Hickling Parish Council Meeting
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 29th January 2024 in St Luke’s Church, Hicklng commencing at 7.00pm.
Councillors present: Playle (Chair), Prosser and Green.
Also in attendance: Cate Stokes (Parish Clerk), Cllr Combellack (RBC), NC Cllr Cottee and 2 parishioners.
24.2.1 Opening – Cllr Playle opened the meeting at 7.07 PM
24.2.2 Apologies – Cllrs Conway, Lamb and Rowe
24.2.3 Declarations of Interest – None
24.2.4 Acceptance of minutes – Minutes from the meeting held on January 11th 2024 were reviewed and accepted with the following note
Cllr Prosser noted that after further discussion with the local history group it had been decided that the £250, agreed to be released for funding the Lengthman’s hut sign, should continue to be held as ringfenced monies by the PC for the time being.
24.2.5 Open session
Cllr Combellack reported from two interesting meetings of, the Police priority group settings and the Rushcliffe South villages community safety group.
If required Speed watch training is available from Langar who have already received speed watch training.
Notts police inspector Tim Cuthbert gave a reminder to send invites to PC meetings, Clerk reported that these invites were being sent without response.
Flooding in Hickling
Cllr Combellack reported from a meeting of the Trent Valley Independent Drainage Board at which Rob Holt was elected to represent Hickling and the Rushcliffe South Division. The case for removing silt from Dalby brook was also raised at the meeting and assurance was given that this would occur once the land has dried sufficiently to get machinery in.
Recent flooding of Glebe cottage, The Plough Inn and at the south end of Main Street has been reported to NCC for investigation.
Cllr Cottee reported that a meeting at NCC about flooding would be held in February.
Parishioner wished to raise a concern about the planning application to be discussed in relation to flooding. They note that the proposed work will lead to an increase in hard standing and therefore surface water that will drain ultimately into the Dalby brook further exacerbating the flooding issue
Cllr Playle has met with Nick Clarke from NCC and various members of the parish to walk around the village flood sites and discuss possible responses to the flooding. It is felt that the village would benefit from a flood group to be set up to discuss and promote ways to deal with the flooding issues in Hickling.
Cllr Cottee to request a consultant form NCC flooding team to come to a meeting of the PC to discuss what might be required in the village.
Clerk to circulate information about flood warden schemes via the PC facebook site, notice boards and website before the next meeting and advertise that this will be discussed at the next meeting of the PC to try to encourage village involvement.
24.2.6 Planning Applications
Reference Number: 23/02275/FUL
Applicant: Rob Brown
Development: Erection of 9 new dwellings and extension of existing bungalow and associated landscaping and highway works.
Location: Haulage Contractors At Garage And Premises Bridegate Lane Hickling Pastures Nottinghamshire LE14 3QA
Parish Council consultation deadline – 8th February
RESOLVED – OBJECT
The Parish Council consider that the proposal contravenes 3 policies in the adopted Hickling Neighbourhood Plan – Full details of the Hickling Neighbourhood Plan can be viewed on the parish website.
POLICY H9: LOCAL DESIGN
F – Not significantly increase the volume of traffic through the Parish’s settlements
- The proposal is for 32 beds with provision for 22 cars; the PC consider that this would be a substantial increase in vehicles to the area.
G – Have safe and suitable access
- PC is concerned that the access proposed is on a blind bend near a very busy junction. This hill is north facing and prone to icing therefore, the development would have neither safe nor suitable access.
POLICY H10: HOUSING PROVISION
Housing development outside the Hickling Limits would significantly enhance the immediate setting and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area
D – a dwelling that, in accordance with the NPPF, is of exceptional design quality, in that it:
ii – would significantly enhance the immediate setting and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area.
The defining characteristics of Hickling Pastures, per the Neighbourhood Plan – are,
- agricultural and residential buildings located in generous plots
- set back from the street, with well-defined mature boundary treatments
- buildings mainly red brick with tile roofs and are glimpsed through trees and hedges
The proposed dwellings are not of exceptional design quality, do not enhance the immediate setting, are not sensitive to the defining characteristics of Hickling Pastures – do not have generous plots, do not have mature, well-defined boundary treatments and are not red brick with tile roofs.
POLICY H14: HOUSING MIX
Development of new dwellings need to demonstrate how they will meet the housing needs of older households and or the need for smaller, affordable homes.
- This proposal consists of large, multi storey houses where even the proposed 2 and 3 bed houses could easily be used as 4 and 5 beds when office spaces and annexes are included. Therefore the Parish Council does not think that it meets the housing need in the area. Support for the building of larger houses would normally be where there is reuse of redundant buildings, this proposal is for new builds and therefore contravenes policy H14 of the adopted neighbourhood plan
Further concerns
Concerns about the site being contaminated with diesel, petrol, waste oil etc from its previous use as a haulage yard were raised. It was noted that only a desktop survey had been completed and it was felt that soil samples etc ought to be done to see how far this contamination has gone as this will end ultimately end up in the ditch following development of the site.
Flooding and drainage
- Green spaces on the plans in reality are likely to be used for patios and extra parking space therefore reducing the ability for water to soak away.
- The Parish Council feels that further information surrounding provisions for foul drainage are required. This is a particular concern since Hickling Pastures is not on mains drainage. The details of sewage treatment raise concerns as this will potentially lead more water being discharged into the ditch and further increase the flood risk.
Landscaping
- The PC questions the landscaping plan. In particular, the lack of information surrounding the type of trees – species and size – being planted near the houses.
- The removal of 16 trees as stated in the plan is undesirable and the PC would prefer to see plans that work around existing trees so that established trees do not need replacing with weaker saplings.
Overdevelopment of the area
- The PC has serious concerns about the parking provisions. The site is situated on a busy main road and there is no suitable alternative for extra vehicles for example when hosting visitors. Parking offsite on Bridegate lane would be incredibly hazardous.
- A possible solution would be to provide overspill car parking however, there is no space within the current plans to situate this.
- The PC feels that building 9 new houses including large 3 storey dwellings and 4 and 5 bedroom propertied will lead to overdevelopment of the area.
- There are also concerns about future development of the meadow area depicted in the plans and the PC request that a condition of any planning granted be the prohibition of later development of this land.
In conclusion, whilst the Parish Council supports the use of brownfield sites for development however, this application is not sympathetic to the area, poses a safety risk with the increase in cars turning on a blind bend and could lead to significant overdevelopment of the area.
Cllr Cottee and two parishioners gave apologies and left the meeting at 19:50.
24.2.6 Budget and Precept – To agree a budget and set the precept for financial year 2024/25
Cllr Prosser presented the proposed budget for 2024/25 and a precept of £12076 was agreed to meet expected expenditure for next year – see table 1
It was noted that Hickling PC still has one of the lowest precepts in the county
Last year an overspend budget was agreed however, with cautious spending this year and an increase in cemetery fees an underspend of nearly £4000 is predicted leaving the PC in a much stronger position.
However, this year there was a lot of cemetery activity and hence income, this cannot be relied upon next year therefore to meet the spending requirements of the coming year a further increase in precept is required otherwise the PC would need to choose not to pay community groups (eg village hall/ St Luke’s and WI) to avoid an overspend.
It was also discussed that a defibrillator replacement is likely to be required in the next few years and funding for this will need to be sort.
24.2.7 Other business
- Demarcation of the unconsecrated section of the parish cemetery – Cllr Combellack reported that stones have been painted and with the PC approval will place them in the cemetery. It was agreed that the stones should be placed and then reviewed.
- Flooding in Hickling – update from Cllr Playle discussed above
- Defibrillator maintenance – Clerk to seek costs and purchase new electrode pads
No further business meeting closed at 20:40
Table 1 – Proposed Budget for 24/25