WESTCOTT VILLAGE FORUM
Minutes of Village Forum Group meeting held at 7.30pm on 24th March, 2014 at St Johns Chapel, Chapel Lane, Westcott.
- Present
Mike Flower (Chairman whilst Tim Way on vacation)
List of Forum members present in appendix (1)
2. Apologies
List of apologies in appendix (1)
7:40pm Willy Forster and Heather Forster arrived establishing a quorate.
3. Minutes from last meeting
The minutes from the meeting of 20th January 2014 were approved. A copy of the minutes will be available to view on the Westcott Village Forum website.
There were no matters arising that would not be covered elsewhere in the agenda.
4. Updates from Working Party Groups
- Governance and Finance – James Friend
JF gave an overview of the Forum, describing the objectives of the Forum, how the Forum is structured and the Forum constitution, how Forum meetings are run, and membership of the Forum.
JF then presented the Forum accounts for the 14 month period ending 28th February 2014. The accounts were proposed and agreed by the Forum. A copy of the accounts will be posted on the Westcott Village Forum website.
- Survey Design and Analysis – Andrea Gabb
AG advised that full analysis of the survey results is currently ongoing. AG is working on a booklet that will provide a view of the raw survey results. The booklet will be sent to all households and businesses in the village, and should be available within the next 4 weeks. Delivery help is needed.
- Data Gathering and Analysis & d. Programme Management – Kevin Foo
KF reviewed the Westcott Village Forum Plan, which will be available on the Westcott Village Forum website. The first four steps of the plan have been completed and step five, ‘Building the Evidence Base’, is now under way.
This is a huge task, which involves collecting data on approx 150 topics related to the village. The data collected will be assessed and will help build the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). The village survey, which has been completed by 75-80% of households and businesses in Westcott, has provided much data, but there are still many topics on which data needs to be collected, and Kevin appealed for volunteers to help.
An online tool called ‘Smartsheet’ is used to collate data; training and access to ‘Smartsheet’ will be available to those who can help with the data gathering. Without additional volunteers, it may be necessary to either extend the current timetable which has the NDP submitted to Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) in May 2015, or reduce the scope of the data collection. Anyone who can help with data gathering should contact Kevin Foo or one of the other working party group leaders, or contact the Forum via the Westcott Village Forum website.
MF said it is important to use the results from the village survey to identify the principal requirements for the village, for example, traffic, parking, village facilities. Once these principal requirements have been identified, data gathering should be carried out in those areas as a priority, so that achievable, sustainable targets can be defined within the NDP.
MF advised he had had a meeting with MVDC about the new housing development at Westcott Meadow. The Westcott NDP will contain design principals that any new houses built in the village should adhere to, in order to maintain the character of the village, but the detailed plans for the houses at Westcott Meadow have features which do not fit the character of the village, for example, plastic garage doors, concrete tiles, plastic chimney pots. Because the Forum is currently working towards an NDP for Westcott, it is hoped that the concerns raised with MVDC will be addressed.
- Policy Writing – Mike Flower
MF will put together the NDP based on the output of the survey and data analysis phases. The village will then be consulted on the NDP via a referendum, and, if approved by the village, the NDP will be submitted to MVDC.
- Marketing and Participation – Andrea Gabb
AG advised that following a request at one of the Green Belt village meetings, a list of Forum members has been added to the Westcott Village Forum website. Going forward, the website will be used to keep people informed about the Forum.
- Green Belt Re-assessment – Tim Way and Mike Flower
TW and MF produced the original draft Green Belt re-assessment document in October 2013. Since the previous Forum meeting on 20th January 2014 there has been a village walk around the Green Belt boundary, two open meetings to discuss the Green Belt re-assessment, plus many emails and phone calls on the subject. Following these consultations, TW and MF updated the Green Belt re-assessment document to reflect the majority view. The updated document was sent to all Forum members and placed on the Westcott Village Forum website. MF gave a brief overview of the updated document.
A vote of Forum members was held to decide whether the Green Belt re-assessment document should be submitted to MVDC. Each Forum member was asked to select one of the following statements:
“I support that the proposed assessment of the characteristics of the village’s Green Belt boundary be submitted to Mole Valley District Council to inform their district wide review of the Green Belt boundaries.”
Or
“I do not support that the proposed assessment of the characteristics of the village’s Green Belt boundary be submitted to Mole Valley District Council to inform their district wide review of the Green Belt boundaries.”
19 votes in total were cast, including 3 postal votes of which 18 votes supported the submission of the Green Belt re-assessment document to MVDC.
- New Members
One new Forum member, Peter Chalcroft, was nominated, seconded and voted onto the Forum.
JF advised that the Forum is short of members who fall into one (or more) of the following demographic groups:
a. live north of Furlong Road
b. female
c. less than 50 years of age
Guests at the meeting were asked to consider joining the Forum.
- Questions and Answers
Is it possible to help without joining the Forum?
JF responded that it is possible to help without being a member of the Forum by joining a working party group, and that there are already several non-Forum members who are on one or more of the working party groups.
Will the Forum comment on the housing development at Westcott Meadow?
As discussed previously, MF has already contacted MVDC about this development, and he will comment on the development on behalf of the Forum. If Westcott already had an NDP then the village would have had more influence, but in anticipation of the NDP being created, MF will contact MVDC planning department and copy Jack Straw.
8:20pm James Leaver arrived
- Any Other Business
KF reiterated the need for volunteers to assist with data gathering. Anyone who can help should contact one of the working party group leaders, or make contact via the Westcott Village Forum website.
- Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting will be decided when Tim Way returns from holiday and the next group leaders meeting is held. Forum members will be advised of the date via email.
The Chair thanked members and guests for attending and the meeting was closed at 8.30pm
-end-
Appendix (I)
Westcott Village Forum Meeting 24th March 2014
List of attendees:Stuart Ryland / SR
Andrea Gabb / AG
Heather Woods / HWo
James Friend / JF
Rond Salter / RS
James Leaver / JL
Natalie Foo / NF
Mike Flower / MF
Willy Forster / WF
Heather Forster / HF
Alan Jonas / AJ
David McCombe / DM
Matthew Bazylewskyj / MB
Laura Bazylewskyj / LB
Hazel Watson / HWa
Kevin Foo / KF
Sue Winch / SW
Peter Chalcroft / PC
Guests:
Residents from Westcott
List of apologies:
Tim Way / TW
Andrew Gordon / AGo
Graham Clark / GC
Debbie Fenton-Jones / DF-J
Pamela Wilson / PW
Madeleine Brooks / MB
Chris Smewing / CS
Geoff Woodward / GW
Tony Winch / TW
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