18thJanuary20171397

CHARFIELD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on Wednesday 18th January 2017 commencing at 8.00pm in the Sportsman’s Lounge, Memorial Hall, Charfield

PRESENT Parish Councillors: Mark Rosher (Chairman), Naomi Newns, Vanessa Roberts and Alex Threlfall Clerk: Mrs. Paula Evans Public: 9 members of the public were present. 10935/17 To note Apologies for Absence and Acceptance of Reasons Apologies were received and accepted from Cllrs. Cheskin, Law, Rawlings, Garside and Parker. 10936/17 Declaration of Interest in items on Agenda None received. 10937/17 Public Participation Members of the public addressed the Parish Council in connection with the forthcoming planning application.

• PT16/6924/O – Strenuous objections were raised regarding this proposed development. Residents felt this was a speculative proposal and premature considering the West of England JSP and JTS; access to the site was dangerous; increased volume of traffic; an extremely high density; retail unit situated in the wrong place; concerns over the proximity of the railway line; the proposal does not support a low carbon environment; lack of employment opportunities.

• PT16/6888/RVC – It was noted that an additional application PT16/6887/RVC had been

submitted, however both of these applications sought to removal of a ‘personal’ condition. Again, strenuous objections were raised regarding these applications. Concerns were expressed that immediately neighbouring properties had not been notified of this application; residents felt that access to the site was too narrow for the removal of the personal condition; the access was on a dangerous bend in the road; the adjacent area is owned by Network Rail who frequently park vehicles in the vicinity which causes congestion; the acceptance of the noise hazard by one individual could not void the need for noise assessment overall.

10938/17 To note/comment on Planning Applications PT16/6924/O | Erection of up to 121 no. dwelling, retail unit (Class A1), open space, ecological mitigation land and associated works with access from Wotton Road. Outline application with access to be considered (all other matters reserved) | Land north of Wotton Road, Charfield, GL12 8TG | To OBJECT - The Chairman read out a proposed response which encapsulated the comments received from Public Participation and those from Parish Councillors. See attached Appendix A. PT16/6715/F | Erection of a first floor side and rear extension to provide additional living accommodation. Installation of balcony | Aroundtoit, 46a Wotton Road, Charfield, Wotton Under Edge | NO OBSERVATIONS. PT16/6888/RVC | Removal of condition 3 attached to planning permission PT13/0618/F to make the development available to Travellers generally rather than subject to personal permission | Appletrees, New Street, Charfield | To OBJECT – The Parish Council noted that an additional application PT16/6887/RVC (Removal of Condition 3 attached to planning permission PT02/1115/RVC to make the use of the site non-personal) had been notified in a different format, however the objections raised would relate to both applications. The Chairman read out a proposed response which summarised the comments received from both the public and Parish Councillors. See attached Appendix B.

18thJanuary20171398

This concluded the business of the meeting which closed at approximately 8.50pm. Next meeting of full council is Tuesday 14th February 2017 at 7:30pm in the Sportsmans Lounge Chairman 14th February 2017

18thJanuary20171399

Appendix A

Re: PT16/6924/O–LandNorthofWottonRoad,Charfield,GL128TG Erectionofupto121no.dwellings,retailunit(ClassA1)openspace,ecological mitigationlandandassociatedworkswithaccessfromWottonRoad.Outline Applicationwithaccesstobeconsidered(allothermattersreserved)Withreferencetotheabove,CharfieldParishCouncilOBJECTStothisapplicationandwouldcommentasfollows.Prematurity–TheParishCouncilconsiderthisapplicationtobepremature,giventheongoingJSP, JTSandCharfieldNeighbourhoodPlanwork. ThisprematuresituationwashighlightedinaletterfromMr.PatrickConroyofSouthGloucestershireCouncildated20thDecember2016(refPRE16/0890)toMr.DanWeaverofPegasusGroup.CharfieldParishCouncilwhole-heartedlysupportsthecontentsofthatletterandinparticularthestatementthat“anyspeculativeapplicationforfurtherdevelopmentinthevillageatthis time, could potentially undermine the future sustainable development of strategic grown atCharfield. Such unplanned growth, could lack coherence and risks embedding harmful piecemealdevelopment, therebydenying theabilityof theplan ledsystemtoachieve its fundamentalobjective–whichistoplanforthesustainablepattersofdevelopment”. AnypermissionofstrategicdevelopmentpriortotheoutcomesoftheseexerciseswillseverelyundermineboththenationalprinciplesofLocalismandtheNationalPlanningPolicyFramework,andtheconfidenceofthelocalcommunityintheconceptofcommunityleaddevelopmentplans.PermissionwouldlikelycausethecessationofworkontheonlyNeighbourhood Plan currently under development in South Gloucestershire and would show publiclythatsuchplansarenotsupportedorgivenanycredencebySouthGloucestershireCouncil.CarbonIntensive-Throughpromotingrurallivingwherecarownershipanduseisessentialforaccesstovitalservicesandemploymentthisapplicationdoesnotsupport(andindeeddirectlyconflictswith)anyaspirationtoalowcarboneconomy,andassuchworksagainstnationalaspirationstomitigateclimatechange. The proposal increases housing supply in an areawhere transport links are inadequate andunlikelytosubstantiallyimprove.Employmentprospectsareequallyscarceandunlikelytoincrease,andthelargestemployerinthearearecentlysurveyeditsworkforceandfoundthatmostwishedtolivenotintheareabutintheregionalcities,drivingtoworkandhome.Acursorylookatthevacancieswebpageofthelargestemployerintheareashowsthatoftheeighteenvacanciescurrentlyadvertisednationwide,eleven are within 1.5 miles of Charfield and of those eleven, four are apprenticeships. It must bestressedthatallofthevacanciesareextremelytechnicalandrequireadegreeinscienceorengineeringorattheveryleastanengineering/draughtsmanbackground. TheParishCouncilthereforerefutesthesuggestionbyBarrattHomesthatthereis‘excellentemploymentopportunities’inthearea.Inappropriate Affordable Content - Because of the lack of transport links and local employment, theprovisionofaffordablehousinginlargenumbersislikelytoproduceanisolatedcommunitywhothroughlackofaffordabletransportareunabletoaccessvitalservicesoremployment.TheLocalAuthorityhasmadeclearthatinvestmentinlocalinfrastructureisbasedsolelyonneedandthattheneedisunlikelytobeprovenuntilthelocalinfrastructureissufficiently“broken”,andinanycaseinahardeningperiodofausterityandlocalgovernmentcutbacksanysuchneedislikelytobeignoredasservicesarecondensedintotheurbanenvironment.AccessfromWottonRoad-TheaccessfromtheWottonRoadiswhollyuntenable,giventheexistingandalready permitted planned road conditions. The sole access and egress to the site is situated on anunavoidablybusyandhazardoussectionofthemainroadthroughthevillage.Immediatelytothesoutheastof theaccess isNewtown,a laneholdingtenresidenceswhichalreadysufferdifficultaccessonto

18thJanuary20171400

theroadthroughconstrainedsightlineandbeinganeffectivelyconcealedentrance.Totheeast isalsothe sole access to Day House Leaze, a newly permitted development of 64 houses not yet underconstructionwhichwillsignificantly increasecurrenttrafficmovements inthe immediatearea. Tothesouthwestarethecorecommunitycentre,playingfields,children’splaygroundandcarpark,andalsothejunctionwithLittleBristolLane-itselfalreadyacutthroughroutefortheManorestate.Tothewestis theblindhumpbackbridge that crosses themainBristol toGloucester rail-line and this provides aserious hazard to any new junction with real danger of a consequent rise in vehicle and pedestrianaccidents.Inrealitytherewouldbetrafficconvergingatthispointfromsixdifferentdirections.Also,theaddition of a retail unit to the front of the proposed development would suggest additional HGVmovements thereby compounding congestion and road safety issues. Therefore the Parish CouncilrefutesBarrattHomesstatement(page23oftheDesignandAccessStatement)that“satisfactoryaccesstothesitecanbeachieved”andforclarity,weattachbelowtwoGooglemapimagesshowingthestretchofWottonRoadinquestion.

DensityofDevelopment -Thedensityof thisproposal issignificantlyhigherthan isnormal invillages,andapproximatelydoublethatoftheimmediatelyadjacentandrecentlypermitteddevelopmentatDayHouse Leaze (64 homes on roughly the same size plot of land). This is out of keeping with thecharacteristicofCharfield.Foralltheabovereasonsthisapplicationfailstomeettherequirementsof:-

• CS4ASustainableDevelopment• CS5LocationofDevelopment• CS8ImprovingAccessibility• CS15DistributionofHousing• CS16HousingDensity• CS34RuralAreas• CS36ProposalsforMajorInfrastructureProjects

EntrancetoBarrattsproposeddevelopment

18thJanuary20171401

Re: PT16/6887/RVC–Appletrees,NewStreet,Charfield RemovalofCondition3attachedtoplanningpermissionPT02/1115/RVCtomakethe Useofthesitenon-personal PT16/6888/RVC–Appletrees,NewStreet,Charfield RemovalofCondition3attachedtoplanningpermissionPT13/0618tomakethe DevelopmentavailabletoTravellersgenerallyratherthansubjecttopersonal PermissionWith regard to the above planning applications, Charfield Parish Council wish toOBJECT, and wouldcommentasfollows.ItwasnotedthattherearetwoalmostidenticalapplicationsforthissiteandtheCouncilwouldexpresslystatethatthecommentsherewitharedirectedtobothapplications,andpresumeoneoftheapplicationswasmadeerroneouslyandwillbewithdrawn.Intheeventneitheriswithdrawn,thesecommentsapplytobothapplications.Thisapplication seeks toenda condition thatwasplaced forgood reason,andonewhich thecouncilbelievesshouldstand.Thereasoningbehindtheconditionwasthatthesiteissubjecttosignificantnoisehazard from the immediately adjacent main Bristol to Gloucester railway line. Only the expressagreementofMr.Keetthathewaswillingtobearthishazardwithoutredressandtheassertionthathisother circumstancesmay well have beenmore onerous caused South Gloucestershire to embed thisconditionin2002.Thenoisehazardhasnotimprovedandcouldinfactbesaidtohaveworsened.ItisthereforeincumbentuponSouthGloucestershireCouncil to fallbackontothepreviousdeterminationwhichwasexpressedclearlyinthedecisionforPT13/0618/FandreferringtoPT02/1115/RVCthat:“Theprincipalof theproposedusebyagypsy familyhadpreviouslybeenacceptedon thebasisof theapplicants personal acceptance of the noise from the railway line under application PT02/1115/RVC.Shouldthesitebeusedbydifferentoccupiers,theLocalPlanningAuthoritywillneedtoassessthenoiseimpactandpossiblemitigation…”AlthoughthesiteislistedontheSouthGloucestershireauthorisedgypsysitelistinLocalPlanCS21,thelistingisclearlysolelyfortheonefamily’susegiventhenoisehazard,andifthenoiseassessmentshowsthat the location is untenable for safe occupationby any family then in the absenceof the approvedoccupierthesiteshouldberemovedfromtheCS21list.SitesforTravellerandGypsyuseareappropriateonlywhen“thelandisnotthesubjectofunacceptablelevelsofnoisedisturbance,pollution,smell,dustorcontamination”.CharfieldParishCouncilwouldfurtherpointoutthataccesstoAppletreesisalonganarrowcountrylanewiththesiteaccessbeingonaparticularlysharpbendinthelane.TheParishCouncilisconcernedthatshould the personal condition be removed this could potentially cause road safety issues with longtowingvansandcaravansattemptingtomanoeuvreintothesite. This isalsoanareawhereNetworkRail contractors access themain railway line andparkmultiple vehicles on the road causingpotentialcongestionanditisnotanareawhereitissafetoallowmultiplemovementsoftowingvehiclesinandoutofthesite.TheremovalofthepersonalconditionattachedtoPT13/0618/Fcouldpotentiallyallowfurther hard standings to be constructed, which is something the Parish Council would be extremelyconcernedabout.

18thJanuary20171402

TheParishCouncilalsonotesthatontheapplicationformsforbothplanningapplications,thatfollowingpre-applicationadvice,Mr.Hemmingsissupportiveoftheapplications.CharfieldParishCouncilwouldthereforereiteratethatitOBJECTStotheremovalofthecondition,andcallsforanoiseassessmenttobemade.Itfurthercallsforadecisionbasedonthenoiseassessmentastothecontinuationofthesitebeinglistedasanapprovedgypsysite.