Eastleigh Borough Council Eastleigh Local Area Committee Meeting

Councillor Paul Bicknell declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, as a monthly donor to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance charity.

Councillor Wayne Irish declared a personal interest in agenda item 7, as a personal friend of the applicant.

RESOLVED -

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Chair of Boyatt Wood Parish Council addressed the committee with regards to the multiple unauthorised encampments in Lawn Road.  He asked when the prevention measures previously agreed would be in place.

The Chair responded that the Council were working on a range of prevention measures alongside the trees that had already been planted.  He would ensure that these details and plans were shared with Boyatt Wood Parish Council.

The new manager of the YMCA Eastleigh Community Centre addressed the committee regarding the planned Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for Whieldon Way that leads into the centre.  The YMCA endorses the proposal for child safety but requested that the timings be considered to coincide with school drop off and pick up times.  The centre has a very constrained car park and had lost revenue from regular hire customers due to this.  The local centre had not yet been built which would relieve some of the pressure.

The Chair responded that they had received a lot of information regarding the TRO on Whieldon Way.  The developers of the site were meant to be providing a local centre which would include sufficient parking for the school, centre and shops.  The road was currently a private road and Hampshire County Council (HCC) will not enforce TROs on private roads and won’t adopt the road until the local centre is built.

A representative of the working group related to the former Samson’s Gym site and the Chamberlayne Road residents asked a number of questions related to the site.  They had received a response from an officer at the Council stating that a lot of the details were commercially sensitive but asked whether the Borough Council would be tidying up the planted area at the end of the road and pruning the trees on Chamberlayne Road.

The Chair responded that the Committee did not own the site, it was corporately owned by the Council.  The Committee would act as the planning committee so cannot answer what might be on site as it would predetermine their decision.  Councillor Irish was already working on the tree issue as the County Councillor and would ask officers at HCC to look at the planted area also.

The Chair gave the following report:

Pigeon Proofing the colonnades – the population of pigeons continued to grow perhaps due to the mild winter weather and people continuing to feed them. The Council had recently reviewed the pigeon spikes and netting on the colonnades and would be replacing any missing protection in the coming weeks. The Council were also working with town centre businesses by asking them to join the project.

Freespace Skate Park – The new skate park was proving very popular with users, and in a bid to help prevent a recurrence of the awful vandalism two years ago, the Council had just installed CCTV. This was first remote site to be linked to the town centre control room in the Borough, so it would now benefit from 24 hour live monitoring.

Park Sport - The Council’s hugely popular Park Sport Programme started this week, and it was great to see the return of the usual Skate Jam launch event at Freespace on the 29 July. So do come along to see our local amateurs compete, alongside incredible demos from pro riders.

Mela – the past weekend saw the return of the Mela enjoyed by thousands of people, thank you to the Asian Welfare and Cultural Association (AWCA) and Eastleigh Borough Council for organising this wonderful multicultural event.

Summer events programme – We have a packed programme of events over the summer season. So please make note of the following dates for your diaries:

• The Point's Party in the Park – with an outside bar and entertainment every Friday and Saturday evening through to 31 August.
• The Urban Beach is back, now until 2 September.
• Ems Mobile Farm will be visiting the Precinct on 26 July.
• The Pounds for Pride fundraiser, will be held in the afternoon on Wednesday the 31 July.
• Hula Hoop performers will be showing how it’s done and asking you to join in on the Precinct on 2 August
• Steven's Fun Fair returns from the 9 to the 17 August.
• A Dream Empire Events Company late summer festival is on 31 August.
• And the main Pride event will be on 14 September.

The Principal Planning Officer gave a short presentation on guidelines that had to be taken into account when determining planning applications; in particular the issues that could, and could not, be taken into account.  This was set against the broader policy framework.

The Committee considered the report of the Service Director for Planning and Environment (Agenda item 7) concerning the creation of headquarters for Hampshire Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) and other healthcare services to include offices; the creation of a helipad; change of use and minor alterations to existing building to form a mixed use comprising B2, B8, E(e) and E(g); and other associated works. (Ref: F/24/97188).

The Committee was advised that Southampton City Council offers no objection.  We have reviewed the amended Noise Impact Assessment May 2024 (Omnia ref: C11045/NIA/1.3) which now considers the impact on residential receptors within the City of Southampton administrative boundary and concludes that there will be ‘No Observed Adverse Effect’. We agree with the findings of this assessment and raise no objection to planning application ref F/24/97188.

RESOLVED -

That permission be GRANTED subject to the conditions in the report.

[Note: A number of interested groups spoke in support of the application; including, but not limited to, the benefits of being closer to the major cities of the region, no adverse noise impacts, biodiversity net gain and providing a vital public service in a central location.]

The Committee considered the report of the Service Director for Planning and Environment (Agenda item 8) concerning a Single Storey Side/Rear Extension (Ref: H/24/97549).

RESOLVED -

That permission be GRANTED subject to the conditions in the report.

The Planning Manager reported:-

(a)  that the following appeals had been lodged:-

17 O’Connell Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9GN (Ref: F/23/95271)

Appeal against the Council’s refusal of the Erection of new 3.no bedroom detached dwelling on site of existing workshop/store.

1 Portchester Rise, Eastleigh, SO50 4QS (Ref: T/23/94817)

Appeal against the Council’s refusal to 1 no. Oak (T1)- Fell due to extensive decay to stem and buttress roots.

1 Kestrel Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9LJ (Ref: H/23/96549)

Appeal against the Council’s refusal of the erection of two-storey side and rear extensions to facilitate an annexe. Demolition of the existing garage and erection of new single storey garage (Re-submission of H/23/95973).

(b)  that the following appeals had been allowed:-

29 Launceston Drive, Eastleigh, SO50 4QE (Ref: T/22/93618)

Appeal against the Council’s refusal of the felling of Birch (T1).

(c)  that the following appeals had been dismissed:-

20 Kenilworth Drive, Eastleigh, SO50 4PT (Ref: T/21/90261)

Appeal against the Council’s refusal of a crown reduction of 3-3.5m to Rowan tree.

29 Twyford Road, Eastleigh, SO50 4HD (Ref: F/23/94920)

Appeal against the Council’s refusal of the change of use from C4 HMO to Sui Generis HMO for more than 6 No unrelated persons.

RESOLVED -

That the report be noted.

Consideration was given to a report of the Local Area Manager (Agenda item 10) that contained recommendations for expenditure from the Committee’s capital and revenue budget.

RESOLVED –

1)   £15,000 was allocated to the Freespace BMX project from developers’ contributions;

2)   £3,000 was allocated for CCTV at Freespace Skate Park from developers’ contributions;

3)   £50,000 was allocated for the UKSPF town centre project trial from developers’ contributions;

4)   £9,093.45 was allocated for new electric vehicle chargers at the Eastleigh Bus Station site from the Carbon Fund;

5)   £1,000 was allocated for repairs at Cornwall Road Play Area from developers’ contributions;

6)   £24,000 was allocated for North Stoneham Traffic Regulation Orders from developers’ contributions;

7)   £2,500 was allocated for a new gate at Cheriton Road Play Area from developers’ contributions;

8)   £2,500 was allocated to the Hub Leisure Centre Options Appraisal from the Revenue Reserve;

9)   Up to £25,000 was allocated for bank repairs on the Monks Brook behind Magpie Lane from the Revenue Reserve; and

10) £5,300 was allocated for a shed replacement at Burns Close Allotments and fencing repairs at Tennyson Road allotments from the Revenue Reserve.

[NOTE: Councillor Bicknell requested that the Local Area Manager contact Hampshire County Council to ensure that any consultation on the Traffic Regulation Order at recommendation 6, was as open and transparent as the consultation carried out by the Borough Council when advertising TROs.]