Minutes 393 - 397

 

 

THE LONDON GREEN BELT COUNCIL

 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held on 24 October 2007

in the Wilson Room, Portcullis House
 

 

Present:

            Mr R Smith, Vice-President (Potters Bar Society)

            Mr C Hoptroff, Vice-Chairman (Leighton Buzzard Society)

            Mr L Holt, Secretary (Chislehurst Society)

            Mrs J Habib, Treasurer (Chiltern Society)

            Mr R Liffen, Assistant Secretary (Carshalton-on-the-Hill Residents Association)

 

Mr B Selwyn, Life Member

Miss S Stone, Ickenham Residents Association

Mr D Ellis, Barnet Society

Ms A Barrett, Iver & District Countryside Association

Mr J Mercer, Barnet Society

Mr P York, Kent Federation of Amenity Societies and

Mr P Miner, CPRE National Office

     Tonbridge Civic Soceity

Mr C Pohl, CPREssex

Mr P Ward-Lee, Old Coulsdon Residents Association

Mrs G Oliver, East Barnet Parish Residents Association

Mr D Cracknell, Otford Parish Council

Mr P Barber, East Coulsdon Residents Association

Mr M Maurice, Pinner Association

Mr S Smith, Enfield Preservation Society

Mr D Slater, Radlett Society and Green Belt Association

Mr A Walker, Epping Society

Mr P Rogers, Sevenoaks Society

Mr R Bate, Green Balance

Miss C Pudsey, St Albans Community Forest Association

Mr P Stone, Harefield Residents Association

Mr G Belsman, Stanmore Society

Mrs C Lis, Harrow Nature Conservation Forum

Mr C Huntley, Tewin Society

Mr J Hollingdale, Harrow Nature Conservation Forum

Mr J Archer, Youth Hostels Association (South Region)

Mrs A Swinson, Hatch End Association

      and CPRE London

Ms H Stainer, Hedgerley Parish Council

 

 

Apologies  Mrs T Villiers MP, (President), Mr T Simpson (Chairman), Brindles Wood Residents Association, Carshalton Society, Denham Parish Council, Ottershaw Society.

 

Matter arising from previous minutes

 

347(4)   Sale of fields strips in Green Belt   Mr Huntley said that this issue had come to the fore again at Tewin.  The owners of the land were now dividing some of the larger plots which had not sold into smaller plots.

 

372(4)  Bentley Priory  Mr Belsman reported that the Supplementary Planning Document and been finalised and made available in the last few days.  He understood that there had been no comment by the developers on the previously published draft and that the document followed it fairly closely.  The developers are going to attend a public meeting organised by the Stanmore Society on 21 November to explain their proposals.  Mrs Lis said that the Harrow Nature Conservation Forum had commented extensively on the draft but their comments had mostly not been taken on board.

 

372(5)   Rail Freight Interchange of Radlett Aerodrome    Mr Slater reported that the public inquiry on the appeal against refusal of this application would commence on 6 November.

 

388(4) ­Tottenham Hotspur   Mr Archer said that Tottenham Hotspur F.C. had put in a new application for the site at Myddleton House, east of Bulls Cross.  Mrs Oliver understood that it had not changed significantly from the original application, which is under appeal.  The site has been used for sporting activities but the football club’s proposal is for a building which is neither small-scale nor for local needs.   [Subsequent to the meeting, a letter of objection was sent on behalf of LGBC.]

 

392(2)  Green Arcs       The Chairman reported that he spoken on the phone with Mary Parodi director of the North East London Green Arc who was unfortunately not able to be at the meeting.  He added that NELGA is an informal partnership led by Natural England and also including Essex and Herts CCs, the GLA and various organisations like the National Trust, the Woodland Trust and Wildlife Trusts.  The Green Arc has sources of funding to buy land which is then usually managed by the NGOs.  The Green Arc also tries to improve the quality of and access to privately owned land.   They hold seminars for farmers and landowners to inform them how they can get support from various Natural England schemes in return for adopting sensitive farming and land management schemes.   At present the North East is the only Green Arc up and running.  There are plans for similar organisations in the other three sectors but as yet they do not have any actual staff doing any actual work.

 

The Chairman thought that the focus of the Green Arcs is slightly different from LGBC.  They are concerned with improving countryside and open space regardless of whether it is performing a Green Belt function or not.  Nevertheless, they should be kept in mind as a potential ally on specific issues.  Mrs Habib said she was on the steering committee of the North-west Green Arc.  She was due to attend a meeting the following week and would report back on progress.

 

 

Item 393   50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATON

 

  Mr Liffen showed the video he prepared for display at the reception in the Palace of Westminster and also his video of the event itself including the speeches by the President, Vice-President, Chairman and Mr Bitten.  The meeting thanked Mr Liffen for producing this permanent record of the event.

 

 

Item 394   ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Vice- President took the chair for this item.

 

Treasurer’s Report  The Treasurer submitted the accounts and reported that there had been a deficit on the year on account of cost of the 50th Anniversary Celebration.  The accounts were accepted by the meeting and it was agreed that the subscription for 2008 would be held at £10.

 

Election of officers 

 

The following were elected nem con

            ­Vice President  Mr David Gauke MP  (Mr Gauke is the member for SW Herts)

Chairman  Mr Hoptroff

            Secretary  Mr Holt

            Treasurer  Mrs Habib

            Assistant Secretaries  Mr Liffen and Mr Pohl

There were no nominations for the post of Vice-Chairman.  A volunteer for this post is sought and also for two more Assistant Secretaries to cover particularly North and West London.  [Note from the Chairman:-  We also need someone to take the minutes of meetings, please.  I responded to such a request as this some years ago but it is not feasible to carry on doing that and chair the meetings – too much would get missed.  Indeed, I fear that some participants will find that points they made at this meeting have not found their way into the minutes.  I will be happy to give a volunteer any help needed in getting started with the job.]

 

 

Item 395  Various issues relating to Green Belt and Improvements to the Countryside

 

            The meeting had a wide ranging discussion taking in the following issues:

(a)        A suggestion by Mr Huntley that because the London Boroughs lack the funds and political will to look after the open spaces within their areas, there should be a single controlling authority to take charge of all such land round London.

(b)        A draft paper sent to LGBC by CPRE London proposing that the Mayor of London should develop a policy to improve the quality of and access to Green Belt land round London.   The paper suggests that this would make the Green Belt more defensible.   Mr Smith (Vice-President) has written to CPRE expressing concern that this presentation of the proposal seems tacitly to accept the arguments put forward by RTPI that ‘poor quality’ Green Belt is not worth keeping. 

 

(c)        A Natural England policy paper (NEB 07 28) which raises for consideration a proposal for permitting development on the Green Belt in order to minimise impacts on natural environment elsewhere.  This paper also fails to recognise that green belt status is not related to the quality of the scenery.   Mr Smith has also written to Natural England registering LGBC objections.

 

The position emerging from the discussion was as follows.  LGBC does not object to efforts to improve the appearance and/or usefulness of the countryside whether it is in the Green Belt or not.  LGBC does however object to these efforts being linked to the defence of the Green Belt because these issues should have no bearing on the status of Green Belt land.  We need to be vigilant in countering arguments which seek to rely on the ‘quality’ of different areas in the Green Belt and seek to be more proactive in putting our position before the public.

 

 

Item 396         Officers reports on new business

 

1.  The Chairman said he had been contacted via the website by Airtrack, an organisation promoting a rail link from Heathrow to the south west, connecting with the rail network at Staines.  They had wanted to know which LGBC members they ought to consult.  He had suggested that they contact the Association for the Preservation of Staines Moor and CPRE Surrey.

 

2.  The Chairman had also been contacted by a reporter on the Mercury seeking LGBC about proposed gypsy sites in Cheshunt and Hoddesdon.  Not being able to identify an LGBC member who had first had knowledge of the sites, the Chairman had given a general response that traveller sites are a form of residential development and as such are inappropriate in the Green Belt.

 

3.   The Secretary reported that he had objected to applications for:

            (a)  Showmen’s permanent quarters north of Lodge Lane, Park Farm Road, Upminster

            (b)  Equestrian centre at Meadow Rise Farm, St. Mary’s Lane, Cranham, Upminster

            (c)  87 houses at Green Court Road/Godsel Road, Swanley

             (d)  Residential/Travellers sites at Merry Lees, Billet Hill, Ash, Sevenoaks; at 48 Green Court Road, Crockenhill, Sevenoaks; and at Hill Top Farm, London Road, Farningham, Dartford.

 

 

Item 397  Other matters raised by members

 

Mrs Stainer said that the Green Belt in the area between Hedgerley, Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross is under severe pressure from development, A large Motorway Service Station is under construction adjacent to Junction 2 of the M40 and a new Search and Rescue Centre is planned nearby.  In addition, not far away, the MoD is likely to dispose of their site at Wilton Park which will then be developed.  In Gerrards Cross, at Wapseys Wood, a large Energy from Waste Incinerator is being proposed by the County Council and now there is a new threat of gravel extraction in an area of attractive landscape at Slade Farm, Hedgerley.  The Chairman invited her to contact him if the Parish Council considered that there was anything LGBC could do.

 

THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING   The next meeting will be on Wednesday 6th February 2008.     28th May was earmarked for the following meeting.