The PC holds a monthly meeting. As a result of social distancing, legislation has been passed in order to allow local government meetings to happen virtually via video conferencing platforms as otherwise the PC would be unable to meet. Residents will be aware that we are currently consulting on our draft neighbourhood plan. The draft plan highlights three sites that the steering group are proposing for development. Victoria Asset Management (VAM) have asked to make a presentation in response to the latest draft of the NHP. The NHP consultation was due to end on 22nd April (we have now extended this by 2 weeks to run to 6th May) which is why VAM are presenting at the April PC meeting.
Some parishioners have expressed concern that this presentation is being held at this time and not at a meeting where all interested members of the public are able physically to attend. The Parish Council appreciates these concerns. It does, however, feel that these proposals should be made public as soon as practicable, if only to ensure that parishioners, and in particular anyone who might be significantly affected by them (eg prospective purchasers of the new properties at Water Meadow Place), know of their existence.
The facilitation of the presentation implies neither support nor objection on the part of the Parish Council for the proposals, but it does provide an early opportunity for important questions to be raised and responses challenged. Residents are welcome to attend the meeting as they would be under non social distancing rules. Should you wish to attend the meeting please contact the clerk at elsteadpc.clerk@gmail who will share the meeting code and instructions. Anyone unable to attend may submit their question to the clerk who will ask it on their behalf. A list of questions and answers will be publicised after the meeting.
The Parish Council would also be happy to receive any comments or representations subsequent to Monday 20th’s meeting, which will be considered in the context of the review of the draft NHP.
Residents should note that this an initial presentation (in response to the draft nhp) and the PC will point out to VAM that if they wish to pursue their proposals further we would expect them to arrange for a full public consultation process to be held in the village as soon as the Covid 19 restrictions permit.
The PC has successfully held a few meetings via video conferencing including a planning meeting earlier in the week which was attended by a number of residents and the format worked well. Zoom may be accessed via computer or mobile. The PC does not monitor Facebook during the day so any queries are best addressed directly to the clerk at elsteadpc.clerk@gmail.com who will then reply and post on facebook if necessary.
The agenda and VAM presentation can be found on the meetings page of the PC section of this website.