TMSTH Area Forum Meeting - 21st February 2019

Chair, Ray O’Luby; Minutes, Conor Niall O’Luby; Treasurer, Jean Kirk

1. AGM

Accounts passed by Ian Clark. Forum financial situation: balance £2009, mentions what money is used for e.g. hall hire, leaflets, insurance etc.
Money mostly used up for last year, but there is some remaining this year.
Chair asks for volunteers

2. Updates

Ray covers the set-up of the new ‘Muscliffe and Strouden Park’ ward. Six councillors will be reduced to three. There will be elections for the new authority on 2nd May 2019.
Some councillors will be standing as independents. Will discuss later.
Introduces the book on local history of Holdenhurst parish. £3, proceeds go to Holdenhurst Church. Written in 1940s.
No speakers this evening.
February will see setting of budget for new council by shadow authority (SA). March SA will run services, April 1st SA launched
Rates will increase by 2.4% in the Bournemouth area to equalise with other areas.

3. Wessex Fields works and proposed A338-Wessex Fields

Covers the issue and states that he is against the proposals. The Planning Board passed the scheme on 28th Jan but a request for a public inquiry was sent in prior to the meeting and the Secretary of State (SoS) is considering the matter.
Cllr Trickett: Fully support an entrance for the hospital if it would help but it won’t. It only provides for a road from the north to south, in the evening the cars will go to the Cooper Dean.
Parley Cross development will add a lot of extra traffic onto to Castle Lane East, so from the point of view of ambulance, they have a blue light, hospital is trying to sell it to their staff, it’s going to make it better. I don’t believe this, the staff will get tied up at CD roundabout. The Phase 2 won’t get built until 2036.
I and Cllr Adams sent a request to call-in

Ray: the hospital have told their staff nothing about the business park development.
Cllr Adams: I wrote in to SoS, the initial application was withdrawn, in part because of Cob Barn, new one went back in immediately. They ignored the numerous objections.
It’s too cosy with Bournemouth being the developer and the Planning Board. This is not a good plan for the Hospital.
Cllr Weinhonig: I was at the planning meeting, savage abuse of our green belt is despicable. I can’t disagree with you, anything we can do to prevent this happening. We are here to listen.
Cllr Wilson: The project is a vanity project, the council don’t want to not spend the money. I think the process is shocking with the Council being the developer and decision maker. Our policies say that we can’t build on green belt except in exceptional circumstances.
Cllr Clarke: In general terms, the process might not have been dealt with in the correct way, but I agree with jobs argument.
Ray: mentions Sophie Edwards’ objections and her subsequent departure from the Council. Cllr Clarke interrupts to say that there is a smear going round about this issue.
Ray: Says that the fact is that Ms Edwards recommended refusal then the new case officer David Innes recommended grant.
Cllr Trickett: By May, slip road, any work will be put on hold, and whole project could be affected.
Q: why can’t we have a road just for hospital without business park. More people are coming to Hospital because of NHS changes, why can’t they put a cottage hospital in Parley?
Chair: Money for the Phase 1 comes from Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership which wants further business development. Phase 2 is supposed to be financed from the proposed Phase 1 businesses.
Cllr Weinhonig: the situation is a little like Brexit, Cllr Clarke is saying that there is another side to the story i.e. jobs; but there will be destruction and congestion.
Conor: I answer the question about the Traffic figures, they’re in the applicant’s own Transport Assessment.
Q. What if Hospital use the farmer’s field?
Conor: There is a possibility of this, discussions between hospital and council, seen in Freedom of Information material.
Ray: I thought the hospital couldn’t build higher, because of land issues. There’s a possibility of tall buildings being built in the new business development (mentioned in a September 2018 ‘Architects’ Journal’ article).
Cllr Adams: Hospital lake is a flood relief mechanism
Wendy: What about the consequence of climate change? We can’t keep on building on flood plain, our grand children will have to put up with the consequences. Sea level rises, I mentioned to one of the planning officers about park and ride, the site could suffer severe flooding in ten years time.
Master plan, council looking for architects to design tower blocks on the RA site. We all know that Castle Lane will see an extra 1200 cars with the full development.

4. Stour Valley

Recaps Hicks Farm issue and last Forum meeting.
Details will be available shortly re the proposals.
Cllr Trickett: Had a word with parks department, very early stage. There will be an application at a later date
Cllr Clarke: they are putting together a feasibility study, might be a couple of months.
Q. Interesting that the Council is developer, land-owner, decision-maker. Closed shop.
Ray: to be fair, M Rowlands did try and answer the questions, we’ll try and arrange another meeting.
Q. Does anyone know why the lawn’s been dug up in front of the mill?
Cllr Clarke: I’m going to see the owner in a week
Q. I think that it’s about a fisherman’s lodge, with more impact on traffic.
Cllr Clarke: it’s a listed building, will need planning permission for any works.
Ray: we’ll let the parks department know
Cllr Clarke: Planning dept, the mill’s been allowed to deteriorate. The matter is going through planning,
A discussion takes place about how any work should be publicised, there should be yellow posters? There aren’t any, says Wilson.
Cllr Weinhonig: We might not have seen the advert re the mill works, because it’s not in our ward, though as Cllr Trickett said we should know about it given that there will only be one ward in future.
Cllr Clarke: Kingfisher Barn a success, with good use by children.
Q. Is there a problem with sanitising wildlife?
Cllr Clarke: It’s about trying to find a balance.
Q. Problems with parking
Ray: There are so many cars on the road
Cllr Trickett: we need to encourage people away from car use, a park and ride.
Cllr Clarke: a lot of people walk to it from the local area.
Q. ‘Wilderness Way’ is not really a ‘wilderness’ anymore.

5. Bournemouth in Bloom

Cllr Weinhonig: Wasn’t aware of the Belfast accolade, but the Blooming Marvellous campaign is something Cllrs Adams, Trickett and I have been involved over the last 8 years.
Birch Drive project very successful. Residents have done really well, learning about growing and cooking.
Ray: raised box beds, in addition people such as Joan Richards, Dave Sheppard and Alan Dalley have been very active in flower planting.
Cllr Adams: local people bounced back from early vandalism
Cllr Trickett: praises the community fridge project, the community pulls together.
Cllr Weinhonig: some of the funding for such projects comes because of deprivation, but positive changes have meant that funding has perhaps dropped off.

6. Mallard Road

Cllr Weinhonig (referring to an email which he had sent to the Chair and which the Chair now intends to read out): I may have inadvertently passed on material that I shouldn’t have, but I did want Cllr Broadhead to come to the meeting to explain what was happening re the Echo article.
Cllr Trickett: Mentions other issues related to Bournemouth Development Company,
Q. What aren’t you talking about Mallard Rd?
Ray (to Cllr Weinhonig): I thought you wanted me to read this material out? (Doesn’t read it out)
Cllr Weinhonig: I have issues with anti-social behaviour on site.
Ray: Is Homebase closing?
Cllr Clarke: All units are going to be fully let in next 6-9 months.
Cllr Adams: A loss of £1m, down from what they expected.

7. Castlepoint

Cllr Clarke: met with tenants’ liaison officer. Car park is being done in 5 phases, it’s on target.
Cllr Weinhoing: well done to Castlepoint re keeping everything going with the works going on.
Q. On other hand, the manager came a couple of years ago and told us it would all be over by Christmas.
Cllr Adams: that was for a decision to be made as to whether or not they would go ahead with the works.
Q. The main concern will be later, split into two separate car parks, in about 18 months.
Cllr Weinhonig: might be an idea to invite manager to give update to next Forum.

State of the roads

Cllr Weinhonig: ask@bournemouth.gov.uk for such issues
Ray: yellow lines
Cllr Trickett: fly-parking is a problem, many homes don’t have off road parking. There is a problem putting restrictions down on the road. I was in communication with Yellow Buses to address problems for buses, the only way to encourage people out of cars, is to make sure that buses and cycling are options.
Cllr Adams: Everyone thinks that we can still have patrols, but they say that if you don’t have high crime levels, you won’t have patrols. The 101 service is not working so well, the precept for police is going up. I don’t think we have enough officers on the beat.
Cllr Wilson: I’m getting a quite a lot of reports of anti-social behaviour, this may be more of a national issue, but I do think we need more police. Crime goes in stages, it’s rising at the moment.
Cllr Trickett: from being a police force preventing crime, it’s more reactive, since they don’t have the resources.
Cllr Adams: Went to a Westminster meeting about bring the blue light services together.
Ray: going to the upcoming elections.

Wendy Sharp: I don’t want to hear a party political broadcast, but I do want to hear what councillors have to say about their future priorities.
Cllr Weinhonig disagrees with the topic being covered and leaves.
Cllr Trickett: Covers the situation re his and Cllr Adams’ position in the upcoming elections (they will stand as independents). In the proposals for the new wards, they wanted to take Strouden Park out, but this didn’t happen, with the back of East Way being taken out.