PRESENT:

John Sprackling (JS)

Chairman

Wayne Hancock (WH)

Vice-Chairman

Keith Alcroft (KA)

Planning Officer

John Gunton (JG)

Magazine Editor

Cllr Mrs May Haines (MH)

Canford Cliffs Ward Councillor

19 Members/Wardens

1. APOLOGIES AND ACCURACY OF MINUTES

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Poole Pottery/Old Orchard/Quay Thistle Hotel sites update: JS reported..

JS

Community Working Group (CWG): Meeting fixed for 24 Sept 2015 – the Council

WH

is planning to change its planning neighbour notification arrangements and the CWG

will be informed about this at this meeting.

MINUTES OF THE BRANKSOME, CANFORD CLIFFS & DISTRICT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

Council Budget Monitoring report (2014/15) & 2015/16 Budget – William Mutlow

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reported on the Council Budget Monitoring report covering the period 1 April 2015 to

WM

30 June 2015 – this forecasts a small surplus of £0.3m for the year 2015/16.

Cost pressures of £0.8m emerging in Children’s Services. Forecast includes higher

placement costs for Looked after children and cost pressures within the Adoption

Service.

Other services are forecasting Net Savings with the most significant being £0.4m

from Transportation, with reduced expenditure from Concessionary Fares and other

Budgets.

Vacancy management and an ongoing brake on expenditure are continuing to apply.

There remains uncertainty regarding a number of significant budgets, and there is no

longer a contingency within the annual budget to manage any unforeseen events.

There are a number of in-year changes to funding currently expected from the

Government’s post election announcements over the summer including the delay of

the implementation of Part 2 of the Care Act until 2020. The main provisions due for

implementation in April 2016 were to introduce a cap on residential care costs paid

by individuals and to significantly increase the capital threshold above which people

are required to contribute to the costs of their care.

The Council has already invested in systems, staffing and other costs funded by

government grants to prepare for implementation. We are awaiting further

announcements and no provision has been made within the current year forecast for

any funds to be returned.

The in year position needs to be seen within the context of the current £5.5m deficit

in the budget for 2016/17, acknowledged by Cabinet on 28 July, and the further

growth pressure expected from Children’s Social Care, the impact of the new Living

Wage on costs in the care sector and the Government cuts under review.

2016 High Season Parking Period should begin on 1st March from 2016 onwards.

Movement on reserves

The balance on earmarked reserves at the 1 April 2015 was £24.2m, with £3.6m

programmed to support the 2015/16 Budget. £2.578m of the expenditure variances

relates to the use of specific earmarked reserves in support of their intended

purpose.

As reported at last month’s meeting of the Association, the 3 year Medium Term

Financial Plan includes the assumption that Council Tax will rise by 2% per year

Reasons for significant Forecast Revenue Variances greater than £100,000

People Theme £512k Total Variances Cost Pressures

£421k Looked After Children: Pressures in residential care costs partially offset by

savings within fostering placements.

£180k Adoption Services: A number of children requiring greater support than

budgeted, together with an increase in other costs due to national changes.

£175k Children in Need & Independent Living: Increase in number of care leavers

requiring support.

£254K ASC – Residential Care & Community Based Services: The number of clients

needing support is over budget on residential care partially offset by savings in

community services and direct payments. Relating to older people the pressure is

£349k, with other age groups saving (£95k).

£287k saving in ASC – Care Act (Part 1) Implementation: Local deferred payment

scheme required few changes to implement the national scheme from April 15. This

had reduced spend from this one off non ring-fenced grant.

£168K saving in ASC – Employee Costs: Vacancies within social work and

commissioning teams.

£68K saving in ASC – Other: Grant announced after the budget was set to support

Wednesday, 09 September 2015

MINUTES OF THE BRANKSOME, CANFORD CLIFFS & DISTRICT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

the expected increase in Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DOLS) cases.

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£5k Other: Net Pressures.

Place Theme Variance a Saving of £557k

£153K saving in Transportation Concessionary Fares. Actual costs were 3.7% lower

in the first 2 months. The forecast assumes the 2014/15 trend of journey numbers in

the remaining 10 months. The actual level of activity is influenced by external factors

such as the weather.

£284k saving in Other Transportation. Savings made up from street lighting

electricity £93k, from additional parking and other income £73k, from expenditure

savings on bus subsidies £47k and from net other costs £71k.

£120k saving in Other Variances made up from Town centre management £45k and

from facilities management £75k.

Business Improvement Theme Variance a Saving of £325k

£159k saving in Human Resources. The main variance is additional income of

£137k.

£166k saving in Other Services. The main items are employee savings from

Corporate Management Team £73k and Corporate Strategy £44k.

Public Rights of Way

RD

Westminster Road end of Dalkeith Road – The sandbags serving to obstruct this

route have been removed by the Council. It, currently, recognises this route as an

unrecorded Public Right of Way.. .

Buccleuch Road to Lakeside Road – No new developments

Bessborough Road – This road is owned by Canford Cliffs Land Society. The

Society is, currently, in conflict with the developers of the former Norfolk Lodge Hotel

regarding access.

Pinecliff Gardens (Sunken garden): WH said that the report of of the Royal

WH

Horticultural Society judge’s visit was expected at the end of this month. Volunteers

are still needed. WH is still waiting to receive from the Council the renewed License

to allow the Association to officially manage the garden.

Community Engagement: Cllr MH reported on the third meeting of the ‘Review of

JS

Council Governance Arrangements Working Party’ which was held on the preceding

Monday (07/09/15). About 12 members of the public were present.

Discussions on changes to the current Overview & Scrutiny Committees have been

concluded.

Area Committees will continue but the Working Party is looking at ways of widening

the scope of these meetings. Other alternatives being considered are Focus

Groups. ‘Themed’ meetings. Consultation is continuing and, at the time of the

Association’s meeting, no date had been set for the next Working Group meeting.

Chairman’s Note: The Minutes of the meetings held on 13 July and 03 August 2015

have still to be posted on the BoP website.

Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Farm: Navitus Bay Offshore Wind Farm: Roy

RP

Pointer gave an update on Navitus Bay. The decision will be published by the

Secretary of State this Friday 11 September, exactly 12 months from the opening of

the Examination process in line with the Planning Act 2008. He very much hoped

that the Application would be refused bearing in mind the effort put in by residents in

the wider area and the support of all local Councils (Poole excepted), MPs, National

Trust and the New Forest Parks Authority.

He referred to the recent piece in the Daily Telegraph indicating refusal of the project

but had nothing on which to base the article although Emily Gosden is a respected

journalist in the sector.

If the project is approved there is limited scope to challenge. The route is via Judicial

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Review but the grounds are very limited e.g. Law, process compliance and

reasonabl ness of the decision but not the merits of the case e.g., visual intrusion,

Wednesday, 09 September 2015

PCBA will look at the process if an adverse decision is given.

noise etc.MINUTES OF THE BRANKSOME, CANFORD CLIFFS & DISTRICT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

Chairman’s Note: RP writes “I’m delighted to say that on 11th September, Secretary

of State Amber Rudd issued the decision refusing permission for the wind farm as

well as a smaller option proposed at the eleventh hour by the developer. This

represents a major achievement for the thousands of residents who objected, and

for the work of Poole and Christchurch Bays’ Association in giving focus and weight

to the planning arguments against this deeply unpopular proposal. It is a good

example of how residents can influence decisions on national issues working

with MPs, local councils and other interested groups.”

Sustaining Poole’s Seafront (Formerly Seafront Beaches Master Plan SPD): A

TS

report is due to be presented to Cabinet at its meeting on 13 October 2015 seeking

resolution to adopt the Plan at the Full Council meeting on 17 November 2015.

Cllr MH was unable to shed any light on this but said that there had been three

rounds of consultation on this. We shall have to wait and see what the report comes

up with.

Chairman’s Note: The report should be posted on the BoP website around 06

October.

Succession planning: No new developments.

JS

Pine Drive – It has been established that Pine Drive is a recognised Right of Way

No

from Chester Road leading all the way to Leicester Rd/Penn Hill junction..

further

action

Uniting the Conurbation (Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch) – No new

JS

developments

Chairman’s Note: It has been announced that Bournemouth, Christchurch, East

Dorset and Poole are jointly exploring the possibility of a single, brand new Council

to cover their respective geographic areas. This would see all functions undertaken

by the existing councils in these areas being delivered by a new single unitary

authority.

Andrew Flockhart is to be recommended to take over as Poole’s Chief

Executive at the Full Council meeting on 29 September.

Refreshing the Core Strategy and review of Community Infrastructure Levy

TS

(CIL) – A summary of responses to Draft Core Strategy, has just published and a

report is available via – http://www.poole.gov.uk/planning-and-

buildings/planning/ldp/core-strategy-review/

A report on the revised CIL proposals will be published as part of a report due to be

presented at the Economy and Overview Committee on 5 November, where the

Council will be seeking endorsement to publish the draft version of the charging

schedule for formal comment before submission to the Secretary of State for

Examination. The Council plans to publish it for 8 weeks over December 2015 to

January 2016, which is two weeks longer than normal to account for the holiday

season.

Improving association’s communications – In the absence of MP, JS reported

MP

that the new ‘Canford Cliffs Village’ magazine, which is currently being distributed

throughout BH13 and part of BH14, includes a page about the Association and a

page about the Sunken Garden.

3 NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT –

KA reported

KA

27 Forest Road (Demolish existing house and erect 5 houses with associated

parking) – Letter of objection lodged on behalf of the Association on 24 August 2015

but application granted on 01 September 2015.

2 Dalkeith Road (Sever land and construct a detached house with integral garage)

Wednesday, 09 September 2015

MINUTES OF THE BRANKSOME, CANFORD CLIFFS & DISTRICT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

– Letter of objection lodged on behalf of the Association on 02 September 2015.

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Chris Stracey raised concerns about the inconsistency of approach by the Local

Planning Authority in the case the various applications at Avalon, off Sandbanks

Road when compared with recent applications in Crawshaw Road. In both cases,

the applications involved sub-division of plots where trees were an issue. In the

case of Crawshaw Road the applications were allowed but in the case of Avalon,

the applications were refused

Cllr MH said that in the case of 14-16 Avalon, the proposed properties were taller

than those there at present, did not fit in with the character of the area and not

enough amenity space.

JS suggested that CS ask WH to take this up at the forthcoming Community

Working Group meeting.

Then followed a lengthy and, at times, heated discussion about 12A Western

Avenue (Erection of new single storey house) – Application registered 20 April 2015.

Tracy Holmes opened the discussion by saying that she was confused by the

process and sought answers to the following questions

MINUTES OF THE BRANKSOME, CANFORD CLIFFS & DISTRICT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

Peter Jackson made the point that both the Council’s Urban Design & Conservation

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Officer and Tree Officer had raised concerns about the proposal.

Stuart Rhys-Williams felt that the Association had ‘missed the boat’ and was allowing

the character of Branksome Park to be changed. He proposed that an Extraordinary

General Meeting of the Association should be held as soon as possible to rally

support for the re-introduction of the ¾ acre rule.

John Buckley supported this proposal and JS promised to send those members

calling for an EGM, a copy of the Rules of the Association.

Cllr MH said that the officer was due to make his decision the following week and, if

the application is due to be approved, this will be ‘Red-carded’.

Christine Norman questioned how the plot is, currently, registered with the Land

Registry and if it was known if there was any proposal by the owner to register the

two plots separately.

Stan Alfert encouraged those present who had not yet sent letters of objection to do

so as a matter of urgency and suggested they search the BoP Planning Application

website for suitable wording.

John Gunton that, in view of the apparent level of opposition to this proposal, he was

expecting more Western Ave residents to attend the meeting.

Roy Pointer felt that it was up to residents to object and garner support from

residents and thought it unfair to ‘have a go’ at the Executive.

Peter Jackson proposed that a letter of objection should be sent on behalf of the

Association, seconded by Stan Alfert, and this was, overwhelming, agreed by those

present with two abstentions.

Tony Holmes said, in conclusion, that if the application is not turned down, he will not

let the matter rest. Mr Horden has been given permission on three occasions to

extend his current property.

Stan Alfert referred to 2 Dalkeith Road (Sever land and construct a detached house

with integral garage). This was a first application to propose a sub-division in

Buccleugh Road and should be opposed.