Winchester City Borough Council Kings Barton Forum Meeting

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Weir be appointed as Vice-Chairperson for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.

Apologies for the meeting were noted as above.

Councillor Rutter declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest as a member of Headbourne Worthy parish council.  Councillors Learney and Cunningham both declared personal (but not prejudicial) interests as members of Littleton and Harestock Parish Council.

There were no announcements.

RESOLVED:

That the dates for the future meetings of the Forum in the 2021/22 municipal year be noted as set out on the agenda sheet.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 March 2021 be approved and adopted.

The Chairperson welcomed the following to the meeting; Dr Antonio de Stefano, Tim Norris (Hampshire Swifts), Caterina Zucca (Chair of the Kings Barton Residents Association (KBRA)) and Mike Slinn (Vice-Chair of the Kings Barton Residents Association (KBRA)).

Antonio de Stefano addressed the forum as a resident of phase 1B which he highlighted had been completed and occupied for over a year.  However, there were ongoing issues regarding poor maintenance, uncompleted items, missing street furniture and poor condition of road surfaces.  These issues had been repeatedly reported to CALA homes by the KBRA, individual residents and through the Forum but to date were still ongoing which was causing a great deal of frustration.

Tim Norris (Hampshire Swifts) highlighted the issue of the declining swift population across the UK, partly due to a change in housing building practices.  He requested that CALA commit to install one integral bird box per new dwelling.

Caterina Zucca (KBRA) referred to a list of questions from KBRA to which CALA homes had provided responses prior to the meeting.  The list of questions and answers had been circulated to all members prior to the meeting and available on the Council’s website here.  Ms Zucca welcomed the responses provided but asked a number of supplementary questions as summarised briefly below:

·         Environmental Health (sewage smells) – requested a further update following the meeting scheduled for 14 July.

·         Highways – timing of the footway to school resurfacing.

·         Redesign of Winchester Avenue – when would the public highway works be finishing?

·         Query regarding proposed 30mph speed limit differing from design speed of 20mph.

·         Footpath and accesses – how long would the temporary solution remain?

·         Railway underpass – emphasised the importance of the connectivity to Wellhouse Lane.

·         EV charging points – requested that these be installed in existing areas of the development.

·         Development timeline – requested CALA provide an idea of the timescale.

It was agreed that Mr Hill and Mr Curry of CALA would respond to these points as part of their update to the forum in items 9 and 10 of the agenda.

Mrs Pinnock advised that revised terms of reference for the three development fora, including Kings Barton Forum, had been agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 23 June 2021 (report CAB3306 refers).  This was to ensure that the fora followed the objectives established in the revised terms of reference.

In response to questions, Mrs Pinnock advised that the proposal regarding the time available for public participation was intended to standardise practice between the different fora, but it was always at the Chair’s discretion to extend.  The Chair suggested that the stipulated time limits be considered further as part of the proposed annual review of the terms of reference.

RESOLVED:

That the revised terms of reference of the Forum be noted.

Mrs Pinnock explained that the implementation officer, Mr Hughes was not available to provide an update to this Forum meeting due to illness.  However, CALA Homes had provided a response to issues raised by KBRA as referred to under item 7 above. 

Mr Hill and Mr Curry from CALA homes were in attendance at the Forum meeting and provided responses to the points made in public participation, including the additional questions raised by Ms Zucca (KBRA).  They also responded to questions from Forum Members.  Summary of responses below:

·         An urban wildlife strategy was being developed for all new sites, which would include provision of swift boxes, bat boxes and “hedgehog highways”.  CALA would seek to achieve one swift box per dwelling (noting that some buildings might not be suitable so additional would be provided on other houses).

·         Mr Curry provided a further update on investigations to address the ongoing issue of sewage smells.  It was reported that a similar issue was occurring in Park Road and those residents should report the issue to Southern Water directly.   It was noted that the Council was aware of a similar problems elsewhere in the District and might be able to provide assistance.

·         With regard to comments regarding the condition of the highways and roads which was non- standard high quality, Mr Curry explained the complexities of the issues involved and confirmed that CALA homes were working with the County Council to resolve as soon as possible.   It was not possible at this stage to give specific dates for the situation to be resolved (he estimated within 18 months) but constant monitoring of the roads was undertaken to ensure they remained safe.

·         Shared surface signs have been provided.

·         Noted the frustrations of residents with regard to the delays over the provision of street furniture and agreed to put further pressure on suppliers to speed up delivery.

·         The feasibility of the proposal of an informal route to the ridge line would need to be examined.

·         With regard to occupation trigger points, Mr Hill suggested that details of the s106 requirements could be shared at the next Forum meeting to provide clarification – meeting S106 occupation trigger points

·         CALA homes had no planning obligation to provide EV charge points and it would be too expensive and not an easy thing to do to introduce retrospectively on completed phases.  The suggestion that the possibility of situating within the new sites, but close to the edges of existing developments, was noted.

·         Welcomed the suggestion that CALA homes consider any specific ways in which the City Council could work in partnership to assist in progressing elements of the scheme that were currently subject to delays by other parties.  Noting some genuine challenges over the last 18 months.

·         Responded to detailed questions about the path to connect Wellhouse Lane to the ridgeline and estimated work would commence in the autumn and take about three months.

·         Agreed to discuss further outside of the meeting the proposals regarding the provision of a footpath from Andover Road to the school as a joint project between the Council and CALA homes.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Nicola Wells (head teacher of Kings Barton Farm academy) who requested that CALA homes assist with the siting of signage for the new school.  If a suitable sign could be provided, Mr Curry agreed to assist further outside of the meeting.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Mark Gittos (VIVID) who stated that the housing association’s footprint was now fully occupied comprising of a mix of tenures.  VIVID were working with the Council’s implementation officer, residents’ associations and the community towards an integrated community development approach.  He provided the following general responses to Members’ questions and advised that he would ask Emma Bartlett (VIVID neighbourhood officer) to respond in detail outside of the meeting:

·         The neighbourhood officer was liaising with Councillor Iredale (Headbourne Worthy Parish Council) to address the issue of communal bin storage being difficult to access.

·         Provided information regarding the general support provided to their social housing tenants, for example to tackle social isolation over the course of the pandemic.

The Chair thanked everyone attending for their contributions.

In the absence of the implementation officer, Mrs Pinnock advised that there was no specific update report available for this meeting.  However, she asked for any ideas for local residents, parish or ward councillors with regard to community activities for the future.

Members asked questions on the following matters which Mrs Pinnock agreed to provide a response.

·         Could a temporary polling station be provided for May 2022 elections?

·         Issues regarding access and maintenance of the footpath around Barton Meadows and part of the public open space managed by HIOWWT has been fenced off and padlocked and not available for public access.  A request from Headbourne Worthy Parish Council that the number of parish councillors be increased to reflect the increase in residents due to the Kings Barton development.

·         Provision of a post box in phase 1B– Mr Hill confirmed that Cala had signed paperwork with Royal Mail and the post box should be installed within 12 weeks.

·         A request that the proposed play areas within the development each incorporate activities for a range of age groups.

·         Headbourne Worthy Parish Council were inviting comments from residents on the bus service along Andover Road.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Katya Holloway (Hampshire County Council) who responded to questions from Mike Slinn (KBRA) and Forum Members as summarised below.

·         With regard to the railway underpass on Wellhouse Lane, confirmed that HCC was working very closely with CALA homes to finalise the road agreement that was required before works could be undertaken.  Network Rail also were required to sign a highway agreement.  Subject to these outstanding matters, the programme of works was due to commence in mid-October 2021.

·         Explained that it was normal practice for the design speed limit to be lower than the actual proposed speed limit (as HCC did not authorise speed limits below 30mph as lower speed limits were not enforced by the police).

·         The anticipated delivery date for the Andover Road signalised crossing by the ridgeway was summer 2022, subject to necessary approvals and progression of the design process.

·         There were still minor issues outstanding regarding the spine road but the finalisation of the required authorisation was almost complete.  With regard to the length of time taken, commented that once agreed, it establishes the principles for the other spine roads within the development.

·         The design of link roads from Andover Road to the new spine road was a reserved matter and no application had yet been received.

The following matters were agreed for future agenda items:

a)    Triangulation of the Kings Barton development with the Movement Strategy and proposed development at St John Moore barracks;

b)    Barton Meadows – access and eco-diversity (Hampshire and IOW Trust to be invited to attend);

c)    Update on archaeology;

d)    Future phasing and timings and resident involvement with regard these – Mr Hill updated that CALA were next looking to deliver two further phases, namely Phase 3A to the south and Phase 2B to the north;

e)    Condition/s106 tracker (with traffic light system indicator);

f)     Design of future play areas – Mr Hill offered to present the proposed play strategy to the next meeting for discussion.

g)    Examination of the cycle routes throughout the site, to ensure they joined up and were supported and advertised.

h)    Discussion of ideas for how the partnership working between the City Council and CALA could be enhanced – Mr Hill commented that CALA had recently engaged an external communications and marketing company who would assist further.

i)     Organisation of a site visit for the Chair, key Council Officers (including HCC if possible) and CALA homes, if possible prior to the next Forum meeting.

Mrs Pinnock noted these suggestions and agreed to draft a work programme for the next three Forum meetings.