Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan

May 2017 Minutes

Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Meeting

31 May 2017, 6pm, at Bridport Town Council Offices (Mountfield)

Present: Phyllida Culpin - Chair (Allington), Andrew Leppard (Bridport), Bob Driscoll (Symondsbury), Richard Nicholls (BLAP), Richard Freer (Transport), Steve Spear (Bradpole), Caroline Meredith (Bridport Chamber of Commerce), .

Also in Attendance: Sal Robinson, Katy Graham (Project Manager), Gavin Fryer (Land Use), Sue Fryer (Land Use). Ricard Toft (Climate Change), Margaret Toft, Paul Bowditch (Allington Parish Council), Colin Baker (Bradpole Parish Council), Trisha Dendle (Bradpole Parish Council), Maureen Jackson (BLAP), Anna Lovell (PoPP).

Phyllida reminded everyone of the Register of Interests.

1. Apologies.

Glenn Crawford (Bridport).

2. Minutes of last meeting.

The minutes were AGREED.

3. Matters arising from the minutes.

Bothenhampton and Walditch Steering Group Representative:

Bothenhampton and Walditch Parish Council is looking for a replacement representative.

Housing and Land Use.

Magna – no further update
Andrew, Maureen and Katy meet with Terry Sneller and Jan Farnhan to discuss further discuss land allocation.
This meeting was followed up with Phyllida and Jim Tigg regarding the housing need and whether sites should be allocated.
If the 35% ‘starting point’ for affordable housing was achieved in the current Local plan allocation for Bridport, then the additional affordable housing to meet the local need would be just 33 houses. However. given that the rolling average of affordable housing on developments in West Dorset stands at 17% rather than 35%, it would mean an additional 200 affordable houses would be required to meet the local need, if WDDC does not make stronger attempts to enforce the 35% affordable level.
Phyllida therefore proposed that the forthcoming consultation includes a question asking if residents want land found to meet the local housing need – this was AGREED
Evidence of community support is needed to give force to any policies which are set regarding ‘low cost’ housing
Terry Sneller has confirmed that the next stage of consultation can go ahead and that the delayed decision re land allocation will not delay the overall process – the Strategic Environmental Assessment can run in parallel with the next stages of the Plan development once the decision has been made
The SEA may still be required even if land is not allocated
Some of the outstanding local housing need might be filled by a Housing Association
The plan can have a policy regarding the type of development on land which comes forward after the plan is “made” – Affordable Exception Sites

4. Feedback from the Parishes on the Draft Intentions.

There has been comprehensive input from the 5 Parishes – the Steering Group thanks them for the effort they have all put into this
Each Working Group needs to review the comments and either accept them or reject them with reasons
The Transport Working Group has already had a meeting and wants to know the reasons why Allington Parish Council have rejected some policies as explanations were not provided
Tricia said that the Joint Council Committee will ask Allington to provide their reasons
Katy pointed out that a Neighbourhood Plan can only consider public transport links for new developments, but it could be included as an aspiration

5. Progress Update from Working Groups.

The current focus is on completing the Evidence Base – there is still a lot to be done.
Transport – in progress
Economy – complete
Climate Change – complete
Environment – in progress
Community Facilities – complete
Housing – work required. It was AGREED that paid assistance be considered for this
Land Use – not required at this stage
Draft Intentions
- These must be updated in the light of comments from the Parishes

Consultation Planning.

Phyllida has produced a summary for each working group based on the draft intentions
Aspirations must be made to look distinct from policies to avoid confusion
Ideally the summary document and questionnaire will be ready for the Food Festival on 17 June
Public Consultation – the time sale depends on when feedback is received from the parishes but the aim is to consult from 24 June – 22 July.
The Royal Mail needs 4 weeks’ notice and the documents must be with them 10 days before the mail drop date
The summary document and questionnaire need to be approved by the JCC and those who regularly attend Steering Group meetings
Bradpole Village Fete 3 June -The summary information for each Working Group area will be available as posters. People will be encouraged to comment via post-it notes

6. Public Participation / Any Other Business.

Andrew said that the Jurassic Railway proposal is being relaunched this coming weekend ay West Bay.

7. Next meeting.

The next Steering Group meeting will be on Wednesday 14 June, 6 pm at Mountfield.

Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Meeting

10 May 2017, 6pm, at Bridport Town Council Offices (Mountfield)

Present: Phyllida Culpin - Chair (Allington), Andrew Leppard (Bridport), Bob Driscoll (Symondsbury), Richard Nicholls (BLAP), Richard Freer (Transport), Caroline Meredith (Bridport Chamber of Commerce), .

Also in Attendance: Sal Robinson, Katy Graham (Project Manager), Gavin Fryer (Land Use), Sue Fryer (Land Use). Margaret Toft, Paul Bowditch (Allington Parish Council), Colin Baker (Bradpole Parish Council)

Phyllida reminded everyone of the Register of Interests.

1. Apologies.

Steve Spear (Bradpole), Glenn Crawford (Bridport), Maureen Jackson (BLAP).

Katy to ask the Joint Council Committee to contact Bothenhampton and Walditch Parish Council as the representative has missed several meetings.

2. Minutes of last meeting.

The minutes were AGREED.

3. Matters arising from the minutes.

Magna – no further update
West Dorset Affordable Housing Campaign – launch presentation on Friday 12 May – Phyllida will attend for the Neighbourhood Plan. The campaigners want work with West Dorset District Council to amend the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan to prioritise genuinely affordable housing, request that the local housing need be re-evaluated and new housing targets set and to encourage landowners to consider releasing or even donating land for developments.
Examples of other Neighbourhood Plans to help formulate affordable housing etc. policies – Katy is working on this
Draft Intentions document
Bradpole PC has met – feedback should be sent to Katy in the next week. Comments will be supportive not negative
Allington PC has a meeting next week to consider the document
Symondsbury PC – the document was discussed at the recent Annual Parish Meeting.
Land Use. The Land Use group requested further discussion as to whether land should or should not be allocated within the plan.

The following points were discussed
- Surely allocation of land gives more control over what is built – type and location.
- Not more development but alternative development with the lease impact on the parishes
- Land would only need to be allocated if there is housing need in excess of that identified by West Dorset
- Scale and design can be influenced by the Neighbourhood Plan without having to specify sites
- West Dorset is committed to ensuring, wherever possible, that 35% of new development is “affordable”
- 100% affordable housing can only be built on exception sites
- A policy does not have to be site specific
- A non-site specific exception policy could specify the mix for construction types etc.
- The Land Use group felt that all their work was wasted if no land allocation was made.
  
  AGREED that Phyllida, Andrew, Maureen, Gavin and Katy will meet to discuss this further and ask for urgent advice from West Dorset officers. AGREED that the decision not to allocate land (made at the previous Steering Group meeting) stands at least until the above action is complete and that the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process is put on hold.

4. Progress Update from Working Groups.

The current focus is on completing the Evidence Base.
Transport – in progress
Housing – comments on the Housing Needs Assessment have been received from West Dorset – to be assessed and the document amended as required. There may be a need to challenge in some cases.

5. Consultation Planning.

Raja, Richard Nicholls, Caroline and Phyllida have met to start developing the questionnaire and summary document
Public Consultation – the time sale depends on when feedback is received from the parishes but the aim is to consult from 24 June – 22 July.
The summary document and questionnaire will be delivered to all residents by the Royal Mail in the 3rd week of June.
There will be many locations for people to return completed questionnaires
There will not be a formal launch event
Press releases and other publicity are needed
The Summary will be based on the Draft Intentions document
There will be a prize draw based on returned questionnaires
There are 2 events prior to the 24 June
- Bradpole Village Fete 3 June
- Food Festival 17 June