Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Meeting

Wednesday 20 May 2015 at Bridport Town Council (Mountfield)

Present: Phyllida Culpin - Chair (Allington), Ian Harvey (Bradpole), Andrew Leppard (Bridport), David Hill (Bothenhampton & Walditch), Richard Freer (Allington), John Budden (Bridport), Caroline Perkins (Chamber of Commerce).

In Attendance: Sal Robinson (Minutes Taker), Bob Gillis (Bridport Town Council) and 4 members of the public (Roy Mathisen, Raja Jarrah, S Sherlock, Margaret Toft)).

John Budden informed the Committee that he would be standing down after this meeting due to pressure of work.

1. Apologies. Nicky Lewis (Symondsbury), Glenn Crawford (Bridport), Phillip Grey (Bridport), Tricia Dendle (Bradpole PC)

2. Minutes of previous meeting.
3. The minutes were AGREED and signed.

3. Matters Arising.
4. Bob is still waiting for Housing Need data from West Dorset.
5. Bob reported that the specification of the specialist consultant roles is in progress.
6. Phyllida said she is concerned that someone needs to keep track of requests to join Working Groups made via the website - Bob said that everyone who expresses an interest via the web, Facebook, Twitter or the Roadshows, will be contacted after the Roadshows are complete and that all requests should be passed to him.
7. Bob reported that he has spoken to Jan Farnam – she will give support and hopes to attend some of the Steering Group meetings
8. David Hill said that he will help with the writing of press releases etc to promote the Roadshows and other events.
9. Andrew reported that the attended to recent Dorset Community Action Funding Fair and attended the workshop run by Locality on Neighbourhood Plans.

4. Content and cover for Roadshow events at Bradpole Fete and Bridport Food Festival.
5. Bob and David are working on setting a date for an event for Walditch / Bothenhampton.
6. The Allington Hillbillies have an open air event on 21 June and have been asked if the Neighbourhood Plan can have a “stall” there
7. Bob distributed an analysis of the responses from the Launch Event
   • Bob had produced draft displays which everyone looked at and commented on (Bob said that further information is outstanding – timeline, summary of launch event, information about other NPs, steering group members information, visions and objectives, etc)
   • AGREED that it needs to be made clear that the working group terms of reference and briefs are only drafts and are open to modification over time and in response to public feedback
   • An explanation of how the NP can influence the Local Plan is needed
   • There must be a good eye catching “start” to draw people in to look at the rest of the information
   • The aim is to get people involved “to help shape the future” of the 5 parishes involved
   • AGREED that Bob will do more work and that the material will be on display next Wednesday (27 May) – Andrew offered to help
   • The Bradpole event is the “pilot” and changes can be made to the material before the next events
   • There must be an easy way for people to express their views
8. Bob distributed copies of the draft questionnaire:-
   • Raj offered to help Bob with this
   • AGREED that comments must be sent to Bob by first thing Tuesday 26 May.
   • AGREED that Bob will amend as required and send it to Phyllida for final approval
9. Cover for events
   • Bob to organise

5. Any Other Business.
6. Andrew said that a event needs to be held in the Skilling area – agreed that possible locations would be St Marys School or St Mary’s Church Hall
7. Margaret Toft suggested possibility of organising an event with the “Home in Bridport” Project  – Bob offered to explore this possibility
8. John said that even though he is standing down due to work commitments. He will help with events
9. AGREED that John will pass on his work on Education to Ian who will take it forward
10. Mr Sherlock observed that house prices in the area are out of reach of anyone on a “normal” wage and that this must be addressed by the NP if a thriving community is to exist
11. Roy Mathisen asked if planning applications can still be approved as there is no adopted Local Plan – potentially yes in the absence of an up to date adopted Local Plan

6. Next Meeting.
7. AGREED that the next meeting will be on Wednesday 3 June, at 7:00 pm at Mountfield.

Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Meeting

Wednesday 6 May 2015 at Bridport Town Council (Mountfield)

Present: Phyllida Culpin - Chair (Allington), Ian Harvey (Bradpole), Andrew Leppard (Bridport), John Budden (Bridport), Phillip Grey (Bridport), David Hill (Bothenhampton & Walditch), Richard Freer (Allington), Nicky Lewis (Symondsbury)

In Attendance: Sal Robinson (Minutes Taker), Bob Gillis (Bridport Town Council) and 5 members of the public (Joe Heweson, Sue Fryer, Gavin Fryer, Roy Mathison and Raja Jarrah).

1. Apologies., John Budden (Bridport), Glenn Crawford, Tricia Dendle (Bradpole PC)

2. Minutes of previous meeting.

• The minutes were AGREED and signed.

3. Matters Arising.

• Bob is still waiting for Housing Need data from West Dorset. Phyllida said she would contact Magna / Synergy to see what data they can provide.
• Bob said before further funding can be applied for from Locality he needs bids from potential specialists for support at key phases of the project e.g. evidence base mapping; preparation of in depth document based on public consultation etc
• AGREED that a specification for the role(s) is required – Nicky and Bob volunteered to work on this

4. Communication between Meetings.

• AGREED that between meeting concerns should be communicated on an individual basis, copying Bob and Phyllida if considered necessary, rather than involving the whole Steering Group

5. Web Site / Social Media.

• Bob thanked Phil for getting the website populated and live so quickly, and for setting up the Facebook page
• AGREED that Phil will look into providing links to external web pages via an “Information” page with a disclaimer that some may not work as the information may have been moved on the host website
• After some discussion it was AGREED that the Social category should be removed from the website.
• Bob reported that the analysis of the comments collected at the November 2015 Launch event will be ready by the end of the week
• Inappropriate posts on the Facebook Page – Phil and Jo Heweson AGREED to monitor and remove as required
• Tricia has already AGREED to monitor Twitter
• Phil and Ian AGREED to monitor e-mails sent to info@vision-2030.co.uk

6. Consultation Events.

• AGREED that the following be added to the list of groups
  • Bridport Renewable Energy Group, Citizens Advice Bureau, Arts Centre, Electric Palace, Lyric Theatre, Bridport Leisure Centre
• Bob will arrange for BLAP to e-mail all of their groups in the Plan Area + any others identified by the Steering Group which are not members of BLAP, to inform them of the Neighbourhood Plan and the Road Shows and to ask people to contact Bob Gillis of they want to get involved
• Road Shows – 2 events booked – Bradpole Fete 30 May and Bridport Food Fair 13 June.
• Bob will liaise re booking venues for other Road Shows – Symondsbury, Allington, Bothenhampton & Walditch, St Swithins area of Bridport.
• AGREED that the Road Shows should be publicised in as many ways as possible – posters, Facebook, Twitter, BLAP, local press, Bridport Notice, Parish / Village magazines etc
• Cover at the Bradpole Road Show will be provided by Bradpole Parish Councillors
• Cover at the Bridport Food Festival Road Show will be provided by Bridport Town Councillors
• AGREED that the next meeting will concentrate on what is to be displayed at the Road Shows and the all important Questionnaire.
• AGREED that the questionnaire should ask for name and postcode.
• AGREED that Survey Monkey be used as well as a paper version
• Bob pointed out that this is not the in depth detailed public consultation questionnaire and that it should build on the responses from the November 2015 Launch Event and concentrate on the Vision and Objectives as defined so far.
• AGREED that Steering Group members send suggestions for questions to Bob ASAP. Bob will then collate and send to all, ready for discussion at the next meeting on 20 May.

7. Any Other Business.

• Richard drew attention to an anomalous situation with the proposed development at Watton Park, Bridport. He asked whether this could be added to the Local Plan and potentially preclude any developer receiving planning permission in the lifetime of Vision 2030? A discussion ensued and it was AGREED to contact Jan Farnam for advice / assistance.
• AGREED that there should be a Working Group “application” form.
• Gavin Fryer said that Tourism is very important and in many ways over-rides all other categories. There is money available from Visit England to help promote Tourism, which might be available to BANP.
• Raja Jarrah said that questions must be “open” and the questionnaire should start with an explanation of its purpose
• Nicky said that it is important not to oversimplify questions as this will limit the usefulness of the responses

8. Next Meeting.

• AGREED that the next meeting will be on WEDNESDAY 20 May, at 7:00 pm at Mountfield.