FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

Meeting held on Wednesday November 14th 2018, at 7.00p.m. in the Methodist Church, Wareham Rd, Lytchett Matravers

PRESENT: Cllrs C Wood (Chair), A Bush, A Cottman, M Colvey, A Huggins, K Norris, R Watts, P Webb and Mr T Watton (Parish Clerk)

There were two members of the public present.

Public participation: A resident attended the meeting and read a prepared statement in objection to planning application 6/2018/0590 concerning the proposed erection of livestock building at Valley View Farm, Land south of Castle Farm Road, Lytchett Matravers BH16 6DA. Concerns were also expressed about other recent applications for proposed developments at the same location. Members suggested that the resident may also wish to look at Purbeck District Council’s Draft Local Plan, and also its Green Belt Study. The latter document makes specific points concerning protection of the land of which Valley View Farm forms part.

1. APOLOGIES. J Taylor and R Carswell

2. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest; and consideration of requests for Special Dispensations under Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011.

There were none.

3. To receive and approve minutes of the Finance & Policy Committee meeting held on 17th October 2018. These were ACCEPTED as a true record and signed by the Committee Chairman.

4. To receive and consider reports of past subject matters. The following matters were included in the Clerk’s report of past subject matters. [nb: comments made or decisions taken at the meeting are shown in italics]

i. F&P Cttee Minute 12, 6th June 2011. Security of council papers & records. At the October 2018 F&GP Cttee meeting a discussion took place about where the best place for the minutes would be for storage of this historical document and it was suggested that the U3A group would scan it so that the village has a copy as well as Dorset History Centre.There is potential to also print an extract from the minutes in the Link. Carried Forward.

ii. E&A Cttee Minute 10, 8th May 2017: Outstanding risk assessments: At the July 2018 meeting it was agreed that Cllr Carswell would take over responsibility for preparing a risk assessment for Old School Green. Completed. DISCHARGED. The Parish Clerk indicated that he would carry out the 2018/19 Risk Assessments.

iii. E&A Cttee minute 5.4 6th Nov 2017 Old School Green / War Memorial. Mr Mills has been asked be asked to arrange for supply and distribution of soil to fill the depression. Now that Remembrance Day has passed this work is due to happen.

iv. F&GP Cttee, 8th August 2018, Minute 14 – Specification for re-modelling and upgrading of Lytchett Astro entrance trackway area. At the meeting on 8th August it was resolved that Cllr Bush would prepare a specification for use to obtain quotes for this work. This specification was passed to the Parish Clerk and approaches made to three prospective groundworks contractors – One quote has been received for £7660. It was noted that the requested quote does not include permanent surfacing. This was considered OK on the assumption that once the site is used this will prevent growth. The current plan is to clear the site and then decide the way forward. A further two quotes have been requested from other contractors. The school action to open up the additional entrance is awaited. The electrics to the lights on the pathway have been disconnected in the control cabinet for safety reasons.

v. F&GP Cttee, 8th August 2018, Minute 18, Bollards / Dolly Posts. As resolved, the Parish Clerk has asked the Handyman to obtain and install wooden dolly posts in the current gaps at the Rec Ground. This work is in progress.

Regarding the project to replace wooden posts with plastic, it was concluded that the easiest discrete site to progress would be the car park at the Eldons Drove end of the rec. Cllr Huggins confirmed that he is preparing a spec for the installation of bollards around the Eldons Drove car park. CARRIED FORWARD.

vi. F&GP Cttee, 12th September 2018, Minute 10, – proposal to create a Parish Council-led community team to clear Church Walk back to the fence line and to infill the groove in the surface path – This is a public right of way under DCC responsibility which has become increasingly overgrown. It was proposed that, due to insurance concerns, it would be appropriate to employ a suitably qualified and insured contractor and that volunteers could then support this with a tidying / clearing up initiative after those works are complete. A group from St Mary’s church have volunteered. It was also suggested that logs / timber could be put in to define the path and control the growth of vegetation. Cllrs arranged to walk the path on 17th September and considered the work to be done. Quotes were then obtained and at the Full Council meeting on 24th October they were considered and a contractor appointed to do the specified work. The Clerk has advised the contractor accordingly and communicated his contact details to Cllr Barker for liaison with the work of the volunteer group. Carried Forward.

vii. Planning application responses sent to PDC and reported as “not yet determined” by PDC at the September LMPC F&GP Committee meeting:

Planning application 6/2018/0063 Lewis Wyatt (Construction) Ltd & Morrish Builders. Land at Huntick Road, Lytchett Matravers. Erection of 46 dwellings (including affordable homes), new vehicular access via Huntick Road, associated landscaping, drainage & all other development works. PASS show this application has still not yet been determined. Regarding the Council’s request to begin discussions with both parties regarding the amenity aspects, Cllrs Bush and Huggins have continued their attempts to contact Wyatts on this matter.

Planning application 6/2018/0287. Nest Homes. Land adjacent to Wessex Water Reservoir, Purbeck Road, Lytchett Matravers. Construction of 25 dwellings and associated access, car parking and landscaping. PASS shows that PDC has now been approved (although this status is not yet logged on the Planning Portal).

Planning application 6/2018/0542 Dymboro, Eldons Drove, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6HH. Insert 6 rooflights for internal loft conversion. PASS show this application has not yet been determined.

Planning application 6/2018/0515 Valley View Farm, Castle Farm Road, Lytchett Matravers BH16 6DA. Temporary rural workers dwelling. PASS show this application has not yet been determined.

Planning application 6/2018/0521 Valley View Farm, Land south of Castle Farm Road, Lytchett Matravers BH16 6DA. Erection of 7 polytunnels, new farm service track and car parking area. PASS show this application has not yet been determined.

5. To receive and note the 2018/2019 YEAR to date bank reconciliation. A copy of the bank reconciliation is attached at Appendix 1 to these minutes. It was RESOLVED to accept and approve this.

6. To receive and consider a report covering 2018/19 year to date council income and expenditure. The report having been circulated to all members it was RESOLVED to accept and approve this. The Parish Clerk pointed out that when the exceptional payment of £14,300 made into the Prudential investment in 2017/18 is stripped out the two years’ expenditures are in line with one another. The CIL income and expenditure tracker was examined and it was RESOLVED to include the expenditure for Eldons Drove Lane vegetation clearance against CIL money on the basis that this is the first stage of a large project to achieve a goal set out in the Neighbourhood Plan. It was also noted that further such defined projects will be allocated against CIL money in due course. The Sports Club expenditure tracker was also examined and it was RESOLVED to accept and approve this.

7. To consider planning application 6/2018/0582 Mr Nicholas Rubenstein. Land between 66 & 68 The Spinney, Lytchett Matravers, BH16 6AS. Erect detached single storey garage. The Council wished to register an OBJECTION on the grounds that this proposed development appears not to be associated with any of the nearby domestic properties and therefore does not appear to be justified. This unrelated garage is out of character with the surrounding area and street scene. In view of the above described circumstances, Council members also expressed some concerns about future intentions for this proposed structure.

8. To consider planning application 6/2018/0590 Mr J. Gregory. Valley View Farm, Land south of Castle Farm Road, Lytchett Matravers BH16 6DA. Erection of livestock building. The Parish Council wishes to raise an OBJECTION to this proposal. Firstly, the council notes that this is the third in a series of separate applications related to this site in recent weeks. The Parish Council wishes to express grave concerns about the incremental approach this applicant appears to be taking and the consequent cumulative effect of these applications. This is a point which the Parish Council requests Purbeck District Council to fully take into account when considering this application. The Parish Council’s objection is on the grounds of the adverse impact on a valuable and sensitive landscape, located within the greenbelt. In support of this point the council wishes to bring to the attention of the Planning Authority PDC’s own evaluation within the Purbeck Local Plan Green Belt Study October 2018 of the land, identified as “Parcel 18”, which includes this site. The Purbeck Local Plan Green Belt Study states that this land “…makes a significant contribution to the openness of the Green Belt, and the character of the countryside. It also serves a function on checking the merging of settlements”. It is also specifically rated “high” in terms of the NPPF “safeguarding countryside” aim of green belt.

9. To consider planning application 6/2018/0586 Mrs A Baker. 56 High Street, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6BH. Convert dwelling to 2 flats. Erect a single storey front extension & side external staircase. New car parking layout & boundary fencing. NO OBJECTION.

10. To consider planning application 6/2018/0557 Dr and Mrs Adam and Vicky Nicholls. 47 High Street, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, BH16 6BH. Create a dropped kerb, erect a front garden boundary fence and other associated works. The Parish Council has no objection to the dropped kerb; but wishes to OBJECT to the erection of a front garden boundary fence due to concerns about its potential adverse effects on vehicle and pedestrian safety by reducing the visibility at the junction with Middle Road, and that this fence is out of character with the neighbouring properties and immediate street scene.

11. To consider items to be included in the council’s annual report of CIL income and expenditure. The members noted that the monthly report presented to the committee under item 6 above includes an ongoing tracker of all CIL payments received to date since the scheme’s inception, plus recording decisions for tagging expenditure of CIL money on defined projects. The Clerk explained that the intention of this agenda item is to raise awareness of the need to formally minute such use of CIL monies each year. This point was acknowledged by the members present.

12. To consider a proposed council response to the consultation on the Purbeck Local Plan Pre-Submission. Cllr Norris introduced this item by referring to the draft response to PDC prepared by Cllr Bush which captures points previously made by Cllr Norris, Cllr Watts and Cllr Wood (copy at appendix 2 to these minutes). This draft response was then reviewed. All of its points were endorsed and supported. The following points were discussed further in support of the draft.

PDC’s Green Belt Study of October 2018 states that changes to green belt boundaries may be justified by “very special circumstances”, but there is nowhere where it is explained what might constitute such “special circumstances”. Consequently PDC’s Green Belt Study is considered “unsound”. In addition, it was noted that it has not been possible to find any analysis or comment by PDC as to why they are looking at designated greenbelt land when there is a considerable amount of non-greenbelt land which may be considered. In addition it was noted there has evidently been no discussion by PDC about how this might affect or be affected by housing needs in Lytchett Matravers.

It was noted that the draft response prepared by Cllr Bush already deals with arguments concerning PDP Policy H6 – the proposed potential development site to the east of Wareham Rd. This land is included within Parcel 25 in the Green Belt Study and is identified in that study as serving ‘as a strategic check on preventing the settlements of Lytchett Minster and Lytchett Matravers from merging with one another’.

Point 3 of Cllr Bush’s draft, concerning the inadequacy of local infrastructure, was reiterated and endorsed. It was also pointed out by Cllr Cottman that the A35 and A350 suffer frequent road closures due to collisions, thereby further worsening the access to the village. Cllr Cottman agreed to see what statistics he could gather on this, together with identifying their source so that they may be used in the final response.

Regarding the “Small sites” policy, it was argued that this is applicable to rural communities, which does not include Lytchett Matravers since it is described as a large village. Members noted that the preamble and the policy in the main body of the PDP are not consistent in this regard.

The members also noted that CPRE prevailing opinion is strongly on the need to retain rural land. This point is also made in several places in PDC’s own Green Belt Study, Oct 2018.

13. To consider a proposal for the recreation ground ball court, and next steps for it’s funding. Cllr Huggins referred to his proposal paper of 6th November 2018 (attached at Appendix 3 to these minutes). He summarised this, pointing out that that 3 comparable quotations for these works had been obtained and that two of the quotes also offered a quotation for the additional / supplementary task of removal of the white lines on the old ball court surface and replacing it with graphics to facilitate a new creative play use for this area which might otherwise become redundant. In response to a question it was confirmed that this proposed facility does not duplicate what is provided at the Lytchett Astro, since the 3G surface there dictates that the Astro may only be used for football. Members noted that the next stage is to prepare a grant application, and that in preparation for this the Council will need to carry out a public consultation and obtain a suitable level of public support for the project. Cllr Norris offered to seek the input of Dorset Community Action to advise the Council on how to go about this. Members also noted that the grant application would also need to include details of other fundraising efforts, ideally including a contribution from public funds administered by the Parish Council. It was agreed that The Parish Clerk and Cllr Huggins would work together to begin completion of a grant application to Sport England.

14. To consider the 2019/20 budget and precept working paper – circulated to members by email on 8th November. The Parish Clerk explained that the budget working paper had been circulated to all members and included on this agenda to prompt members to examine the process by which suggested budget figures had been arrived at for the 2019/20 year and to promote further consideration and debate to enable council decisions to be made about budgets per expenditure line and an agreed precept request. The precept request is due to be submitted to PDC in January 2019. The clerk also explained that Cllr Bush had responded to the circulated working paper with an email asking a number of questions – to which the clerk then responded (cc to all members) with comments and an amended copy of the working paper. This matter will be re-visited in subsequent meetings during December and January.

15. To note correspondence received.

No correspondence was received.

Meeting closed at 21:10

Annotated by/on …………………………. Approved by/on ……

FinanceGenPurposesCommitteeMinutes Appendix 3 (Ball Court proposal Nov 2018).docx
FinanceGenPurposesCommitteeMinutes Appendix 2 (LMPC draft Responses to Purbeck Local Plan 17 10 18).docx
Fin&GenPurMinutes 181114 Appendix1 (Bank Rec and accounts summary.xlsx

Finance & General Purposes Committee minutes 17th October 2018