Original Delivered Questionnaire

[afslade]

Postby Simont » Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:16 pm

The entrance to the site is planned to be more or less where the existing entrance is. We absolutely recognise the need for Park Lane to be wide enough between the entrance and A4 to enable two way traffic and this will be shown on future plans. This will encourage more people to arrive and leave via the A4 reducing rather than increasing the amount of traffic in the rest of the village including the rest of Park Lane.

You commissioned a Priliminary Access Report that was very specific about not widening the Lane as you suggest in the above post

Access from Park Lane
3.6. Any access from Park Lane should be in the vicinity of the existing field access. This existing gateway would need widening to provide for a width of “about” 6m so as to allow easy ingress/egress of vehicles. Consideration has been given to widening Park Lane between its junction with the A4 and this access, however, such widening would have the potential to encourage visitors to the village hall to park on Park Lane (thus, in any event restricting traffic flows to a single width), and encouraging non‐village hall users (ie. those visiting the Downs to park on this section of widened lane). A balance will therefore have to be struck between facilitating two‐way traffic movements between the site access junction and the A4 and the consequence of facilitating on‐street car parking along this section of road. Waiting restrictions are unlikely to be effective in preventing such on‐street car parking given the lack of enforcement which is likely to be available.  
3.7. Accordingly, it is recommended that, if access is to be from Park Lane, the lane should be widened for a short distance (approximately 15‐20m) from the A4 give‐way line, sufficient to allow a large vehicle to exit from the lane at the same time as a vehicle is turning into the lane. This widening should not, in our view, be extended back to the access point as this would encourage more general parking in the widened section.

Wiltshire Highways are certainly very comfortable with the above PAR recommendation... I am of course fully aware that everything is subject to change but your latest post is not one I would expect from the Chairman of the Steering Group committee. I am extremely disappointed by it and believe you owe me an explanation.

[Simont]

Allan

Sorry for the late reply. I've been away for a few days. Your comments are noted and will be included in our discussions on this important matter.

Simon

[afslade]

Simon,
Regarding clarification of the apparent widening of Park Lane between the A4 junction and intended Hall access point on your latest site drawings. You indicated in your June 3rd post (immediately above) that my comments were noted and would be included in your discussions on this important matter.

I had presumed that 11 months down the line your Steering Group would have convened a meeting to discuss this important matter, including my noted comments. Having received no direct response from you, I looked through the Public Archive for the minutes of your Steering Group meetings but to no avail... Could you please point me in the appropriate direction, I presume they will be somewhere alongside the published 'terms of reference' of your Steering Group.
Thank you.

[Simont]

Alan

As you know you and I did meet to discuss this and we have taken further professional advice. The CRtBO document is now in its final stages of editing and will then start its formal process with consultation, etc. As part of that you will have a formal opportunity to make representations so can I ask that you wait for that. We have not published minutes of meetings.

Thanks

Simon

[afslade]

Source: Department for Communities and Local Government
Part of: Planning Practice Guidance and Planning System
Published: 6 March 2014

Extract from: Guidance on Neighbourhood Planning
The guidance explains the neighbourhood planning system introduced by the Localism Act, including key stages and considerations required.

What is the role of a parish or town council in neighbourhood planning?
In a designated neighbourhood area which contains all or part of the administrative area of a town or parish council, the town or parish council is responsible for neighbourhood planning. Where a parish or town council chooses to produce a neighbourhood plan or Order it should work with other members of the community who are interested in, or affected by, the neighbourhood planning proposals to allow them to play an active role in preparing a neighbourhood plan or Order.

The relationship between any group and the formal functions of the town or parish council should be transparent to the wider public. A parish or town council may choose to establish an advisory committee or sub-committee under section 102(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and appoint local people (who need not be parish councillors) to those bodies. Members of such committees or sub-committees would have voting rights under section 13(3), (4)(e) or (4)(h) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. The terms of reference for a steering group or other body should be published and the minutes of meetings made available to the public.

Paragraph: 015 Reference ID: 41-015-20160211
Revision date: 11 02 2016 See previous version

Simon,
In light of the above directive, can you please explain why you have not published the minutes of your Steering Group meetings.
If however, the above directive is not applicable to your Steering Group please explain the reason(s) why so.
Thank you

[Simont]

This project is neither being run by a Parish nor Town council. Those bodies almost always publish minutes of meetings on any topic and they always have professional (I.e. paid) participants to do that. It has never been the policy of the Village Hall to publish minutes of meetings in part due to the very significant workload entailed.
The Community Right to Build Order Document will obviously be made publicly available and you and everyone else will have the right to make representations regarding it at the appropriate time.

[afslade]

Simon,
A straight answer to a straightforward question if you please...

1. Please respond as Chairman of the Steering Group as we are not talking about standard Village Hall policies or protocols.
2. The project is being run by an elected Steering Group with published terms of reference..?
3. My question does not relate to the detail of the CRtBO document or its imminent publication.

In my previous post I provided an extract from a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) guidance document which explains the neighbourhood planning system introduced by the Localism Act and includes key stages and considerations required. This document is referenced in your Public Archive (Update - July 2016) on the Village Hall website and relates to the application to designate Cherhill Ward as a Neighbourhood Area for a Community Right to Build Order, carrying your personal signature.

What is the role of a parish or town council in neighbourhood planning?
In a designated neighbourhood area which contains all or part of the administrative area of a town or parish council, the town or parish council is responsible for neighbourhood planning. Where a parish or town council chooses to produce a neighbourhood plan or Order it should work with other members of the community who are interested in, or affected by, the neighbourhood planning proposals to allow them to play an active role in preparing a neighbourhood plan or Order.

The relationship between any group and the formal functions of the town or parish council should be transparent to the wider public. A parish or town council may choose to establish an advisory committee or sub-committee under section 102(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and appoint local people (who need not be parish councillors) to those bodies. Members of such committees or sub-committees would have voting rights under section 13(3), (4)(e) or (4)(h) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. The terms of reference for a steering group or other body should be published and the minutes of meetings made available to the public.

The extract refers to the requirements placed on a Steering Group or other body (the red bit) and you are Chairman of the Cherhill Village Hall Steering Group. If you are not one and the same please explain the difference, however if you are one and the same Steering Group please explain why the minutes of your meetings are not published.
Thank you

[Simont]

There is a world of difference between neighbourhood planning carried out by town and parish councils and a Community right to build order for a single, comparatively small project. We have interpreted the administrative requirements for this project to not require us to publish minutes and the fact is we have not done so. The project has been running for a couple of years or more now and neither you nor anyone else has raised this as an issue. As I said in an earlier post we are now into final editing of the document and there will later be an opportunity for people to make representations regarding the order. I don't think there is anything more I can say on the subject.

[afslade]

May I remind you that the document extract I put before you in my previous post is taken from a government directive with which you must comply, it is not for you to interpret the document how you choose. The identified reasons for publication of the minutes of Steering Group meetings and their "terms of reference" are clear, precise and should be placed in the public domain. Lets have more transparency and less propaganda...

If you are suggesting its the responsibility of the village electorate to ensure you comply with applied directives and regulations, then I would respectfully point you in the direction of possible inappropriate advise from your consultant partners, don't just wait for an objector to raise issue. For the most part the majority of interested villagers have and never will question your activities, offering their trust and support in all the hard work you are doing... But total transparency and honesty are fundamental in such a delicate situation, particularly when you are fully aware of local groups actively opposing the project for various reasons like unawareness of proceedings and/or suspicious clandestine activities etc.etc.

You are certainly under obligation to provide the Steering Group's terms of reference to the Wiltshire Council (if they are requested) else you are in breach of the constitutional declaration you signed in the £5,000 Community Area Grant (ID 1123) application, made on 3rd February 2015. So there shouldn't be any reason why this can't be immediately placed in the Public Archive.

The actual final editing and submission of the CRtBO document is of little or no relevance here, any concerned individual should be able to raise a point or an issue at any stage in the process, particularly when it relates to a seemingly unethical practice employed by the project Steering Group. In order to make any representation regarding the CRtBO and its full implications to the village community, it absolutely critical to have total clarity in all Steering Group activities and meetings. This may only be achieved by placing the above identified documents into the public domain enabling the electorate to make a full, clear and objective decision on how they vote in any referendum on a new village hall...

Your answer to my question regarding the difference between neighbourhood planning and a CRtBO leads me to believe that you don't really know the answer yourself, or you deem it so obvious to everyone that you believe it unworthy of a full and proper response.
Thank you