EASEBOURNE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE ADDITIONAL MEETING HELD ON 8TH AUGUST 2007 Present: Mr I Heustice (Chairman), Mrs J Deacon-Ford, Mrs A Marchand, Mr J Dabson, Mr B Gowar, Mr D Pack, Mr M Taylor, Mrs E Hamilton (EPC & CDC), the Clerk and three members of the public 07/08
37 Planning Application EB/07/03377/REN: St James’s Quarry – Clay Pigeon Shooting facility comprising 8 stands including high tower. Mr Taylor declared an interest. A member of the public made the comment that the letters in support of the application, posted on the CDC web site, were mostly from people not living in Easebourne. Would the new application increase the shooting capacity, in comparison with the present permission? The answer given was no. Who has commissioned the noise emissions report? The answer being the Cowdray Estate who has commissioned an independent report from Chris Reading Associates, Acoustic Consultants (their report is expected shortly). Councillors then discussed various aspects of the application, including the number of days a week and the number of hours per day that shooting was currently permitted. Mr Pack felt that there should be no shooting on Sundays but other Councillors pointed out that Saturday and Sunday were the only days that working people could use the facility. Concern was also expressed about future, increased, use of the site if permanent planning permission were to be granted. Following several meetings recently, between representatives of the Parish Council and the Cowdray Estate, where the concerns of some villagers were conveyed to the Estate, it was appreciated that the Estate had gone some way to addressing these concerns. The Parish Council wishes to see Clay Pigeon Shooting continue on the site but will be objecting to the current application as it stands. We would like to see certain conditions included before permission is granted, namely: a) That approval be restricted in order that the Planning Authority may re-visit the conditions on a 5 yearly cycle. c) That the new application incorporates the existing planning conditions of “not more than 15 participants on any day except on corporate days of which there shall be no more than 28 in any calendar year. On corporate days no more than 30 people shall participate on any one day. No more than 8 shooting stands shall be operational at any one time within the site.” d) That the Design and Access Statement , together with its appendage, be incorporated into the planning application. Objection to the planning application in its current form was proposed by Mrs Deacon-Ford, seconded by Mr Pack. Majority in favour.
38 Budgenor Lodge S106 Community Facilities contribution: A formal request has been received from Midhurst Town Council asking the Parish Council to consider awarding a sum of money, from the Budgenor Lodge S106 contribution, towards providing a Mobile Youth Shelter for Midhurst and the surrounding parishes. Advice has been received from CDC (Senior Community Engagement Officer) that this would be a suitable use for the S106 money. Accordingly it was proposed by Mr Dabson and seconded by Mr Gowar that we offer MTC a maximum of £3000 towards the cost of purchasing a suitable vehicle. This would not infer a contribution to its future upkeep. All in favour.
39 Proposed South Downs National Park: Discussion took place in respect of our response to the latest proposals. The proposals include a reduction in the size of the National Park, with Easebourne/Midhurst being excluded, and the loss of our AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) status. It was felt that our area would be unprotected if we were in neither the National Park or an AONB.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th September 2007, at 7.30pm in the Refectory, Easebourne. All are welcome.
Mrs Carole Allan, Clerk to Easebourne Parish Council, |
|