THE LEIGH PARISH COUNCIL
: leighpc@hotmail.co.uk : theleighpc.org.uk
MINUTES OF THE ADDITIONAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 13thNovember 2024 AT 7.30PM AT THE LEIGH PARISH CHURCH
Present: Cllr. J. Arkell (Chair), Cllr A. Bowness, Cllr K. Morton, and Cllr R. Theyer
Attendance: K. Tilling (Parish Clerk) and 5 members of the public.
1. Apologies:
Apologies were received from Cllr Glazebrook and Cllr Mclain.
2. Declarations of interest:
There were no declarations of interest.
3. To formally approve the Minutes of the last meetings (September and October):
The minutes from the previous meetings in September and October 2024 were approved. Both sets were proposed by Cllr Morton and seconded by Cllr Theyer. All unanimous.
4. Matters arising from the minutes.
There were no matters arising not covered by the agenda.
5.To discuss planning consultation requests and consider responses for the following:
24/00719/FUL – Hillview Cottage, Tewkesbury Road, Coombe Hill. Removal of existing conservatory, erection of new two storey rear extension, replacement windows and new solar panels. The Parish Council were pleased to see all the correct documents were in place and that a close neighbour had posted a support comment on the planning portal saying there is no impact on their surroundings. The proposed alterations are at the back of the house, and it is very unlikely that any if the new work will be seen from the main road. As the only neighbour has offered support for the application the Parish Council have no issues with it.
24/00865/FUL and 24/00866/LBC: Tudor Cottage, Blacksmith Lane, The Leigh. Proposed erection of flood defence measures including walling, demountable removable barriers, and grass bund. The two applications will be treated as one. The LBC reference is because the dwelling is a Grade Two listed property. This application seeks to install flood defences, many of them removable and a grass bund to prevent water coming in from around the side of the property. A previous application was given permission in June 2017 (16/01191/FUL) and unfortunately the permission has now lapsed. The current owner of the property believes that the previous application for flood defences was a very engineered approach. The Parish Council are very aware of the continual threat of flooding to this property but as it is too far away from the existing flood defence bund it does not benefit from its protection during times of flooding. It was good to see that the Conservation Officer was also in support of the proposals. The Parish Council have no issues with the proposals and that anyone who suffers from flooding needs support. It was hoped that the TBC planners would expediate this application as winter is here.
24/00874/FUL: Coombe Bank, Tewkesbury Road, Coombe Hill. Proposed garden room side extension (part retrospective). Permission for a much larger room was granted in June 2015 (15/00407/FUL). Work started within the permitted 5-year condition, but the owners realised that the room was too big and not in keeping with the rest of the house. The new drawings see a 30% reduction in floor area. The position of this extension means it is mostly hidden from the main road by trees and hedges and same goes for the nearest neighbour. The Parish Council have no issues with the amended proposals and no objections have been raised.
6. To approve the Financial Statement and consider the precept for 2025/2026.
The Responsible Finance Officer will circulate an up-to-date position to the councillors. CIL money is in the process of being transferred from the cheque account to the deposit account where it will gain interest whilst plans are made to spend this money. Although there is a healthy balance, £150,000 is now allocated and there is still 5 years to spending the most recent CIL money.
The Parish Council contributed towards the very successful Community Bonfire Night which was well attended by residents from Coombe Hill and the Leigh.
The precept is the working budget of the Parish Council – money used to run the Parish Council, costs that cannot be covered by the CIL money. The current budget is on target, with money covering the rise in insurance costs, accounting costs increased due to more money coming into the Parish Council and the salary award for the Parish Clerk that has been agreed but details have yet to filter through. The RFO has been looking at the Parish Council’s operating costs and has recommended that the Precept for 2025/2026 is increased by 8%. As the initial precept is only small this increase will not see a huge increase on each household bill. Due to more houses at Coombe Hill the actual amount per house could fall as there are more houses that have to pay the parish element. It was suggested that once the precept figures are released by TBC the RFO would write a very brief article for the newsletter explaining the increase and how in real terms it would affect each householder when you add the new houses into the equation.
7. To consider and approve any new CIL spending.
The screen and projector are being fitted in the church next week. The Parish Council have settled on eight bus shelters, 4 walk through and 4 enclosed. Their locations dictate which ones will be positioned at each site. After a short debate, it was agreed to order the wooden ones with a pitched roof as these will be more durable with little/no maintenance. Bins will be fitted in the shelters for rubbish.
New residents at Coombe Hill have asked for Dog bins. The problem with them here is that TBC will not install and empty them on private estates. Once the lower entrance to the new estate is created a bin could be installed on the land just outside as this will be Highways. Same goes for the metal fencing on Villards Close. Once the metal fencing is erected in the correct location and the land in front is Highways, a bin can be installed there. In the meantime, it was hoped that a bin could be erected at the very top of Wharf Lane either on or by the traffic light pole. The Clerk will contact Highways to ask for their permission
7i. To approve the design for the Coombe Hill Road entry signs.
A draft design for the road signs at Coombe Hill has been circulated to many residents living at Coombe Hill asking for feedback. No one has come back objecting to the signs. Cllr Arkell proposed that these be ordered before Christmas and seconded by Cllr Theyer. They can be stored if the road works start after Christmas. If there are any further delays, then they may be installed and then Highways will have to carefully remove them if it is necessary.
8. Highways issues including:
Cllr Theyer confirmed there is no response from Highways regarding the Croft area.
Cllr Theyer has contacted the owners of Brawn Farm regarding the ditch that takes the water from the pipe that runs from Mr Poultons. Before any further work is done this ditch needs clearing out and it is the landowners responsibility.
Wharf – the bank has started to slide again but the immediate issue is the change to water flowing down the lane. It no longer flows down the left side and eventually (via a pipe) flows into the field by the metal gate. The lorries used for the building works to try and reinforce the bank have changed the camber of the road. In times of heavy rain, the water flows down the right side and heads towards the garage at the bottom of the wharf houses and then gets stuck because of the flood bund. Residents were asking if the County Council could do something to help the situation and perhaps County Cllr Mclain could help liaise with Highways.
9. Reports from Borough and County Councillors.
The Parish Council received a report from Cllr Mclain which was circulated prior to the meeting.
She confirmed that her email is working once more following the technical issues with the IT incident. There is a huge issue in the planning department as a direct result of this computer shut down. It has created a large increase in their backlog of applications, an estimated 107 increase leaving a backlog of 300+. To deal with this backlog TBC have made changes to the process meaning that less applications will go to committee and will instead be done under delegated authority. This is coupled with removing the Parish Councils previous arrangement which allowed referral to planning committee re an objection to am application over 10 properties in size if officers are minded to approve. This has now been extended to 50. The current rule of 21 days allowed for statutory call in has been rejected by TBC. TBC have now compiled the statement for the five-year period 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2029 which confirms they can only demonstrate 3.65 years’ worth of supply. This means that for the time being, the National Planning Policy Framework’s (NPPF) ‘presumption in favour’ of sustainable development continues to be engaged when dealing with many planning applications for housing in the Borough. The Government is expected to confirm revisions of the NPPF following a major public consultation undertaken by MHCLG in the summer. If the changes were to be implemented as proposed, it would result in an increase in Tewkesbury’s annual housing requirement of around 15%, compounded by the reintroduction of an additional mandatory 5%buffer. Consequently, the TBC 5-year housing land supply figure would need to be recalculated and would drop significantly. The revised NPPF is expected to be issued by the end of the calendar year. TBC have made the decision not to contest any appeals following refusal. Under the duty to cooperate, Cheltenham and Gloucester housing numbers are also likely to be accommodated in Tewkesbury (Between J9 & J10 M5). This is likely to see land from the Tewkesbury Road up to Ashchurch subjected to further house building proposals, on top of the existing ones, creating more large-scale housing development with no recourse available.
Review of the Gambling Act – Statement of Principles 2022-2025, was updated and agreed upon.
Feedback from the Reg18 Consultation on the initial stages of the Strategic Local Plan has been collated and will soon be on the Strategy and Local Plan website on the TBC Site. Further consultation will take place next year. Officers will shortly be recommending to the Cheltenham, Gloucester, and Tewkesbury Joint Advisory Group, on a programme, encouraging engagement, on the most important planning issues, rather than a single preferred option document/event. This approach is recommended as significant reforms to the planning system have been proposed since the outset of the initial SLP in July.
A Draft National Planning Policy Framework was published in August 2024 with new guidelines for consultation.
TBC have employed an external consultant to reconfigure the Digital Strategy. He is currently looking at people’s online experience, data, and IT. TBC will then look to redesign the IT and Digital teams
10. Any other business.
Cllr Morton asked for a planning update on all outstanding applications at the next meeting.
Residents have been complaining about the two houses currently under construction in Church Lane, especially as there is only Outline permission granted at present. It is understood that the builders have been working outside of agreed building hours and a complaint has been made to enforcement. There are two issues with this site. Firstly, drainage and the dealing of foul water created by those that will be living in these houses. There is still much debate as to where the wastewater will go to when the land around this area is saturated. The second is the change to the house/roof design. A separate request to alter the roof design has been submitted under a section 73. Official notification does not seem to have been submitted to the Parish Council so that the changes could be discussed with residents at a meeting. There has been confusion with the recognition of a 1.5 storey house, changes in architects drawings and now this supplementary planning reference that contains no drawings relating to the roof change. It was suggested that a letter responding to these failings is drafted and sent to the planner handling this application, the Head of Planning, and the Chief Executives Office. Maybe then, someone can confirm what changes and drawings the Parish Council should be considering and invite comments from the residents.
The Parish Council are considering employing a company to map the drainage pipes, ditches, and storm drains for both Coombe Hill and the Leigh. It would identify who is responsible for upkeep, what is broken, where some of the pipes drain to and would help in making factual responses to planning applications that do not understand the issues with drainage and flooding within the whole parish.
CIL suggestion of a get together at the Swan for Christmas.
Members from the Leigh Flood Management Committee have approached the Parish Council and asked if a section of pipe could be upgraded and paid for by the Parish Council. This pipe takes the water run off when there are heavy rainfalls and is not excess water due to flooding from the Severn. Changing the diameter of the pipe should ensure that this section of road by the pond does not flood. The Parish Council could also consider paying for diesel to run a pump that will pump this water over the flood bund as an alternative. The Management Committee provided a quote. As with all things financial, the Parish Council must always be seen “obtaining value for money at all times. An officer issuing an official order shall ensure as far as reasonable and practicable that the best available terms are obtained in respect of each transaction, usually by obtaining three or more quotations or estimates from appropriate suppliers.” If the work is not undertaken the road may flood. It was not certain how long the road would remain closed and how many houses would be affected. More work was required on this.
The Parish Council have been talking to Colin Withers to ask if he was interested in approaching various bodies, connected to Highways, to try and secure funding for a footpath repair/upgrade between Leigh and Coombe Hill. The thought is that if the Parish Council could offer to use some of the CIL funds towards it, it may be match funded from other pots that seem to be available, if you know who to approach. This is something that Colin is quite good at.
Meeting closed 21.30