether the policies contained in it are sound and meet EU legislation. The independent examiner could recommend that the Parish Council through its Steering Group make further changes. Following this, a resident’s only referendum will be held in the village as to whether or not to accept the Neighbourhood Development Plan. Every person recorded on the electoral role for Berinsfield (over the age of 18 at the date of the referendum) will be entitled to vote as to whether to adopt the Neighbourhood Development Plan and Orders for Berinsfield. The referendum will be a “yes” /“no” vote only as all community and stakeholder feedback / comments will have been taken into account prior to completion of the final document.
Parishes and towns that have an adopted Neighbourhood Development Plan have the benefit of:-
i) Obtaining a higher percentage (25%) of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) attached to new properties for use on facilities in the parish or town
ii)Influencing planning applications made for land in the parish or town. If a parish or town does not have an adopted NDP, the District Council can make the decision as to where development should take place. An adopted Neighbourhood Development Plan will contain details of sites where development can take place and the District Council would have to take note of this information when determining planning applications in the parish or town.
Following questions about incentives to downsize and allocation of houses, the meeting was informed that the Neighbourhood Development Plan contains the policies that the villagers have requested, but it will be developers that will purchase building sites, submit planning applications and build the houses. Currently SODC requires that 40% of all new development over 10 units should be affordable, which also includes shared ownership, care homes and self build properties. Approximately 50% of the properties in Berinsfield are social housing and it is hoped that this can be re-balanced by any new development.
8.Any other business.
The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely informed the meeting what could happen if the village did not have an adopted NDP. Benson Parish Council did not proceed with its NDP and a developer has recently submitted a planning application for 159 homes on a site in the village. The development was opposed by Benson PC and planning permission was refused by South Oxfordshire District Council but the developer appealed against the decision. As the Parish did not have an NDP and the District Council did not have a Local Plan, the developer had planning permission granted on appeal and the houses will be built. This was given as an example of what could happen if Berinsfield does not have an adopted NDP. Conversely, Woodcote Parish Council, which was one of the first parishes to prepare a NDP, has recently been successful in influencing a planning application in its village as the site concerned was not identified for development in the NDP and so the appeal inspector upheld SODC’s refusal of the application on grounds that it was contrary to the adopted Woodcote NDP.
The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely and Councillor Ms. Garvey highlighted some points relating to Berinsfield and grants etc. contained in the summer 2015 edition of Outlook, issued by South Oxfordshire District Council. In it there is an article from Cllr John Cotton – Leader of SODC and ward member for Berinsfield which reads ”we’ve also started looking at how we can develop Abbey Sports Centre in Berinsfield to benefit the community”.
Dorchester Parish Council. The Chairman, Councillor Stuart Scott-Ely welcomed Cllr. Mark Williams, Vice-Chairman of Dorchester Parish Council and asked if he wished to raise any points. Mr. Williams informed the meeting that Dorchester Parish Council has an approved neighbourhood development plan area and a Steering Group has been set up and is currently chaired by Mark Stevenson. As Dorchester Parish Council has six new members this year, they are currently reviewing their NDP needs and the structure and function of its steering group.
Consultation response from Environment Agency. Mr. Leadbitter referred to the consultation response from the Environment Agency regarding flooding in the area and asked how the agency could be so negative when an independent report commissioned by Berinsfield Parish Council on behalf of the NDP Steering Group contained more accurate information about the area. It was considered that the response from the Environment Agency should be challenged.
9.Date of next meeting. Monday 10th August, 2015 at 7pm in the School Hall, Abbey Woods Academy, Berinsfield.