March 2022 and Clerks report on meeting with Mr A French
Addlethorpe Parish Council Meeting
Minutes of the meeting of Addlethorpe Parish Council held on 8 March 2022 at the small hall, St. Peters Hall, Ingoldmells at 1930 Hours
Councillors present: Chairman N. Towers (NT), Vice Chair Cllr. T. Smith (TS), Cllr B Short (BS), Cllr M. Holyer (MH), Cllr G. Escott (GE), Cllr. Malcolm Tait (MT) and Kerry Stafford Clerk.
Also present: 6 members of the public.
Public session
A member of the public requested an update on the St Nicholas/Rectory Lane footpath matter. The Chairman informed the meeting that the Council’s solicitors had still not received the documents but had been promised they would be delivered by hand by the end of the week. A member of Public informed the meeting that fencing was being put up across the land where the footpath runs again.
A member of the public asked about the meeting that had taken place between the developer Alan French and the Chairman NT with regard to the proposed 490 caravans. The public were updated by NT and given access to the Clerk’s report of the meeting attached to these minutes.
The clerk also read out a concern on behalf of a member of public who could not attend the meeting. The member of public had been visited by A French who was asked to leave the property but had not done so leaving that person feeling harassed. He had told her he would make a generous donation to the village. However, she informed the meeting she would not be bribed and hoped that the parish council would not be either.
Another member of public told the meeting that A French had been going around businesses in Addlethorpe and Ingoldmells trying to gain signatures in support of his proposals.
Another member of public expressed concern about the safety issues of the proposed and ongoing developments due to the lack of streetlighting and pavements with agricultural work taking place into the night.
Members of the public requested that A French attend a public meeting so that he could address the villagers’ concerns.
59. Chairman’s Welcome
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting at 2001 hours. The Chairman expressed his condolences, and on behalf of the Council, to Cllr G Escott for the loss of his wife.
60. Apologies for absence
All council members were present at the meeting.
61. Declarations of interest
BS declared an interest in agenda item 64(i).
62. Draft Minutes of the Ordinary meeting held 8 February 2022
It was resolved to accept the notes of the meeting to be a true record and they were signed by the Chairman.
63. St. Nicholas Close/ Rectory Lane Footpath
Cllr TS expressed concern at the length of time it was taking the solicitors to carry out the conveyance and the residents’ frustration at the lengthy delay. It was resolved that the Chair would ask for a face to face meeting with the solicitor acting on the Council’s behalf at the end of the week if there was no forward movement.
64. Planning
i. S/002/01844/21. Change of use of land for the siting of 490 no. static caravans. Mill Lane. NT informed the meeting that AF had called him to say he would be unable to make the meeting tonight as he was not well.
ii. S/002/00213/2. Change of use of land Poplar Farm Restaurant, Chapel Lane – NT informed the Council that this application and the one below had been withdrawn along with others in the surrounding areas. This was due to the Government minister’s ruling refusing 12 month occupation of sites in the flood risk areas.
iii. S/002/02231/17 Change of use of land Rear of Ormsby Lodge, Mill Road – application withdrawn
65. Reports from External Agencies
There were no reports from outside agencies
66. Clerk’s Report On Matters Outstanding
i. Meeting with Alan French regarding the amended planning application for the caravan site on Mill Road. The council accepted the clerk’s report of the meeting.
ii. Banking update. Lloyds bank had still not updated the correspondence address and updated the mandates. A third lot of forms to be completed which Cllr GE would take into the branch.
iii. Letter sent to ELDC Planning Dept as part of our consultation. The Council thanked Cllr MT and the clerk for putting the letter together.
67. Finance
i It was resolved to authorise
1. Clerks salary and expenses - £288.25
2. Materials payment to E Halliday - £65.45
3. The clerk informed the meeting the annual pay rise for clerks had just been agreed which needed to be backdated to last April and so may mean backpay was due to the previous clerk as well. It was resolved the clerk calculate what backpay was owed for the previous year for payment to be made out of this year’s budget.
ii It was resolved to agree the internal auditor and payment – Jen Cooper £40
iii It was resolved to minute the payment of cheque already made for £470 to E Halliday – laptop £418.99, external dvd writer and mouse £44.98. Refund of £6.03 received back. No VAT receipt so VAT not reclaimable
68. To confirm the date and format for the AGM and APM
The Council resolved to hold a short Annual Parish Meeting on the second Tuesday in May prior to the Annual General Meeting.
69. To confirm the dates for Parish Council Meetings for 2022/23 for publication
It was resolved to accept the dates for next year’s parish Council meetings for publication.
70. To discuss the public waste bins in the village
Cllr TS confirmed that the bins were now being emptied regularly. Cllr MH said that he could potentially get more bins from Ingoldmells Parish Council if required.
71. To receive and discuss an update on the Bus Shelter
Cllr MH confirmed that Ingoldmells Parish Council were facing a large repair bill for the replacement of the broken plastic panels in their bus shelters. It was resolved to obtain quotes for demolishing the existing bus shelter. Cllrs BH, MT and GH to obtain quotes from builders they know. The Clerk to contact the Hand Brothers for a quote.
72. To receive and discuss an update on plans for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and liaising with the PCC on organising the event
Cllr GE attended the PCC and confirmed the Church would like to work with the Council on putting an event together. It was resolved to form a Jubilee subcommittee to work with PCC members and any members of the public interested. Cllrs GE and MT were elected onto the sub committee to report back at the next meeting with their recommendations. The clerk to liaise with MT to chase up the delivery of the marquee. Cllr GE will liaise with the PCC and the interested member of the public to set up the working committee for the jubilee. Cllr GE will confirm what funds have been received from District Councillor C Davie towards the jubilee fund.
73. Agenda items for next meeting -To receive items for inclusion on the next meeting’s agenda.
• BS asked the Council consider holding next year’s meetings in the civic room of Ingoldmells parish Council offices. It was resolved the clerk would look at the costs of this for the next meeting.
• Update on the bus shelter quotes.
• A member of the public expressed an interest in becoming a Councillor to fill the final vacancy. He was asked to attend the next meeting so he could be co-opted if the Council resolved to do so.
74. To confirm time and date of next meeting
1945 hours. Tuesday 12 April 2022
Meeting closed at 21.15 hrs.
I certify these minutes to be a true record of the meeting held on 8 March 2022.
Signed: Date:
Clerks’s Report on a meeting held at the Chairman’s house on 18 February 2022 at 11.00 Hours
Present: Chairman Neville Towers (NT), Alan French (AF) with regard to the proposed development for 490 caravans at Mill Road in Addlethorpe and Kerry Stafford Parish Clerk.
I was contacted late on 17 February by NT who had received a phone call from Alan French (AF) asking to meet with him the next morning. NT had spoke to Colin Davie, who recommended I be present as well so NT was not on his own and the meeting could be noted. I explained to NT he could not make any decisions on behalf of Council on his own. We therefore agreed in advance that any information or requests AF had would be fed back to full Council so that any discussions or decision making was done in a public meeting in an open and accountable manner by full Council.
At the meeting we explained to AF that NT could not make any decisions on behalf of Council. It was suggested that AF either come along to the next Parish Council meeting or he could submit a statement and documents if he was unable to attend. Alternatively, or additionally, we could call an extraordinary public meeting if he wished to talk to Council and residents of Addlethorpe.
AF informed us that they were looking at offering an upmarket experience at the site. The planning application was now being amended to reflect this. It would be several days yet before the new plans, drawings and artists impressions were ready. When they were AF said he would like to meet with the Councillors and villagers to discuss the plans with them. AF said he had been meeting with individual villagers and said he had changed some of their minds on the amended application. However, he was willing to consider a public meeting if the residents were willing to attend with an open mind to the amended application.
AF said the plan is to build the homes on site in their own factory so they could avoid supply and delivery issues. It also allowed them to build higher lodges at 8’6” high which gave them a more open airy feel. The factory would then later become the club house. He stated they had had a factory in the area before for just two years and they had run 3 factories over in Florida in order to build their own mobile homes.
AF showed NT and KS some pictures of the proposed mobile homes in a pastel colour but said they would be in different colours such as slate grey. He referred to a holiday Park in Filey where they had already built similar homes which sold for £199,000. The homes are built under safety standard BS3652 which he estimated was about 85% of the building code. It was expected to build them at a speed of about 2 a week over a 5 year period but that could be speeded up if necessary.
AF said the amended plans would not reduce the number of mobile homes applied for by many but that they would be sited at 10 lodges per acre, whereas some sites in the area have 20 caravans per acre.
AF said he wants to find a way of making the site usable over 12 months of the year and discussed the potential flood risks posed by the site. AF said a possible solution for the future, but that was not in the amended application, was to build the homes up on stilts. AF showed us photos where they had done this in Florida where the homes were about 8 foot off the ground.
AF explained the amended plans have now totally redesigned the site to give it a village green feel. The artist’s impressions would be a few days yet but would show the site with a chocolate box feel. This would include a serpentine style lake. This would come out by Corner Farm and would be backed by a brick wall. The plans would include weeping willow trees to add to the natural feel of the site and help create a village green feel. This would be extended past Bowmans and carry on along the front of the four semi detatched houses. AF hoped that would enhance the value of those properties. The site perimeter would include a cycle track all around it. The factory would be smaller than first shown and would be located off to the side of the site in the amended application. AF referred to a site at Swanland near Cottingham which has a similar feel to it.
We asked whether these proposed facilities with walks around the lakes etc would be open to the villagers to use. AF stated that they were open to that but it would mean the Council had the maintenance of it in that instance.
AF said he was in discussion with Paul Kineness about his adjoining lands but that the land was committed and so it would not be available for the next 2-3 years.
AF discussed ways in which he felt the developers could help the residents of Addlethorpe. He discussed the concerns residents had about access to medical facilities and said they could perhaps include a clinic on site for two days a week for holidaymakers to ease the pressure off local services. He also discussed the potential for sponsoring the air ambulance service. AF said they would also like to make a generous donation directly to Addlethorpe by way of an initial lump sum of £50,000 and then an annual sum in the region of £20-25,000 for a minimum of 10 years. He also talked about the possibility of them purchasing houses at market value for residents who wanted to move out of the area to assist them with their move.
It was agreed AF would email the clerk confirming this meeting and send out any documents he would like the Councillors to see as part of the next parish Council meeting. The report from this meeting would be included on the agenda of the next parish council meeting on 8 March 2022. AF would confirm with the council when he would like to call a public meeting to meet residents and the council.