NPSG Minutes October 2023

None.

The minutes of the 7^th September meeting were approved for accuracy and would be referred to the Parish Council for adoption.

Proposed – Karen Lewis-Jones

Seconded – Keith Rayward

Sian observed that the draft minutes (and action log) of the last meeting (and on other occasions) had been circulated very late and slowed down the effectiveness of the Steering Group.  She suggested that the delay caused by routing them via the hard-pressed Parish Clerk could be avoided by them being circulated direct by the notetaker asap after the meetings– Keith Rayward will speak to Nikki to see if this is allowed under Parish protocol.

Peter Thomas presented a list of outstanding actions captured during previous meetings.

The list was reviewed and updated during the meeting – attached

The Project Plan slide (attached) with timelines was briefed by Peter Thomas. In outline:

·         Draft NP will be on the Parish website by 30/04/2024, so needs to be in a good state by then.

·         Aldbourne NP, which had been ‘Made’ in Mar 23, should be reviewed as a reference for what good looks like when drafting the Bratton NP.  Place Studios had acted as the consultants

·         Time for professional design needed to be built in the publication timeline.  Is there a budget for the final design of the plan?

·         Keith and Eddie will question Nikki about current expenditure vs Budget. Figures to be forwarded to Peter

·         Rob Drummond will share basic details that need to be included in the plan.

Keith Rayward requested a note of thanks to be recorded to Peter for all of the effort he has put into the plan.

1. Peter Thomas briefed six slides about the Housing Plan – attached:

·         Slide 1: Site Consultation event 02 Dec. The event needs to be publicised in the Nov Parish news. Article submitted to the BPN editor by 23 Oct. Karen Lewis-Jones to coordinate.

·         Peter confirmed that the Housing Allocation figures of 40 was made up of 31 on Site 321, 3 on the Oxford House Site, 2 in Milditch, and 4 in Capps Lane.  Leaving a residual of 4 to be met during the plan period up to 2036, including any ‘windfall’ developments.

·         Peter to confirm arrangements for presentations to the NSPG from owners of the AECOM ‘Amber’ Sites to inform the options presented on 2 December.

·         Peter and Karen will discuss a proposal for a post event questionnaire to be included in the Dec BPN.

2. Sian Morgan briefed on Design and Environment:

·         Views – Work almost complete.  Place Studios to help revise the accompanying map.

·         Local Heritage Assets – This aimed to capture locally valued features with historical interest not protected by existing designations, such as listing or scheduling. Good Progress to date, but the list needs theming and then plotting on a map.

·         Character Areas – Some preparatory work has been done, but still needs a great deal of further work with possible support from Place Studios Sian needs to scale-back her involvement in the run up to her operation on 14 November and subsequent convalescence . Sian and Peter will convene a sub-group to work on a solution to take this section forward. [NB  Mike has subsequently volunteered to work with Sian and Caroline on the Design and Environment workstrand.  We aim to have a first draft (based upon the Aldbourne NP) for review by the SG before Christmas and to complete it by 31 January. ]

3. A section on Climate Change will be added to the NP.

4. A draft of the Economy and Getting round section will be completed by Rob by the end of Nov.

Members of the NPSG were reminded that a consultation event for residents of Westbury and its surrounding villages, was taking place at Leighton Recreation Centre on Monday 16 October from 4.30pm-8pm.  Keith, Eddie, Caroline, Sian, Karen and Rob were all planning to attend.

Keith to coordinate a response on behalf of Bratton Parish Council by the consultation deadline of 22 Nov 2023.

Over 120 people attended a very useful briefing session from the Developers, Ashford Homes in the Jubilee Hall on 28 October.  Bratton Parish Council submitted comments on the application on behalf of the community by the deadline of 3^rd October and posted details on the parish website.  The application was due to be determined by Wiltshire Council by 28 November.

Keith thanked all that had been involved in ensuring such a good attendance, particularly Sian.  He also asked Mike to pass on his appreciation to the Parish Newsletter Distribution team for their assistance.

·         Discussion on this was deferred to the next meeting, except:

·         A unanimous vote decided the logo to be chosen for the SG. The logo on the left of the two proposals.

·         Karen to set up a SG WhatsApp group

·         Peter to send a request to SG members for assistance at the 2^nd Dec event

It was agreed the next meeting will take place on 2^nd November at 7.15pm in Bratton Church Institute.