Agenda and draft minutes

Prior to the formal meeting residents had the opportunity to speak to the Ward Councillors, representatives of the Neighbourhood Management Unit and the Street Environment Officer. Apologies had been received from representatives of the North Yorkshire Police who had been called to a road traffic accident.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 1 February 2012.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the last meeting of the Ward Committee held on 1 February 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

A representative from the Policing Team will talk about and answer questions on their work in the ward.

In the absence of representatives from the Safer Policing Team, Members updated residents on a number of issues relevant to the ward. It was reported that there had been a spate of break-in’s to garages and sheds in the area and residents were asked to take extra care of any valuable items stored in these areas.

An incident of anti-social behaviour had been reported in Durlston Drive, near the entrance to the sport’s field. A car had been vandalised and two youths had subsequently been apprehended by the Police. It was hoped that this would prove to be a serious deterrent to any future similar behaviour. 

Paul Butler, Planning Manager from David Wilson Homes, will be speaking about his company’s interest in the derelict tannery site in Strensall and his discussions with City of York Council about plans for residential development of the site. This will be an opportunity for residents to hear about the possible plans and there will be chance to ask questions, although the company will also be conducting a consultation process.

Paul Butler, Planning Manager from David Wilson Homes, provided residents with a presentation which set out his aspirations for residential development on the derelict tannery site in Strensall.

Reference was made to the presentation to the Parish Council last Wednesday when the key issues raised had related to highways and drainage.

Mr Butler gave a very comprehensive presentation, the main points of which included:

Site Layout

·        The proposal was for 53 dwellings consisting of a mix of 5, 4, 3 and 2 beds (computer generated images of the properties and street scene were displayed).

·        A 9m gap would be left between the top of the river bank and the property boundaries.

·        Affordable housing amounting to 25% would be distributed throughout the site

·        Onsite public open space would be provided, however as there would be insufficient on site £45k would be provided for off site amenities. Residents were asked to identify where community facilities were required in the ward.

Footway/Cycle Bridge

·        A footbridge would be provided from the site over the river into ‘The Ship’ car park

·        As Strensall Bridge was Grade II listed the footbridge would be of a sympathetic design with a shallow gradient at each side with no requirement for steps

Landscaping

·        Indicative landscaping plans were provided which could be amended following consultation

Highway Matters

·        Earlier planning approvals for the site had related to office use which had anticipated 1300 traffic movements over a 24hr period and a maximum of 250 car parking spaces

·        The current scheme proposed 100 car parking spaces

·        It was proposed to relocate the 30mph traffic sign further north and provide a gateway traffic calming feature

·        Bridge visibility was an issue which they would endeavour to mitigate

·        Enquires were ongoing regarding the possible provision of a pedestrian crossing between Strensall Bridge and The Ship.

Drainage

·        Surface water would be released into the River Foss at a lower rate than at present

·        Following the earlier presentation to the PC, concerns had been raised that the existing village sewer was overused and flooded during bad weather

·        Investigations would be undertaken to ensure that there was capacity available for the development

Residents then had the opportunity to ask any questions or make comments relating to the presentation and proposed scheme, and the following issues were raised:

C       Although drainage issues were not the developers concern, they were the concern of Strensall residents. There were major sewer issues in the village and following the least rainfall raw sewage was regularly discharged into the river.

A       The developers were fully aware of the issues and concerns of residents and consultation would be undertaken with the Foss Internal Drainage Board, Yorkshire Water and CYC. Following the submission of the planning application residents would be able to view  details on the Council’s website and submit comments.

Q       If Yorkshire Water raised no objections to the proposed development and subsequent issues arose, what could be done?

A       Yorkshire Water were responsible to ensure that any subsequent drainage/flooding problems were resolved.

C  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

At this point in the meeting you can raise any issues or concerns you may have in respect of the ward.

At this point residents were encouraged to raise any issues or concerns they had in respect of the ward. No further issues were raised.

To formally agree the schemes to be funded through the Ward Committee for 2012/13 (to view the schemes for the ward go to www.gov.uk/wards/)

Kate Bowers, City of York Council’s Head of Neighbourhood Management, introduced the launch of Community Contracts, agreements between Ward Committees, the local community, council departments and other organisations to provide services such as street cleaning, libraries, schools and policing. She explained that Contracts would vary depending on the ambitions of individual wards.

Contracts would address priorities set by members based on information received from residents, statistics and local knowledge to provide a plan to meet these. It was hoped that this would focus services, targeting where action was required. Priorities would then be sought annually for inclusion in the contract. Draft copies were circulated to residents at the meeting for their information.

The Parish Council were encouraged to provide ward specific information for inclusion in the Strensall contract. As the contracts would be fairly comprehensive documents they would become an online resource for the ward.

A number of residents expressed concerns at the work of the Neighbourhood Management Unit and their input into the ward. Examples were provided of work undertaken by the Unit in an effort to effect frontline service delivery and outreach work in the ward.

Members also expressed their concerns at the proposed changes which appeared to downgrade the importance of Parish Council’s. Particularly as the Parish Council’s (PC’s) were the first line of governance in villages and had the background and information that would help wards generally. Until Parish Councils had seen full details of the contracts, to enable them to make a fully informed decision on their involvement, no decision would be made at today’s meeting.

Officers confirmed that the new model of neighbourhood working arose out of the Localism Bill. This proposed the devolution of power to smaller groups in the community, working with the voluntary sector to deliver the priorities of individual wards, ultimately saving money as budgets reduced.

A Parish Councillor pointed out that he personally had not seen any details of the new neighbourhood working arrangements. He emphasised the importance of providing information to PC’s on monies available together with information on what was required of the PC’s.

The Neighbourhood Manager went onto explain that there would be no changes in relation to grass cutting and ground maintenance in the ward, this financial year, to prevent double taxation issues. She also confirmed that further information would be provided to Parish Council’s to allow them to make an informed decision on their involvement with the contracts.

Ward Members were then asked to agree the schemes to be funded through the Ward Committee for 2012/13.

The Chair explained that funding had now been split into three pots:

·        Ward Budgets:  Each ward had an allocation to use as grant funding to commission local voluntary and community organisations to meet identified needs (Strensall Ward Committee had  budget of £3,260 for 2012-13)

·        Other Voluntary Sector Support:  Funding to support those voluntary sector organisations that provide services to more than one ward and that are currently forced to apply for a plethora of individual ward committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To help identify issues to be the focus for the next informal meeting.

The Ward Members introduced the ‘Your Ward Forum’ and asked residents for details of suggested issues they would like discussed at future informal meetings.

Members confirmed that a meeting would be required with the Parish Council and residents to discuss input into the Community Contract.

RESOLVED:       That the above issue be considered at a future informal Ward Committee meeting.

REASON:            To ensure that issues relevant to the ward raised by members and residents at meetings are given due consideration.