NP Steering Group Meeting

Published: 03 July 2018

Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 28th June 2018 in the Church Room, Plummers Plain.

Present: Geoff Peckham (Chair), Leslie Bamford (Joint Lead), Kate Hough, Chris Loader, Jackie Ward and Janet Warwick

Also present: Celia Price (Clerk to the Parish Council) and 12 members of the public

Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Kevin Murphy, Andrew Ledger, Sue and Michael Prideaux

Points of Order
The Chair announced that there will be no public adjournment and all present were asked to refrain from asking questions or interrupting throughout the meeting.

Declaration of Member’s Interests
The Chair reminded all present to declare any members interests and the following was declared.
Chris Loader – Cyder Farm, Crabtree (LBP03)
Leslie Bamford – Cedar Cottage (LBP24)
Peter Knox – Glayde Farm (LBP19)
Kate Hough and Jackie Ward – Land south of Handcross Road (LBP20)
All present confirmed they had no connections with any of the developers proposing sites.

Vision and Objectives Review (appendix 1)
Jackie Ward reminded everyone of the vision and objectives of the group as defined by the group and with consultation with the residents.

All present were reminded to keep the visions and objectives in mind and the purpose of the meeting is to recommend sites for further consideration at the next stage.

The Chairman took the opportunity to thank Leslie, Peter, Jackie and all those that have continued to work diligently as volunteers to prepare and collate information for the Neighbourhood Plan.

Exhibition Feedback Review (appendix 2)
All present had received data from the exhibition prior to the meeting and Peter gave an overview of the reports.
The exhibition took place on the 1st and 2nd June and was open to all parishioners. There were 24 sites shown with 2 sites being policy compliant with reservations, and 4 sites being policy compliant.

93 forms were returned during the exhibition with a further 25 submitted by the required deadline.

Attendance was fantastic and great feedback has been received from the residents. Thanks were extended to the school for hosting the exhibition which was a great venue.

Instruction from HDC
Geoff advised that HDC have confirmed the majority of development should be in and around the BUAB of Lower Beeding with modest development in Crabtree. (Modest means up to 6 dwellings)

Final housing numbers are still to be confirmed but it is expected that this will be between 22 – 25. There is a possibility that these might increase but we are advised to work with what we know. Dowsett Mayhew are in correspondence with HDC who have also offered a review meeting to the steering group.

Site Considerations
All were reminded that the role of the steering group is to make recommendations. These recommendations must be considerate of HDC and the steering groups own policies, the vision and objectives and the views of the residents of the parish.

The following sites were reviewed and discussed individually with the following recommendations:

• All agreed that Old Camp Farm (LBP23) would not be taken forward for consideration at this stage as it is remote from the BUAB, and adjoins Monks Gate which is mostly in the parish of Nuthurst and has not yet been classified as a Secondary Settlement.
• All agreed that Cisswood Hotel (LBP09) will not be taken forward for consideration at this stage as it is outside the BUAB, lacks sustainability, and is not in line with the vision and objectives
• Cyder Farm (LBP03)
  Chris Loader declared his interest and left the meeting
  All agreed to recommend this site, it is policy compliant and meets the groups visions and objectives. In addition, the site was most supported at the exhibition.
  Chris Loader returned to the meeting
• Sandygate Lane (LBP16)
  All agreed to recommend this site, it is a sustainable site which adjourns the BUAB, it is policy complaint and meets the groups visions and objectives as well as being well supported by exhibition feedback.
• Trinity Cottage (LBP17)
  All agreed to recommend his site, it is policy complaint and meets the groups visions and objectives. It was also well supported at the public exhibition
• Glayde Farm (LBP19)
  This is a large site, but the proposer has agreed this could be split. It was proposed that ‘field A’ be recommended as a reserve site. Concerns were raised about potential loss of green space. The group voted with 4 agreeing to the proposal to recommend as a reserve site, 1 member voted against and 1 abstained.
• Cedar Cottage and Timberlands (LBP24)
  On the grounds that this site does not meet the visions and objectives of the parish, access constraints, and was not well supported at the exhibition, 4 members voted not to recommend the site, 1 thought it should be considered and 1 abstained, therefore it was agreed not to take this site forward for consideration at this stage.

Next Steps
Members of the steering group will meet with HDC to review progress and discuss the process therefore assisting with the preparation of the draft plan in consultation with Dowsett Mayhew. This will be presented to the Parish Council for discussion after which the draft plan will be submitted for a ‘health check’ and will be put forward for referendum. It is anticipated that the draft plan will be submitted in the Autumn.


The meeting closed at 9:05pm