NPG Minutes 9 September 2020
Scopwick and Kirkby Green Neighbourhood Planning Group Minutes of the Open Meeting held on 9th September 2020 on-line via Skype
Attendees;
John Woodward(JW), Owen Davies (OD), David Nelson (DN), Peter Reeds(PR), Jill Moran (JM) and Charles Kerrigan (CK).
1. The meeting was opened with the Chairman and members attending via Skype from home addresses. DN and JM were welcomed to the meeting. In particular, DN was welcomed as a new PC member.
2. Apologies for absence – John Money(JFM) and Debra Heeney.
3. Declarations of Interest – None were received.
4. Chairman’s Statement – The Chairman recalled the founding principles of the formation of the Group. Fundamentally, the Chairman recalled that the three original remaining members basically wished to serve the community and formulate a worthwhile Neighbourhood plan. However, with this in mind he was reviewing and considering his position as Chairman of the NPG. The Group agreed to deal with Agenda Item 7 as the next issue of business.
5. OD informed JW that he had lost the confidence and support of the NPG, and as such in the best interest of the NP should stand down as Chairman. There was some discussion surrounding this situation and JW agreed to stand down as NPG Chairman.
6. PR was proposed by OD and seconed by CK as Chairman and it was agreed unanimously. OD proposed JW as Vice Chairman it was seconded by DN and agreed with a vote of 3 to 1 in favour. It was proposed by PR that OD should take the role of Finance Officer it was seconded by CK and it was agreed unanimously. It was also agreed proposed by PR and seconded by OD that CK would continue to carry out the duties of as Secretary.
7. JM had received an email from JFM informing her that he wished to stand down as a PC member to the NPG. The meeting understood JFM’s decision and thanked him for his work and contribution during his membership. PR and CK thought that JFM could still be of service to the NPG utilizing his extensive planning experience in a role of an ad hoc consultant or in his position as a Locality NP Champion.
8. Minutes of the last meeting – Minutes of the meeting held on 6th July 2020 were agreed.
9. Action Items from the last meeting were as follows:
- CK had to placed the V&Os on the NPG website, arrange for the link to be distributed; via Janet Flett’s news letter, Parish magazine, PC website, notice board posters and the S&KG Face Book page.
- The Clerk had informed CK that a list of parishioners that did not have access to social media did not exist.
10. Use of draft NPG material – CK expressed his disappointment that draft NPG material had been used to support the opposition of two planning applications submitted to the PC. He felt that the misuse of the material seriously undermined the independence of and the working of the Group. Although the material was in the public domain the Group felt and agreed that NPG members should not use any such material in any future external context without agreement of the NPG.
11. NPG Roles and Responsibilities – This item was covered above at paragraphs 4, 5 and 6.
12. Draft AECOM Report Site Assessment – PR informed the Group that he had circulated the report to all members. The second draft report received no further comments from the Group. PR had advised AECOM accordingly, and they will be forwarding the draft report onto Locality for approval. The Group discussed at some length the AECOM ranking of sites and the colour coding used. The Group had no issues with the green coded sites. However, it was agreed that the amber coded sites should be reviewed and ranked individually by the Group and then compared and discussed at the next meeting. The red coded sites would not be further assessed. The Group considered a suggestion by JW that all site owners be canvassed as to their view on the site assessment report, but considered it not appropriate at present.
Action item - Amber coded sites are to be reviewed and ranked individually by the Group and discussed at the next meeting.
13. Draft AECOM Report Design Codes – PR informed the Group that he had circulated the report to all members and had in return received their comments. The Group passed comment on the excellent design code report, and PR thanked OD for his comprehensive report review. Due to time constraints, PR had passed the Group comments onto AECOM prior to the meeting. AECOM had thanked the Group for the feedback and were now in the process of amending the draft prior to forwarding to Locality for approval.
14. Once both reports have been approved the Group will be issued with a final set of documents.
15. Open Spaces and Footpath Enhancements – JW reminded the Group that there was strong feedback from the NPG Questionnaire regarding open spaces and footpath enhancements. He recommended that further work was required to ensure that the feedback and suggested enhancements were included within the NP. The Group agreed that there was a scope of work to be carried out on in this area and that JW should lead the piece.
Action item – JW was to review the feedback from the NPG Questionnaire regarding open spaces and footpath enhancements. He was to draft a paper for consideration at the next meeting.
16. Funding and Finance Update – JM briefed the meeting that there had been no change to the funding figures since the last meeting. The balance stood at £8625.
17. Date of next meeting – The next NPG working meeting was to be held at 1600hrs on Monday 5th October 2020.