Meeting documents

Venue: The Paralympic Room, Aylesbury Vale District Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF

Contact: Bill Ashton; Email: bashton@aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk; 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 52 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 January, 2020.

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes of 14 January, 2020 be approved as a correct record.

2.

Little Horwood Conservation Area pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Councillor Strachan

Cabinet Member for Planning and Enforcement

 

To consider the attached report.

 

Contact Officer:  Freya Morris (01296) 585126

Additional documents:

Minutes:

As part of an on-going programme, the Conservation Area at Little Horwood had been reviewed.  The Conservation Area had originally been designated in 1991.  The review had been the subject of public consultation.  A map showing the proposed revised Conservation Area boundary was submitted together with details of the representations received and the Council’s response. A copy of the Appraisal Document was submitted also.

 

By way of context, the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Area) Act 1990 defined a Conservation Area as…."an area of special architectural Interest, the character and appearance of which is desirable to preserve or enhance."  The Act placed three duties on local authorities:-

 

·         To designate those areas considered to be of special architectural or historic interest as Conservation Areas.

 

·         To review all Conservation Areas from time to time.

 

·         To formulate and publish proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the Conservation Areas.

 

The Conservation Area Document for Little Horwood:-

 

·         Defined the special interest of Little Horwood.

 

·         Identified those features which made Little Horwood of sufficient interest to warrant designation.

 

·         Laid out some settlement specific management proposals for the preservation and enhancement of the Conservation Area.

 

The proposed Conservation Area boundary at Little Horwood had been drawn to include those elements and features which were considered to be of architectural or historic interest, or which positively contributed to the special character or appearance of the area as a whole.

 

The Cabinet report, available to view in full on the Council’s web site indicated that some of the proposed changes to the Conservation Area boundary related to minor alterations where the existing boundary cut through properties.  In these cases, the proposed boundary had been altered to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding.  The most significant changes to the existing boundary were:-

 

·         The proposed inclusion of the Moated site, a description of which and rationale for inclusion of which were included in the Cabinet report.

 

·         Archaeological Notification sites to the south-east, east and north-east of the Moated site.

 

·         Hill Farm, Winslow Road and the immediate curtilage, including a small field to the rear of nos. 3, 5, 5A and 7 Church Street.

 

The report summarised the consultation process, from which it was noted that objections had been raised to the proposed inclusion of the scheduled Moated site, the proposed inclusion of the Garden of Peace, the proposed inclusion of the private paddocks to the west of Wood End, and the proposed inclusion of Hill Farm and the fields that backed onto the western side of Church Street.  The reasoning behind the objections was detailed in the Cabinet report.  A number of residents had also queried the role of Conservation Areas as they felt that AVDC did not enforce the legislation that accompanied designation.  However since publication of the report for consideration by Cabinet, the objections from the Parish Council had effectively been withdrawn in that the Parish Council had indicated that it would support the proposed changes.

 

The following site specific issues had been raised within the Little Horwood Conservation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Environmental Initiatives Update pdf icon PDF 23 KB

Councillor Irwin

Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure

 

To consider the attached report

 

Contact Officer:  Jonathan Sherlock (01296) 585291

Decision:

(a)          Decision(s)

 

That the content of the report be noted and the actions endorsed.

 

(b)          Reason(s) for Decision(s)

 

To facilitate the wishes of the Council to implement a range of environmental initiatives.

 

(c)          Alternative Options Considered

 

The report to Cabinet referred to the options considered by the cross party steering group.  The proposals outlined in the report are felt to make the best use of the funding available and would achieve the Council’s objectives.

 

(d)          Relevant Scrutiny Committee

 

Environment and Living.  That Committee received a similar report at its meeting on 10 March and endorsed the proposals.

 

(e)          Conflicts of Interest / Dispensation(s)

 

None.

Minutes:

Members recalled the Council’s decision to put a budget in place to enable AVDC to implement a number of environmental initiatives in response to climate change.  A cross party steering group had been established to oversee proposals and Cabinet received an update on the current position.  A similar report had been submitted to the Environment and Living Scrutiny Committee on 10 February, 2020.  That Committee had been supportive of all the initiatives considered thus far.

 

It was reported that the Steering Group had agreed that the initiatives should focus on five specific areas, namely, "community orchards", an Enterprise Day, Climate Change Champions and "who does what" information provision.

 

Initial research had indicated that there were a number of environmental projects across the Vale and that restricting funding to "community orchards" might minimise the legacy that the Council wished to create.  In order to maximise the benefit across the Vale it had been considered that an environmental fund should be created.

 

AVDC had reached agreement with the local charity "Heart of Bucks" to create an environmental fund, with the charity fund matching by 50%.  AVDC had committed £20,000, with £10,000 being committed by Heart of Bucks for community driven environmental projects within the Vale.  Grants could be applied for up to a value of £2,500.  Larger funds could be provided with appropriate fund matching by the applicant(s).  Heart of Bucks would administer the fund and oversee the funds allocated.  This would allow the scheme to function independently beyond the life of AVDC.

 

Two example projects were being considered and would be used to launch the fund to community groups within the Vale.  These would be selected by Councillors Irwin and Lyons as they were already actively involved with the scheme and activities within their communities.

 

The Steering Group believed that young people would play a significant role in reducing the environmental impact of schools and homes within the Vale.  As such, two local students had been included in a number of discussions regarding the initiatives.  To fully engage young people, an initiative had been agreed, in partnership with Heart of Bucks and Bucks County Council, to provide a schools grants scheme for environmental improvements within schools grounds or their surrounding areas.

 

It had been recognised at the original Steering Group meeting that businesses within the Vale needed to play a significant role in minimising their environmental impact if meaningful improvements were to be achieved. The agreed approach had been to host an "Enterprise Day" at The Gateway, inviting businesses that traded or operated in Aylesbury Vale to network with operators specialising in services to minimise any detrimental environmental impact.  This included AVDC, which provided food waste management services.  However after researching the costs of hosting such an event, it had been decided that this could not be achieved within the current budget.  Accordingly it had been decided to research events within the Vale that AVDC might partner with.

 

Contact had subsequently been made with Buckinghamshire Business First (BBF) who had recently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.