LANEHEAD RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
Minutes of committee meeting held at Newhouses, Tuesday 27 July, 7pm
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ross Anderson, Neil Astley, Pat Cooper, Rex Cooper, Preston Hoggan, John Holland and Jenny Swaile.
Apologies: Pamela Robertson-Pearce.
1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the previous committee meeting held on 11 June were read and approved by the appointed committee as a true record of what was discussed and agreed.
2. FARM WATCH
A Neighbourhood Watch scheme cannot be pursued for Lanehead according to the police, but we can proceed with plans to set up a Farm Watch scheme.
3. SPEED LIMITS
Discussion with police held over speed limit concerns, but no action likely.
4. LHRA COMMUNITY MEETING
Sunday afternoon tea to be arranged on date TBC in the village hall.
5. GREYSTONES DEVELOPMENT
Ross Anderson reported on the planning committee meeting on 21 July at which permission for the Long House was approved (10NP0022) subject to various conditions, the holiday village application (10NP0023) having been withdrawn and replaced by a revised application (10NP0041) with different access arrangements (to be considered separately in September). The committee were directed by planning officer D Coverdale who recommended approval on the basis that the Long House was a stone and slate construction in keeping with the National Park. The Parish Council's letter of objection had been lost and was read out, but no reference was made to the 13 specific objections made to the development by members of the local community apart from a general comment about local unease. The site plan was projected but could not be viewed in detail. The artist's impression picture of the house was not shown, and so its actual construction from other materials (including stone and slate) was not made clear, nor was its enormous size and scale. The planning office had not received any reports from the highways department about access, but the committee were advised that this should not be a problem.
A discussion followed in which the LHRA committee agreed that the planning committee had acted incorrectly. The local community had not been properly consulted. National Park policy 3 (NP design guide for new build) had not been adhered to. There was a question over whether Rob Cocker had been receiving advice from the planning department since October 2009.
In order both to challenge the validity of planning permission for the Long House and to prevent permission being given for the holiday village without due process, it was agreed that Rex Cooper would write on behalf of LHRA to John Riddle as county councillor for Bellingham and National Park Authority chairman stating our objections and concerns. The Hexham Courant would be informed as press publicity was needed to draw the attention of the public and the planning committee to the strength of local opposition to the Greystones development.
Local residents and the LHRA can submit revised objections to the holiday village proposal (10NP0041) by 13 August or ask the planning office to treat their previous letters of objection to 10NP0023 as applicable to 10NP0041. The Parish Council would meet to consider these developments and had until 20 August to make its own revised objections. In the light of the ineffectiveness of local objections to the Long House development, it was agreed that LHRA should add further elements to its objections to the holiday village. Both the first and the revised planning applications for the holiday village included false statements about "existing access" and the planning committee should be made aware of this. The land on which the holiday village was to be sited is glacial clay unsuitable for building because of drainage problems and flood risk, and the geological aspects should be included in the revised letter of objection.
6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Date and time to be agreed by the committee members after email consultation.
Friday 20 August 2010
Monday 9 August 2010
Minutes of Committee Meeting 11th June
LANEHEAD RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
Minutes of committee meeting held at Newhouses, Friday 11 June, 6.30pm
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ross Anderson, Neil Astley, Pat Cooper, Rex Cooper, Preston Hoggan, John Holland and Pamela Robertson-Pearce.
Apologies: Jenny Swaile.
1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the previous committe meeting held on 21 April were read and approved by the appointed committee as a true record of what was discussed and agreed.
2. BANK ACCOUNT
Bank account arrangements in motion with Lloyds TSB in Bellingham.
3. PUBLICISING LHRA
Still awaiting list of LHRA area households and residents from Ande Jackson.
4. NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
PC Neil Grubbins at Bellingham Police has been contacted regarding a possible Neighbourhood Watch scheme for Lanehead. Ross Anderson suggested amalgamating this with the Farm Watch Scheme run by Northumbria Police which has been rolled out in other parts of Northumberland: George Knight at Hexham police station is the contact for this.
5. SPEED LIMITS
Action to be taken to raise the issue of motorbikes speeding through Lanehead, involving the police and Hexham Courant. This issue has been raised by all LHRA committee members as well as other Lanehead residents including Rob Cocker. Ross Anderson said Ridsdale residents had succeeded in getting a 40mph limit imposed on the A696 through their village, but Preston Hoggan stated that it had taken over two years to get the 30mph signpost moved back down the road from Bellingham Middle School to keep pace with the extension of housing along that road. Neil Astley argued that as well as the road safety issue in Lanehead itself, the problem of noise pollution (as well as road safety) related to the C200 road from Charlton to Lanehead and from Lanehead to Falstone: speed limits needed to be observed not just at the dogleg junction but for miles on either side; some Greystead residents had been forced to move or put their houses on the market because of the noise and danger of motorbikes.
6. OTHER INITIATIVES
Ross Anderson listed several other possible issues or initiatives for LHRA, including a labour free day to help the community, a winter rescue team, a rubbish removal service, the state of the Village Hall and Lanehead in bloom. Rex Cooper proposed a coffee morning to bring together members of the community and as a means of finding out what issues most concerned residents. Pamela Robertson-Pearce cautioned against taking on too many ideas at once with limited resources and manpower: we needed to concentrate on no more than one or two at a time.
7. HEADS DEVELOPMENT
Full application has now been made by Robert Cocker for the Heads development in two parts:
http://planning.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/application.asp?NNPA_ref=10NP0023
http://planning.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/application.asp?NNPA_ref=10NP0022
The deadline for submissions was 29 June. Both parts of the development were discussed. It was agreed that LHRA would submit an objection to the Long House on the grounds that it was too large and out of place and doesn't appear to respect various planning policies, but accepting that a smaller house built from traditional materials would be acceptable. A second letter objecting to the holiday village would cover aspects such as inadequate parking provision, excess traffic, construction traffic, access to the private road without permission from residents or British Telecom/Telereal Trillium (joint owners of the telephone exchange through which access was planned), drainage, light pollution, and that this was an inappropriate site for such a development in a residential area with no amenities. Individual residents had been raising their own concerns in relation to other issues affecting their households in particular, and they would lodge separate letters of objection with the National Park as would the Village Hall and the Parish Council.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Date and time to be agreed by the committe members after email consultation.
Attached:
LHRA letters to National Park objecting to Rob Cocker planning applications.
Agreed as a true record, Committee Meeting 27th July 2010
Minutes of committee meeting held at Newhouses, Friday 11 June, 6.30pm
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ross Anderson, Neil Astley, Pat Cooper, Rex Cooper, Preston Hoggan, John Holland and Pamela Robertson-Pearce.
Apologies: Jenny Swaile.
1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the previous committe meeting held on 21 April were read and approved by the appointed committee as a true record of what was discussed and agreed.
2. BANK ACCOUNT
Bank account arrangements in motion with Lloyds TSB in Bellingham.
3. PUBLICISING LHRA
Still awaiting list of LHRA area households and residents from Ande Jackson.
4. NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
PC Neil Grubbins at Bellingham Police has been contacted regarding a possible Neighbourhood Watch scheme for Lanehead. Ross Anderson suggested amalgamating this with the Farm Watch Scheme run by Northumbria Police which has been rolled out in other parts of Northumberland: George Knight at Hexham police station is the contact for this.
5. SPEED LIMITS
Action to be taken to raise the issue of motorbikes speeding through Lanehead, involving the police and Hexham Courant. This issue has been raised by all LHRA committee members as well as other Lanehead residents including Rob Cocker. Ross Anderson said Ridsdale residents had succeeded in getting a 40mph limit imposed on the A696 through their village, but Preston Hoggan stated that it had taken over two years to get the 30mph signpost moved back down the road from Bellingham Middle School to keep pace with the extension of housing along that road. Neil Astley argued that as well as the road safety issue in Lanehead itself, the problem of noise pollution (as well as road safety) related to the C200 road from Charlton to Lanehead and from Lanehead to Falstone: speed limits needed to be observed not just at the dogleg junction but for miles on either side; some Greystead residents had been forced to move or put their houses on the market because of the noise and danger of motorbikes.
6. OTHER INITIATIVES
Ross Anderson listed several other possible issues or initiatives for LHRA, including a labour free day to help the community, a winter rescue team, a rubbish removal service, the state of the Village Hall and Lanehead in bloom. Rex Cooper proposed a coffee morning to bring together members of the community and as a means of finding out what issues most concerned residents. Pamela Robertson-Pearce cautioned against taking on too many ideas at once with limited resources and manpower: we needed to concentrate on no more than one or two at a time.
7. HEADS DEVELOPMENT
Full application has now been made by Robert Cocker for the Heads development in two parts:
http://planning.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/application.asp?NNPA_ref=10NP0023
http://planning.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/application.asp?NNPA_ref=10NP0022
The deadline for submissions was 29 June. Both parts of the development were discussed. It was agreed that LHRA would submit an objection to the Long House on the grounds that it was too large and out of place and doesn't appear to respect various planning policies, but accepting that a smaller house built from traditional materials would be acceptable. A second letter objecting to the holiday village would cover aspects such as inadequate parking provision, excess traffic, construction traffic, access to the private road without permission from residents or British Telecom/Telereal Trillium (joint owners of the telephone exchange through which access was planned), drainage, light pollution, and that this was an inappropriate site for such a development in a residential area with no amenities. Individual residents had been raising their own concerns in relation to other issues affecting their households in particular, and they would lodge separate letters of objection with the National Park as would the Village Hall and the Parish Council.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Date and time to be agreed by the committe members after email consultation.
Attached:
LHRA letters to National Park objecting to Rob Cocker planning applications.
Agreed as a true record, Committee Meeting 27th July 2010
Thursday 5 August 2010
FARM WATCH
The Committee is developing a programme of relevant projects for the Association and we hope to have a Sunday gathering in the Village Hall soon to discuss ideas and exchange information (and have a social tea). To start with we have explored the possibility of Neighbourhood Watch and have had discussions with our Beat Manager at Bellingham. The outcome is that we are now able to enrol households in FARM WATCH, and the first are signed up. If you would like to join or receive more information please contact Rex (240002) or by e-mail.
Wednesday 4 August 2010
PLANNING APPLICATION 0041
Some confusion has arisen over the end date for commenting on this proposal. It was originally stated as 13th August but the the Parish Council (PC) were given until 20th August, and this was quoted in last Friday's Courant. I have sought clarification from the planning officer on this (without result) but now a member of our committee has been told by Lucy Butler that is definitely the 13th and the later date applies to the PC only. If you wish to comment, or carry over previous comments on the earlier submission (0023) then it would be wise to make those arrangements ASAP and certainly no later than 13th August. If commenting by e-mail make sure your message is received either by requesting a "read receipt" or telephoning (or both !).
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