Alresford Town Council News

New Alresford Town Council

New Play Area at Stratton Bates

Exciting news at Stratton Bates Recreation Ground! Work is well

underway with the construction of a brand-new play area. The new play area is funded by the town residents via the council with

contributions from, Alresford PIGS, Rotary and Alresford Youth Association for which we are

grateful. Subject to the contractors being on schedule, the playground will be officially opened by Alresford children on Thursday 21 July, at 2pm in time for the summer school holidays. Keep an eye on the New Alresford Town Council website and Facebook page for updates.

New Alresford Neighbourhood Plan

On 28th April 2022, a Community Engagement event took place for the Neighbourhood Plan. This is an interesting, ongoing project for New Alresford and the conclusions of the event

can be read in full on the New Alresford Town council website – events provide the public with an overview of the Neighbourhood Plan process and how they can get involved. The Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Group is now formed and progressing the Plan and can be contacted via the mailbox NPAG@newalresfordtc.gov.uk Please visit the Neighbourhood Plan page on our website for further updates.

Thursday Market

Cars parked on Broad Street prevent the popular Thursday market from setting up properly. Please can we kindly request that you do not obstruct the stall holders setting up on Thursday mornings.

Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

On Saturday 4th June, many Alresford residents joined friends and family to enjoy the sunshine at the Picnic in the park organised by the “Coordinating Alresford” – Town Council, Rotary, The PIGS, New Leaf, Chamber of Commerce and Churches Together to celebrate the Jubilee. Activities included best dressed

wheelbarrow, photo and best crown competitions, music, refreshments, and entertainment were enjoyed by all. Hardy fans stayed to dance the night away watching the concert from Buckingham Palace with Diana Ross and others on the big screen. A big thank you to all those that assisted with the event and helped to make it an enjoyable day out. Also, to all the Alresford knitters and the Sip and Stich group who together knitted the four Union Jack flags that were on display at the event

Antisocial Behaviour

Unfortunately, our parks are suffering from antisocial behaviour, many complaints received regarding loud foul language, broken glass on the grass and in the football stands at Arlebury Park, loud music, litter and drug use, sadly we have lost another tree that was pulled out of the ground. The matter has been reported to the police and the Winchester Rural Team

visit regularly. If you witness any antisocial behaviour, please report to the police immediately.

Grants

We award grants to local groups and charities serving our community every quarter. If you would like to be considered, please submit your application by Tuesday 5 July 2022. Applications will be considered at the next

Town Council meeting on 26 July 2022. Please visit our website for more details. We look forward to

hearing from you.

Call us: 01962 732079 E-mail us: townclerk@ newalresford-tc.gov.uk New Alresford Town Council

Alresford Recreation Centre, The Avenue, SO24 9EP

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Winchester Councillors Report

Planning Enforcement If there is one aspect of planning that causes raised hackles it must surely be enforcement. The planning law on enforcement is extensive, so this has to be a brief gallop through the complexities. Enforcement happens when either a development has taken place with no permission, or one of the conditions attached to permission has been breached. Breaches of Planning Law can be either ‘operational development’ (some sort of building work) or a change of use of a portion of land. This is not intended to be a list of excuses for the failings of enforcement, but rather to explain the complexities of the enforcement process and the limits within which the WCC team works. There is a great deal of information on the Council Website, including links on reporting a breach of planning.

Resources Local Authorities work under tight financial restrictions, a situation that is not going to improve for some years. Last year several new permanent members were recruited to the enforcement team, and they were in a position to work more efficiently and make inroads into the backlog of cases. Anybody who has been involved with a court case knows the huge costs, delays and uncertainties involved. Going to court is a last resort, with negotiation a more pragmatic solution.

Permitted Development Rights Planning permission is not required for some developments and changes of use. The law on ‘use classes’ have been modified. Some uses do not require planning permission. The situation is not easy to negotiate through.

Time Limits There is a time limit for breaches, after which enforcement lapses: Generally, 10 years, but 4 years in the case of single dwellings. An exception to this is deliberate concealment.

Enforcement Notice Once an enforcement notice has been served, possible with a stop notice attached, the applicant has various options, to comply with a planning condition or negotiate a change or apply for planning permission. They can of course go to appeal and put the matter before the HM Inspectorate HMI). This is a frequent outcome, for planning refusals as well as breaches.

Appeal Process There are currently considerable delays for the HMI to deal with planning cases. Delays of 18 months are not uncommon. Needless to say, full use is made of these delays by some applicants.

Retrospective applications Retrospective applications for developments or changes of use submitted after the event are extremely irritating to all. Such applications invariable irritate planning committees as much or more so than the general public. There is a feeling that people are ‘getting away with it’ Such applications are perfectly legal and have to be judged in exactly the same manner as any other. In some cases it is necessary for building projects to be amended once the final design and even construction have started, to adapt the example to unknown site conditions. Retrospective applications allow for corrections instead of having to re-start the process. Retrospective applications also allow for inadvertent but quite innocent breaches to be corrected. The last Planning white paper proposed to remove this sort of application, but this was dropped for lack of workable alternatives.

Gypsy and Traveller Sites Another contender for extreme irritation must be Gypsy and Traveller Sites. The lack of sites, both permanent and transit, has to be taken into account in planning decisions. The Local Plan has to provide for a suitable number of pitches, by no means an easy task.

Multiple Agencies On some problem sites, several agencies may be involved such as the HCC, the Environment Agency and the Police. This makes sorting the problem very considerably more complicated.

Injunctions Although injunctions are suggested as a panacea for various planning ills, courts require strict standards of proof. These are very much a last resort.

Working within the Law Needless to say, WCC has to work strictly within the law. There is no doubt that some have a more relaxed approach and not a few know how to play the system, string out the process and make it as complex and as slow as possible.

Enforcement Priorities Clearly, not all breaches of planning law are equally seriously, hence they are dived into three priorities.

Priority 1: a site visit should take place within 1 working day. Typical cases include work on TPO trees, listed buildings and ancient monuments. Etc.

Priority 2: a site visit within 10 working days. Typical cases commencing work with discharge on conditions, actions likely to cause planning harm.

Priority 3: site visit within 15 working days. Cases might include satellite dishes, outbuildings, walls and fences. See the WCC website for an extended list.

Margot Power

Russell Gordon -Smith

Margot Power 01962 734167 Russell Gordon -Smith 01962 733219