South Tarrant Valley Group Parish Council

SOUTH TARRANT VALLEY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF AN ORDINARY MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, 9th November 2021

at 7pm in The Anne Biddlecombe Hall, Tarrant Keyneston

Present: Councillors Beale, Cossins (Chairman), Deketeleare, Harding, Eaton, Garland, Parker, Topliss and Thomson
In attendance: County Councillor Brown; Clerk Mrs Huck

1. Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence from this meeting were received from Cllr Munford and Cllr Sweetland.

2. Declarations of interest not previously disclosed and to grant any dispensations as requested
None were disclosed or requested.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 14th September 2021
There were no amendments requested and it was:
RESOLVED the minutes of the September meeting were approved for signing by the Chairman.

4. Report from the County Councillor
Cllr Brown had attended the Annual Parish Meeting which preceded the Council meeting and reported on the following: the Council’s Covid response and taking this ‘can do’ approach forward; the care sector and its place alongside the NHS; £37m to support special educational needs; Dorset Council’s contribution to carbon in Dorset, and, the Lily stay at home trial of passive motion sensors.
Questions were asked around Norden and affordable housing, Blandford GP surgeries and recent poor performance; and, concern around vulnerable special educational needs adolescents who would not wish to attend St Mary’s.

5. Open discussion of up to 30 minutes: members of the public may raise issues here
There were no issues raised.

6. Anne Biddlecombe Hall and Recreation Ground – Parish Council representative
Cllr Garland suggested and it was:
RESOLVED that future Council representation to the Hall and Recreation Ground Trust would be by the councillor holding the office of Chairman of the Council.

7. George Galpins Almshouses Trust – representative
(May 21 min 7 refers)
There was a vacancy for a Trustee to represent the Parish Council though not necessarily needing to be an elected councillor. Cllr Garland would report back to the January Council following a Trustee meeting on 16th November 2021.

8. Model Councillor of Conduct Code 2020
Councillors considered adoption of the Model Code, having been advised of the differences between the current Code (adopted in 2012) and the 2020 version. Discussion took place over paragraph 8.1 on training which the majority were not in favour of including on the basis of the Code being clear. It was:

RESOLVED (a) The Councillor of Conduct Code 2020 be adopted with paragraph having been removed, and, (b) that The Code be an agenda item at each Annual Council Meeting to support its review and updating where required.

9. Tarrant Keyneston Community Speedwatch
Councillors had received an update on this at the preceding Annual Parish Meeting which had been attended by volunteers from the group and PCSO Mike Sinnick who confirmed the B3082 in the village was considered to be a hotspot for speeding.
Councillors were appreciative of the voluntary efforts and noted the reported data but were dismayed to hear of verbal abuse which had also been suffered by group members.

10. Speed Indicator Device
The Clerk advised funding was still being sought, with an application to Hall & Woodhouse Community Chest having been unsuccessful. A Parish Council which was due to replace its unit had been approached to see if the device could be donated or bought at a reduced cost – the owners had decided to retain the unit for the foreseeable future.
The Clerk suggested she explore the use of online funding platforms and this was AGREED.

11. Tarrant Crawford Noticeboard – replacement
The Chairman reported a resident was arranging for the repair of the noticeboard which had been recovered and would report back to the January meeting.

Finances
12. Financial statements for September and October 2021 and approval of cheques scheduled
The Clerk had previously emailed the financial statements showing full details of income and expenditure set against budget, together with a bank reconciliation. It was:
RESOLVED (a) the September and October 2021 statement be approved and signed; (b) the cheques shown in the schedule be approved and signed.

13. Proposed Villages Website
Ahead of the consideration of the draft budget, the Clerk suggested exploring whether an honorarium payment may support the search for a volunteer to become involved in the reporter element of the website. It was:
RESOLVED the amount shown in the 2022\2023 website budget line be retained and so offered to prospective volunteers.

14. Draft budget for 202/23 financial year
The draft budget was considered having been previously circulated by the Clerk. No amendments were requested ahead of its presentation to the January meeting.

Planning
15. Application updates
The Clerk provided an update on the following applications:
Tarrant Keyneston 02031 – pending; 01277 – pending;
Tarrant Rawston 02263 – granted;
Tarrant Rushton 02790 – granted; 03115 – site visit 6th November – no objections

16. Council’s response on applications consultation

Councillors were asked to consider the current delegated arrangements, first put in place in 2016, for responding to planning application consultations. It was:
RESOLVED that emailed responses from Councillors to applications were acceptable. However, should there be more than one objection, a site visit should be arranged where 4 or more Councillors would need to attend for a delegated decision to stand. If less than 4 attended, then all Councillors would need to be consulted.

17. Neighbourhood Planning
Cllr Stuart Thomson had attended an in depth training on the planning system and shared an overview of this with councillors. (Appendix A refers).
Discussion on the way forward with a Neighbourhood Plan was discussed including the availability of volunteers, cost, and resulting value given changing central government planning policies. The Clerk was asked to investigate the status of Village Design Statements. It was then:
RESOLVED the Council would not pursue the formation of a Plan at this point in time.

18. DAPTC
Cllrs Beale and Eaton would attend the AGM scheduled for 13th November and asked for council guidance on the submitted motions.

19. Tarrant Rushton Airfield
Cllr Harding reported no further difficulties with parking had been experienced post the lifting of pandemic lockdown and so lessened use of the airfield by walkers. He was waiting to hear further from the Dorset Council Rangers on the provision of disability access to the airfield.

20. Bonfires
It was confirmed an article had appeared in the November Tarrant Times which provided out of hours telephone numbers for residents’ use where there was concern over smoke which could be harmful to health.

21. Proposed bench donation
The Chairman and Cllr Harding confirmed there had been no further contact after the initial approach and so the matter could be removed from future agendas.

22. To decide items for next agenda.
Bus shelter – St Richards Close
Inclement Weather Plan Review
Anne Biddlecombe Hall and Recreation Ground – Parish Council representative
George Galpins Almshouses Trust – representative
War Memorial – Queen’s Jubilee – hedging
Bonfires
Community Speedwatch
Speed Indicator Device
Ashley Wood – planning enforcement
Website development

23. Date of next meetings, currently set for 11th January 2022, followed by 8th March, 10th May, 12th July, 13th September, 8th November

Signed ……………………………….(Chairman) Date …………………………………….

APPENDIX A to Minutes of 9th November 2021 Council Meeting

PLANNING PYRAMID

1 National Planning Policy Framework (The Rules) “NPPF”
– 75 pages
– All planning applications are referenced against the rules
– NPPF provides framework within which locally prepared plans for housing and other development can be produced
– At heart of the framework is a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
2 Planning Practice Guidance (the Instruction Manual)
3 Local Plan e.g. County/City level
4 Neighbourhood Plan
– Village/parish level
– Sits within and not contradict Local Plan
5 Planning Application

Who is involved in Planning?
– The Developer, Agent or Applicant
– The Local Planning Authority
– Statutory consultees
– Parish/Town Council
– The Local Community

Developers and their agents

Highly remunerated professionals
Will actively and continuously search for development opportunities
Know and understand NPPF

Local Planning Authority

Also, very professional
Role is to assess planning applications against NPPF. Often lose staff to developers!

Statutory Consultees

Environment Agency, Rivers Authority etc

Parish/Town Councils

– are consultees with local knowledge
– Parish/Town Council must assess application against NPPF
– work with developers and local planning authority
– should check veracity of applications. For example, is development of brownfield site? Is it sustainable (transport links, local facilities e.g. shops, playground etc)?

Local Community

Subjective objections from individuals not in accordance with NPPF unlikely to succeed,

BUT
weight of numbers could prevail especially on developer e.g. withdrawal of John Lewis proposed affordable homes development near Leckford Farm

6 Neighbourhood Plans
– must complement Local Plans
– may take years to develop
– must have professional help (to match developers’ expertise) therefore at some cost to community
– will set ground rules locally

BUT
– once approved, only planning applications that conform to Neighbourhood Plan are likely to succeed.