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Monday 29 January 2018

Minutes of Residents Association 23rd January 2018

Minutes of Burton Green Residents’ Association Committee Meeting 
January 23rd 2018


Present
Dianne Adams; Hilary Cox; Paddy Deeley; Trish Hancock; Judi Hibberd (arrived 8:10); Janet Hickinbottom; Bron Putnam; Rona Taylor; Mary Webb.

In attendance: Cllr Caryll Green, Cheryl Wall.

1. Apologies

Apologies had been received from Faith Ward.

Summary of actions following the meetingResponsible
Dementia article for BugleMary
HS2 compensation article for BugleAndy and Mary
Welcome pack to HilaryJudi
Contact Peter Hallam about various works needed in Red LaneRona
Speak to Diane Swindells about charges for lunchesRona
Agenda item for September meeting on chosen charity for Santa sleigh 2018Judi


Minutes of the last meeting and Matters Arising

The meeting in November 2017 had been cancelled because of bad weather. The minutes of the September meeting were approved.

Matters Arising from the previous minutes:

  • Dementia article for Bugle - Mary to check Action:Mary
  • HS2 article for Bugle - Mary to check with Andy Action: Mary and Andy
  • Welcome Pack to be sent to Hilary Action: Judi

All other matters arising had been covered or were to be agenda items.


2. Treasurer's Report

A report had been circulated. Dianne explained the various items.


3.  Residents' views/concerns

A variety of potholes were highlighted, especially one in Red Lane opposite 77. The footpath after 79 and before the bungalow in Red Lane also needed clearing again. The previous clearing had been done very well. Rona would contact Peter Hallam. Action: Rona.

Potholes in Solihull were proving more difficult to sort out. The Parish Councils of Berkswell and Balsall Common had been contacted.


4. Update on and discussion of Residents' Association initiatives and issues

Review of AGM: this had gone well and there had been a good turnout. No suggestions for improvement were made. Hearing speakers was identified as a problem but it was hoped the new Village Hall would have better facilities to address this.

Fly tipping: Mary reported that fly tipping in Red Lane had been cleared.

Retired of Burton Green lunches: A discussion was held about the £7.50 charge made for the Retired of Burton Green lunches. It was decided as this was not supposed to be a profit- making venture, the cost would not be increased at the moment but Mary would speak to Diane Swindells to seek her view. Action: Mary

Santa Sleigh 2017 review: this had again been a very successful event with a total of £1000 raised after donations, sales of food and a donation from Hickory’s Smokehouse. A Lions presentation evening had been attended with donor recipients who had included Zoe’s Place, the chosen charity of the Residents’ Association. Thanks were extended to Balsall Common Lions and all those who helped and took part. An item would be added to the September agenda for discussion of next year’s charity. Action: Judi


5. Village Hall

Cheryl reported that the progress of the planning application had been delayed because HS2 had not paid some of the contractors’ invoices but this had now been resolved. Monthly meeting were now held with HS2 and the consultants.

The Village Hall committee had formed a variety of sub groups to look at different aspects such as the landscaping.

The views of the community would be needed to feed into developments. Who were future users of the hall likely be? With an increasingly older population, would this impact on the needs of the community? Some ideas would be available through the Neighbourhood Plan.

Community access was important but should the hall be run for profit?

Q. Would the number of rooms available provide flexibility?

Hopefully as there would also be an office space to rent. Should this be given an alternative name to “Office” as this implied a space restricted to administrative activity for the Hall.

Q. How will the outdoor space be used?

There are still many details to be decided. Various suggestions have been put forward such as a bowling green and boules pitch. There will be no provision for a children’s play area as the Parish Council could not move the existing facility in Red Lane. Perhaps Cala Homes could be persuaded to create a play area for older children as part of their housing development. Another alternative suggested was to use an area on the new Greenway once established but this would be the responsibility of WDC.

Q. When would building commence?

The original schedule was for June 2018 but the timescale has already been delayed by three and a half months. HS2 still had to pay the fee for the planning application to be considered but it was hoped the application would be in place within the next month. The duration of the build had been estimated as nine months but that was before the delay which would mean involving the winter months of 2018-19.

A decision would need to be reached about who should open the new hall. The oldest and youngest residents? A celebrity?

Q. How would the security barrier which was proposed operate to ensure no unwelcome parking took place whilst allowing Hall users access and egress?

Details such as these were still being considered with expert advice.

Rona thanked Cheryl for attending to provide the information and said she should not hesitate to contact the Residents’ Association if any help was needed.


6. Parish Councillor's Report

Cllr Green reported that the PC had been very busy with the large planning applications submitted just before Christmas.  These included:

The Cala Homes application for the Burrows Hill site. The WDC planning committee was scheduled to consider this on January 30th. The PC had objected on various grounds including the reduction in size of the playing field since the community consultation

HS2 had purchased a strip of land bordering the Cala Homes site and this contained a hedge. There were some concerns over the future of the hedge. At the recent Greenway Trust Meeting it had been reported there were no plans to remove the hedge.

A planning application had been submitted regarding homes in Westwood Heath Road. The PC had put in an objection to Coventry City Council and would do the same to WDC on the grounds of lack of road planning prior to the building and hence tremendous traffic problems in the area.

An application had been submitted on behalf of a group of Plymouth Brethren to change the use of a garage in Hob Lane into a Gospel Hall. The PC had not objected as there were no grounds to reject it because a building had been on the site since before the 1940s. Some concerns were raised about parking and some of the residents of Hob Lane were putting in objections. Drainage might also be a problem.

Thanks were given to Cllr Green and the whole PC for their hard work.


7.  Any Other Business

Mary reported that HS2 had finally sorted the payment of the electricity for the lights on the community Christmas tree.

There was a lot of litter throughout the village and so a litter pick was arranged for February 11th at 10:30. Volunteers should meet at the bridge and gloves, rubbish bags and grabbers would be available.

Paddy reported that the email loop system had been changed to utilise MailChimp. Some minor amendments were suggested. The system allowed for scheduling of future notifications.

On request from the Village Choir, Rona had written a letter of support for an application to the Forum for funding.

Rona explained that Michael Bing, an experienced structural engineer who advised the government, looked likely to be appointed by a consortium of local parish councils, to present a case for an extended covered tunnel in Burton Green.


8. Date, time and venue of Next Meeting

The next committee meeting was scheduled for March 13th 2018

Future meetings were scheduled as follows:

May 8th, July 10th, September 11th, October 1st (AGM), December11th

Wednesday 17 January 2018

Revised Westwood Heath Housing Proposal

The planning application to build up to 425 dwellings off Westwood Heath Road has been resubmitted to Warwick District Council.

Residents' objections that were made to the original application do NOT carry over to the revised application and MUST BE RESUBMITTED, if they are still applicable. The covering letter with the new application clearly states:



The new application is here (it may take a few minutes for this link to load):
https://planningdocuments.warwickdc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_WARWI_DCAPR_80131

This map shows the new application:






The Original (June 2017) Application

The details of the original application (submitted in June 2017) are here (it may take a few minutes for this link to load):
https://planningdocuments.warwickdc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_WARWI_DCAPR_78924

This is the corresponding map submitted with the June application:



As you can see, there is very little substantive difference. The number of proposed dwellings is exactly the same, so considerations of traffic volumes are presumably unaltered. All objections regarding traffic will still need to be resubmitted.


The Differences Between The Original and Revised Plans

The graphic below highlights the differences between the two plans. There are some minor changes in the North-East quadrant and the South boundary hedge...




This animation shows the precise differences between the original plan and the revised plan...



This image (which can be enlarged) shows the precise types of properties in the revised version of the plan. Each type of property is indicated by a 3-letter code. eg AST represents Aston, cheaper terraced housing; SOM represents Somerton, a detached property; etc. Details and images of all of the various property types can be seen in the planning application documentation...




This animation shows a comparison with the original plan. Click the graphic to enlarge it to full screen size...



Below are the changes to the South boundary hedge. The WCC Ecologist had recommended that the original proposal should be refused on ecological grounds (see here). That recommendation is unchanged for the revised plan (see here).



Approximately 70 objections were made to the original application. The organisations and individuals who objected to the original application were:
Burton Green Parish Council, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, WCC Ecologist, WCC Planning Archaeologist, Mr Glen Ager, Mr Andrew Allen, Mr Tim Barker, Mr Joel Beaumont, Mr Adrian Blay, Miss Kelly Brown, Mrs Patricia Bullock, Mrs Amanda Carter, Mr Tony Cartwright,  Mr Charles McDonald, Mr Ian Harrop, Dr Surinderjeet Chaggar, Mr Paul Carrington,Ms Jules Clark, Mrs Patricia Deeley, Mr George Francis, Mr Norman Gilbert, Mr B Gill, Mrs Carol Goldfinch, I N Green, Dr Geraldine Hartshorne, Miss Becky Hopkins, Mr & Mrs Ireland, Ms Nicki Jackson,  Mr Harpinder Johal, Mrs Jill Kashi, Mrs Tina Kennedy, Mr Nitin Koria, Mrs Diana King, Mr Chris Langton, Mr Marcus Laverne, Mr Lee Loughran,  CLLR Tim Mayer, Mrs Ann McCaig, Mr Iain McCaig, Mr Robert McCaig, Mrs Sheila Millar, Mr Sunil Mishra,  Mr Brian Olden, Mrs Susan Olden, Mr Alan Pearson,  Mr James Peskett, Mr Prasanna Pimpalnerkar, Mrs Rupa Pimpalnerkar, Mr Satnam Purewal, Mr Amarjit Purewal, Mrs Corinne Ratcliffe, Dr Santosh Rai, Mr Neil Rippington, Mrs Beryl Sarram, Mr Ian Scott, Mr Pragnesh Shah, CLLR David Skinner, Mrs Ann Smalley, Mr Gareth Spicer, Mrs Karen Sprouse, Dr Mark Steel, Ian Stewart, Mr Surrinder Thandi, Mr Steven Tibbetts, Ms Manjit Uppal, Mrs Joy Warren, Miss Natasha Wayne-Wynne, Mr Stephen Wilkinson, G.H. Williams, 131 Cromwell Lane, 23 Duggins Lane, 571 Westwood Health Road, 599 Westwood Heath Road.
Those organisations and individuals highlighted in blue have already lodged objections to the revised application. Many organisations and individuals who objected to the original plan have yet to submit an objection to the revised plan. The deadline is 12th January.

Objections should be made using the 'Make A Comment' tab on the application. That comment page is here:
https://planningdocuments.warwickdc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=_WARWI_DCAPR_80131

Alternatively you can write to PO Box 2178, Warwick District Council, Riverside House, Milverton Hill, Royal Leamington Spa, CV32 5QH, quoting reference W/17/2357.


The Housing Crisis and Immigration

There's an article in the Daily Mail this morning (21st December) which claims that immigration is the major factor driving the housing crisis and the demand for new homes.



You can read that article here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-5200603/Stephen-Glover-migration-housing-crisis.html


Brexit

There has been some concern about the accuracy of Coventry City Council's inflated population growth projections. It is not known to what extent those projections take into account Brexit and the anticipated reduction in immigration. Brexit may have been ignored.

The media are claiming that migration patterns are already reversing...


Full article:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/30/net-migration-to-uk-shows-largest-annual-fall-since-records-began


Previous Posts About The Westwood Heath Housing Proposal

https://burtongreen.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/planning-application-south-of-westwood.html (July 2017)
https://burtongreen.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/westwood-heath-road-housing-proposals.html (May 2017)
https://burtongreen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/warwick-district-local-plan-proposed.html (Sep 2016)
https://burtongreen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/new-proposal-for-435-600-homes-at.html (Feb 2016)

This 2012 item, just below, is of particular interest. There had been a public consultation to decide where new housing in Burton Green should be situated. This is from Minutes of Burton Green Residents’ Association Committee Meeting June 19th 2012: "At the Kenilworth Community Forum, Chris Elliott, Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council, had delivered the Local Plan. This designated Burton Green as a category 2 village with possibly 30-80 new houses."
https://burtongreen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/proposed-buildling-sites-at-burton.html (May 2012)

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Archaeology at Westwood Heath

Updated January 2018

The findings of the archaeological survey are described in detail here:
https://planningdocuments.warwickdc.gov.uk/online-applications/files/8394F3B7FA51E36ACC94B7ED1AB8050E/pdf/W_17_2357-Appendix_6.3_-_Archaeological_Evaluation_Report-1076032.pdf

Based on that report, the Planning Archaeologist's response to the planning application, dated 30 January 2018, is here:
https://planningdocuments.warwickdc.gov.uk/online-applications/files/BB77E41DF8BE313002C2DF8036FA32CC/pdf/W_17_2357-Archaeology_comments-1088898.pdf
"... The evaluation identified archaeological evidence for activity dating to the Late Iron Age or Early Roman as well as small number of undated pits of probable prehistoric origin. There is, therefore, a potential for the proposed development to disturb prehistoric archaeological deposits across this area. Whilst I would not wish to object to the proposed development I do consider, in light of the results of the trial trenching, that a further phase of targeted excavation will be required to mitigate the archaeological impact of the proposed development..." 
That presumably means that further excavations will be required sometime during 2018.

________________________________

15th October 2017
Archaeological Trenching at Westwood Heath



It is believed that there may have been some form of human activity at Westwood Heath possibly dating from the Iron Age.



The evidence for this is tenuous. Over the years a number of small artifacts, including coins and a goblet, have been unearthed at Westwood Heath. Some are undoubtedly Iron Age and some Roman.

In 1959 an aerial photographic survey was undertaken which revealed crop marks suggesting the presence of an enclosure. This was near to the boundary of the current proposed Crest Nicholson housing development.

What were Romans doing at Westwood Heath? Just passing through? They seem to have been here. It's possible that that the crop mark enclosure may have some connection to Bockendon Grange which is nearby. No-one knows.





No further systematic investigation was undertaken, because of the expense involved and lack of expertise.

The images below (which are both reproduced as documentary evidence filed with the Crest Nicholson planning application) show the locations of some of these finds.



Those images come from here:
http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA9931
http://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA5357

The PDF document in the link below shows comments from the Warwickshire Planning Archaeologist. This was the most accurate assessment of the situation, as of August 2017:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2dsUUIxiPxDNmtXalNGVEdFTTg/view?usp=drive_link&resourcekey=0-3npeA1SL0mIJgjYmTZeZ3Q

To further assess the situation archaeological trial trenching is now being undertaken. The investigation will take approximately 4 weeks.

Eighty trenches, each 50 meters by 1.8 metres, will be excavated.








Garden Archaeology in Burton Green

It is possible that gardens of any of the houses along Westwood Heath Road and Cromwell Lane might contain buried artifacts. One Roman artifact has been found near the Water Tower.

In 2011 a member of the Burton Green History Group who lives in a Victorian property along Cromwell Lane dug a 1 metre square test pit in their own back garden. Their finds were surprising though unexceptional. The finds were mainly Victorian crockery, earthenware, and corroded bolts and nails. All of this material was found beneath 1 square metre of their back lawn...


That experiment is described in more detail here:
https://burtongreen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/garden-archaeology.html


Garden Archaeology at Kibworth

In 2009 the village of Kibworth, in Leicestershire, undertook a community investigation into its history, which was made into a BBC TV series, 'The Story of England'.

43 villagers dug 1 metre square test pits, exactly like the one shown above, in their gardens, to see what they might find.

At the right is a very short (1 minute) video clip from the TV program....



More details about the Kibworth project:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7962126/Gardens-of-entire-Leicestershire-village-dug-up-for-BBC-Four-archaeology-series.html
https://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/reports/leicestershire/kibworth/2009

Monday 15 January 2018

Quiz Night - 3rd February

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL QUIZZERS!

Just to let everyone know of our next quiz

Please book early to make sure of places

BURTON GREEN VILLAGE HALL, Hodgetts Lane, CV8 1PH

QUIZ
With Fish and Chip Supper

SATURDAY 3rd FEBRUARY – Time 7.30 prompt

Teams  up to 8 (no more)

You do not need a team to come and join us, Just come along.

For places please email Jill @ davidline@onetel.com
Or phone: 024 7646 2070

Looking forward to meeting you

Monday 8 January 2018

Women's Institute

Burton Green WI group meet in the Village Hall on the second Monday of the month.  The next meeting is 8th January.  If you are unable to make this date, please put the next meeting in your diary for February.