Edlesborough Parish Council

Allotments

Rent collection will take place in Edlesborough Memorial Hall on Saturday 3rd October for Edlesborough & Northall Allotments and at Dagnall Allotments on Sunday 4th October. Rents Due: 20 pole plot £36:00, 10 pole plot £18:00 In order for the Parish Council to save on administration expenses it would be very much appreciated if tenants could pay their rent on the specified date or arrange for them to be sent to the Clerk at 15 Summerleys, Edlesborough, LU6 2HR (cheques payable to "Edlesborough Parish Council").

Due to the high clerical costs involved in collecting late allotment rents, the Parish Council have introduced a £10 late payment fee to be charged if full payment is not received by the end of October 2015.

Any parishioner interested in taking on an allotment should register their interest with the Clerk.

Dogs on Dagnall Allotments

Following many complaints about dogs on Dagnall allotments the Council reminds parishioners that All dogs MUST be kept on a short lead whilst on the allotments. PLEASE

• DO NOT allow your dog to stray onto the allotment plots.
• KEEP to the public footpath that runs from Chestnut Close to Studham Lane.
• DO NOT exercise your dogs on the main path running from Main Road South to Studham Lane - this is NOT a public footpath and must not be used for exercising dogs.
• ENSURE you clean up after your dog.

Street Lights

Phase 1 of the Parish Councils new streetlight program is now complete. Northall now benefits from new LED lights, also some faulty lights in Edlesborough have been replaced with the new lights. Phase 2 will include all Dagnall lights and any other reported faulty lights in Edlesborough. Any comments on the new lights can be forwarded to the Clerk.

Please remember to report faulty streetlights to the Clerk.

Northall Village Hall Solar Panels

Northall Village Hall now has Solar Panels on the roof. The Village Hall Committee are working hard to make the hall as environmentally friendly and self-sufficient as possible.

Cllr Cubbage will be giving a presentation about this project on Thursday 16th October at the Parish Council Meeting.

FAQ's Relating To The McCann Planning Application - The Parish Council's Perspective

1. What protection is afforded to the AAL?

As stated at the Parish Council meeting, it is fairly evident that the biggest hurdle that McCann have to over come if their application is to be successful is the AAL issue. This is apparent from studying the Design and Access Statement (D&A Statement), the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) and the notes relating to the pre-application meetings that DLP held with AVDC.

The scheme they initially presented to AVDC was the scheme that they used at the public exhibition in the Memorial Hall (Option 1 on page 38 of the D&A Statement). AVDC apparently made it abundantly clear that the ‘green gap' was perceived as an important landscape feature and as a consequence DLP went back to the drawing board and produced a further scheme which divided the development into two parts with a gap of down the middle (Option 2 on page 39 of the D&A Statement). When this scheme was viewed unfavourably by the Landscape Officer, DLP went back with a third option where the width of the "green gap" had been increased to approximately 45m (Option 3 on page 40 of the D&A Statement). This would appear to be the scheme that the Landscape Officer's comments on page 55 of the LVIA relate to.

By this time it is fairly evident that the discussion had focussed on how wide that gap would need to be to allow at least some development to take place. The Planning Officer's email dated 5th May (page 57 of the LVIA) acknowledges that it would be "hard to resist" a scheme with a suitable gap, but there was quite obviously a difference between what AVDC thought was a suitable gap compared with DLP.

The final scheme which now forms the planning application includes an even wider "green gap" than any of the previous options, but we've yet to hear the Landscape Officer's view on whether or not he considers it to be acceptable. In the final reckoning however, it will be his/her view of the matter that the Case Officer will be guided by, not the Parish Council's. The planning officers are not seeking the Parish Council's opinion or support on the matter. Any opinion that we propound would be totally disregarded if it didn't align with the Landscape Officer's. It's far more productive to limit our comments to issues where we might be able to influence the final outcome.

AVDC are currently adopting quite a hard line over landscape protection as witnessed by their recent refusals of the Ivinghoe applications (which are not even on AAL sites) and of course the refusals to allow Manor Farm and the houses in Pebblemoor to extend their garden curtilages. We shall just have to wait and see.

2. Why has the Parish Council expressed support for limited housing on the site?

The Parish Council has not expressed support for limited housing on the site. The PC has opposed this application. It is acknowledged that we did include a comment that the site in question might be appropriate to accommodate at least some of the growth that the village will almost certainly be required to take over the next twenty years. That is not the same thing as supporting the application as some people seem to be suggesting The next local plan (VALP) will almost certainly direct that villages like Edlesborough will have to take a certain amount of growth. We don't know how much yet, but the most likely number is about 100 houses. It could be more, it could be less, that's just our best estimate at this time. Obviously when the time comes we will seek to minimise the number but we have to face reality. Those houses will have to go somewhere and to rule out the only open space within the built form of the existing village (other than the Village Green) would be ludicrous.

None of us who live next to open countryside want it to be built on and the residents of Kings Mead and Chiltern Avenue are no different. However, we as a Council have to accept the reality of the situation and adopt a strategy that limits the harm to the community in general. We can't try to protect just one area at the expense of others. You suggest an alternative site for new housing on the edge of the village and we'll introduce you to a host of other residents who would be directly affected by it and would totally disagree with you.

3. What did the Parish Council discuss with DLP?

In our discussions we made it very clear that we were opposed to a large development on the site as proposed by McCann. We acknowledged that the new local plan VALP, would impose a housing quota on us and that was likely to be of the order of 100 dwellings. We made no predictions as to where those houses might go. Until AVDC publish the housing allocations section of VALP and we develop a neighbourhood plan, that is a complete unknown.

We did however state that if their application was successful despite our opposition, we would like to see the views of the AAL opened up as much as possible, we would like to see improvements in the parking situation outside the School, and we would like to see a mix of housing that matched the identified local need for starter homes and bungalows rather than large detached houses. We were also very aware that any planning consent would be subject to an S106 agreement that would generate leisure and recreation funding for the benefit of the Parish. The thinking was then and still is, that any resulting S106 money should go towards the funding of the new pavilion and we would prefer it not to be watered down by the provision of a second lot of play equipment. Unfortunately from the comments submitted by the Recreation Officer, it would appear that because of the 400m rule, just over £37,500 of any S106 leisure and recreation money would have to be spent on another playground. As with so many things, the Parish Council has very little say in the matter.

4. How much influence does the Parish Council have?

Some people appear to be labouring under the misapprehension that AVDC only need a bit of encouragement from the Parish Council to justify resisting the application in its entirety. That unfortunately is not the reality. In making their decision the planners will have to weigh up the balance of things for and against the development based on their interpretation of current local and national policies. If the Parish Council's interpretation of policy is at odds with theirs or the specialist officers that advise them, they simply ignore us. That is why we confined our objections to those areas where our local knowledge might be recognised and acted upon, rather than trying to tell them how they should be interpreting policy.

They will also have to make a judgement on whether or not a refusal by them would be supported by the Planning Inspectorate if DLP take the decision to appeal, which they almost certainly would do. If a developer's appeal is successful, AVDC have to pay the costs, so they tend to be very cautious.

We're on the same side. We're opposing the application as well. It's just a question of strategy.

Reporting potholes, overgrown hedges, fly tipping, etc.

Over the past month the Council have received a high level of reports/complaints about potholes, damaged pavements, overgrown verges, obstructed footpaths, fly tipping, etc. Please note that these issues need to be reported directly to Transport for Bucks this can be done via their website transportforbucks.net/Tellus.aspx

The website is easy to use, the exact location can be pinpointed on a map and a photo of the problem can be uploaded to help TFB prioritise the issues.

If you consider the problem to be dangerous or an emergency, please call 01296 382416 (9am-5.30pm Mon-Thurs, 9am-5pm Friday) or 01296 486630 (out of hours and weekends).

Neighbourhood Plan

The Council have agreed to begin the process to apply for a designated Neighbourhood Area. This is the first step on the way towards creating a Neighbourhood Plan. It is important to note that whilst a Neighbourhood Plan cannot prevent growth it can help to shape it and control where it happens. Full information on the plan process and community consultation will be shared in due course.

AVDC's Recycling & Waste - Village freighter service ceases

Following the successful launch of AVDC's new bulky waste collection service, we have ceased to operate the village freighter service.

The service had reduced in popularity with parishes in recent years, with fewer parishes making bookings and those that do becoming less frequent, thus becoming unsustainable.

Now residents can apply for their bulky items taken away using our bulky waste collection service instead, where large items such as furniture or large kitchen appliances can be collected direct from their home. This means they can have collections at a time and place that is more convenient to them, rather than having to store items for long periods of time, and transporting them to the freighter on an increasingly infrequent basis.

AVDC recycles as much of the bulky waste we collect as possible, passing much to charities to be reused by families in need, whereas items collected in the village freighter service were taken straight into landfill, incurring landfill tax payments.

When collecting bulky waste, we'll also collect any bagged small electrical items or textiles form households for free at the same time.

To book a bulky waste collection, residents should go to our website and complete the online booking form aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/bulkyitem.

Speedwatch

The EDaN Traffic Management team are looking for volunteers to help man their Sentinel device. If you have an interest in slowing down traffic in the villages or are concerned about Road Safety please contact Louise Turner on 01442 834123 or by email at [email protected]

Edlesborough Parish Council Meetings

The next Edlesborough Parish Council Meeting will take place in Northall Village Hall on Thursday 16th October 2015. The meeting will commence at 7:30pm.

All Parishioners are welcome to attend and may ask questions, raise issues and give suggestions during the Open Forum.

The full minutes of the Parish Council meetings are normally available to view on the website or from the Parish Clerk.