Winchester City Borough Council North Whiteley Development Forum Meeting

Apologies were noted as above.

There were no disclosures of interest made.

There were no announcements from the Chairperson.

Mr Grey addressed the meeting on two matters.

He raised several issues concerning the path leading to Cornerstone School linking Dumas Drive to Bluebell Way. These issues included:

1. the path was narrow, uneven, and difficult to access at points for people using wheelchairs or pushchairs
2. the path was in poor condition including, having loose stones, overhanging trees, and was insufficiently lit.

Mr Grey requested that the path be properly finished, adequately lit and formally adopted.

Mr Grey also raised several matters regarding the roads around Cornerstone school. His concerns were that:

1. the roads remained unadopted
2. cars travelled too fast close to the school
3. there were no zig-zag markings
4. there were no kerbs resulting in cars mounting the pavement.

Mr Alborough from Hampshire County Council (HCC) responded to the points raised by Mr Grey. He advised that this footpath was outside of the North Whiteley Development area and that at the time of the outline planning application no works to the footpath had been agreed.

Concerning the roads around Cornerstone’s school, Mr Alborough advised that whilst the roads were not yet adopted, they were substantially complete. He provided further information regarding signage, the need for a traffic regulation order following adoption and the reason for the low kerbs.

Mr Alborough agreed to contact Mr Grey to discuss all of the matters he had raised further and would raise these matters with colleagues at the County Council.

The Chairperson advised that questions had been pre-submitted by Whiteley Town Council (published with the agenda and available here). These would be responded to during the meeting and the written responses would be appended to the minutes of the meeting.

Several members asked that it be recorded that they continued to feel that meetings of the forum should be held in person, ideally being held at Cornerstone school with the public in attendance. The Chairperson advised that she had raised this issue with the Leader of the Council and was hopeful that future meetings of the forum would be able to take place in person. She advised that she would endeavour to have a decision on this by 31 January 2023.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 July 2022 be approved and adopted.

Amanda Gray Managing Director, of Sovereign Health Partnership provided the forum with a presentation (available here) and a verbal update concerning Primary Care Services. The update covered a range of issues which included the following.

1.    Building capacity to support patients (rooms, car parking and workforce).

2.    The Primary Care team.

3.    What GPs in the team do.

4.    Booking appointments.

5.    What you could do online.

6.    Listening to patients.

7.    Keeping patients informed.

Following a question that several residents had experienced issues registering with the practice online, potentially because of new postcodes, Ms Gray agreed to look into the matter further.

The Chairperson thanked Ms Gray for her attendance and agreed to circulate her presentation.

Neil McArthur, Service Lead – Legal (Interim), Winchester City Council provided the forum with a presentation (available here) and a verbal update concerning the latest position regarding the Community Governance Review (CGR). The update covered a range of issues including the consultation process, the results from the consultation, the proposed boundaries and the next steps.

Members asked several questions and made comments regarding:

1. The transfer of funds from Curdridge Parish Council to Whiteley Town Council.
2. Issues around the setting of council tax precept.
3. Understanding the number of residents in the newly parished area.
4. Clarifying the issues that would prevent the new council from being formed in April 2023.
5. The use of interim arrangements should they be required.
6. Whether there would be any impact from the change to parliamentary boundaries.

These points were responded to by Mr McArthur.

Mike Griffin-Thorn and Emily Pain (Hampshire County Council) provided the forum with a verbal update concerning the latest position regarding the commencement of the extension to bus services 28 and 28A scheduled to commence 8 January 2023.

Members asked several questions and made comments regarding:

1. Clarifying details of the route, particularly whether the service would include Park Gate and Swanwick Train Station.
2. The frequency of the extended service.
3. The longer-term commercial viability of the service.
4. The length of phase 1 and the commencement of phase 2.
5. The frequency of the X9 and X9A service and a potential merger with the E1 and E2 service.
6. The need to include a stop at the Community Hospital and Locks Heath to enable onward journeys to the Queen Alexandra Hospital.
7. Plans for raising awareness among residents and users concerning the new service starting on 8 January 2023.

These points were responded to by Mr Griffin-Thorn, Ms Pain and Mr Davis of Tetra Tech accordingly. Several members agreed to contact the officers following the meeting on other related matters.

Jeff Davis (Tetra Tech) provided the forum with a presentation which was available on the council’s website here. The presentation covered a range of issues which included the following.

1. Phase 1 - Bluebell Way including bus services, Southern Local Centre and Cornerstone Primary School.
2. Footpath 9 including details on design and construction.
3. Phase 2 - Off-site Whiteley Way including the letting of works and target start and completion date.
4. Phase 3 - Station Hill -Whiteley Way / Curbridge Way to Whiteley Way including works underway and target completion dates.
5. Housing delivery, including permissions granted, houses started and occupations.
6. Open Space Delivery including an update on allotment 1, Locally Equipped Area for Play (LEAP) 2 and LEAP 3 completion and the Autumn/Winter landscape works.

Hilary Oliver Implementation Officer, Winchester City Council addressed the forum and referred members to the report, ref NWDF19, available on the council's website here. She also responded to the questions that had been pre-submitted by Whiteley Town Council and these questions and responses would be attached to these minutes.

Members asked several questions and made comments regarding;

1. When would pedestrians and/or cyclists be able to access Cornerstone School from Whiteley Meadows.
2. The reasons for the delay to the phase 3 roadworks, i.e., Whiteley Way, and Curbridge Way.
3. The reasons for the delay to other roadworks in the area, for example, Junction 9 and Parkway Junction, and Rookery Avenue. 
4. The responsibility for maintaining and/or cleaning the cycleway along Botley Way.

These points were responded to by Mr Davis and Mr Alborough who undertook to review any unresolved points raised with colleagues and respond to fourm members following the meeting.

Members had no additional items for future agenda meetings.