WEST CHILTINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

WEST CHILTINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

A meeting of the Planning Committee of West Chiltington Parish Council was held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 2nd January 2007 in the Parish Office at the Reading Room, Church Street, West Chiltington.

Present: Harvie Steele, Dennis Tyler, Michael Jackson, Neil Longson, Pietro di Marino, Paul Royce, Jonathan Trees and Estelle Warriner.

Also in Attendance: Tony Thomas (Clerk) and nine members of the public.

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Roger Watts and Celia Rayner

2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

It was proposed by Neil Longson and seconded by Dennis Tyler and agreed by all members to duly approve the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 5th December 2006 and the Chairman was authorised to sign the minutes as a true record of the meeting.

3. MATTERS ARISING

The Clerk reported on the following:

(i) Tennis Club Track –Edburton Contractors have Quoted for the track surfacing and the

Tennis Club have offered to contribute 50% towards the cost of resurfacing the car park, and request s106 funding is sought for remainder.

Asdug Recycling and E P Clarke are also to quote for the work.

(ii) Museum Refurbishment – Emerald Construction have submitted a price by e-mail for the refurbishment, including a substantial sum for the cost of water and sewer connection. Dibble & Jones have also been sent tender documents and are expected to quote.

(iii) Highways Superintendent- Shirley Stone has retired and a replacement is unlikely to be in post until end of March.

(iv) Diversion of Public Footpath No. 2413 – WSCC have become aware that a second path which has been unavailable for many years is within the same land ownership as No. 2410 which it has agreed to divert and request this additional path be agreed for diversion.

4. CURRENT APPLICATIONS FOR COMMENT

DC/06/2789 – Wealden Grain & Fodder Re. Willets Farm, Broadford Bridge Road

Demolish existing buildings and erect 8 units for B8 (Storage & Distribution) and 1 unit for B1 (Light Industrial) usage.

The Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow members of the public to address the meeting.

David Carpenter addressed the meeting and made the following points. The current proposal for the reduced number of units overcomes the increased traffic generation which was the reason for the refusal of the previous application but he was concerned that the traffic generated by any future proposal to increase the number of units on the site should be judged against the current traffic data and not after this development has taken place to stop piecemeal development. That WSCC Highways should take account of current accident statistics at the junction of Broadford Bridge and Harbolets Road and not two year old data. That the applicant be asked to provide an updated Bat Survey as the current one was 18 months old. Apart from the standard conditions regarding days and hours of work he asked that future expansion of the site be restricted on traffic grounds, that the pending appeals be withdrawn and that the CCTV monitoring system be properly used to restrict traffic to the south. Other residents asked whether the weighbridge was included in the removal of the buildings from the site and that any signage should be in keeping with the rural outlook of the area.

The Chairman thanked the public for attending and expressing their views and reconvened the meeting.

Parish Council: The meeting was attended by 9 residents from nearby properties who with the parish council are pleased at the reduced scale of the proposed development, however if the application is approved would like the following conditions to be attached:

1) That a legal agreement be entered into restricting any future expansion on the site due to the likely increase in traffic.

2) The weighbridge to be removed along with the buildings before commencement of building work.

3) That all appeals currently outstanding be withdrawn.

4) That should the industrial estate prove to be economically unviable it should be returned to agricultural use.

5) That careful consideration is given to the signage at the site to protect the visual rural appearance of the area.

6) That full details of who is responsible for monitoring the CCTV system restricting access to/from the site to the south to be included.

7) That standard conditions regulating hours and days of work be listed to safeguard the rights of nearby residents to be able to enjoy their properties.

DC/06/2828 - Mr C Brown, High Trees, Orchard Dell

Single-storey extension and conservatory