Open Session:

There were no members of public present.

Present:

Cllr L C Ford (Town Mayor)
Cllr P Chambers
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D Cole
Cllr G O’Reilly
Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine
Cllr B H Terry
Cllr J Terry
Cllr M Urwin
Cllr B Woodifield

In Attendance:

Mr T Simpson, Town Clerk
Mrs J Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk
Mark Stephenson, Building Conservation Officer, NFNPA

C/4932 Apologies

The Town Clerk reported that apologies for absence had been received from Cllr J D Heron and Cllr A Wiseman.

C/4933 Declarations of Interest

There were none declared at this time.

C/4934 Western Escarpment Conservation Area Management Plan

Members received a presentation from Mark Stephenson, Building Conservation Officer at the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA).

He explained that the Authority was about to start work on a Conservation Area Management Plan for the Western Escarpment Conservation Area, which included a part of Ringwood. This Plan would deal with range of issues including:

• Issues and concerns – anything of concern to the NFNPA, Parish & Town Councils and residents, for example signage, lighting, untidy sites, verge encroachment and boundary treatments.
  
  
• Survey of general building condition and repair – the NFNPA is required to ensure that listed buildings are maintained and structurally stable, and this will also be extended to historic buildings. They will identify sites where buildings can be improved and where new uses or development might be encouraged.
  
  
• Buildings that have altered through Permitted Development rights – the NFNPA can use legislation to remove householders’ rights to carry out work normally allowed under Permitted Development rights. However, there is a need to prove there is a threat before these rights can be removed and it can only be applied to building frontages.
  
  
• Tree works – all Tree Preservation Orders will be reviewed to see if they are still appropriate and guidance specific to the Conservation Area will be produced. It is hoped that landowners can be encouraged to enter into management plans for woodland areas.
  
  
• Improvement Strategy and potential for enhancement schemes to address issues – for example better designed street lighting, verge improvements, reducing signage clutter, improvements to parking, reinstatement of boundaries, improvements to derelict land and undergrounding of overhead lines.
  
  
• Resources – the Plan will outline what resources are available from authorities and other organisations, who should get involved and how, what funding is available and the opportunity to source additional funding. It will also detail how Parish & Town Councils could use the Plan to apply for funds for certain projects.
  
  
• Objectives – the Plan will outline the aspirations of local community, Parish & Town Councils and the NFNPA. It will give an honest opinion of how likely it is that objectives will be met and how, and indicate the timescales required to achieve them.
  
  
• Monitoring and Review process – the Plan will include a series of targets for the NFNPA and its partners to seek to achieve in a five year programme.

The next step was to establish a Steering Group and to gather information to inform the first draft document. The NFNPA was in the process of engaging a consultant to carry out the building conditions survey, enhancement survey and tree preservation order survey. Results of these surveys would be considered at two workshops and a draft Plan would then be produced for full public consultation. Following that, an amended document would be produced, adopted and then implemented.

It was necessary to get support from Parish and Town Councils and local communities in order to make the Management Plan work. Mr Stephenson therefore asked for two representatives from the Town Council to sit on the Steering Group.

RESOLVED: That Cllr Woodifield and Cllr O’Reilly be appointed to serve on the Steering Group to oversee the production of a Conservation Area Management Plan specific to the Western Escarpment Conservation Area.

C/4935 Minutes of Previous Meeting

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Meeting held on 27th May 2009, having been circulated, be approved and signed as a correct record

C/4936 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meeting held on 22nd May 2009.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meeting held on 22nd May 2009 be received.

C/4937 Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee

Cllr Terry presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 3rd June 2009.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 3rd June 2009 be received.

C/4938 Policy & Finance Committee

Cllr Rippon-Swaine presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 17th June 2009.

F/4413 – Cllr Chambers felt that this minute did not reflect the value of the PCSOs to both the Council and the community – he suggested that the Police should be asked to provide information to demonstrate their value and should also be invited to give a presentation to Members. The Town Clerk said that this request would be included in a formal letter to Hampshire Constabulary.

F/4417 – The Town Clerk informed Members that there may need to be a slight adjustment to this minute following a recommendation from District Council officers. This amendment would be considered at the next meeting of the Committee.

F/4426 – the Town Mayor asked for the word “youth” to be inserted prior to “organisation” in the last paragraph of this minute. This amendment would be considered at the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 17th June 2009 be received and the recommendations therein be approved.

C/4939 Communications to be Received

The Town Mayor encouraged Members to publicise the Classical Concert which would take place in the Parish Church on the evening of Saturday 11th July as part of Ringwood Festival.

C/4940 Reports from County and District Councillors

District Councillor Treleaven had sent his apologies but had prepared a written report, which was circulated at the meeting (Annex ‘A’). In connection with the paragraph in the report about the Core Strategy, Cllr Clarke reported that he had attended two days of the public examination when housing and affordable housing had been discussed and said that he would be preparing a written report for Members on this subject.

County & District Councillor Rippon-Swaine – reported on a discussion that had taken place at the District Council’s Planning & Transportation Review Panel following a move by Central Government to get local planning authorities to look at development management, rather than development control. This was a new concept and would give a more balanced view on development, taking into consideration what is sustainable and appropriate.
He also reported that he had been appointed as a member of the Environment & Transportation Select Committee at the County Council.

District Councillor Ford presented her written report (Annex ‘B’).

Cllr Cole said that he had seen an increase in shopping trolleys abandoned across the town and asked if the District Council had made any progress on its promise to take action to reduce or even eradicate the problem. He said that the town looked unsightly and abandoned trolleys were a source of annoyance to residents.

He felt that the Council should initiate efforts to try to resolve the issue and clear the streets of abandoned shopping trolleys. He had therefore spoken to the Manager of Sainsbury’s, who said that the company would be prepared to assist with the provision of a new shopping trolley bay.

He asked if she would be prepared to ask the Town Clerk to organise a meeting of all interested parties, including District Councillors and officers and representatives of the supermarkets to see if a partnership arrangement could be put in place to deal with the problem.

Cllr Ford replied that the District Council had carried out wide consultation on shopping trolleys, which had been delayed as not all organisations had responded in a timely manner. The results of this consultation would be reported to the Environment Review Panel in September. However, she was disappointed to report that the District Council would not be adopting new legislation under the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act. In the meantime, she agreed that a meeting of interested parties should be organised in an effort to find a satisfactory way forward to resolve the problems in Ringwood.

RESOLVED: That a meeting of all interested parties be arranged to discuss the issue of abandoned shopping trolleys. This should include District Councillors and officers, representatives from supermarkets in the town and Cllr Cole.

C/4941 Forthcoming Meetings

There being no further business, the Town Mayor closed the meeting at 8.00pm.

RECEIVED AND ADOPTED