From our Reporter at the Parish Council Meeting
With 5 people in the public gallery and 2 guest speakers it was quite a full house in the Village Hall Meeting Room. 'Public Participation'began with Graham Jackson leading the charge against the alleged planning infringements by the Chemical Factory. Photographic evidence was produced together with a large A1 matrix/chart covered with red, yellow, blue and green squares. The three red squares detailed approximately 10 planning breaches, the more numerous yellow squares detailed when more work is necessary, while, I suppose, the relatively few blue and green squares indicated that all was well.
There was a long detailed discussion which got nowhere. Allen tried to handle this as best he could, being caught between Control Officer Alan Dover and Graham Jackson. Then he had an inspired idea -he offered to bring the two together. And this will now happen and my advice to Allen is to introduce the pair, let these two heavyweights touch gloves, and then to hasten off for a well earned coffee. This is certainly not a match to try to referee.
Katie Child (ECDC Principal Forward Planning Officer) and her assistant Abigail Taylor then gave a presentation about the 'Localism Bill'and the possibility of working together with ECDC to manage future growth. The bill has yet to be passed but its aim is to abandon top down targets and to take more account of local input. This was welcomed by the PC who will be asked to draw up a list of what we want to preserve, what we would like, and to consider local housing needs especially low cost housing.
It was a an excellent presentation which seamlessly moved on to the Dencora field and the letter from Sir Michael Marshall on behalf of the three owners of the field who had bought it to avoid commercial exploitation. The request was whether the three owners could recoup some of their costs with some limited development. This will be discussed and reported in more detail over the following months but essentially the proposed development would cover 3 of the 15 acres, with ideally 8 affordable and 16 market houses, though possibly 5/6 affordable and 10/12 market houses. And it would only go ahead if the village gave its general approval. Allen was encouraged by the PC's interest in Katie Child's presentation and said that we could tell her there was widespread support for low cost housing. "You can't say that" said Andrew Camps, "we don't know what the village thinks." Peter Hart supported this and asked about the ACRE Survey which had been approved at the January meeting. Karen has been pressing ACRE for the survey but it has yet to be prepared. The matter will be raised at the Annual Village Assembly in May by which time the PC hoped that the village survey regarding low cost housing would have been completed. Any discussion will include some of the points raised at the meeting, such as, will the school be able to cope, what will a 10% increase do to the village, can we ensure only villagers move in to the low cost housing, etc. John Covill thanked the ECDC representatives and said what a change to have ECDC come and ask the PC's opinion rather than just telling it.
One change at the County Council is the introduction of Highway Wardens so that there is a better understanding between Highways and Parish Councils. Steve was anxious to be our warden and wondered if we would have fared better in Mill Hill with one. It's hard to say but both Quy and Lode managed very well without one. And talking of Lode I did see the traffic lights at Red the other day, but the button had been pressed by a lady jogger and she had crossed and was down the road before the car had stopped. Seeing the light at Red is rarer than a win on Premium Bonds.
The Village Notice Board is to be repaired and moved toward the fence for a cost of £360. So everyone is happy and our Clerk will now be safe. Betty and Ron Prime had written a letter saying that they had walked all round the lower part of the village picking up litter and had filled a black bin bag. They were quite shocked at the amount of rubbish and wondered whether something could be arranged on a more regular basis even if it cost a little money. The PC agreed that recently there had been an increase of litter especially in parts of the High Street. For example there had been broken glass left against the churchyard wall for quite a number of days. No-one bothered to clear it up. The Big Society? The PC will be having a word where appropriate.
At the meeting there was a subdued hum of excitement about the forthcoming Street Party to celebrate the Royal Wedding and most approved the £100 donation towards the costs. But not Geoffrey. He visibly winced when this was passed and expressed his anti-monarchy views. Previously during the meeting he had twice mentioned his hostility towards the Tories. Wow! Any rabid Left Wing Republican now has a fine Leader and Champion in Geoffrey. Is this the birth of a new vibrant local party?