HANSLOPE PARK CONSULTATIVE AREA FORUM

Transcription

1 HANSLOPE PARK CONSULTATIVE AREA FORUM Wednesday 20 January pm Hanslope Village Hall Hanslope MINUTES 1

2 Attendees: Cllr Joe Geary (Chair) Cllr Andrew Geary Cllr Eric Dodworth Cllr Gavin Lancaster Cllr Don Cook Cllr Sheila Mobley Cllr Dorothy Courtman Cllr Lesley Hetherington Cllr Ken Reynolds Cllr Phil Ayles Cllr Mike Fagan Cllr Gerald Stimpson Mike Morris Also in Attendance: Martin Small Heather Baker Richard Duffill Fiona Tarbit Mike Gifford Michael Carr 1. Apologies Ward Councillor Hanslope Park Castlethorpe Parish Council Haversham cum Little Linford Parish Council Haversham cum Little Linford Parish Council Clerk to Haversham cum Little Linford Parish Council MKC Localities Services Manager MKC Community Services Officer MKC Traffic Management Team Leader MKC Senior Planning Officer FCO Deputy Director, Estates Strategy FCO Estate and Lyons Relocation Program Manager Actions Cllr Ian Burgess Haversham cum Little Linford Parish Council Cllr P Haynes Castlethorpe Parish Council 2. Minutes of the last meeting (previously circulated) Minutes were agreed as a correct record 3. Matters Arising Cllr G Stimpson reported that Chris Carvell had not got back to him regarding the wheel wash. will chase CC. Post Meeting Note C Carvell contacted Cllr GS Hanslope traffic review- not a planning consultation but planning directive. At the STARS Meeting Haversham number 1 priority was traffic 4 Hanslope Park Traffic Issues Mike Gifford (Deputy Director, Estates Strategy) and Michael Carr (FCO Estate and Lyons Relocation Program Manager) from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office introduced themselves. There has been a parliamentary question from Mark Lancaster MP asking how much 2

3 contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had with the parishes, Hanslope in particular. The FCO accept that this has not been as good as it should have been and were pleased to put this right. In the course of discussion the following points were made: Hanslope Park is an important site for the FCO: one of the largest in terms of staff numbers (around 2,400). The FCO is the second largest employer in Milton Keynes. The site is shared with HMGCC and employees are a mixture of civil servants, contractors and consultants. Most of the staff work staggered office hours a smaller number work shifts. There is a site wide approach to management. A site management board meets on a regular basis and looks at numbers and other issues. The challenge at the moment is money and there are no plans at the moment to put up new buildings. The FCO is rolling out new IT (and a new ICT building opened in 2009) so there have been more people at the site. Despite the new building some rationalisation of buildings has taken place. While numbers of personnel have remained as was said at previous meetings with the parishes, the FCO noted that staff numbers fluctuated according to business need. In the short and medium term, staff numbers are unlikely to increase mainly because accommodation is at capacity and funds for additional accommodation are not available. The numbers of people at the Park should come down as there is a new building in CMK at Northgate House and 150 people moved there in December In the long term, however, there is constant pressure to move staff out of London. All three parishes explained that they have traffic issues especially during rush hour. A survey done as part of the Hanslope Parish Plan showed 1,323 vehicles entering Hanslope Park between 7.30am and 9am on the week-day morning of the survey. This excluded use of the overfill car park so this may be an understatement. The FCO agreed there was a problem. They were working to reduce single occupancy in cars. 1 in 5 car share and the FCO would like to increase this and try to develop more sustainable options. The FCO intend to appoint a Sustainable Travel Co-ordinator in the next few months whose job would include liaising with MKC and the adjacent PCs. Hanslope Park provides a minibus shuttle service to and from CMK station throughout the day for visitors as well as staff. There was a discussion about public transport. It was generally felt that it was not practical to divert the 33 service. However, the FCO would like to see more public transport available to the site and said that this would be something that the proposed Travel Co-ordinator would investigate. Cllr AG offered to set up a meeting with MKC Passenger Transport. The FCO has improved the entrance to Hanslope Park so that now buses can get in and out. The FCO has also taken steps to get a better picture of where employees come from. The parishes reported that it is the volume of traffic that is the main concern, what could be done to encourage car sharing? FCO suggestions included: Link car parks 3

4 Encourage car share Incentives Enforcement The FCO reported that clamping had been discussed to stop dangerous parking. There was a discussion about free parking providing a disincentive for staff to use public transport. It was suggested that Hanslope Park charge their staff and this is being considered. The FCO acknowledged that Northgate House staff did have to pay for parking. Hanslope PC said that there was many staff that lived in Hanslope and said that they would like to see a footpath between the Park and the village so that staff could walk safely to and from work. However, the cost was estimated by MKC at over 300k and the Parish Council would like Hanslope Park to pick up the bulk of this cost. It was also mentioned that a cycleway to Castlethorpe would allow cyclists to access the SUSTRANS cycleway at Castlethorpe and thence enter the redway system at Wolverton. The FCO offered a site visit to Hanslope Park to the three parishes. to be the contact to organise Finally, Cllr A Geary said that the three villages acknowledge the benefit of Hanslope Park and they are appreciated. Thanks were given to Mike Gifford and Michael Carr for attending. 5. A508 Junction & Traffic and Transport Issues A508. Cllr Ayles advised the meeting that the NCC Section 106 officer had now received the planning gain from the new Thrupp marina and the NCC Highways Safety Officer will be arranging the feasibility study in the new financial year. He said he would hope that MKC would continue to place pressure on NCC so that the improvements recommended by the study could be budgeted in 2011/12 by both MKC and NCC. Richard Duffill advised that this would have to be done by September to be part of the capital budget cycle. David Hill (MKC Chief Executive) has also taken this up. R Duffill explained that unless deadlines are hit this may be pushed into 2011/12 although everyone seems to be pushing it seems like some progress is being made. Update on dips Consultants study for Tathall End drainage was currently in progress. Remedial flood works at Tathall End would actually improve the situation at the dips as it was uncontrolled flow of water from Tathall End that caused the flooding at the dips. Looking to bid for capital funding for 2011/12. When the report is complete it was asked if the results be presented to the forum at its meeting in April or July. Lorry Access It was asked by the forum if weight restriction and signs process is in the consultation phase why signs were already up. R Duffill replied that they are advisory signs. There was a lengthy debate and some Hanslope Cllrs complained that delivery lorries had turned away. It was pointed out that the notices are currently advisory and that professional drivers should know this. RD/ 4

5 R Duffill is gathering feedback from parishes, MKC is trying to stop rat running through villages. The problem starts in Northampton who have already gone through this process and adopted the same signage. Next stage is to evaluated feedback. If all lorries are banned business would be lost. The balance has to be right. Legal restrictions will be implemented after the current consultation has been completed. Cllr Stimpson said that Trevor Dove attended Haversham meeting but they had not received information or forms so this issue was not discussed at the parish. RD to take back. Verge Parking Richard Duffill advised that he had received correspondence from Hanslope and Haversham but was trying to get in touch with Castlethorpe on areas to be put under restriction. Cllr Ayles said that Castlethorpe Parish Council had unanimously and vociferously agreed that we did not want these restrictions in Castlethorpe as they were unnecessary and that the Clerk had written to MKC. Richard said that he was happy to accept that input and Castlethorpe would not have any restrictions placed within it. Traffic and Transport have been looking at requests, all factors have to be looked at and parishes will be giving reasons if they can not be done and suggest solutions where verge parking can t be done. Trial areas can be done. Each village is different. Verge parking is only enforceable if signs are up. Pot Holes MKC categorises potholes and remedies them in order of seriousness. MKC are inspecting all roads but would welcome reporting by the PCs. Reports should be made by phone or web to MKC Streetcare or may be sent directly to Nick.Wood@miltonkeynes.gov.uk Snow and ice last February caused a major problem and snow this year has exasperated them. MKC are resourcing to try and address both sides of the financial year. The problem can not be solved overnight; there are sections that need major investment. Cllr Hetherington asked for the Drs surgery at Hanslope to be cleared of snow, reported through the website and also asked the gangs. Unfortunately this area was not cleared. RD replied that there is no point in putting salt down is some conditions as the salt only works up to temperatures of -4, with conditions like we had no authority would be able to clear every site. There is a gritting plan on MKC website, there is a 2 nd plan for sensitive sites and it might be worth parishes checking and sending in their top sensitive sites for future reference. There are potholes in Haversham that were reported before last winter and these have been made worse over the last winter and are major now. Forest Road Hanslope where the road has been resurfaced there are small stones that have come lose again with the bad weather Thanks were given for MKC filling the salt bins and for doing their best on keeping major roads clear and deserve a pat on the back. Thanks also to street cleansing and rubbish collections over the last few weeks. RD ALL 5

6 6. Minerals Plan & Core Strategy Fiona Tarbit (MKC Senior Planning Officer) introduced herself and said she came to a previous meeting of the forum in April last year to discuss the Government s consultation on the quantity of sand and gravel that Milton Keynes and other Minerals Planning Authorities in the South East will need to produce. Milton Keynes Council objected to the proposed apportionment of 0.16 mtpa, which was an increase on the previous adopted figure of 0.12 mtpa. Haversham cum Little Linford Parish Council also objected and were invited to the Examination in Public The apportionment at this stage was based on a regional figure of 9.01 mpta, as proposed by the South East Partnership Board. Following the consultation, however, the national and regional guidelines were confirmed, which increased the regional figure to mtpa. The Examination in Public took place in early October 2009 and the Panel Report from the examination was published in December. The recommendation from the Panel Report assigns an apportionment for Milton Keynes of 0.28 mtpa which is obviously a huge increase from both the previous adopted apportionment (133%) and that proposed in the previous consultation (75%). Please see attached, copies of a note that explains the three reasons for this increase. One positive message was reinforced in the Panel Report, and that is that local testing of any apportionment will be needed to ensure it is deliverable and sustainable. This means that through the Minerals Core Strategy that MKC will be preparing to replace the existing Minerals Local Plan, we will undertake sustainability appraisals and environmental assessments to determine if any apportionment is deliverable or appropriate, and provide robust evidence to prove it is not, if that is found to be the case. Next steps MKC do not have the opportunity to comment directly on the Panel Report. The Secretary of State will consider the Panel Report and publish changes along with a reasoned statement of decisions. This will be available for comment, and Milton Keynes Council will take the opportunity to make representations and objections where appropriate. An update will be provided when the proposed changes are published. In the meantime, MKC will continue the background preparation work for the Minerals Development Plan Documents. The plan is to do an initial issues and options consultation in the summer. You will be updated with the progress of that as we move along. Core Strategy At a Full Council meeting on 12 th January, the Core Strategy document was approved for pre submission publication. The Core Strategy is the key document in the Local Development Framework (the replacement for the old Local Plan), and it sets out the overarching strategy and policies for future development across the Borough. For the city, it provides guidance for the growth in the strategic development areas. For the rest of the Borough, it considers how we will address the South East Plan target of 2,400 new homes between 2006 and You may well have made comments at the previous stages of the Core Strategy process over the past few years. The Core Strategy has now been approved for pre submission publication. This means that for a six week period, from Wednesday 17 th February until Wednesday 31 st March, the pre-submission Version of the document is available for comment This publication period is unlike previous consultation periods. At this final participation 6

7 stage in the process, representations on the document must relate to the legal compliance of the document (that is, relating to the way in which the Core Strategy has been prepared and whether the Council has met all the statutory requirements throughout the process) and whether it meets the three tests of soundness. These soundness tests are part of the new planning system, and relate to whether the strategy is justified, effective and consistent with national policy. As part of the publication, MKC will be writing to all the town and parish councils with a CD of the Core Strategy and other supporting documents (and a paper copy of the Core Strategy if you need one), and send you the representation form and guidance note (which explains in more detail about the tests of soundness and how to make comments), plus a shorter summary leaflet which again explains more about what this stage is all about. Extra copies of that leaflet are available if you need them for your residents. In the meantime, if you want to get early sight of the document before MKC send out the final version in February, you can look on the CMIS pages of the Council website, where all the committee reports are held, and look at the Council agenda from 12 January ( keynes.gov.uk/cmiswebpublic/meeting.aspx?meetingid=8835) to see a version of the document that will have only changed slightly to the final version. At the end of the publication period MKC will need to summarise the key points raised at this stage and submit that summary, along with the Core Strategy and other key documents to the Secretary of State (which should take place in May). The comments are then considered by a Government appointed Planning Inspector at the Examination, which should take place this summer. MKC will then await the Inspectors Report, which is now binding on the Council MKC have to make the changes he or she recommends, enabling us to adopt the Core Strategy, assuming he or she finds the document sound. The Parish Councils are all on MKC database so you will be receiving information in February before the publication period. In the meantime, if you have any questions, you can call the Development Plans team at the Council on or look on the Planning Policy pages of the website keynes.gov.uk/planning policy 7. Items relating to the Forum Area Hanslope Cuckoo Hill Farm large drain with gully, no fencing 5 foot drop needs protection. Post Meeting Note Nick Wood is aware, belongs to BT and he is in contact with them to repair Car using cycle way on Long Street - post would solve the problem. Builders trailer off of the High Street (tarmac area High Street to Gold Street) has dangerous tools and used as storage. Drive to old bus garage where the kebab van is believe to be private land Haversham Potholes at Cross Roads Farm 100 yards from the cross roads. Post Meeting Note Nick Woods is aware and is on the list to be repaired The forum asked about what was happening regarding the request for roads that need road resurfacing. I McGregor is co-ordinating and waiting to see what resources MKC get for the coming financial year. RD RD 7

8 8. Any other business Thanks were given to Faye Toms (Community Liaison) who during the period between Christmas and New Year a problem with street lighting was reported. Faye got the problem sorted the same day. M Small thanked the forum and said that the Community Liaison Team were there for that purpose. If parishes have problems that are not being solved please contact Community Liaison who will see if they can help. 9. Date, venue and topics of next meeting The forum noted the date of future meetings as follows: Tuesday 20 April pm at Haversham Sports & Social Centre Suggested dates thereafter please note changes Thursday 15 July pm Castlethorpe Wednesday 20 October pm Hanslope Thursday 20 January pm Haversham The forum is invited to suggest topics for future meetings, please contact with any issues that you would like to raise ALL 8