Effingham Parish Council S106 draft Minutes

Berkeley Homes/Howard of Effingham Joint Venture
S106 Working Group Meeting

10.00pm, Thursday 8 January 2015,
Parish Room, 3 Home Barn Court,

The Street, Effingham KT24 5LG

 

Attendees

Cllr Pindar – Chair, Effingham Parish Council (EPC)
C.Dick – Effingham Residents’ Association (EFFRA)
Philip Davies – Local resident
Perry Stock – Local resident
A.McPhillips – Berkeley Homes (BH)
David Gilchrist – Berkeley Homes (BH)
C.Ritchie – Parish Clerk (EPC)

Apologies
A.Lightfoot – Effingham Parish Council (EPC)

Introduction
Cllr Pindar (EPC), as Chair opened the meeting. The aims are of the S106 Working Group meeting are to liaise and discuss proposals regarding possible Section 106 contributions if proposed planning application for the Howard of Effingham School joint venture is approved

All discussions are held Without Prejudice which means that all discussions taking place in the liaison group meetings are considered separate from any EPC assessment of future planning applications and have no impact on the decision of EPC regarding an application. This also applies to EFFRA.

Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes were agreed. Clerk to resend minutes to D.Gilchrist (BH)​​CR

Proposal Update
A.McPhillips (BH) advised that the planning application submission has taken place and that there have been meetings with Guildford BC for discussions. Guildford BC are using external technical consultants to assess the full range of technical documentation and it is expected reports on these will be with Guildford BC by the end of January. There have been three objections from statutory bodies to date; Natural England, English Heritage and Sport England. It was confirmed that there are no current plans or details on a possible move of St Lawrence Primary School to the proposed new campus.
It was also confirmed that the cost of the new build for the HoE school will be £30M and that the gap between the original proposed enabling development funding of £25M would be made through a reduced Affordable Housing requirement.

Section 106 Proposals
P.Davies, local resident, introduced the discussion with being the aim of reaching an accommodation on community improvements contributions.
D.Gilchrist (BH) circulated a summary sheet of proposed S106 contributions as are currently submitted and in discussion with Guildford BC. The summary proposes £300K for community improvements under the Non-Ring Fenced Contributions section. He advised that there was likely to be some flexibility in the allocation of other funding in this section (£991K total) which could be discussed with Guildford BC if, for example there was a wish for it to be allocated to one large project such as KGV Hall.

P.Davies, local resident, advised that it was felt that the contribution figures proposed were low due to the use of national viability assessment levels and requested that consideration be given to the likely exceptional profit margins generated due to the proposed development’s location, size and housing profile. It had been estimated that the land value is £32M-35M and therefore Non-Ring Fenced Contributions of £2M-2.5M were feasible and fair. It was felt that an increased community improvement contribution should be considered to mitigate against the community impact. A.McPhillips (BH) asked whether this would remove the submission of objections to the planning application from EPC and EFFRA. The clerk advised that all meeting discussions were Without Prejudice and it was confirmed that objections, therefore, would be submitted as agreed in public meetings.

A.McPhillips (BH) agreed to reflect on the discussions but also advised that Berkeley Homes use national assessment levels and would be unlikely to change these proposals and would await further discussions with Guildford BC if required.

P.Davies, local resident, advised that the S106 Working Group members would be likely to commission and submit their own viability assessment for consideration by Guildford BC.

MVDC Land
P.Stock, local resident asked for confirmation that the development site land that is within Mole Valley DC boundaries, will be protected from development as previously discussed at the Liaison Group meetings due to its importance and impact on the green gap between the village and Bookham and on historic setting and buildings. A.McPhillips advised that currently there are no plans for using this land but this would remain under review and subject to discussions with HoE.

Community Sports Pitches
P.Stock, local resident, asked whether a licence on any new sports fields for HoE had been considered to ensure the longevity of proposed community use. D.Gilchrist (BH) advise that this should be a discussion with HoE as the new school will be freehold and owned by the school as an academy.

C.Ritchie
Effingham Liaison Meeting 8.1.15
9.1.15