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HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL |
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MINUTES OF TOWN COUNCIL MEETING PUBLIC SESSION MINUTES 17 October 2022: at 19:15 |
Membership:
| Councillor J Pell | Chairman | Present |
| Councillor P Caulfield | Vice Chairman | Apologies |
| Councillor J Atkinson | Apologies | |
| Councillor P Claydon | Present | |
| Councillor S Dingle | Apologies | |
| Councillor M Fincken | Present | |
| Councillor D Gronland | Present | |
| Councillor D Hume | Present | |
| Councillor A Munday | Present | |
| Councillor M Radley | Apologies | |
| Councillor L Smith | Present | |
| Councillor G Warren | Present |
Also in attendance: Sarah Greatorex (Town Clerk) Kevin Pryke, Heather Pryke, Janet Caton, Graham McCoyd, Helen Catley, Phil Catley
102. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr Dingle and Cllr Atkinson sent their apologies due to ill health. Cllr Radley and Cllr Caulfield sent their apologies for personal reasons.
Cllr Munday proposed acceptance of apologies, seconded by Cllr Gronland and unanimously agreed.
103. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS:
Cllr Munday declared NPI item 5, as a member of BDC planning committee. Cllr Pell declared NPI item 7a,7b and 7c as a member of CSGMC, and item 5 22/0244/LBC as the neighbour of the application property is known to her. Cllr Hume declared NPI item 5, 22/02094/FUL as one objector is known to him, items 7a and 7d as a member of CSGMC, and 7b and 7e as his partner is a courier on the outings. Cllr Warren declared NPI item 7a, 7b,7c and 7d as a member of CSGMC, item 7c as a Trustee of Halstead Community Fridge, and item 5 22/02094/FUL as his granddaughter attends the school. Cllr Gronland declared a PI on item 7b as he is receiving a key deposit.
104. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
a) Sue Hughes the Youth and Community commissioner had been due to make a statement but was unwell. This has been rescheduled for November.
b) Graham McCoyd made a statement, saying that he was deeply concerned about the attendance of some members over the last 14 months.
c) Statement from Jan Caton on the Halstead Men’s shed
We attended your meeting in February to present our plans for a Community Shed in Halstead with the hope that this would be sited at the St John’s Ambulance building in Fenn Road which has been unoccupied for nearly three years.
Halstead community Shed is working with other NHS Groups and Braintree District Council to negotiate the possible use of this building. Our aim is to create a Centre for Health and Wellbeing which will play an active role in Social Prescribing. For those of you that are not aware, Social Prescribing is a holistic approach to healthcare in
treating of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of an illness. Community Sheds, Men’s shed or simply sheds are leading the way in men’s mental and physical health.
Halstead Community Shed has been supporting Cut Maple Shed for some time. Shortly before the
death of Steve Jones the founding member and organiser of Cut Maple Shed, expressed his wish
that Cut Maple Shed be integrated into Halstead Community Shed. To ensure the Shed’s members
would still have access and support of a Shed within the local vicinity.
We are now working with the members of Cut Maple Shed through these difficult times and whilst they are secure in their current premises until Christmas an urgent solution needs to be found for both groups including a new site moving forward.
We would therefore like to invite town councillor Dave Gronland with his experience as an NHS
Governor and knowledge of Social Prescribing to represent the Town Council as a committee
member to assist us with moving forward with this much needed project.
We are already receiving calls from NHS Community Foundation Trust groups– keen to know when
we are up & running to support their clients and also through the Halstead Community Shed
website.
It was proposed by Cllr Pell, and seconded by Cllr Munday that item 14 should be brought forward, so that the public could leave after that item. This was unanimously agreed.
105. MINUTES To approve the minutes of the Town Council Meeting held on 26 September 2022. Minutes had been circulated and proposal to adopt minutes of 26 September 2022 was put forward by Cllr Fincken and seconded by Cllr Munday. There were 6 in favour and 2 abstentions.
Minutes of the Events meeting of 26 September, were noted, proposed by Cllr Gronland and seconded by Cllr Pell, and unanimously agreed.
Minutes of the Climate Change Action group meeting of 22 September were noted, proposed by Cllr Fincken and seconded by Cllr Pell, and unanimously agreed.
106. Men’s shed
Cllr Fincken proposed that Cllr Gronland represent HTC on the Men’s shed group. This was seconded by Cllr Munday and unanimously agreed.
107. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
Request to have planning appeal reference APP/Z1510/W/22/3299178 recovered by the Secretary of State
We, Halstead Town Council/Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural Parish Council, wish to request that the Secretary of State (SoS) for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities uses his powers to recover appeal reference APP/Z1510/W/22/3299178 (Bournebridge Hill, Greenstead Green, Halstead).
The Written Ministerial Statement of 30th June 2008 sets out the criteria governing the SoS’s policy on recovering appeals. This includes:
- Proposals which raise important or novel issues of development control; and
- Any proposal for residential development of over 150 units or on sites of five hectares, which would significantly impact on the Government’s objective to secure a better balance between housing demand and supply and create high quality, sustainable, mixed and inclusive communities.
There may be other cases which merit recovery because of particular circumstances.
We consider that both criteria have been met in respect of this appeal. The appeal arose from the refusal by Braintree District Council on 18th March 2022 to grant outline planning permission for up to 200 residential dwellings at land off Bournebridge Hill, Greenstead Green, Halstead. The appeal was dealt with as a virtual online Inquiry and was heard by a Planning Inspector on 11th and 12th October 2022.
Both Halstead Town Council and Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural Parish Council have consistently objected to the scheme. The Town Council participated in the inquiry and read out a statement, setting out the reasons why the appeal should be dismissed and planning permission refused.
The planning appeal satisfies the criteria for the following reasons:
- Braintree District Council adopted Part 2 of its Local Development Plan on 25th July 2022. The District Council therefore has an up to date local plan which includes provision for housing in the district.
- At the date of the refusal of planning permission, BDC had a five year housing land supply, confirmed in appeal reference APP/Z1510/W/21/3281232, dated 20th January 2022).
- Two months after the Local Plan was adopted, BDC concluded that the district could no longer demonstrate a five year housing land supply.
Councils are strongly encouraged to have an up to date local plans in order to provide certainty to developers and local communities about where new development is likely to be permitted and where it will be contrary to local plan policies. The Written Ministerial Statement of 19th January 2021 states:
“This Government’s ambition is to deliver 300,000 homes per year by the mid-2020s and one million homes over this Parliament. Increasing the number of up-to-date Local Plans across England is central to achieving that goal. Local Plans not only unlock land for development and ensure that the right number of new homes are being built in the right places, they also provide local communities with an opportunity to have their say on how their local areas will change over the coming years, and how the local environment can be protected and enhanced.”
Both Halstead Town Council and Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural Parish Council consider that the proposed development is contrary to policy in that it is not in a sustainable location and that it will have a significant adverse landscape and visual impact on the Bournebridge Valley.
Recovery can occur at any stage of the appeal, even after the site visit and an inquiry has taken place.
We therefore respectively ask that you request that this appeal is recovered by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for him to make the decision rather than the Planning Inspector.
Cllr Gronland proposed, seconded by Cllr Hume, that this statement should be sent to the MP, James Cleverly. This was unanimously agreed.
Cllr Munday was thanked for all the hard work he had put into researching this development.
Cllr Munday left the meeting.
22/02441/ADV and 22/02444/LBC – 9 – 11 High Street, Halstead, Essex – Installation of 1 No. fascia sign, replacement of existing shopfront fascia and 3 No. window vinyls
Cllr Hume proposed objection to this application, in support of the historic officer’s comments that the fascia was not in keeping with the building’s position within the conservation area. This was seconded by Cllr Warren and unanimously agreed.
22/02094/FUL – St Andrews Primary School, Mathews Close, Halstead – Main access controlled entrance and exit gates
Cllr Fincken proposed no objection to this application, seconded by Cllr Gronland, with 6 in favour and 1 abstention.
22/02572/HH – 53 Trinity Road, Halstead, Essex – Annexe in rear garden
On the condition that the occupation of the annexe be tied to the occupation of the main house, Cllr Warren proposed no objection to this application, seconded by Cllr Fincken and unanimously agreed.
22/02575/VAR – Land Adjacent to Blamsters Farm Mount Hill, Halstead – Variation of Condition 2 (Approved Plans) of approved application 16/01646/OUT granted 30.04.2020 for: Outline application with some matters reserved except access – Residential Development to include a total of 16 no. supported living homes and 9no. market homes falling within Use Class C3 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order. Variation would allow for: Replacement of existing Highways Plan with new plan so that provision of specialist housing can be delivered quickly in accordance with the extant consent.
Cllr Gronland proposed objection to this variation, due to the continuing danger at the access point, which is already an accident blackspot. It was also felt that Highways had not done a thorough enough investigation. Cllr Hume seconded this, and it was unanimously agreed.
22/02569/HH – Oakleigh House, Upper Chapel Street, Halstead – Replacement double garage
Cllr Hume proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr Gronland and unanimously agreed.
Cllr Munday returned to the meeting
108. MAYOR’S APPOINTMENTS
Cllr Fincken proposed that the Mayor’s appointments should be noted, seconded by Cllr Gronland and unanimously agreed.
Cllr Pell added that she had sent condolences to Chelmsford City Council on the death of the Mayor Cllr John Galley.
109. FINANCE
Finance – Deputy Lead, Cllr Munday, led this part of the meeting.
All members of the Council are members of the Finance section
a) Income and expenditure report for September 2022
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Gronland that the income and expenditure report be approved, and that the normal monthly report figures should be sent out, at Cllr Claydon’s request, and this was unanimously agreed.
b) To approve the list of payments 7b to be paid in October
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Munday, that the list of payments be approved. This was agreed, with 7 in favour and 1 abstention.
c) To approve the reconciliation of bank accounts
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Claydon that the reconciliation of bank accounts be approved. This was unanimously agreed.
d) To consider purchasing an outfield mower
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Claydon, that HTC should look at other possibilities on the market, even if they might involve retraining. The matter should then be brought back to the November meeting. This was agreed with one abstention.
e) To consider outings for 2023
Cllr Munday proposed that the Over 60s outings should go ahead in 2023, seconded by Cllr Fincken and unanimously agreed.
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Claydon, that the cost for Halstead residents should be £17.00 in 2023 and for non-residents £21.00. This was unanimously agreed. Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Claydon, that the quote provided by Kings Coaches should be accepted. This was unanimously agreed.
Cllr Pell expressed her thanks to the volunteer couriers.
110. To receive reports from District councillors
Cllr Munday said that he had attended a Planning meeting, Member development and Full Council. He also said that a refusal had been recommended for the Land East of the High Street.
Cllr Pell said that she had attended partnership development Scrutiny, Members development, Cabinet, Council, Licensing and a meeting on housing strategy. The new CEO will meet her 1:1 in Halstead, and will also arrange a 1:1 meeting with the Clerk.
Cllr Hume said that he had attended a member development evening and Full Council.
111. To receive reports from Champions
Open spaces. – Cllr Fincken encouraged members to attend a meeting at Ramsey Road recreation ground on Saturday 22 October concerning plans for the skatepark.
Tourism Cllr Smith said that there was now a total of 37 stalls booked for the Christmas Fayre.
112. To approve the schedule of dates for Council and SAC meetings for 2023/24
Cllr Munday proposed approval of the schedule of dates for 23/24, once the date of the elections on 4 May 2023 was added. This was seconded by Cllr Fincken and unanimously agreed.
113. To approve an update to the Health & Safety policy
Cllr Munday proposed that the Health & Safety policy update should be approved, seconded by Cllr Fincken and agreed unanimously.
114. To consider a report on footpaths in and around Halstead
Cllr Munday proposed that HTC should ask local walking groups to report poor signage on walks around Halstead, and should explore the options for guiding walkers around Halstead. This was seconded by Cllr Fincken and unanimously agreed.
115. To consider energy saving measures
Cllr Munday proposed that HTC should consider further measures to reduce fuel consumption. This was seconded by Cllr Claydon, and unanimously agreed.
EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS
To give consideration to adopting the following resolution: – “That in view of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted and pursuant to the provisions of section 1(2)-of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended, the public and the press be temporarily excluded from the meeting”.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20:50