Eastleigh Borough Council Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath Local Area Committee Meeting

There was no public participation on this occasion.

There were no declarations of interest in relation to items of business on the agenda.

RESOLVED -

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Chair informed the Committee that the Stoke Park Farm SANG – which had lots of interest from the community - was not yet ready and was expected to come to the meeting on Wednesday 29 November.

The Chair also informed the Committee that the demolition of Bishopstoke Memorial Hall had not yet completed its consultation period so could not come to tonight’s meeting. She continued that it was a Bishopstoke Parish Council project and not an Eastleigh Borough Council project.

Consideration was given to the report of the Lead Local Area Manager (Agenda Item 6) that contained recommendations for expenditure from the Committee’s budget and developer contributions.

The Lead Local Area Manager updated the Committee that two of the figures quoted in the table contained within para 6 were incorrect. The correct figures were provided in the table below:

Revised Recommendation as below:

(4) Allocated £999.60 of developer’s contributions towards the Stoke Park Woods footpath improvements project overspend.

Councillor Tidridge requested that a survey be carried out in the local area on bin locations, as a form of sense checking.

The Lead Local Area Manager informed the Committee that the Local Area Manager Team would be carrying out a survey later in the year on bins and benches in the area.

Councillors requested that Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath parish councils be informed so that work was not duplicated.

The Lead Local Area Manager agreed to inform them.

Councillor Tidridge stated she was pleased the Committee was supporting the Fair Oak Community Café, which was an admirable project, but she had concerns about the number of requests for funding. She asked if it was possible to find out if the latest request was the last one.

The Lead Local Area Manager agreed to write to Fair Oak Community Café to ask the question.

Councillor Tidridge was also disappointed to see that there was no sign of the allotments being transferred yet. She requested that it be added to the finance report going forward.

RESOLVED –

That the Committee:

(1)  Formally approved the allocation of £28,750 of additional funding towards the Fair Oak Community Café;

(2)  Allocated £10,038.40 of the BIFOHH Public Art Strategy approved budget towards the New Century Park public art installations;

(3)  Allocated £12,335.60 of developer’s contributions towards the Planney Woodland improvements project overspend;

(4)  Allocated £999.60 of developer’s contributions towards the Stoke Park Woods footpath improvements project overspend.

(5)  Re-allocated £980 of developer’s contributions towards the provision of a bench at the Bow Lake play area;

(6)  Noted the spend of £1,395 of developer’s contributions towards bin infrastructure in the local area;

(7)  Noted the spend of £750 of this Committee’s revenue budget towards Parish Council legal fees associated with the transfer of Public Open Space;

(8)  Noted the short-term spend of £682.03 towards legal fees associated with asset transfers; and

(9)  Allocated £11,923.20 of developer’s contributions towards the Fair Oak Village Centre public art improvements.

The Principal Planning Officer gave a short presentation on guidelines that had to be taken into account when determining planning applications; in particular the aspects 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 8) concerning an application for retention of a new boundary fence and raising of new patio (Amended H/22/93556). (Ref: H/23/94919).

The Committee were updated with a summary of the additional information available for members to consider the planning application including:

•  on-site measurements and patio dimensions;

•  dimensions of pre-existing patio and site photograph analysis; and

•  existing fence heights and proposed changes of the first 3 panels along the raised patio.

The report was also updated confirming the applicant's response to committee suggestions.

There was debate around the design and amenity of the patio, the loss of privacy and overlooking to the neighbouring property caused by the height and design of patio, and the equal (harm / impact) of the proposed height increase of the fence to address the overlooking.

RESOLVED -

To delegate to the Service Director for Planning and Environment in consultation with the Chair and Vice-chair to REFUSE on the following grounds (final wording to be agreed):

•  Height of shared boundary fence and its impact upon the visual amenity and outlook of the neighbours; and

•  Excessive height and scale of the patio and its adverse impact on the amenity of the neighbours.

(NOTE: A statement was read out from a member of the public citing concerns about the application, which included but was not limited to significant loss of privacy due to overlooking, patio height and proximity, the proposed height of the fence being raised to 2.3 metres from their side, and the meaning of permitted works.)

The Legal Services Manager reported:-

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

Land rear of Oakfields, Winchester Road, Fair Oak

Appealed against the Council’s refusal of erection of 8 no. dwellings with parking, landscaping and associated works (F/21/90322).

Costs in relation to the appeal were refused.

This was a Local Area Committee Decision.

25 Weavills Road, Bishopstoke, SO50 8HQ

Appealed against the Council’s refusal to grant consent to undertake work to trees protected by a Tree Preservation Order (T/22/93210).

This was a delegated decision.

The Chair was pleased to see that the Committee’s decisions were upheld.

RESOLVED -

That the report be noted.