Woolmer Green Parish Council

 

 

Minutes of Extra Meeting held on 23rd November 2004

 

 

1.             Present: Cllrs. Daniels, Evans, Thom and Watson

2.             In the absence of the Chairman, Cllr. Daniels was voted to be Chairman for the meeting.

3.             Apologies were received from Cllrs. Bryant and Marriott.

4.             Planning Application 2004/1663/FP was discussed. This is for the demolition of the existing bungalow at 22 London Road, Woolmer Green and the erection of 8 flats with amendments to the parking arrangements already granted planning permission (no. ?) at the adjoining property.

 

Historical: The bungalow at 22 London Road was erected in approx. 1952 to replace an existing dwelling and on the same foot-print. It is set well back from London Road with a vehicular exit on to Wolvesmere and ample parking at the front of the property. There is a listed milestone at the front of the property. Wolvesmere is a 14ft wide road which is used for parking for the Beauty Shop on the B197 and for overflow parking by the Red Lion Public House.

 

The Council OBJECTED to the planning application for the following reasons:

a.    Over-development of the site

b.    Village character: this imposing development at the centre of the village would totally change the character of the village and would be unsympathetic to the diversity of the buildings along the B197.

c.     The envisaged parking arrangements are insufficient for the number of dwellings planned. The minimum number of parking spaces allocated should be 20.75 and only 17 have been provided. These 17 have necessitated even tighter parking for the previously approved development, in particular to the front of unit 7; this compromises the planning permission already granted.

d.    The visibility at the exit from Wolvesmere on to London Road would be compromised making a difficult exit into a busy road even more dangerous.

e.    The positioning of the 2 refuse bins on the main road is unacceptable.

f.      The access passageway to the parking court at the side of the vetinary surgery is unacceptable since it would lead to the local youth using it as a meeting point and as a circular route for riding scooters. N.B. we identified such a passageway as being insensitive in the original proposals for the adjacent site and it was removed on the final approved plans.

 

In addition, if this site were to be developed, it was felt that S106 should be invoked to request the developers to improve safety of the Wolvesmere/New Road/London Road/pedestrian crossing area. The integrity of the listed milepost must also be upheld.

 

5.             Planning application no? for an O2 mobile phone mast on the railway bridge at London Road: OBJECTION. The Council raised no objection only last month to the siting of a Vodafone mast in the same position and would not like to see two masts in the same position due to the doubling of the radiation in close proximity to St. MichaelŐs School.

6.             Parish Plan: it was decided that Cllrs. Daniels and Watson would progress this with immediate effect.

ACTION: Cllrs Daniels & Watson

7.             Reply to letter from David Ayres of Children, Schools and Families, and e-mail from Cllr. Richard Smith regarding bus passes for Woolmer Green children to MonksŐ Walk school. It was decided that Cllr. Watson would take this to the executive committee meeting of the HAPTC next week and report back before action was taken. This is a county-wide problem.

ACTION: Cllr. Watson

8.             Monthly meetings of the Parish Council. All Cllrs present were in agreement that it would be preferable to hold monthly meetings due to the difficulty of continuity when Cllrs had to miss meetings due to business commitments.

ACTION: Cllr. Daniels