Minutes of
the meeting held at West Lulworth Village Hall on Monday 1 September 2014 at
7:30pm
Councillors present: Mr J Davey (Chairman), Mr N Miller, Mrs V
King, Mrs M Colvin, Miss S Jackson, Ms C Matthews, Mr E de Chazal, Mr M Whittle, Mrs
Neal.
In attendance: District Councillor Quinn
Major
Barr (MOD Liaison)
Mr
Paul Scothern (Dorset County Council)
Mr
Colin Eversden (Dorset County Council)
Miss E Blake (Clerk)
27 members of the public
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Public Questions and Discussions Period
a) Mr P Roberts asked when the bus shelter would be open. Councillor (Cllr) Davey answered that the
Parish Council are still awaiting a lease from the land owner in order that
insurance can be arranged for use by the public.
ACTION: Clerk to send letter offering
assistance with drafting a bus shelter lease.
b) Mr J Hammond asked if any consideration was being given to the
storms which are supposed to be coming and the drains in the area as the drain
in his road is blocked solid. Cllr
Davey informed him that Highways attended to the drains fairly recently after
a walk around the village with
ACTION: Clerk to inform Highways of
blocked drain.
c) Mr R Walker wondered whether there is any health risk from the dust
from the car park as he had noticed one person who struggled to breathe after
breathing it in. Cllr Davey stated the
Weld Estate have previously said there is no risk. The Parish Plan recommended tarmac for the
car park but that is for the Weld Estate to deal with. Miss F Redman suggested tarmac may cause
flooding issues but Cllr Davey countered that flooding is an issue there
already.
ACTION: Clerk to send letter to Weld
Estate regarding tarmac for the car park.
d) An enquiry was raised whether anything could be done about the
traffic up the road to Durdle Door. It
was thought it may be due to the car park at Durdle Door being full or too
expensive but Cllr Davey noted there is now an overflow car park although he
could not say about the cost. The
Parish Council (PC) have discussed yellow lines or a freeway being
implemented and will be following this up.
Cllr Whittle knew of several accidents recently.
ACTION: Clerk to check on status of
implementing yellow lines at road from Durdle Door to
e) A planning application (6/2014/0140) has been submitted for a new
school in
Mr Hammond asked what is wrong with the old (current) school and Mr
Paul Scothern replied that it is not big enough; it lacks a hall and disabled
access. Mr Eversden added that there
was an options appraisal which investigated six sites and the Glebe Field was
favoured but due to local objections it was no longer available. The
Mr Hammond believed there would be a bottle neck of congestion with
residents being unable to get out to work. Mr Eversden countered that that is
what happens with the current system and with the new design of a turning
circle the children will be dropped off and the cars then leave immediately.
Mr Hammond wondered what would happen when there were deliveries as the
Youth Hostel deliveries were already causing chaos.
Mrs M Harris stated parking is already a
nightmare but could not see the proposals making it any worse. Mrs L Miller added that currently some
parents turn at the top of School lane but a lot reverse into Moreys Close so
a proper drop off point would be better.
Mrs S Hawkins stated that parents do not just
drop kids off and leave. They get out
of their cars, talk to other parents and may have to talk to the school. Mr Eversden stated the idea was that if
parents had a need to go into school premises they would have to find elsewhere
to park. Mrs Miller asked about
parking provision for parents but there is only staff parking.
Cllr Davey asked what consideration had been given for parking on site
for evening functions. Mr Eversden
stated it was intended to make a link from the back of the drop off point to
enable parking on the hard standing play area at evenings.
It was acknowledged that answers to dropping off had been provided but not
the question of what would happen when parents were picking children up. Mr Eversden stated it would be no worse
then it is now and parents have a choice to park elsewhere. Cllr Davey informed the meeting that the
last PC meeting had resulted in a review for yellow lines to be implemented
including the area nearby the school. Mr
R Walker believed a lot of money was being spent and yet problems were not
being addressed but Mr Eversden countered that it would take a lot more money
to make the current road more suitable.
A service road around the back of the current school site was suggested
but a loop system had been looked at and would mean a massive cut in the
inroad or meandering all over.
Mr S White thought the Council were taking a complacent view of the
traffic issues and asked if they had been to view the road as cars passing in
the road were causing the road to be churned away.
Mr N Taylor acknowledged that wherever a school is put there will be
traffic but added that the mini digger which dug the test holes at the
proposed site had to drive on the pavement and wondered what would happen
when building works were taking place and what if emergency vehicles needed
to access the road.
Cllr King noted that
Mr A Lance had concerns about flooding and suggested that if the old
school site was developed into housing there would be a further increase in
the number of cars. Mr Eversden
responded that future applications would be assessed at that time and were
not part of this application.
Mrs S Lance wondered why the proposal was conducted in secrecy as it
seemed only those connected with the school were informed. Mr Scothern replied that a leaflet
summarising the proposed site had been sent to all households. Cllr Jackson disagreed that a leaflet had
been received by everyone and District Cllr Quinn stated he had personally
delivered the leaflet to every household in the village in June. Mrs Miller questioned the suggestion there
was a lack of transparency as several friends with no connection to the
school were aware of the proposals.
She felt the petition against the proposal was signed by people who
thought it was against a huge development and not for a new school and asked
that focus should be on the end goal.
Lt Col Waugh introduced himself as the new MOD Liaison Officer and
clarified that there was no reduction in the numbers of personnel at Lulworth
Camp and did not think it likely that the Army would provide a minibus or
walking bus service for the children from Camp to attend the school which
would alleviate some traffic.
Mr White did not agree with the use of a green field site and had been in
discussion with CPRE about it. He
added that cost had been given as one of the reasons a new site was proposed
rather than adapting the existing site and had requested the financial
comparison of both options as these had not been provided. It was suggested that a blue roof building
was not suitable for an AONB. Mr
Eversden informed the meeting that architects had been employed and they
designed the school with a blue roof.
He added that a green roof in a green field could look more artificial
than a contrasting colour. Cllr
Jackson noted the design was questioned prior to submission of the application
yet had not been amended. Mr Scothern
put forward that the Education Department were trying to standardise
buildings so we will soon see schools along the same lines e.g. at Bere
Regis. He suggested it will stand out
but as a modern building with modern facilities.
Mr Eversden read out some positive comments received at previous
consultations and noted that some requests had been made for a Purbeck stone
or grass roof.
Cllr Miller questioned the lack of light within the school and Mr
Eversden responded that too much light was a strong contrast and they were
trying to provide gentle, even light with high windows.
Cllr de Chazal responded to suggestions that the Winfrith site be used
for the older pupils and the Lulworth site for the younger pupils as there
was a preschool in both villages and it would not be sensible to have two
preschools in one village and none in the other. He added that the Winfrith site was not big
enough to take the whole school.
8:40pm: The public discussion period ended and members of the public, MOD
representatives and County Council Officers left.
Cllr Quinn thought the possibility of a service road should not be
dismissed. Cllr Whittle was worried
about access for coaches and Cllr de Chazal suggested coaches would have to
park elsewhere, Cllr King added that children had previously boarded coaches
at the Castle Inn.
Cllr Matthews noted the proposed site is quite sodden and that if the
water table level is high then soakaways would be of little use. She added that a phenomenal amount of water
could be intercepted by the roof and this may have been underestimated. Cllr Whittle added that the application
stated a 1 in 100 year risk but there had been 4 flooding issues in the
village in the past year.
Councillors voted to object to the planning application as it stands. Cllr de Chazal wished it to be noted that
he voted in favour of the application but would broadly agree with the
concerns raised.
Cllr Davey summarised the concerns to be raised are the increased
traffic congestion, no traffic survey has been carried out, no financial
appraisal to compare a new school and adaptation of the current school has
been made available, that a service road should be considered, the surface
water management should be fully considered and the design should be
reconsidered to fit in better with the surrounding village, particularly the
blue roof and the mass of the building.
ACTION: Clerk to forward school planning
proposal objections to Dorset County Council.
Apologies
Apologies received from County
Councillor Lovell.
Declarations of Interest
Councillor Matthews declared an
interest in planning application 6/2014/0432.
Minutes
The draft August minutes will be signed off at the next meeting on
Monday 6 October 2014.
Reports from District And
District Councillor Quinn
informed the meeting that there were ongoing issues with the Holmebridge
level crossing and there were traffic delays this evening due to a
breakdown. He is trying to get Network
Rail and the Council to liaise.
Cllr Davey suggested there was
also a need to address the numerous electricity cuts; there had been four
this year and a substantial one recently.
Cllr Matthews concurred and suggested that power cuts had cost
businesses a lot of money, Cllr Jackson added that even when there was power
it was often very low. A shutdown in
July was supposed to have addressed the issues but hadn’t. Cllr Neal informed the meeting that the
central unit had been replaced but now outlying units were beginning to fail.
Planning Applications / Updates on Previous Planning
Applications
ACTION: Clerk to inform PDC of no objections.
Finance
The following were approved for payment, proposed by Cllr Whittle and
seconded by Cllr Miller:
The following receipt was noted:
Training
Thu 18 September, PDC,
Tue 23 September, DAPTC,
Wed 24 September, DAPTC, Tarrant
Keyneston, 7pm to 9pm – Councillors Powers & Duties, £30
Items of information and Items for the next Agenda
Neighbourhood Plan – increasing
hours for Clerk
Freedom of Information request
results
Filming PC meetings
Road to Durdle Door – parking
restrictions
Bus shelter
Website
Date of the Next Parish Council meeting
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday 6 October 2014
at 7:30pm at West Lulworth Village Hall.
With no further business the meeting was closed by the Chairman at 10:30pm.
Chairman: ……………………………………………. Date:
……………………………………………
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