2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

A special Parish Council meeting was held on Wednesday 11 August 2021 at 19:30 in the Methodist Church, Main Street, Scothern.

Present:                   Cllrs Mrs C J Nicoll (Chair) CJN, J Fotheringham (Vice-Chair), D Canton,

B Patchett, R Creaser.

In attendance:         21 members of the public

The meeting was called to discuss and formulate a response to the draft Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) Review. To allow all residents present to participate in the meeting and make comments it was agreed that Standing Orders be suspended for the public session (normally 15 minutes only).

The following issues were raised during the public session:

• Existing CLLP shows 10% growth allocated to Scothern, when >20% has occurred.
• Allocated sites in the draft CLLP shows a further increase of 94 properties.
• Infrastructure will not support further growth.
• Growth not sustainable with particular reference to the lack footpaths, cycle paths, public transport, retail amenities, school and medical facilities both oversubscribed.
• The character and atmosphere of the village would be changed significantly.
• Increase in traffic would be of detriment to the village.

Of the 21 residents present only three attendees indicated support for development on one of the allocated sites only.

Residents would support smaller infill sites with a maximum of ten dwellings on each site.

The Chair called Council to order at 20:21 and reminded the public gallery that there could be no further public participation.  Six members of the public remained for the meeting.

102.21 Apologies for absence - none received.

103.22 To discuss and formulate a response to the consultation for the Review of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.

Cllr Fotheringham raised the issues below:

• There is no physical space for expansion of the school.
• A refused planning application acknowledges that Scothern has taken more development than was included in the existing CLLP.

Also noted that

• One of the proposed allocated sites has been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate following a planning application.
• There are no safe walking/cycling routes between Scothern and Dunholme/Nettleham; the Speed Indicator Device (SID) indicates over 2000 vehicles (including HGVs)
• per day using those roads.

Following discussion, it was resolved that Council is fully opposed to the draft CLLP Review which allocates two sites with a growth of 94 properties citing the reasons raised by members of the public and councillors. As an amendment to the proposal, it was agreed that infill would be accepted on a maximum of two sites for ten residences only and that affordable housing should be included.

Agreed that a copy of the response to the draft CLLP Review be published and added to the minutes of the meeting as an appendix.

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Appendix to Minutes of a Special Parish Council meeting held on 11 August 2021

The draft Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) currently open for consultation was the subject of a public meeting in Scothern on Wednesday 11 August 2021 which was followed by a Parish Council meeting on the same evening.

The Parish Council is fully opposed to the proposals to allocate an additional 94 dwellings within Scothern over the plan period to 2040. At the public meeting all residents were opposed to the two developments detailed in the draft CLLP with only three supporting the development on one of the suggested sites in Scothern (WL/SC/003). The reasons for this opposition are detailed below:

1. Scothern is categorised as a “medium” village in the current CLLP adopted in 2017 which outlined that the development requirement would be 10% growth over the plan period to 2037. This development requirement was consumed on three development sites where 71 properties have been delivered in total equating to a 20.6% growth rate rather than the 10% required. A further eight properties have been built on small sites making a total of 79 (one of these is an additional build on one of the sites created by the erection of two properties on a previously proposed single plot). There are currently two properties with planning permission yet to be completed in other areas of the village. This would increase the proposed growth of the village by a further 22.9%.
2. Should these additional 94 units be constructed there would be an overall increase of 173 units resulting in a 50.1% increase since 2015.
3. The proposed distribution of additional development among the medium villages within the emerging Local Plan appears to be inconsistent, where some villages are required to take additional planned development and others not. There is no reasoned justification as to this approach. 
4. The two large sites proposed within the emerging plan are outside of the existing built form of the village and the 94 properties would result in a further 22.1% increase and result in a detrimental impact on the rural character of the area and lead to these sites being the two largest housing developments within the village.
5. A planning application has previously been submitted for WL/SC/004A which was refused by West Lindsey District Council and was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate following an appeal in 2017 (appeal reference APP/N2535/W/16/3160047) with reference to its impact on the character of the village.
6. There has recently been a planning application (142229) to convert an existing garage into a property and this has been refused.  The Planning Officer’s report contains the statement below:

Pre-application enquiry to erect 1no. dwelling [by converting and extending an existing two storey detached garage]. Following advice given 01/02/2021 ‘It is my opinion that the proposal cannot be supported in principle. Without clear community support the principle of development cannot be supported. Development at Scothern has far exceeded the proposed level of growth to promote the vitality of this community envisaged by the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan which would overbalance the settlement to go beyond what is considered necessary or desirable to enhance and maintain the vitality of this community. This would run contrary to the spatial strategy proposed by policies LP2, LP3 and LP4 of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan which seeks to focus growth on larger settlements with established services and facilities. This is particularly the case given the limited facilities available in Scothern.

Furthermore, it is considered that the proposal will have an awkward and unbalanced design which will not contribute or relate well to the site and the character of the area and therefore would have a harmful impact on the appearance of the site and its setting contrary to the National Design Guide, National Planning Policy Framework, most notably chapter 12, paragraph 130, Policy LP17 & LP26 of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and Policy D1 of the Scothern Neighbourhood Development Plan.’

The appeal and the refusal of planning permissions support the view of Scothern Parish Council and residents in relation to the two proposed sites in Scothern.

7. The infrastructure of Scothern is totally inadequate;

• the roads through the village are generally in poor condition as there have been no road improvements,
• the school is at capacity and there is no scope for future expansion,
• local medical facilities are oversubscribed,
• there are several areas in the village subjected to flooding; eg
• photographs are available which were taken recently of the flooding on the housing development on Dunholme Road [St Germain’s Way]
• the area identified as WL/SC/004A is frequently underwater and the accumulation of water is so considerable that the adjoining land becomes flooded.

8. The consultation document currently states, “Well connected or well served medium villages may receive some limited growth through allocations in this plan in order to achieve a balance between ensuring the vitality of the village and protecting the rural character”. Scothern is a rural village which has no bus service, no shops, no footways/cycleways between the adjoining villages of Dunholme and Nettleham both of which provide services for the residents of Scothern which is not well connected or well served!

Information extracted from speed indicator devices in the village show that the roads from Scothern to Nettleham and Dunholme each take c2000 vehicles per day (including HGVs).

9. Smaller infill sites of up to 10 properties through the proposed Policy S4 could be acceptable and there are potentially two identifiable locations. These locations could and should include smaller affordable “starter” or “downsizing” properties.
10. The purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable social development.