Minutes 13th September 2022
Held on Tuesday 13th September at 7.30pm in the Christian Fellowship Church
Present
Rachel Leggett, Sam Coster, Anne List, Virginia Twentyman, Steph Amey, Paul Roberts, Ali Doe, Rufus Philip and Steve Thompson.
Prior to the start of the meeting as a mark of respect to the recent death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a period of silent reflection was held.
1. Apologies for Absence
None received.
2. Accuracy of Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 July 2022 were agreed as correct.
3. UPDATES
Site allocations
Resulting from the Call for Sites, one site has been put forward and the appropriate paperwork has been received by the Town Clerk. The closing date for the Call for Sites is 23 September. Following the closure of the Call for Sites, any submission paperwork received by the Town Clerk will be forwarded to the Steering Group and these sites will be sites will be discussed at the next steering group meeting. AECOM will also be consulted with regard to carrying out independent site assessments.
Housings Needs Assessment
This report has been completed by AECOM and the contents are currently being considered by the Group members. Rachel advised that the report does not need to be discussed with SNDC at present and will form part of the evidence base when the draft plan is published. Steph asked about the possibility of the Neighbourhood Plan trying to ensure that any housing designated as Social or Affordable Housing could remain so for as long as possible despite leases slowly shortening as they get older and their potential for being purchased outright by tenants. Rachel agreed to research the legal position of leases for Social Housing.
Design Codes
It was reported that a meeting and walk around Hingham with some members of the Steering Group and staff from AECOM had taken place on 1 Sept. They are now preparing a draft report, which will be discussed by the members on receipt, likely via a Zoom meeting. A member of AECOM’s Norwich office is also looking at parking issues and potential solutions and is due to liaise with NCC Highways. It is understood no progress has been made on this as yet but Rachel will keep the members updated on any progress.
4. Considering all the Evidence and Drafting Objectives
Rachel asked the Group to consider the original “Vision” and the wording was examined. The meeting agreed that the statement remained valid and did not require change. She then explained that the Vision statement will be used to create a set of Objectives and Policies. Based on her experience of creating other Neighbourhood Plans, she suggested the chapter headings as follows;
- Environment and Landscape
- Development and Design
- Access and Parking
- Business and Employment
- Community and Infrastructure
Rachel demonstrated what was considered to be a Sustainable Community using these chapter headings (via a chart/graphic).
The meeting then considered and discussed the evidence provided by the responses from the Drop-in event, Placecheck, Housing Needs Assessment, Stakeholder Engagements and Household Surveys in order to write draft Objectives (these Objectives when finalised will be underpinned by the plan Policies).
Any evidence that did not fit the general rule of being a Planning Requirements (for example provision of more doctors rather than a physical surgery) may be considered for the Neighbourhood Plan’s appendices.
Anne asked if the aspiration of the use of developer-provided funds (Community Infrastructure Levy – CIL) could be dictated by the NP. Rachel confirmed that this was a possibility.
Due to time constraints in the meeting, the members were asked to continue considering the objectives using the phrases within the Sustainable Communities slide, prior to the next meeting.
5. What next? Drafting Policy Ideas
This subject will be covered in the following meeting when Andrea will discuss creating policies and the work of commencing a draft Plan can commence.
4. Communications
An email has been received (dated 30 Aug 2022) from a resident, advising that an article in the RSPB magazine discusses design codes based on addressing zero carbon and that this may be of interest to the Steering Group. The chair will acknowledge receipt.
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on Tues 27 Sept 2022 at the same venue.