You can see my earlier blogs of 2017, if you wish to read them in sequence:
I attended the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday 12th September, primarily for an update about the Village Hall planning application.
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| Planning Portal screenshot |
Following the Parish Council's latest contact with Simons Construction, expressing concerns about the lack of progress with the rebuild project, a lengthy email has been received offering an assurance to get things back on track. However, it seems the Design Director (Darren Wallace) has only offered two potential solutions towards a successful planning application:
- To move the current design build further to the West (away from the trees), or
- Redesign the building and reduce its size
What was discussed?
These are the items that the Parish Council covered:
- To have a further arboreal survey carried out to try and identify where the roots of the three lime trees are situated and whether or not they are affecting the current building
- This additional survey work can potentially be funded out of the contingency budget for the project
- Armed with this information, a meeting can be arranged with the District Council's Tree Officer (Graham Wilson), to try and identify a solution to support the planned new design for the Village Hall
- A meeting can then be arranged with Simons Construction to have a dispassionate discussion and agree a way forward. There is no point antagonising the relationship or parting company with the project management team, otherwise the Parish Council will have to start the process all over again
- The idea seems to be for the Parish Council to try and solve the 'tree problem' themselves, which will then place them in a 'strong position' to steer the Simons Construction project management team forward
- The Parish Council were unable to say at the meeting where they stand contractually with Simons Construction and whether further payments will need to be made for a new planning application/redesign.
This prompts a few questions
- What was the full contracted price agreed for preparing and submitting the planning application, including the project management?
- How is this figure broken down into its component parts?
- Will a new contract now have to be signed with Simons Construction following the withdrawal of the planning application, or does the current contract and initial fee allow for a further resubmission?
- What extra costs are now involved with the project?
Public session
I did manage to speak during the public session of the meeting to point out that the Tree Officer is only one of a number of statutory consultees within the whole planning process. It is still a Planning Officer who makes the final recommendation on whether or not plans are agreed and what/if any conditions are placed on any permission granted.
Furthermore, if the application is 'called in', it will be the Planning Committee who vote on whether or not to grant permission, taking into account the Planning Officer's recommendations. Therefore, it is not just the Tree Officer who needs to be 'influenced'.
Whilst it will be important to hear what the Tree Officer has to say, the more important meeting will be with the Planning Officer. As has already been discovered, it is far more effective to sort out difficult issues during a pre-planning application phase, where potential problems can be highlighted early and solutions identified.
A comment was made by more than one Councillor that "surely people are more important than trees", but this is immaterial under planning law. This should have led to a discussion about why the District Council are so protective over three mature lime trees, taking into account the siting, location and massing of the new development, but it didn't materialise.
Conservation Area
It appeared to me there was no real acknowledgement or understanding about the weight and importance of an adopted local Conservation Area on a planning consideration, together with the relevant elements that enhance and detract from this.
In particular, I refer to the assessment of the character and appearance of the village within the adopted Nocton Conservation Area report - where the importance of the treescape is mentioned frequently.
There is one particular paragraph (9.14) that really emphasizes this fact and gives some understanding as to why the protection of the trees is paramount:
"Trees, hedges and green open spaces are an essential element of the Conservation Area. Because there are so many of them no attempt has been made to survey the individual trees, identify their species or determine their health or potential to reach their optimum height. However, this will be part of any assessment of any development proposal which will or may affect any tree within the Conservation Area. The District Council’s aim is to protect and conserve trees where possible."
Reference: Nocton Conservation Area - Adopted Report July 2008
I believe the mature lime trees fronting the Village Hall cannot be considered in isolation as 'the problem'. The three lime trees are clearly part of an avenue of such trees, along the frontage with Main Street. Therefore, these fine specimens are essential to the character of the treescape for this part of Nocton.
This is further complicated by the fact that these lime trees have been assessed as having a BS5837 category rating (A = trees of high quality). It is therefore quite understandable why there cannot be any risk of harm during the build process and certainly these trees should not be felled.
In summary, these trees are an 'essential element of the Conservation Area' and worthy of protection.
Reference: CF Landscape Report - Proposed Village Hall at Nocton - July 2017
It is my view that the Parish Council should be supporting the adopted Conservation Area policy for the village, not seeking to find a way to circumvent it. If there was any other private local development threatening the mature trees in the Conservation Area, I'm sure the Parish Council would be objecting vociferously.
Brownfield Site
Finally, this is an issue I discovered recently that gives me most cause for concern.
The land behind the Village Hall has now been identified by North Kesteven District Council as a brownfield site available for development. There are three important sources of information to read:
The neighbouring land to the Village Hall was originally used as a public amenity with a football pitch, tennis court and children's play area. It was previously leased to the Parish Council, but the lease was not renewed.
The owners clearly had an intention to develop the site many years ago, but for one reason or another it wasn't pursued. You may wish to revisit the historical background to this matter from my blog dated 7th August 2016.
There has since been a successful planning application for a property to be constructed on the area of the old tennis court. The remainder of the land has been used for grazing local ponies and horses.
I now believe that with a successful 'Brownfield' classification, it could lead to a 'permission in principle' for full development of that site. It is to be hoped there is sufficient protection through the recent adoption of our local Nocton and Potterhanworth Neighbourhood Plan and the new Local Plan to avoid any further development opportunity.
By the way, following the comment at the Parish Council meeting about the property on Main Street ['Pegasus'] having been sold to the owners of the neighbouring brownfield site, I can report there appears to be no truth in this. I decided to check this out personally with the residents occupying the property... and it seems to be just one of those odd rumours that tends to circulate around villages occasionally.
That said, I did discover the Parish Council are in correspondence with the owners of the brownfield site regarding certain 'quid pro quo' arrangements/offers appertaining to the redevelopment of Nocton Village Hall. Whilst the Village Hall Redevelopment Committee appear to be aware of this correspondence, it has not been released to the public domain. I did challenge the Parish Council on this matter and there seemed to be some hesitancy/doubt about why this had been kept 'Confidential'.
Whilst the situation regarding the arrangements/offers is on hold currently, I do have a concern that the Parish Council could inadvertently create a unforeseen 'fait accompli' for the community if not very careful. It is important that any prospective arrangements do not restrict the decisions of future Parish Council members and/or have an impact on any residents whose properties back on to this vacant land, especially if such arrangements cannot easily be rescinded.
I believe there is a public interest issue here and this correspondence should be released by the Parish Council forthwith, so that people can see its full content and context for themselves.
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