Minutes for PC Meeting 12th October

1.2   Apologies: Paul Schofield and Jenny Perring

Welcome to this months report. Where has this year gone? It’s been another busy month in the district, I’m glad that things are getting back to a new normal. Apologies on behalf of EHDC and Norse for the disruption of emptying bins around the ward. Due to the ongoing shortage of HGV drivers.  If your bin is missed please leave it out and it will be emptied as soon as the team are able, they are even working weekends to catch up.  The new Bin calendars are available to download via The EHDC website and go to the ‘where I live’ section and enter your address. The three of us have received a vast amount of emails not surprisingly, related to the Chawton Park Farm development being part of the Option 2 of the Local plan.  It is vital we have a local plan to stop speculative build that our 3 villages have seen happen many times over recent years. At full council after a long debate It was good news with regards to Chawton Park Farm now being considered equally to all other sites and now will be evidence based to ensure the development site is chosen having considered all implications. Ingrid was unable to attend this meeting due to a serious family illness, and we send her our best wishes.  Diana voted against the proposal because this is building on farmland and due to climate change and extreme weather predicted in the future, we will need farmland for grazing animals and for agriculture. The Government’s planning for the future white paper mentions enhancing natural environments rather than not just harming them.  I’m on the sub-group for natural environment at Climate Change committee with two other members.  Therefore voted against the proposal of the plan.  The long awaited new crossing is nearing completion, and will now be a safe haven for children to cross the A31 at Lymington Bottom. We’ve also received a lot of comments on the verge cutting along the A31 and the impact of the rubbish that is sprawled along the carriageway. The Environmental officer at EHDC said “ We do the litter pick after the cut because although the litter gets shredded, if you try to pick in long grass, you miss too much, and it looks dreadful afterwards anyway.

The A31 is a high-speed road and not safe to work on without booking road space and traffic management. The traffic management is expensive, and the road space is not always available when we want it, it must fit around the demands of others working on the highway. It would cost twice as much to litter pick before and after.

I don’t think more litter bins or recycling litter bins would help as any responsible person would use the existing bins or take it home. Less plastic packaging might make a difference. Sonja Reames in Environmental Enforcement might know if it’s possible to fine car owners for litter coming from vehicles.” We have thanked Rachael for this response.  If there are any other areas where the litter is bad, report it via the MyEHDC portal on the website and it will go direct to Norse. Should you have anything we can help with please let either myself, Diana or Ingrid know.

Resignations –The Council received and accepted resignations from Donal O’Connell and Keith Murray and would like to thank them for their work in the village over the last few years.

Co-option – Cllr Simper proposed Jayne Whittock as a Councillor which was seconded by Cllr Williamson. The Council welcomed Jayne. There is still one vacancy for a Councillor should anyone be interested.

Chawton Park Farm Proposal for 1200 homes  – update from Cllr Thomas. All sites are now on an equal footing and will all undergo the same review process before the Reg 19 which is due to begin in December.

1 Springfield Cottages – SDNP/21/04341/LIS Extension to garage structure and new lobby to rear of existing dwelling – Council have no objection

Chawton Recreation Ground – SDNP/21/04929/TCA Tree Works – extensive tree work to be carried out applied for by the PC.

The Dovecote, Gosport Road – SDNP/21/04479/LDE Conversion of existing kennels and Dovecote to dwelling – Council have no objection

Proposed New Solar Farm just outside Alton – Cllr Pascoe will attend an online meeting on Thursday 14^th October. The Council believe there maybe an opportunity to link footpaths during this work if the proposal goes ahead, Council reserve judgement on the scheme until further information is reviewed.

*-The Parish Council can make observations regarding the Parish as a whole and comment on applications made but there is no guarantee that these comments will impact the ultimate decision.

6.1 J A House – Lizzie Dunford (Director J A House) presented an update regarding the roof replacement. Scaffold will be inplace for the winter and a skip will be placed on the grass outside the building. The museum and garden will be closed weekdays until April but will be open at the weekends. Tiles for the roof can be sponsored by visiting the website www.janeaustens.house

Mention was made of the rain leak from the shared roof which ran into the bus shelter owned by the Parish Council. This was not included in the works proposed but Lizzie Dunford would ensure, while roofers were on site, the issue would be re-examined and proposals for a remedy sought.

6.2 Outdoor Classroom – Logs have been delivered to the outdoor area and will be arranged as soon as possible, also once the tree application is confirmed the over hanging tree will be reduced.

6.3 Stiles & Kissing Gates – MS to walk the footpaths with contractors, still waiting for response.

6.4 Speed Indicator Devices – a meeting with the traffic team will be arranged with Cllr Williamson and the Clerk. This would also include signage for the weight limit in the village centre and the possibility of a 20 mph speed limit

6.5 Wildflower Meadow – Cllr Schofield suggested a wildflower meadow on the grass verge at the end of Ferney Close. Council have no objection to this however permission from Highways would be required.

District Cllr Ingrid Thomas would seek to confirm the land was owned by Hampshire CC as verges might be vested in East Hampshire DC from the time Ferney Close was developed as housing.

Seeking Protection of the North Downs – The Parish’s of Cliddesden, Ellisfield & Windslade have written to seek the support from Chawton Parish Council in a move to gain the status of “An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty” (AONB) for the area of Hampshire referred to as the North Hampshire Downs. This requires further review and consideration given the potential impact on planning thus creating a ribbon development from Ropley to Holybourne.