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Dunsfold Parish Council

The Parish Council is an elected body responsible for maintenance and other matters in the Parish of Dunsfold. In particular it works in conjunction with The Friends of Dunsfold Common (a Registered Charity) as a Commons Committee to arrange the maintenance of the Common and to report problems to the appropriate local authority. The Council has a right to comment on planning applications submitted for approval to Waverley Borough Council relating to properties within the Parish. It meets six times a year in the Nugent Room at the Winn Hall and meetings are usually on a Monday starting at 7.30pm. The May meeting in the Winn Hall is the Annual Parish Assembly and AGM at which the officers for the year are elected. The Council schedules a planning meeting in between the bi-monthly meetings in case consideration is required on planning matters during the two month gap. The Council is also Trustee owner of King George V Playing Field which is administered on its behalf by the KGV Management Committee.

Notices of meetings are placed on the Parish Notice Board outside the hall, and members of the public are welcome to attend. Time is set aside at each meeting to receive questions from the General Public, generally at about 8.30pm.

The Council is funded by a Precept received from Waverley Borough Council as part of the Council Tax. It provides support to Parish projects of common interest to the community.

The Clerk to the Council is Lynne Enticknap, who has day to day responsibility for the administration of its affairs. Letters and queries should be addressed to her at Sethern, Rams Lane, Dunsfold, GU8 4NR; telephone 01483 200532.

The Council members are elected for a four year period (last elected in May 2007) in accordance with Local Government procedures. The current members are:

Alan Ground (Chairman)
Barrie Pople (Vice-Chairman)
Roy Enticknap
Martin Gardiner
Stephen Hayward
Professor Christopher Marks
Joanna Burt

AUGUST 2007 DUNSFOLD PARISH COUNCIL REPORT

The Council has met twice during the summer in the Nugent Room on 16th July and 13th August. The following are the principal matters to report.

LISTING OF SCHOOL BUILDING

English Heritage has informed the Parish Council that its application for listing of the Dunsfold School Building has been accepted by the Secretary of State (for Culture, Media and Sport). The listing of the building at Grade II has therefore already taken effect.

The summary of reasons given by English Heritage in a detailed report is:-

"Dunsfold School is an 1839 Tudor Style, brick National School built at the expense of a local benefactress. It is symmetrical in composition with central two storey and attic schoolmaster's house flanked by single storey classrooms for boys and girls. The exterior is substantially intact and there is a good survival of interior features, especially to the school house. Despite the addition of an early C20 wing of lesser interest to the rear, this is a substantially intact and unusually elaborate example of a pre-1840 National School, and is therefore of sufficient interest, in a national context, to merit listing".

It is to be hoped that this listing will help this important but neglected village building to be restored to its former glory in its setting in the common Conservation Area and also restored to a village community use. We are grateful to Stephen Hayward for his excellent photo-shoot of the building which greatly helped the application.

The Secretary of State for Education's decision on the application of the Diocese, opposed by the Parish Council and 75 villagers, for an order which will enable it to sell the School part of the building free of its trust educational use, is still awaited.

DUNSFOLD PARK PLANNING MATTERS

Permission has been refused by Waverley for the five duplicate planning applications by which Dunsfold Park sought permission for a wide range of temporary uses of the site up to 2018. The uses sought had included motoring events, filming by road vehicles and aircraft, concerts, including 'pop' concerts, festivals, markets, and outdoor storage up to a height of 5 metres on the southern runways. The Parish Council had objected to the applications on the grounds that individually and in aggregate the activities were excessive in frequency, duration (mostly without limit up to 11pm each day) and length of the temporary period sought.

POST OFFICE CLOSURE AREA PLAN FOR SURREY

Following the Government's Consultation exercise on this subject at the beginning of this year, to which the Parish Council and Tony Bowden made submissions, the Area Plan for Surrey will be published in January 2008 followed by a six week consultation on the proposed post office closures for this area. That publication will follow a period of review and analysis this autumn. We shall be attending a meeting of the Town and Parish Councils at Waverley on September 12th at which a further update on this matter will be provided.

BRITISH LEGION SITE DEVELOPMENT

Permission was granted to English Rural Housing Association by Waverley on 8th August for the demolition of the Royal British Legion Club building and the erection of 4 private dwellings and 7 affordable dwellings with associated access and car parking . It is accepted that on completion the existing jointly used car park will be transferred to the Winn Hall Trustees for the sole use of Winn Hall users. The report noted the genuine need for affordable housing in Dunsfold as shown by the Housing Needs Survey carried out by ERHA in partnership with the Parish Council and the number with Dunsfold connection on Waverley's Housing Needs Register

NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING: Monday 17th September at 7.30 pm in the Nugent Room. All welcome.

Alan Ground 15th August 2007

DUNSFOLD PARISH COUNCIL Meeting - Winn Hall Nugent Room - 17th September 2007

Note of principal points - not minutes

PRESENT: Parish Councillors: Mr Alan Ground (Chairman), Mr Barrie Pople (Vice Chairman), Mrs Joanna Burt, Mr Roy Enticknap, Professor Chris Marks, Mrs Lynne Enticknap (Clerk to the Council).
Other members of the Commons Committee: Mr Wynn Pearson, Mr Mence Wilkinson.
Mr David Inman, and Mr Simon Inchbald (Waverley Councillors).
Parishioners and Beatrice Philpott (Surrey Advertiser)
Apologies for absence: Mr Stephen Hayward, Mr Martin Gardiner (Councillors), Mr Alastair Bentall, and Mr John Hedger (Members of the Commons Committee).

COMMONS COMMITTEE

Dunsfold Bonfire - 5th November
Mr James Reynolds reported plans for the village bonfire on Monday 5th November, and these were approved subject to Waverley approval. It is hoped that the bonfire will be well supported as usual. The intention is to apply the net proceeds principally to village causes to be agreed. Thanks were expressed to Mr Reynolds for organising this village event again.

Village Car Park
The clearing up and repair of the village car park had been completed and thanks were expressed to Roy and Seth Enticknap for their work.

Horses on footpath
Previous appeals to horse riders not to ride on the footpath between Goose Green and Grattons Corner/Shoppe Hill had not been complied with. Once again riders are asked to stop this practice.

Pond maintenance - Wrotham Hill and Gratton Corner ponds
The commissioning of the maintenance and clearing work required on these ponds and the immediate areas was agreed and will be carried out as soon as possible.

PARISH COUNCIL

South East England Plan (SEP) - Inspectors' Report
Dunsfold Park new settlement proposals
The Report concluded that Dunsfold Park's proposal for a new settlement on the Aerodrome would be unsustainable due to its location and accessibility. They said: "In our view the proposal for about 2,500 dwellings and 2,000 jobs at Dunsfold Park would seriously unbalance the regional strategy and it would be likely to remain unsustainable. The area is relatively remote from service centres, public transport accessibility and the local road network would not be capable of being improved to an appropriate level, and it would be difficult to secure the level of self-containment that might overcome these disadvantages. Accordingly, we would not recommend the scale of development proposed at this location."
Waverley Housing Provision in the SEP
The Inspectors' Report said there was very limited potential for the borough to contribute more over the next 20 years but there would be scope for a small increase of 400 dwellings (20dwellings per annum).
The Secretary of State will publish any proposed changes in the SEP towards the end of the year and, after a 12 week public consultation, expects to publish the final SEP in Autumn 2008. This will set the framework for Waverley's production of draft Core Policies to replace the current Local Plan.

Dunsfold Aerodrome: The Wings & Wheels event August 26th
The organisation of this event (supported by the Parish Council) unfortunately produced unacceptable traffic consequences for the village and the local area. The Clerk was collecting information and the matter will be taken up with the organizers, Police and Highways to see what lessons can be learned.

Post Office Closure Area Plan for Surrey
Surrey, West Sussex and parts of Berkshire are all included in the "area" for the Post Office Local Area plan which is now to be produced for consultation in the new year. It will be a general proposal not dealing with individual offices. The distance criteria for closure (eg 95% of people to have a post office within 3 miles) have been changed from being area criteria to national criteria, clearly a detrimental change.
Waverley is in touch with the villages and the Post Office about the subject and will host a consultation meeting with the Post Office on the local area plan in due course.

Boundary Commission changes for Parliamentary Constituencies
Bramley/Hascombe will be placed in South West Surrey, in which Dunsfold remains, and Alfold/Cranleigh will be in Guildford.

NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING: Monday 12th November at 7.30 pm in the Nugent Room. All welcome.
Alan Ground
20th September 2007

DUNSFOLD PARISH COUNCIL REPORT dated 13 December 2007

NOTE OF PRINCIPAL POINTS FROM RECENT MEETINGS

This note is being written on 13th December to meet the printing deadline for the January Magazine. The Parish Council has met three times over the past few weeks and has attended meetings in the Waverley Council Chamber on the Dunsfold Park Development Control Forum (November 7th), the meeting of Waverley Parish and Town Councils (3rd December), and a meeting at Dunsfold Park on 8th November where a presentation was made to us and the chairman of Alfold Parish Council on Dunsfold Park's new settlement proposals. The following is a summary of the principal matters additional to the routine business.

DUNSFOLD PARK

Dunsfold Park have stated that they intend before Christmas to put in a planning application for a new settlement of 2,600 dwellings, and an increase in the business park whose numbers will grow from the current 700 persons to 2,000. Their presentation to the Waverley Development Control Forum was essentially the same as that made about the proposals to the September 2006 Forum. The only significant addition was that in October 2007 they had submitted an Eco-Town bid for the proposed new settlement to the Government.

The following points about this are uncontroversial:-

1. The proposal will eventually be decided by a Public Inquiry. Since it is contrary to Local and other Planning policies it will not be approved without being "called in" for Public Inquiry by the Government. If it is refused by Waverley Dunsfold Park have said they will appeal, which will be decided at a Public Inquiry.

2. Dunsfold Park's Eco-Town bid does not satisfy the Government's Prospectus requirements for such a bid. Amongst other things those require a settlement of at least 5,000 dwellings. Dunsfold Park said it would oppose a settlement of that size.

3. Even if they did not, a new settlement proposal of 2,600 or more dwellings on this site would face great difficulty under the applicable planning criteria at local, county, regional and national level. An indication of the problems was contained in the conclusion of the Government appointed Inspectors considering the draft South East Plan. They had been asked by Dunsfold Park to consider the contribution Dunsfold Aerodrome could make to the housing requirements in this area. Their Report concluded that Dunsfold Park's proposal for a new settlement on the Aerodrome would be unsustainable due to its location and inaccessibility. They said:

"In our view the proposal for about 2,500 dwellings and 2,000 jobs at Dunsfold Park would seriously unbalance the regional strategy and it would be likely to remain unsustainable. The area is relatively remote from service centres, public transport accessibility and the local road network would not be capable of being improved to an appropriate level, and it would be difficult to secure the level of self-containment that might overcome these disadvantages. Accordingly, we would not recommend the scale of development proposed at this location."

If and when a planning application is submitted the Parish Council will consider it in public.

POST OFFICE CLOSURE PROGRAMME

The Post Office is required by the Government to close 2,500 post offices throughout the country under regulations which ultimately derive from European Union deregulation and State Aid policies, although you don't hear much about this origin from the Government. The Post Office is rolling out area plans for the 50 or so national areas indicating which Post Offices will be closed. The Plan for this Area is due to be published on January 29th 2008, following which there will be a six week public consultation period.

Waverley are providing general support and advice and have information and a questionnaire on their website which they would like residents to complete. However it is invidious and impossible for Waverley to get involved in supporting individual offices. The Parish Council have been discussing the position with Tony and Sue Bowden and will be in touch with those producing the Area Plan. Our Post Office is important for the village and the local area including Hascombe, and important to the viability of the shop. The village commitment to the shop and Post Office is a plus factor and is demonstrated by the Tripartite Agreement between Tony and Sue, the Parish Council and Waverley Borough Council which provides for the transfer of the retail premises to or to the order of the Parish Council in the event of a change of ownership. The Parish Council will be further in touch with the village about this subject in the new year.

SCHOOL BUILDING

The scandalous position about this buildings continues. Villagers will recall that at the request of the Diocese made last October, the Secretary of State for Education published in April a draft Order for consultation which would release the Diocese from the educational trust obligation imposed when they were given the building, and allow them to sell the building on the open market.

The Parish Council and some seventy five villagers submitted objections to the proposed Order in April on the grounds that it would be against the village interest in the property which should be retained for community, including educational and child based, use. The SOS office confirmed that all representations would be taken into account, sent to the Diocese and any comments relayed to villagers and the Parish Council.

In the ensuing seven months nothing further has been heard notwithstanding our subsequent contact. The Secretary of State has been informed of the listing of the building in August on the application of the Parish Council. At our request our MP has reiterated his request to the SOS of the need for a decision. Without it the status of the building is uncertain, the Charity Commission can do nothing until the SOS declines jurisdiction, and the building remains empty and at risk.

It was reported to the November Parish Council meeting, which was also attended by Canon Jenkins, that the Chairman and Vice Chairman had been told on 10th October about an approach the PCC had made to the Diocese in July. This was to put forward some PCC ideas for the building to become a Parish Centre, an approach reported by Canon Jenkins in the November Parish Magazine. The Diocesan response to the PCC, stated to be subject to obtaining the consent of the SOS through the Section 554 process, was to suggest to the PCC a 25 year full repairing and insuring lease at a premium of £112,500 with the renovation costs to be borne by the PCC, together with any amount Surrey County Council would require for the School House. Whilst welcoming the PCC wish, shared by the Parish Council, for a community use of the building, the Parish Council expressed the view that:

  • The terms proposed by the Diocese were unreasonable. At worst the school building should be valued on the basis of its trust and planning use as a community educational asset, its transfer value should be fixed by the District Valuer on the basis of an educational value less the considerable costs of repair to bring it into condition. Account also should be taken of the owners' liabilities for a listed building in need of repair. A 25 year lease was unacceptably short for the investment required.

  • In the present position the Parish Council would not be happy to discuss terms on the basis of a section 554 order which has not yet been made, might not be made, and which the Parish Council and a large number of villagers were opposing.

COMMONS MATTERS - PONDS

Further work has been carried out to the ponds including particularly the Grattons Corner pond, where trees and vegetation have been cut back behind the pond opening up the view to Hascombe Hill. The area from the pond and along Shoppe Hill, where grass mowings and garden rubbish had been dumped in front of the row of dead elm trees, has been cleared , the dead elms removed, and the ditch cleared out. The need for further work will be discussed including new planting and tidying up.

NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING: Monday 14th January 2008 at 7.30 pm in the Nugent Room. All welcome.

Alan Ground
Chairman, Dunsfold Parish Council
13th December 2007

The West Weald Landscape Project (" The Project")

The Parish Council has been contacted by the promoters of this Project and asked to bring it to the attention of villagers. The area covered by the Project (one-third of the total 240 km2 at the western end of the Low Weald being on the Surrey side of the county boundary) includes virtually the whole of the area of this village.

The Project is a partnership of government organisations, local authorities and voluntary bodies based at the Sussex Wildlife Trust, with funding also from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Chichester District Council. It seeks to promote the integrated management of a viable and enhanced landscape in the West Weald for people and nature, seeks to support local people to take action to conserve, enhance and enjoy their remarkable environment, and invites us all to work with them to achieve this goal.

The Project promoters say:-

  • That the area covered by the Project retains an almost intact medieval landscape, with its characteristic old hamlets, small fields, diverse hedgerows and wealth of ancient woodland. Such extensive ancient natural forest landscapes are now rare in lowland parts of the UK and Western Europe, and has a wildlife rich in rare species;

  • The West Weald environment still has low levels of air and light pollution away from the main roads and towns and usually good water quality in the rivers of the Lod, Kird and Loxwood Stream, all of which flow into the important River Arun;

  • Farming is essential to maintain and strengthen the rural character of a healthy countryside, with scope for landowners to manage land in environmentally sensitive ways, for which public grants are now widely available. The resulting environmental benefits are vital to face the challenges of climate change, demands on water resources, development pressures and continuing loss of biodiversity.

  • Summary copies of "The State of the West Weald's Natural Environment 2006", the result of wide-ranging research to uncover the natural assets, trends and environmental issues of our landscape, is a study available to download from the project website www.westweald.org.uk. Paper copies may alternatively be requested, by email to richhoworth@sussexwt.org.uk or phone 01273 497538.
I commend the Project to you. The Parish Council are also following up this approach from Rich Howorth of the Project.

Alan Ground,
Chairman, Dunsfold Parish Council 1 February 2008

 

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