Thursday, 16 October 2014

Minutes of meeting held Monday 1 September 2014

WEST LULWORTH PARISH COUNCIL
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)
                                    Lt Col Waugh (MOD Liaison)
                                    Mr Paul Scothern (Dorset County Council)
                                    Mr Colin Eversden (Dorset County Council)
Miss E Blake (Clerk)
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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 County Officers identified which were blocked.  Cllr Davey suggested Highways be asked to investigate.
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 Church Road
e) A planning application (6/2014/0140) has been submitted for a new school in School Lane.  County Council Officer Mr Colin Eversden detailed the application which is a proposal to replace the existing inadequate school with a new school on a new site.
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 School Lane site was the most suitable across a range of options and the cost is less than adapting the existing site.
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 School Lane was mostly private parking for residents and suggestions for people to park in a narrow lane would worsen the issue and questioned what will happen with delivery vehicles.  Cllr Matthews also had concerns about the bottle neck and that no traffic survey had been carried out.  Mr Eversden stated that the traffic engineer had visited the site and made an assessment therein.  Delivery lorries will park in the turning circle which is big enough for trucks, refuse lorries and emergency vehicles.  Mr Scothern added that Highways had been consulted and if tonight’s meeting suggested a traffic survey needed to be carried out then that could be put forward.
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 County Councillor
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
TWA/2014/0432 St. Mary’s Chapel, Main Road, West Lulworth, BH20 5RL.  To relocate timber shed within garden and replace oil tank.  Cllr Matthews stated the applicants have already carried out the work.  There were no objections to the application.
ACTION: Clerk to inform PDC of no objections.

Finance
The following were approved for payment, proposed by Cllr Whittle and seconded by Cllr Miller:
Grass cutting
Mr Vallance
Cheque 000707
£140.00
Clerks Wages (August)
Miss Blake
Cheque 000708
£198.20

The following receipt was noted:
Interest on playground account

£0.20



Training
Thu 18 September, PDC, Wareham, 6:30pm – What Needs Planning Permission?
Tue 23 September, DAPTC, Dorchester, 7pm to 9pm – Councillors Powers & Duties, £30
Wed 24 September, DAPTC, Tarrant Keyneston, 7pm to 9pm – Councillors Powers & Duties, £30

Items of information and Items for the next Agenda
Navitus Bay response
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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