March 2025

ST HILARY PARISH COUNCIL Meeting Friday  7^th March 2025

ATTENDANCE,

Cllrs  D Reed, (Chairman) G Ford, (V/Chairman), P Behrens, J Howells, W  Searle, T Thomas, L Vardy, M West.

APOLOGIES

Cllr M Ryan

C/CLLR MARTINS REPORT

St Aubyns Estate Solar Farm Consultation- 18^th March from 2pm to 7pm at St Pirans Hall.

Shortage of construction  workers reported at the Economic Growth and Development Overview and Scrutiny meeting. As a response CC is initiating an increase in apprenticeships-collaboration with local Colleges and the Construction industry.

Alterative budget proposed by Lib Dems-Some of their points were absorbed  into the main Budget So there was only one version of the budget tabled, It was approved by a slender majority ,Council tax set at4.99%,  1.3billion debt critical next year, The budget will have to be balanced, Likely more cuts and redundancies.

Purdah begins Friday 14^th March.

Andrew George Surgery is being organised either at Marazion Community Centre or Church Hall.

Long Rock Beach application has been withdrawn

A30 meeting with National Highways and Andrew George 2pm 21^st March at Murley Hall, Ludgvan.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Nothing Raised

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Nothing Raised

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

It was proposed by Cllr Howells and seconded by Cllr Searle that the Chairman sign the minutes circulated prior to this meeting as being a correct record of that meeting,  All Councillors Agreed

CHAIRMANS  REPORT

Nothing to Report

PLANNING.

The Clerk reported that the application PA24/ 06806         Badcock has been recommended for approval by Cornwall Council and the Parish Council has been given 3 options to reply, After a discussion it was decided to go to option 3 and take it to committee.

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN UPDATE

Further to the update in the February meeting report I have contacted the NDP Team at Cornwall Council for a view on how on how our plan is affected.  There was an indication that possibly 13 NDPs less than five years old might still have valid housing policies provided they can show that they have specific land allocations enabling them to meet the increased targets.  However, they now say that it may be a smaller number than 13 and that St Hilary NDP will definitely not qualify as it has very tightly drawn development boundaries.  Until Cornwall Council can update its local plan to accommodate the increase in housing targets from 2,707 to 4,421 per annum its housing supply policies will be out of date and carry little to no weight in planning decisions which will now have to be based on the National Planning Policy Framework.  That St Hilary has already exceeded its completions target for the whole planning period by a greater amount than the increase required for Cornwall is not deemed sufficient.

For now, although our development boundaries will have little to no weight there are still protections in place regarding building in the open countryside and the development boundaries are useful in indicating where this begins.  However, whereas they had considerable weight in blocking any open market development outside the boundary it will now be more acceptable for open market development to occur just outside the boundary provided it can be shown not to extend into the open countryside.  As the development boundary from 12^th December 2024 no longer provides a legal definition of where the open countryside begins this will give rise to interpretation, uncertainty and disagreement.

Further protections for heritage assets including the WHS and the CNL will still be in place as will all the other policies in our NDP just as they will in the CLP.  So, for our NDP this will cover landscape including green open spaces, environment, heritage, climate change, local facilities, transport and the economy.

CIL PAYMENTS

After a discussion it was decided to purchase a public bench to be sited next to the telephone box  near the School.

Also to get a quote for the installation of a new path around the Open Graveyard, And to look into getting a more upto date version of the Marazion Memories videos.

REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION

CLLR VARDY              Nothing to report

CLLR  W SEARLE      Nothing to Report

CLLR THOMAS           Nothing to Report.

CLLR  FORD                 Nothing to Report

CLLR  HOWELLS    Concerned about the state of Gorse bushes in the area some seem to be in a bad way.

CLLR  BEHRENS   Alerted Cllrs about the proposed Solar Farm and that we should all make an effort to attend the presentation at St Pirans Hall, Clerk to notify all Councillors two days before the event.

CLLR  WEST  Reported that she has made a map of all the paths that might be affected by the proposed Solar Farm,

CLLR REED   Asked if there has been any progress concerning the site at Halamanning, C/Cllr Martin said he will follow this up and report back to the Clerk.

The Chairman then closed the meeting at  20.08.

February 2025

ST HILARY PARISH COUNCIL Meeting Friday 7^th |February 2025

ATTENDANCE

Cllrs  D Reed, (Chairman) G Ford, (V/Chairman), P Behrens, J Howells,  P Rule, M Ryan, W Searle, T Thomas, L Vardy, .

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Cllr M West

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

Mrs K Finch,  Mrs J Craven, C Healy

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME,

Mrs finch stated that there is a ongoing problem at Halamanning with abandoned cars and other rubbish strewn across the By way there are Health & Safety issues that have been reported to several Cornwall Council departments who it seems are not at all interested, Action needs to be taken before someone gets hurt, After a full discussion it was decided that we Should contact Cornwall Counci again demanding that a clean up is started as soon as possible, And we should also inform our County Cllr J Martin of the situation.

C/CLLR MARTINS REPORT .

Cllr Martin stated that Cornwall Council have published this interim “Policy Position Statement” to insure the continued delivery of new housing by providing a clear  and consistent approach  to assessing  and making decisions  on development proposals  during a period where the presumption in favour of sustainable development will apply to Cornwall.

We want to ensure that new homes are delivered  in the right places ,and at an appropriate scale, to help meet Cornwalls  housing needs  whilst we are  preparing  a new local plan ..               We are using this statement to identify  how to create  sustainable new housing ,This means using the vision and principles of both our existing  local plan and emerging new local plan to inform how schemes are designed  and determined.

Perranuthnoe PC are meeting  with St Aubyns Estate to discuss viable housing land (Apparently there is a potential plot for 40 houses) , They dont have a good track record of building affordable housing.  There should be no need to change  the St Hilary NDP . But the authorities are still asking for a further contribution to housing land,.                                                                           At the West Penwith planning committee meeting on Monday all three  applications were voted against the officers recommendations.                                                                                                      At County hall  there has been another Conservative member defection which means that they no longer  hold the majority, Therefore for the next 12 weeks before the election there will be some confusion , The liberal Democrats will have to find 3 extra representatives on committees similarly for the Independants.                                                                                                              

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Nothing Raised

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

It was proposed by Cllr W  Searle and seconded by Cllr G Ford that the Chairman sign the minutes circulated prior to this meeting as being a correct record of that meeting All Agreed

CHAIRMANS REPORT

Bus stop sign at Relubbus it was reported that Cornwall Highways have turned down our request for a bus stop on the road, Stating lack of finance.

PLANNING

PA25/08745, Mr Allen.

After along and detailed discussion it was proposed and seconded and resolved that the Parish Council recommend refusal by seven votes to two votes.

PA25/00535,  Mr P Else

This application was discussed in full and it was then proposed by Cllr Ryan and seconded by Cllr W Searle that the Parish Council recommend refusal of this application, This was resolved by a unanimous vote in favour of the motion.

NEIGHNOURHOOD  PLAN UPDATE. 25

Cllr Ryan reported that owing to the revised housing targets set by the government the housing target policies in the Cornwall Local Plan and Neighbourhood Development Plans “Made” more than five years before the latest NPPF was introduced on 12/12/1924 are now deemed to be out of date.  Where neighbourhood plans have been in place for less than five years their housing policies will continue to apply provided they contain policies that seek to identify and address housing need that is greater than the minimum targets set in the CLP Strategic Policies 2016 and where the plan has policies and/or site allocations that seek to address that need.  Our Parish has considerably exceeded its housing targets, but our NDP has fairly tightly drawn development boundaries and no specific site allocations given the rural and semi-rural nature of the parish and the small size of the existing settlements.  The priority of affordable social rented housing is supported through rural exception sites while the lower priority of open market housing is supported through limited opportunities for infill and rounding off.  Large-scale housing developments are not supported as they would be out of character with the nature of the Parish.  The NDP team have stated that they have identified only 13 NDPs that meet the new criteria but have not yet published their identity so we do not know yet if we are one of them.

The NDP team is advising parishes not to update their plans before the new Cornwall Local Plan, which is set to be produced in early 2026, is significantly advanced given the uncertainty about how housing numbers will be allocated in the future.  This will also allow more certainty about the continued role of NDPs.  In the meantime, all towns and parishes are encouraged to produce a Neighbourhood Priorities Statement so that their community priorities can be recorded for use now and also reflected in the policy approach of the new CLP which will have to take them into account.  They do not contain planning policies or allocations, but they will set out the ambitions and priorities of communities in terms of the need for infrastructure, the design and location of new housing and the places that are best for new homes and jobs.   Currently, 10 parishes are part of a pilot scheme to trial a NPS in their area.  The process is much simpler and shorter than producing a NDP with an anticipated timescale of six months.  Once the results of the pilot are available new advice and a template will be available for all parishes and towns to make their statement in a consistent way that will tell Cornwall Council how growth and change, infrastructure and investment can improve their areas over the longer- term.

Finally, policies in both the CLP and all NDPs relating to non-housing target matters such as the environment, landscape, heritage, transport and local facilities, housing design and rural housing controls will still carry weight alongside the corresponding provisions of the NPPF.  Therefore, the vast portion of our NDP is still in force.

CIL MONEY,

Several ideas were put forward on how to spend the CIL money including the provision of a bus shelter at Relubbus an a revamp of the memorial garden and Institute.

MARAZION TC LETTER

After a discussion it was proposed by Cllr Howells and seconded by Cllr Behrens that we support Marazion Town Councils vote of no confidence in Cornwall Councils Planning and enforcement departments, a vote was taken and the motion passed by eight votes to one vote.

STANDING ORDERS REVIEW

After a detailed review of the standing orders it was proposed by Cllr Howells and seconded by Cllr Howells and seconded by Cllr Ryan that we abide by CALC standing orders and that all proposers and seconders be recorded in the minutes, A vote was taken and the motion was passed by eight votes to none with one abstention.

REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION

Cllr Thomas,                    Nothing to report

Cllr Rule                             Nothing to report

Cllr  Ford                             Nothing to report

Cllr  Howells    Reported that Tye lane at Rosudgeon and the Parish Council should be aware of some issues at the site, It was decided that the Parish Council should keep this item under review.

Cllr W Searle                       Nothing to report

Cllr  Vardy  Asked if anything can be done about the recycling lorries that are leaving rubbish strewn across the roads and lanes within our parish,

Cllr Behrens                           Nothing to report

Cllr Ryan   Stated that he was of the opinion that the 20mph limit within the parish was has actually lowered the speed of traffic has worked in other areas.

Cllr Reed                                   Nothing to report

The Chairman then closed the meeting at  21.05

January 2025

ST HILARY PARISH COUNCIL Meeting Friday 3^rd January 2025

ATTENDANCE

Cllrs  D Reed, (Chairman),  P Behrens, J Howells, P Rule, W Searle, T Thomas, L Vardy, M West,

APOLOGIES

Cllrs  Ford,  M Ryan.

C/Cllr MARTIN REPORT

I have received a response from Cllr Ollie Monk concerning the letter from Marazion Town Councils call for “no confidence” in the planning and Enforcement departments at Cornwall Council. I have asked for confirmation that this response can be made public.If so i will forward the statement to the clerk,

I will be expressing concern over the new government  proposals for planning  and the likelihood that  Towns and Parishes may have to adjust their Neighbourhood Development Plans accordingly, We will be debating this next week.

The decision to transfer the running of some of the Councils car parks to a private company is concerning. We will be discussing this at the Economic, Growth and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee next week.  Senior officers say that there is a clear rationale for this ,as Local Authorities cannot legally use ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras. We heard this morning that several Local Authorities  ARE. So i will be calling for a delay in this policy action until this is clarified.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Nothing Raised

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Nothing Raised

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

It was proposed by Cllr Vardy and seconded by Cllr Rule that the Chairman sign the minutes circulated prior to this meeting as being a correct record of that meeting, All Councillors Agreed

CHAIRMANS REPORT

Cllr Reed said that he had received a complaint from a member of the public concerning the security lights at the School and that one of the lights was shining up the Church road and was dazzling drivers, The Clerk was asked to contact the School. The Chairman also asked about copies of the  finished Neighbourhood plan  It was understood that there were a dozen copies of the plan that have gone astray, There is a need to follow this up.                                        A member of the Parish has asked about allotments within the Parish, reply was that there allotments along the Avenue.

PLANNING

PA24/09231,     After a detailed discussion it was resolved that the Parish Council has no objections to this application, But would like to see a 106 restriction put in place.

PA24/09369,   After a long and detailed discussion it was decided unanimously to recommend refusal of this application on various grounds

CIL MONEY    It was decided to forward this to the next meeting

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Not Available.

SOCIAL HOUSING

Cllr Howells explained about the need for more affordable hosing in the area after a discussion it was decided to ask  Sarah Hodges for more information and if needed carry out a survey of the Parish looking for possible sites that could accomodate some affordable houses.

REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION

Cllr  RULE           Nothing to report

Cllr  WEST             Asked about the footpath that runs through Friendship woods and who is responsible, The Clerk to contact the land owners.

Cllr  W SEARLE                   Nothing to report

Cllr  HOWELLS    Said that the recent Church service at Christmas was wonderful.

Cllr  THOMAS                        Nothing to report

Cllr VARDY                              Nothing to report

Cllr REED                                 Nothing to report

The Chairman then closed the meeting at20.35