Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on Thursday

20^th August 2009 at 7.30pm in Fairwarp Village Hall.

Present:  Cllr W King (Chairman), Cllr J Gutteridge, Cllr Mrs V Taylor, Cllr R Street,

Cllr K Ogden, Cllr A Clarke, DCllr M Hoy, Clerk T Allen, Asst. Clerk Mrs J Bradford.

A.        Public Session – John Gore; representing Mr Claire & Mr and Mrs. Watts, and Andrew Middlemiss (Buchanan).  Both present to observe the meeting.

Cllr Street asked Mr Gore what in terms of individual benefits could the Maresfield landowners receive for selling their land to developers.  Mr Gore noted that it is difficult to put a value on land as it currently stands, and would hope to wait for the results of the LDF.  It was noted that the land is not currently under any option, and the scheme is a joint venture with the landowner.

(The Chairman opened the meeting).

1632.  To approve apologies for absence and to note other non-attendance – Cllr Barlow, Cllr Mrs Brady, Cllr Galley, Cllr Handley, Cllr Harris, Cllr Stevenson, CCllr Whetstone, DCllr Buck, DCllr Martin and CCllr Reid.

1633.  Declarations of Interests – None.

1634.  To approve Council’s response to the WDC LDF Core Strategy Spatial Development Options Consultation – The Chairman expressed his gratitude to all members of the LDF Core Strategy Working Party.  The Clerk also thanked the Chairman on behalf of the Working Party members for the hard work he had undertaken on this project.

The following summarises the main points covered in discussion of the circulated draft response paper:-

• How to correctly express the fact that substantial development is not appropriate for Fairwarp and Nutley, without giving the impression that no development is wanted. It was resolved that a statement along the following lines should be added to the response for these two villages; ‘This does not mean that there should be no development in or around [Fairwarp/Nutley]. A slow and quite small growth in housing stock spread over the period to 2026 would be acceptable, may become desirable, and should be allowed for’.

• For Maresfield Village, the consultation meeting feedback was for open market housing development not to exceed 50 homes, but some Councillors felt that 100 homes is more appropriate if any useful benefits for the Village are to be obtained. It was noted that the Maresfield Conservation Group in fact prefers a level of at least 200 homes in order to secure the required engineering benefits. It was resolved that a statement relating to the possibility of guaranteed substantial local benefits form bigger developments (>50 homes) should be added to the Maresfield Village response.

• The Chairman related a point raised by Cllr Stevenson regarding the current practice of ESCC Highways Dept in as much that it applies modern standards to ancient lanes, and this makes new activity on some unproductive agricultural land impossible. It was resolved that a statement relating to this issue should be strongly made in the ‘Headlines’ section of the response.

• The Chairman related a point raised by Cllr Stevenson regarding the very strong wording used in Para. 1.1 of the Maresfield Village response regarding the need to stop ‘The diversion of s106 funding from Park Farm to an unadopted scheme for Uckfield ….’. It was resolved that calmer wording should be used.

• It was noted that there is no set national minimum number of built homes from which S.106 benefits can be derived; WDC currently sets this at 15 homes. It was noted that Forest Row PC and Uckfield TC have recommended a minimum of three homes. It was resolved that the Council’s response should also comment on this along the lines of ‘policy re s106, reducing the size of development to which a roof tax type charge applies to lower than 15, desirably two, dwellings; with the charge to be on a percentage of value basis’.

It was resolved that the Working party be authorised to finalise the Council’s response to the WDC LDF Core Strategy Spatial Development Options Consultation, based on the circulated draft and the changes outlined above.

1635.  Date of next meeting – 15th September 2009 (Fairwarp).

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20:26.