Minutes Town Council Planning Committee - Tuesday 18th July 2011
Minutes Town Council Planning Committee - Tuesday 18th July 2011
Last Updated (Tuesday, 27 September 2011 21:24) Tuesday, 27 September 2011 21:21
Planning Committee Minutes
Minutes of Okehampton Town Council Planning Committee Meeting held on Monday 18 July 2011in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Fore Street, Okehampton at 7.00 pm
Committee Members Present: Councillor P Vachon (Chair)
Councillor Dr M Ireland
Councillor Mrs M McDonald (Town Mayor)
Councillor D Weekes (Chair, Parks)
Councillor A Leech (Chair, Property)
Other Members Present: Councillor K Ball
Councillor T Cummings
Councillor Mrs C Marsh
In Attendance: I Courtney, K Webber +
8 schoolchildren from Okehampton College
D Bent (Town Clerk)
130. Apologies for Absence- Apologies for absence were presented on behalf of Councillors Mrs K Bickley, M Davies, J Stockwell.
131. Deferment of Business- (for comment by the public) - There were no questions from members of the public.
132. Members’ Questions- Councillor Leech referred to a newspaper article on Enterprise Zone status and questioned whether this community, through the County and District Council, could apply for this status; resolved accordingly.
Councillor Ireland referred to the potential closure of Hatherleigh Market and questioned its effect on Okehampton, he asked Members to think about the implications for the town.
133. OkehamptonCollegeWind Turbine Solar Panels/Partnership- K Webber and I Courtney of Okehampton College, plus a number of students, attended the meeting to explain the mechanics of the wind turbine, solar panels and other sources of energy used at the College. Mr Courtney explained the governors supported the energy strategy applied by the College and had installed 80 kW solar capacity units and, as an example, had earned £600 profit from last week’s sunshine whilst using the same amount of energy. Mr Webber showed graphs explaining the demand of energy for the future against production from oil and urged the community to provide alternative energy including wind turbine, water power, but not nuclear due to its costs. He said the College had gained national recognition from creating energy, reducing costs from the national grid with a possible surplus to be used on electric cars. The graphs showed the use during the day and night and proved a monitoring system and learning facility for the students.
Mr Webber explained the College had received the Ashden national award which may feed into a £500,000 community grant for a project which involved all aspects of the community in energy production through various systems.
Reference was made to the proposed wind turbine on Ball Hill at a height of 18 metres plus a blade of 5 metres and a relatively low impact in that area. Members asked a series of questions on this, suggested this type of energy was subsidised by the tax payer to which Mr Webber explained incentives were offered to reduce energy and eliminate waste and were available to all. He further commented the College had looked at alternative energy including hydro power. In conclusion, the Chairman thanked the College for its input, was enthused that the students were involved with the technology and the option to pursue a community project lay on the table for further discussion, Mr Webber was thanked for his attendance.
134. Minutes- The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 27 June 2011 were approved and signed by the Chair on the proposition of Councillor Dr M Ireland, seconded by Councillor A Leech.
135. Protocol- The Chairman reminded Members he wished to adhere to protocol and procedure during meetings to adhere to democratic, constructive debate delivering corporate decisions. He referred specifically to rules of debate numbers 17 and 18, asked Members to be succinct, to the point, with one speech per Member per item whilst accepting points of order and points of explanation with a request for good manners and courtesy. He asked for no electioneering or talking to the press, point scoring against each other or personal attacks and rudeness, if these occurred he would adjourn the meeting. He concluded that outside of the meeting freedom of speech was noted, but urged Members to take care on offering Committee business decisions, to be accurate but not misleading; Members noted the request.
136. Matters Arising-
136.1 Provision of On-Street Parking - Devon County Council (Traffic Regulations & Parking Places) Amendment Order 2011- The Chair advised the working party appointed by Council to prepare a paper for a traffic management plan was attending to that work, which document when complete would be discussed with the County.
Reference was made to Traffic Regulations and Parking Places Amendment Order 2011 which the County advised was to address issues relating to parking restrictions in Okehampton and nothing to do with the proposed on-street pay and display parking meters. Members questioned the term, ‘cashless pay and display’ and were advised this would produce an option to pay by mobile phone. Councillor Ball commented that Councillor Oxborough (WDBC Member for Tavistock) would visit Okehampton as a cross relationship exercise as part of that Council’s transport strategy with Okehampton Borough Members in attendance.
136.2 Heartlands Regeneration Forum Partnership with Okehampton Town Council- The Chairman invited Members to discuss a formal partnership agreement for the regeneration plan for Okehampton plus surrounds. He acknowledged an unofficial arrangement with this organisation and referred to a request from the Chairman of Heartlands to endorse a questionnaire to assess the needs and opportunities for economic and community regeneration within the Okehampton area; the document to embrace the Town Council’s logo.
Councillor Vachon referred to his attendance at the Forum meeting on 13 June at which County, District, Heartlands had attended and acknowledged a proposal to compile a database of businesses for this area and had further discussed other issues including superfast broadband, tourism and the general economic condition of the town.
Members were concerned over the style of letter, acknowledged a questionnaire included created by a self-selected group seemingly not properly constituted (it was noted as this was a community trust, a constitution would be available identifying appointment of officers etc). The Committee referred to an appointed sub-committee, Destination Okehampton, which could engage with this group as the Council’s formal access to the Heartlands Trust, but with a very close contact with the Borough and County Council connection with Heartlands.
The Chairman concluded the Town Council must take a lead through the involvement of Destination Okehampton and he agreed to contact all the groups involved in this exercise with a view to formalising an agenda with proper minutes submitted to this Committee. Following discussion, it was agreed to not allow the Council’s logo to be used on this exercise. With regard to the questionnaire from Heartlands, Councillor Ireland said the same would not provide meaningful results, however it was agreed the Chair and Clerk complete the return with the Chair questioning the content of the document at a subsequent meeting with Heartlands.
136.3 Superfast Broadband- A response from W Mumford, DCC Cabinet Member, offered an obscure response regarding the introduction of superfast broadband to Okehampton, however the Chairman advised 30 meg broadband would be introduced by the year 2015 and Councillor Mrs Marsh reported the exercise was currently out to tender.
137. Plans- Members received the following plans and comments were made as below.
01664/2011 259257,94326
Full
Householder application for erection of extension
2 Highland View, Station Road, Okehampton EX20 1EN
Miss J Sutton Coulson
The Town Council supported this application.
01697/2011 258891,95270
Full
Alteration to building to introduce doorway onto North Street
23 Fore Street, Okehampton EX20 1AN
Mr M Finucane
The Town Council objected to this proposal on the grounds of visual impact on the area, lacking in architectural merit and road safety.
138. Members’ Reports-
Destination Okehampton - Members noted the availability of the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2011 in the Clerk’s office.
139. DevonCountyCouncil News Release- Councillor Mrs Marsh reported the County had confirmed a £1.8 million economic boost for Okehampton relating to the 36 acre site to be marketed as ‘Opportunity Okehampton’; noted.
Meeting closed 8.35 pm.
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Councillor P Vachon
Chairman