Minutes

The minutes of the Area South meeting held on 4^th June 2014 copies of which had been circulated, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Graham Oakes, John Richardson, Jon Gleeson and Ian Martin who was representing SSDC at an Armed Forces Community Covenant Event.

Cllr Peter Gubbins declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Agenda Item 7- Planning Application 14/01266/OUTas his son lives in close proximity of the proposed site.  He would leave the meeting during consideration of that item.

Cllr Nigel Gage declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 7 – Planning Application 14/01266/OUT as a family member lives close to the site in question.

Viv Cornelius addressed the committee stating that following the withdrawal of the Yeovil Town Football Club Planning Application last month, Cllr Jon Gleeson requested that a report from Community Health & Leisure be brought to committee detailing monies collected for Strategic Leisure purposes, giving totals and amounts of each element. 

She questioned whether the Football Club is being considered as the site or zone of sports facilities for Yeovil?  If it is not are there any current discussions or proposals for where and when the accumulated 106 monies for an eight court sports hall, swimming pool, Sports Hall etc. will be spent?

In response Cllr Peter Seib advised that the Strategic Sport and Leisure Contributions collected through our Section 106 Agreements are not associated with any specific site.  As part of the development of the Local Plan the council identified two potential sites; one at Brimsmore and one at Bunford.  During that sequential search the Yeovil Town Football Club site was not found to be as favourable for delivering the adopted ‘Built Facilities Strategy’.

The Chairman advised that a written response would also be sent.

The Chairman announced that the Westfield Bid for “Our Place” funding had been successful and this will result in a further £17k of investment in the Westfield area.

There were no reports from Councillors on outside organisations.

14/01266/OUT – Residential development, new vehicular access and associated works Land Adjacent Broadacres East Coker – Avalon Estates Ltd

(Having earlier declared a Personal & Prejudicial Interest Councillor Peter Gubbins left the room during consideration of this item.  Councillor Tim Carroll deputised as Vice-Chairman for this item).

The Planning Officer presented the application as detailed in the agenda and with the aid of a power point presentation showed the site and proposed plans.  He reported that at the Area South Committee on 4^th June 2014 members resolved to defer the application for a members site visit.  This took place on 19^th June 2014. 

He explained that further representation had now been received from a number of residents within the area also raising their concerns, these included the following:

·         Loss of Grade 1 Agricultural Land

·         Previous applications have already been refused on site

·         Highway safety issues along Long Furlong Lane and with the access and egress to the site

He also updated members that comments had been received from the Somerset Waste Partnership who were satisfied overall with the proposal and accepted that the access would accommodate the standard collection vehicles, although they raised slight concern regarding the overhanging of the proposed walkways.

The Planning Officer concluded that as this application had been deferred from last month’s committee and as he had no further updates, his recommendation was to approve the application subject to the conditions as set out in the agenda report.

In response to questions, members were informed that:

·         Past applications on this site were determined by previous planning policy and that for the purpose of determining this application the current planning policies should therefore be considered.

·         An application of this size did not warrant consultation from the Environment Agency (EA) and referred to the detailed comments made by the council’s Engineer as set out on page 10 of the agenda report

·         Surface water run-off will be discharged to either a soakaway or a local watercourse.  No reason to believe that either of these options would be problematic.

·         Overhangs of the margins and walkways are an accepted facet of swept path analysis when considering large vehicles who use an estate road infrequently

·         The accompanying Transport Statement has been fully considered and its conclusions are acceptable to the Highway Authority.

Stan Shayler from East Coker Parish Council then addressed the committee.  He explained to members that the Parish Council was now in the process of producing a Neighbourhood Plan and that the proposed development did not fit the housing requirement.  He said the district council were now satisfied that they had a 5 year land supply and that this was an inappropriate site for development which was outside the development limit and may enable further development to the south. 

He said the entrance and egress was a danger point with traffic emerging onto a single lane track and this would only exacerbate the existing traffic flow problems.  He concluded that a section of Long Furlong Lane was closed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Members agreed to approve the accounts and the Chairman signed the Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for 2013/14.

Police Inspector Tim Coombe addressed the committee and with the aid of a powerpoint presentation updated members on the review of the policing structures across their operations and geographical area.

For members information a copy of his powerpoint presentation is attached as Appendix A to these minutes.

In response to questions, Police Inspector Tim Coombe informed members that:

·         Police presence would be retained in areas where there is police presence at this time.

·         A neighbourhood base will remain in Yeovil although it is not known yet where this will be located.

·         Having conducted a comprehensive review of accommodation it was considered that the best cost effective approach was to locate a custodial suite along the area of the A303.  This custodial suite would deliver a number of custody suites to include additional staff resources enabling officer’s quicker turnaround times when dealing with offenders.

·         Continue to liaise and work with the Mental Health Trust to ensure patients are not put at unnecessary risk.

The Chairman thanked Police Inspector Tim Coombe for his informative presentation.

NOTED

The Community Safety Co-ordinator presented the agenda report and with the aid of a powerpoint presentation explained to members the objective to obtain funding and the installation of monitored CCTV covering the two underpasses serving the Hospital Roundabout and the immediate surrounding area. 

In response to questions, he informed members that:

·         Somerset County Council was to contribute up to £10,000 which would be part of the Eastern Corridor improvement works.  It is understood they would fit trunking and hardwire the cameras.

·         The fixed cameras will be mounted at both ends of the subway and positioned to ensure the whole of the subway would be monitored and capable of viewing the whole of the underpass.

·         The bid from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) allowed the enhancement of recordings which were now available to view at Petters House instead of Bridgewater. 

·         An additional PTZ unit would be installed to supplement the unit already in Princes Street.  This would not only cover the entrances and walk ways but be able to see across the dual carriageway to the path on the other side that leads to the Kinston entrance.

Following a short debate, members voiced their full support for further work to be undertaken to seek the funding anticipated to complete and install the CCTV cameras.  They voiced their concern regarding the timescale of the project and wished that work begin as soon as possible.  They asked that officers explore the possibility of starting these works notwithstanding the £10,000 contribution from Somerset County Council and a bid be made to the SSDC Capital fund.

It was therefore proposed and seconded that recommendation 1 be amended to read;

‘Authorise the further development of this project by allowing officers to seek the level of funding anticipated to complete and run the project and that capital funding is explored as a matter of urgency’.

On being put to the vote this was carried unanimously.

(Voting: unanimous)

No requests or comments were made by members.

(Voting: Without dissent)