Winchester City Borough Council West of Waterlooville Forum Meeting

The meeting was held virtually and the Chairperson welcomed representatives to the meeting.

Councillor Read declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest due to his role as a member of Newlands Parish Council.

Arising from the minutes of the previous meeting, various points were raised as follows:

·         Signage – Following Councillor Berry’s request at the last meeting regarding the provision of welcome signage for Newlands, Steve Lincoln, Service Lead: Community and Wellbeing stated that he believed parish signage to be the responsibility of the parish council but agreed that he would check this for accuracy to assist in resolving this joint issue. In response, Councillor Stallard suggested that it may be a county council requirement to display public signage. In conclusion, Councillor Stallard agreed to make further enquiries and discuss the outcome of this with the Steve Lincoln in due course.

·         B2150 Issues – It was noted that there had been no further progress since the cancellation of the original meeting arranged by Councillor Ann Briggs due to take place with officers from Hampshire Highways. It was believed that this meeting would be reconvened at some point but at this stage no update had been received regarding this.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 7 July 2022, be approved and adopted.

No members of the public were present to make representations.

(Grainger Report)

The Chairperson welcomed Jenni Upstill (Grainger plc) to the meeting.

The forum were referred to the update report circulated with the agenda pack  for their information and comment.

Members raised a number of questions on the matters contained in the update report which were responded to by Jenni Upstill and relevant officers present on the following points:

·         Northern Allotments – Jenni Upstill reported that a meeting had been arranged with Newlands Parish Council on the 15 November with the hope of signing off the plans for the northern allotments to enable work to commence.

·         Cemetery Land – David Hayward advised that he would take this matter forward for a detailed update regarding cemetery provision to be provided by Havant Borough Council in due course. It was noted that cemetery capacity was a significant issue that required urgent attention and that since the MDA had been permitted, there had been no change to this position.

·         Stakes Hill roundabout – It was noted that this formed part of the Section 106 agreement works. There was ongoing discussion with Hampshire Highways surrounding proposals, changes to designs and how this would be brought forward. However, at this stage no definitive outcome was available but progress would be provided when this was available.

            RESOLVED:

                        That the comments raised by the forum on the matters set out          above, be noted and the update report, be received.

Councillor Thompson introduced the report which outlined the process and resources required to deliver the West of Waterlooville public art programme across the major development area during the remainder of the development period. The forum were asked to note the four recommendations set out in the report.

The forum raised a number of detailed questions which were responded to by the Cabinet Member and relevant officers in relation to the following points:

·               Parish Council involvement in the Arts Programme –

            It was noted that the Parish Council had previously raised the                       availability of funding sources and that so far nothing had been                    achieved. There were expectations raised in the community that the   gateway installation project and the boating lake project would be good   examples of projects for progression.

            In response, Andrew Gostelow, Service Lead: Economy and Tourism         clarified that collaborative working with the Parish Council would     continue on the revised public arts programme going forward. In         relation to the gateway project, it was noted that soft planting would be        explored for this area and the boating lake would form part of the     review to be undertaken, in consultation with the Parish Council.

In his capacity as Chair of the arts programme, Councillor Cutler made reference to the history of the programme and reasons behind no action being taken to date, including the governance issues             surrounding the boating lake project. Councillor Cutler clarified that it was necessary carry out a review and employ a resource to ensure that the arts programme was delivered efficiently going forward, with the expectation that part of the role would include seeking funding opportunities, both internally and through the availability of external grant sources.

            RESOLVED:

                        That the following recommendations be noted:

1.          That up to 20% of the Section 106 Public Art Fund be deployed to provide the necessary resources to lead a             review and ongoing delivery of the public art programme          to completion;

2.          That collaboration with appropriate stakeholders be     undertaken to review the existing programme and           develop a revised costed public art programme for the            remaining period of the development which would be presented to the forum at a future meeting;

3.          That the governance arrangements for the public art   programme be agreed, as set out in section 11 of the report; and

4.          That soft landscaping to the Gateway Installation would          be undertaken deploying a suitable tree species in order     to align more closely with the original concept.

The Forum received a verbal update from Toby Ayling, Principal Planning Officer for Winchester City Council and David Hayward, Planning Policy Manager for Havant Borough Council regarding the commencement of the Local Plan consultations due to take place at Winchester and Havant respectively.

Toby Ayling outlined the aim to completely refresh the existing local plan for the Winchester District, provided an outline on the promotion and community engagement work and set out the next steps to be taken as part of          the consultation process for the full draft plan, highlighting key changes to the previous planning approach taken.  Following discussions with developers, the Plan proposes that the development at  West of Waterlooville would be delivered over the plan period to 2039 and made reference to evidence for the capacity to deliver a potential further 250 homes on the Winchester part of the West of Waterlooville development.

It was noted that this was Winchester’s first draft of the plan and at present, it was envisaged that there would be a review of the masterplan for West of Waterlooville which would be brought to the forum for discussion as and when matters progressed, following the consultation process, consideration of the implications, the cumulative impact with other developments and any consequential infrastructure requirements arising from this.

Members of the public were encouraged to respond to the proposals set out in the draft plan with the consultation commencing on 2 November for a six week period until 14 December. Full details of the consultation were available online, with notifications disseminated via various methods and hard copies of key documents being made available at libraries. In addition, it was noted that a number of local plan events were taking place, the nearest being at Bishops Waltham on 18 November, with a briefing for all Winchester District Parish Councils scheduled to take place on 15 November.

The forum raised questions regarding Winchester’s local plan consultation which were responded to by relevant officers in relation to the following points:

·         Additional development within West of Waterlooville – would this be covered under the existing Section 106 agreement? This was a matter to be further investigated, this was the initial first draft of the plan, therefore deliverability had not been specified at this time.

·         Location within the masterplan of where additional homes could be provided – various methods were envisaged within the plan, including revisions to the estimated capacity of various phases and the development of land no longer required for expansion of a school.

·         Facilities within the development, including off street parking provision and electric charging points.

·         Consent – it was noted that additional planning consent may be required but this would be confirmed by officers in due course.

·         Affordable housing balance – higher building standards.

David Hayward highlighted the action currently taking place on the new local plan for Havant Borough. It was noted that the council had recently commenced production of a new local plan ‘building a better future’ with a number of issues it was aiming to address including the growing housing need and increasing population. It was recognised that values in Havant were lower than average which reduced net gain and therefore housing mix was key with the need for affordable housing being significant. Suburban expansion was raised and opportunities to reduce carbon emissions would also be explored within the plan.

The constraints for Havant were reported due to its size and limited availability of sites, which it was noted could result in the council’s inability to meet housing need, therefore discussion was required with neighbouring authorities to support the local plan process. Havant’s approach differed from Winchester by being a full draft local plan with the consultation process taking the form of a discussion document with key themes.

This was available to access on the council’s website www.havant.gov.uk/localplan and at libraries and community centres, notably Waterlooville Community Centre and Waterlooville library - the deadline for comments to be submitted by midnight on 14^th November 2022.  

The forum raised questions regarding Havant’s local plan consultation process which were responded to by relevant officers in relation to the following points:

·         Timeline – The timeline was expected to be 2024 for adoption.

·         Possible changes to Park View Phase 10 as part of Havant local plan – It was noted that changes to the MDA were not anticipated.

·         The affordability of affordable housing and social rented housing and the waiting times for these products.

·         Priorities – such as improved building standards, local carbon design, affordable housing

In conclusion, the Chairperson thanked officers for their respective local plan updates and asked that information requested by the forum be passed to the Democratic Services Officer for circulation in due course.

RESOLVED:

            That the verbal updates be received and noted.

(i)            Waterlooville Town Centre Regeneration

The Forum received a verbal update from Alan Downton, Havant Borough Council who advised that officers were completing an outline draft plan and timeline to progress regeneration in Waterlooville which incorporated short term measures to improve the appearance and fabric of the town centre and building on the local plan, to engage with residents, local businesses, stakeholders and partners to develop a deliverable masterplan, with consultation process, and a commitment that this be completed by June 2023.

(ii)          Outstanding s104 and s106 agreements (re: Handover of open space to Newlands Parish Council)

Steve Lincoln reported that this matter was ongoing with an outstanding drainage issue regarding Newlands Walk requiring resolution before the land could be transferred. The contact previously dealing with this matter from Taylor Wimpey has since retired so this matter could now be taken forward with a new contact, although as there were still legal agreements outstanding this could still take a little time to resolve. However, in the meantime Winchester City Council would maintain the open space until the transfer could take place. It was noted that a face to face discussion would need to be arranged if this matter was further delayed to agree a way forward on cross boundary shared land in respect of financial contributions from Grainger for open space. Steve Lincoln agreed to discuss the adoption of land and a suitable approach with colleagues and report back to the Forum in due course.

(iii)         Fly tipping – Outstanding fly tipping issues in the area awaiting responses by relevant officers.

(iv)         Maintenance and Repairs in Newlands Walk – Outstanding issues reported. Steve Lincoln asked that Councillor Berry send on the list of snagging issues onto him to enable concerns to be progressed within the team directly.

(v)          Update from Taylor Wimpey – Councillor Crichton provided a verbal update, on behalf of Taylor Wimpey, setting out that the s104 agreement with Southern Water remained incomplete, Taylor Wimpey were in a position to sign this but were unable to make contact with Southern Water to resolve this matter. It was noted that no remedial work could progress until this had been signed and primarily, this was now holding up the work towards the adoption of the spine road. The installation of new LED lighting by Hampshire Highways upon road adoption also remained outstanding and needed to be progressed.

Councillor Crichton reported that a contractor was in place to complete the access from the end of Sickle Way onto Hambledon Road as the second access onto the development and was due to be completed by the end of this year. However, Hampshire Highways had instructed that at this point Sickle Way must be closed which was an issue as until the rest of the roads on the development were adopted, there were no controls on parking or any restrictions in place resulting in the likelihood of significant traffic travelling through the development while Sickle Way was closed. It was noted that the Parish Council had therefore requested that the road closure be deferred until the road adoptions had taken place.

The Chairperson advised that she would discuss the points raised in respect of Hampshire Highways with Councillor Stallard in order for an update to be provided.

(vi)         Adoption of Open Space agreement at Wellington Park by Havant Borough Council – Councillor Crichton reported that this part of the open space agreement had not yet been adopted and was an ongoing matter. Havant Borough Council representatives were asked to follow this up with their Head of Estates who had previously dealt with this matter, for an update to be provided.

(vii)        Planning application for Phase 3b - Councillor Crichton reported that the application for Phase 3b was approved on 10 October 2022 under delegated powers without notification being provided. In addition, Councillor Read advised that he had spoken to the Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan with a view to reviewing the process of officers delegated powers and made reference to the importance of using the Joint West of Waterlooville MDA Planning Committee for joint planning applications going forward.

In response, Julie Pinnock, Service Lead: Built Environment set out the process in relation to the council’s constitution which set out the scheme of delegation to officers, with the joint committee being in partnership with Havant Borough Council. However, this application did not trigger a referral to the joint committee hence why a decision was taken under officers delegated powers and in liaison with the Chair of the Planning Committee. In addition, it was noted that all planning applications are publicly consulted, planning officers at Havant were aware of the application as joint planning authority where both authorities worked together and the Parish Council would also be invited to comment as part of this process.

It was recognised that the joint committee process was a concern for the Parish Council. Julie Pinnock advised that she had offered to arrange a meeting to discuss the constitution with parish representatives but a date was still to be set to continue dialogue on this matter. 

(viii)       Policing of the development – Councillor Crichton advised that the previous matter regarding the Police and Crime Commissioner had been referred to senior officers with the proposal that policing of the development would be covered by Waterlooville going forward. The response on this matter was that this would remain split between Waterlooville and Bishops Waltham for the time being. It was suggested that the Parish Council arrange a meeting with senor officers from both areas to discuss resourcing for the policing of the area further.