NMCC
2009-2010 (1104-1112)
Thursday
27 May 2010
Members:
Mr
Mrs Fiona Duncan (Treasurer) [FD] Mr
Martin Morley [MM]
Prof
Mr Gordon Murray [GM] Mr
Robert Loughridge [RL]
Mr Graham Geddes [GrG]
Clerk
to the Community Council: Mrs
Linda Rendall
In attendance ex officio: Councillor Martin Ford
[CllrMF], Councillor Nan Cullinane [CllrNC]
Abbreviations:
AC = Aberdeenshire Council; NMCC = Newmachar Community Council
Apologies were recorded for:
In attendance as visitors: Piers
Blaxter (AC), Peter MacCallum (AC), Annette Holland (AC),
PC Mark Cobban,
Christine Mair, Alan Buchan
In the absence of
Minutes
The minutes of the
previous meeting on 22 April 2010 were accepted as a correct record, subject to
the following amendments:
Minute 1098 (Community Hall)
Omit lines 1-2 and substitute: “GrG
expressed his frustration and disappointment at the lack of provision for
planning gain for the new Community Hall in the provisional drafts for the
Local Development Plan which NMCC had considered at its March meeting. At that meeting the requirement for a
planning gain contribution for the Hall had been made clear. It was noted,
however, that the Minutes of the AC Garioch Area Committee meeting of 30th
March showed that Councillors had added that contributions towards a standalone
community hall in Newmachar were required. GrG confirmed that the business …”
Minute 1100
Aberdeenshire Council
Line 1: omit
£500,000 and substitute “£446,000”.
1105 Police Matters
PC James Lawson
prepared a report which was tabled by PC Mark Cobban.
(i) During the last
month the following crimes were reported in Newmachar: vandalism to a vehicle, two instances of
domestic vandalism and assault, driving under the influence of alcohol and
unlawful removal of a vehicle from the Kingseat area.
(ii) A timely
reminder was issued to residents to ensure that house doors and windows are
secure when unoccupied and to securely lock garden sheds and outbuildings as
well as vehicles.
(iii) Road casualty
reduction is a priority for Grampian Police and this year sees the inception of
Operation Zenith which is a north east wide initiative, seeking to focus on
motorcyclists in an attempt to reduce those killed or seriously injured within
this group of road users. Instances of
poor or aggressive driving by motorcyclists should be reported to Grampian
Police.
(iv) PC David
Calvert will be returning to the role of Newmachar Community Focus Officer in
June and will continue to carry out high visibility foot and mobile patrols
within the community.
(v) Responding to a
query regarding traffic calming measure in
1106 Local Development Plan
RB drew attention
to the amendments to the Main Issues Report by the Garioch Area Committee and
the planners. A different major
development area, G 90, had been substituted for G128; an additional primary
school had been proposed; and a possible bypass either to the west or the east
of the village was to be planned for. NMCC
is concerned about the changes but has decided to defer action until after the
draft Local Development Plan has been issued in mid July. Thereafter a public meeting will be held
after which a properly considered response can be made to the proposed
amendments.
Mr Blaxter
circulated draft extracts from the Local Development Plan and made the
following comments. Three major
development areas have been identified, phased over the next 10-15 years. Any proposed bypass would need to be phased
in accordance with the progress of building works in the development
areas. The only way to fund the bypass
is by developer contributions. The
object of the bypass is to give back the village centre, not to bypass it. There is no other heart to Newmachar and as
the village increases in size so will the accident rates so it is important to
seek the best way to divert traffic from the A947. Mr Blaxter was of the opinion that routing
the distributor road (as it should be called) to the east of the village rather
than to the west is a more favourable option and is awaiting the result of a
feasibility study by the developers of the M1 sites.
Mr MacCallum
intimated that he has recently met with all the developers and that a transport
consultant is looking at various options to assess the best route for the
bypass, taking the A947 around the
village. Severance is a real issue so it
is hoped that there will be housing at only one side of the bypass and that
this would be the village boundary. It
cannot be too close to the village.
Whilst using the western side of the village to route the bypass would
use the least amount of road, it was pointed out that using the existing
In response to RL’s
concern about the possible downturn in trade that the shops may experience as a
result of the bypass, Mr Blaxter was of the opinion that the increased housing
would compensate for the decrease in passing trade.
Mr Blaxter pointed
out the difference between developer contributions and planning gain and in
response to a concern about the bypass taking funding away from the proposed
new community hall, he indicated that all
developers would be required to contribute to planning gain. He said that
the size of developer contributions depended on the price which could be
negotiated by them for the land they needed.
Mr Blaxter went on
to outline the procedure by which the proposed Local Development Plan will be
published in mid July followed by a public consultation period of 12
weeks. Statements of support or formal
objections will be invited. Draft
Supplementary Guidance detailing the specific proposals which most concern
local communities will also be published and representations from the Community
Council may also be made on these. Comments on the Supplementary Guidance will
be considered by AC councillors. In
January 2011 the Plan will be submitted to the Scottish Government which will
appoint an independent Reporter to make a binding decision.
RB indicated that
whilst the overall approach might be acceptable the Supplementary Guidance may
be unacceptable, to which Mr Blaxter reminded NMCC that if the community would
rather have the money for other things then representation can be made and it
would be up to the Members to decide whether to press ahead with the proposals.
AB emphasised the
importance of ensuring planning gain is capitalised, bearing in mind the village
lost out in previous developments. GM
pointed out that the size of vehicles
travelling through the village is as important as the number of vehicles. In
response to a query from MM about whether the council has to provide community facilities (criticality point) Mr Blaxter
indicated that there was neither an obligation nor a legal requirement on the
council’s part.
Returning to the
actual developments, Mr Blaxter indicated that the community can influence the
design of the developments by adopting a process of design. A ‘pattern book’ can be used by the different
developers to create a sense of uniformity and identity.
It was agreed to
hold the public meeting on Monday 23 August in the school and that posters
would be displayed and an article inserted in the summer edition of the Newmachar News to advise residents of
the opportunity to air their views. Mr
Blaxter offered his support to NMCC and hoped he could be present at the public
meeting.
RB thanked Mr
Blaxter and Mr MacCallum for attending the meeting of NMCC.
1107 Community Hall
MM gave a brief
update and advised that it is the intention to set up a website and also to
meet with local community groups. In
addition, procedures for obtaining grants are currently being investigated. A meeting with Aberdeenshire LEADER Programme
is to take place.
1108 Portacabin
As confirmed in
Minute 1104 (i), Annette Holland indicated that the After School Club is not pursuing usage of the
portacabin. If a voluntary group want to
make use of it in response to the Chairman’s appeal in the Newsletter and a
commitment is made then funding could be made available from AC to upgrade the
facility.
1109 Aberdeenshire Council
No
additional matters were raised.
1110 Planning Issues
There were
no items noted.
1111 Strategic Development Plan
RB gave advance
notice that work has begun on the production of the Strategic Development Plan. A Main Issues Report is aimed to be
circulated in May 2011.
1112 Correspondence
(i) Volunteers were
sought for the Community Planning Board Election but as no names were
forthcoming it was suggested that this should be referred to the Garioch Forum.
(ii) SCARF (Save
Cash & Reduce Fuel) have offered to deliver a presentation to the local
community. It was agreed to display
their posters and suggested that their services be publicised.
(iii) It was
reported by the Licensing Board that the Co-operative has applied for an
extension of their licence (10am – 10pm).
MM raised concerns about the age of staff in the store selling alcohol and
cigarettes, particularly in the evenings.
It was decided to monitor the situation both within the shop and
outside, where residents can be targeted by under age youths to purchase
alcohol and cigarettes on their behalf.
No objection would be made at this time to the current application.
Date of Next Meeting – Thursday 24 June (subsequently
amended to 1 July 2010)