THE
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in the Thatcher
Room, Portcullis House,
Present Mr R Smith, Vice-President (Potters Bar
Society)
Mr T
Simpson, Chairman (Elstree & Borehamwood G B Soc.)
Mr L Holt, Secretary (Chislehurst Society)
Mr S Smith,
Treasurer (
Mrs G Oliver, Assistant Secretary (
Mr R Liffen, Assistant Secretary (Carshalton-on-the-Hill Residents
Association)
|
Mr S
Errington, Soc for Preservation of Ascot & Environs Ms J
Hargreaves, Brindles Wood Residents Association Mrs J
Habib, Chiltern Society Mrs G
Hein, CPRE Mr C Pohl,
CPREssex Mr P
Barker, Mr A
Walker, Epping Society Mr H
Bitten, Friends of Epping Forest & CPREssex Mrs A
Swinson, Hatch End Association Mr P
York, |
Mr C Hoptroff,
Leighton Buzzard Society Miss M
Dewing, Mill Hill Preservation Society Mr P
Ward-Lee, Old Coulsdon Residents Association Mr C
Beney, Open Spaces Society Mr M
Maurice, Pinner Society Mr P
Rogers, Sevenoaks Society Mr G Quantock, Mr J
Archer, Youth Hostels Association (South Region) |
Apologies for Absence
Mrs T Villiers (President), Mr R Atkinson (Education officer),Denham
Parish Council, Headstone Residents Association, Mill Hill Residents
Association, and Ottershaw Society.
Matters arising from previous
minutes
353 50th
Brithday celebrations The
Chairman said that staff at Portcullis House had been approached about holding
a reception after this meeting but owing to some confusion they had not come
back to him. Members suggested that if
possible it would be nice to hold it in one of the rooms adjoining Westminster
Hall. It was agreed to try to arrange
something to coincide with the meeting next spring. Mr Liffen said that a well known ‘name’ as
speaker would help to assure a good attendance.
369(3) Education In
giving Mr Atkinson’s apologies, the Chairman said that a CD-ROM would be
available for schools in March 2007. It
will be suitable for about year 6 pupils.
371(2) LGBC Website Mr
Beney reported that there had been some improvement of the existing website and
this was about as much as could be done with the present arrangement. The Chairman invited Mrs Habib to draw a
sketch for a logo which could go on to the site.
372(4) Bentley Priory Mr Belsman said that the Stanmore Society
were pressing to save the house and the land around it. They were concerned at the way it had been
sold to a “suitable” developer i.e. suitable to the MoD. There was no specific development proposal
yet. If development has to occur, the
Stanmore Society would prefer it not to be residential. The Chairman said he had received two letters
from MoD seeking to assure him that the site would be disposed by the
Government in a way cognisant of its Heritage.
In
reply to a question by the Vice-President, Mr Belsman explained that Bentley
Priory is a Major Developed Site in the Green Belt. Its designation evoked little comment at the
time the Local Plan was produced, probably because it was mistakenly assumed
that any disposal would not be soon. Only about 20% of the site is built on;
the rest is open.
The Secretary wondered whether the
whole site had been included because, being a military establishment, there
were no maps available to show where the buildings are. He recalled that when
Biggin Hill Airfield was considered for inclusion as a major developed site,
the planning authority divided it up into four parts. One part comprised the runway and the
Inspector ruled that it should not be designated a major developed site. He rejected arguments by MoD that it should
be included and the question of whether development should be allowed left
until an application was made. The
Secretary suggested arguing that any development on the site must be within the
existing footprint and have no greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt
than at present. This is required by
Annex C, paragraphs 4(a) and (d) of PPG2.
The Chairman added that the view over
372(5) Rail Freight Interchange of Radlett Aerodrome The Chairman reported that this proposal was
in abeyance. Both Dacorum Borough
Council and the County Council were against it and the Department for Transport
would not allow access on to the M25.
Item 379 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
1. Chairman’s
Review of the Year The Chairman
thanked everyone for attending and their continued vigilance in defending the
Green Belt. It is essential to get
across that the Green Belt is not up for grabs or for swaps. The year started with reviews of the East of
England and the South East Regional Plans. He thanked Mrs Oliver for covering
the former and the Secretary the latter.
There was also the ridiculous report for the Adam Smith Institute which
was comprehensively rubbished by the Vice President in a letter to the
Minister. Baroness Andrews’ reply which
indicated that Government took a similar view of it is a benchmark of
Government support for the Green Belt.
The
Chairman said he had, through the President, lobbied on many fronts, from the
local, like Bentley Priory and the Stanmore developments to the countrywide
problems of strip sales of land and 600,000 houses lying empty. The Government
will not put pressure on local authorities and housing associations to put
these into a habitable state because it would require Government money.
The
Chairman concluded by thanking the officers for their efforts and asked for
members’ patience as he was still learning the ropes and had some long term
domestic difficulties to contend with.
2. Treasurer’s
Report The Treasurer reported that income for the
year was a little lower than in the previous year but that year did include a
donation of just over £200 from a member which closed down. Expenditure rose considerably, mainly in
postage, hire of a hall for the last AGM, travel of delegates to meetings and
internet registration including some improvements to the website.
Overall
there was a small deficit of £90, so the funds, at the end of the financial
year in August stood at £7718.93. In
view of this healthy balance, the Treasurer recommended no change in the
subscription.
The
Treasurers’ report was accepted unanimously.
No
subscriptions had been received from the following organisations and the
Treasurer recommended that they be removed for the membership list: Battlesbridge Protection Society, Binfield
Parish Council, Bucks County Council, CPRE (Berks) [Bracknell & Ascot],
CPRE (Berks) [Cookham & Bisham], Cyclist Touring Club, Friends of
Hillingdon House Farm, Goffs Oak Community Association, Rochford Hundred
Amenity Society, St Albans District Council and Springwell Residents’ &
Conservation Association. Mr Pohl
explained that the Rochford Society was no longer active, but surprise was
expressed that some of the others had not paid and some members undertook to
chase some of them. It was agreed that
if that proved unsuccessful they would be removed as recommended by the
Treasurer.
6. Election
of Officers Mr S
Smith and Mrs Oliver wished to stand down from their respective posts of
Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. The
Chairman thanked them for all the work they had done over many years and
presented each with a token of the LGBC’s esteem.
The following were elected nem con:
(a)
Chairman: Mr T Simpson (b) Vice-Chairman: Mr C Hoptroff
(b) Secretary: Mr L Holt (c)
Treasurer: Mrs J Habib
(d) Assistant Secretary: Mr R Liffen
Following the elections, there was some discussion about the
need for more Assistant Secretaries and how the work of LGBC might be
organised. Mrs Oliver explained that she liaised with member organisations in
an area from
It was suggested that it would aid communication if the
contact details of the officers were included in these minutes. They are:
Chairman. T J
Simpson, Pages Farm House,
Email: simpages@hotmail.com
Vice Chairman. C G Hoptroff, 4A
Tel 01908 632440 Email: Chopt@aol.com
Secretary. L G Holt,
Treasurer. Mrs J
Habib,
Email; J.Habib@ntlworld.com
Assistant
Secretary: R Liffen,
Email: RayLiffen@compuserve.com
Item 380
Mr Hoptroff
recalled that the
The meeting had two main themes. ‘What should be the
approach to the review?’ and ‘How can
land designated as Green Belt be improved and made best use of?’ On the first issue, South Beds DC suggested
that there were two possible approaches.
The first, a minimalist approach was simply to release just enough land
from Green Belt to provide for the required houses and land to be safeguarded
for possible future development to 2031.
A more radical approach would be to look at the reasons for Green Belt
in South Beds. South of Luton and
Dunstable, its purpose was to maintain a separation from
South Beds CC are digesting the
views expressed at the meeting and will shortly produce a report and indicate
the next steps.
Item 381 Officers’ reports on new business since the
last meeting
1. The Secretary reported that he had
corresponded with various planning authorities on their Framework documents and
with the South East England Regional Assembly on the South East Development
Plan and the Kent Waste Development Plan.
He said that following a trend over the last year or so, there seemed to
be fewer planning application raising Green Belt issues in his area. He had
entered objections on appeals on applications for
(a)
Residential
Plots at Waldens Farm,
(b)
Change
of use to a caravan site at Redcourt,
An
application to Havering Council to extend a golf course and construct a
reservoir did not call for comment
2. The Secretary said he had received a
sample copy of a new publication which listed planning appeals relating to
Gloucestershire. The section on Green
Belt appeals listed only 40 cases and of these the vast majority were
dismissed. He considered that this
demonstrated that the Government’s support for the Green Belt was genuine. Mr Bitten said experience in Epping Forest
District was similar.
3. Mrs Oliver said that an application by
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for a training ground at Bulls Cross,
Item 382 Other matters raised by members
1. Mr Rogers said that Sevenoaks District
Council had tried to introduce a policy under which developments would only be
allowed if they comprised a majority of affordable housing. The Government however stopped them, saying
that any such policy should only be introduced as part of the local Development
Framework which will not be ready or about two years. Mr Rogers foresaw additional pressure on the
Green Belt.
2. Mrs Hein said that over ambitious plans
for the replacement of
3. Mrs Hein also reported that there was
concern over trial borings for gas under the Surrey Hills at Blackheath. It would cause major disruption to the
countryside if gas were to be extracted there or if the geology were found to
be suitable for the storage of liquid gas.
THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
will be in held in the