SIX members of the public were present at the October meeting of Sandford Parish Council to hear a presentation by Simon Trafford (Mid Devon District Council Planning Officer) on current proposals for homes in the Crediton area.

This included an application at Pedlarspool for 326 homes by Gleesons, however MDDC Planning felt 200 homes a more suitable number.

This application was likely to be discussed by MDDC Planning in January 2018.?Details were also given on Cromwells Meadow, Chapel Downs Higher Road and Threshers housing plans.?This was followed by a presentation by Neil Jillings (Placeland) on “Proposals for future development of 75 new homes off Higher Road, Sandford”.

Neil Jillings gave details of a plan for up to 75 houses, on a narrow strip of land running alongside Higher Road, Crediton, most of which fell within Sandford Parish and outside the Mid Devon District Council housing settlement boundary.

He said that the scheme was at a very early stage and many of the detailed reports required with a planning application had not, as yet, been prepared, but said that a public consultation to explain a variety of options for the site would be held at Sandford Cricket Club on Wednesday, October 25.

He said early discussions had taken place with Mid Devon District Council and Devon County Council to advance the scheme but hoped that a planning application could be submitted before the end of the year.?He told the meeting that it was a long thin field shielded by woodlands and said there would be a buffer zone around the woodland.

He confirmed that one option being considered was the closure of a section of Higher Road and downgrading it for pedestrian/cycle routes.

Traffic, he added, could be diverted through the development site on a dedicated road.

Mr Jilling then took comments and questions from the floor over the increased number of vehicles that would be using Higher Road. A suggestion was made that “Stone Wall Lane” be widened to take the increased traffic away from Crediton Town Centre.

PARKING

Items dealt with by the clerk during the month had included - Parking issues at Snows (Rose and Crown Hill end) – This matter had been passed on to MDDC who had, despite referring the matter to its Legal Dept, been unable to confirm the legal position over its use and the suggestion that the Resident at “Hillside” had a dedicated parking space.

A previous owner had informed the clerk that this piece of land had been previously rented as a garden from MDDC and when it had become a car park there had been no dedicated parking spaces.

The car park from that time had been used on a casual basis by the residents of Snows and the occupant of “Hillside”.

Snows car park (Snows House end) – A camper van was parking in the car park and was obstructing other car park users – The clerk had referred this on to MDDC who were in the process of asking the owner to remove it.

(MDDC Councillor Judi Binks advised that a resident of Crofts was also being asked to remove their camper van from that car park). Other matters included the Meadowside boundary hedge and parking issues on “Back Lane”.

PARISH COMMENT BOOK

An entry had been made in the Parish Comment Book, from a parishioner from Upton Hellions, that on the monthly visit by the Devon County Council Mobile Library Van there was usually only one customer.

The van visited Sandford and stopped in the Parish Hall car park once a month for 30 minutes.

The next visits are planned for October 31 and November 28. It was felt that if parishioners did not support the service it would be lost.

The clerk had produced a schedule setting out the estimated Legal Fees the council were to be faced with, together with the likely setting up costs, if it was agreed to press on with the decision to acquire the Creedy View Car Park from the Gorwyn Trust.

Not only would the Parish Council have to pay its own Legal Fees but also those of the Gorwyn Trust (£3,100) - £1,900 had already been paid.

The total costs were likely to be £5,200. It was pointed out that following the completion of the Pavilion Project the Parish Council’s finances were depleted.

It was agreed by a majority vote of seven in favour and three against to proceed with the acquisition.

The clerk was asked to inform the Gorwyn Trust that the finances would need to be discussed by the Parish Council in 2018 when setting the Precept for 2018/2019. It was felt the setting up costs, estimated at £1,400 for signage and a barrier, could be dealt with at a later date.

The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on November 2 at 7.30pm in Sandford Congregational Church Hall.

MJV