Agenda and draft minutes

To record the names of apologies given and deputy members who are attending the meeting in place of appointed Members (where appropriate).

Apologies were received from Councillor Watters for whom Councillor Hamblin deputised as noted above.

To receive any disclosure of interests from Members and Officers in matters to be discussed.

Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and/or prejudicial interests in accordance with legislation and the Council’s Code of Conduct.

Councillor Porter declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest due to her role as a County Councillor.

Councillor Batho declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest due to being a Stagecoach employee in connection with the discussion on the bus service.

Councillor Warwick declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest due to her role as a City Councillor.

Councillor Cramoysan explained that the Hampshire County Council (HCC) officer update would include an update from the Highways Team on Winchester Avenue and other roads within the development.  There would also be an update from the Transport Team on the bus service.  The Winchester City Council (WCC) officer update would include the Phase 2B planning application and specific conditions in connection with the recreation area.  It would also provide an update on occupations and the Section 106 tracker.

RESOLVED:

          That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 October 2023 be agreed as a correct record.

Five members of the public and/or parish council or residents’ association group spoke during public participation as summarised below.  Update reports from both Headbourne Worthy Parish Council and the Kings Barton Residents’ Association (KBRA) had been published prior to the meeting and available on the meeting page here for HWPC and here for KBRA.

The three members of the public who had registered to speak regarding the Manley Road recreation group agreed to address the Forum under the relevant agenda item below (see Minute 7).

Headbourne Worthy Parish Council (HWPC)

Cllr Julian Hamblin referred to the update report from the HWPC Kings Barton Committee and highlighted in particular the issues and concerns relating to the Phase 2B Manley Road football pitches and MUGA.  He believed that wider consultation was required on this matter.  He emphasised the good working relationships developing between HWPC and both CALA and the KBRA.  A “meet the parish council” event was planned for 6 June in the Orchard.

In response to questions, Ms B Baker (Clerk to HWPC) clarified that points raised by KBRA could be fed through to CALA through the HWPC Kings Barton Committee.

Kings Barton Residents’ association

Mike Slinn referred to comments outlined in the KBRA report to the Forum including those relating to the Phase 2B local sports facilities, the impact of the proposed St John Moores Barracks (SJMB) development, progress on the provision of a bus service and when Winchester Avenue would be completed.  He also referred to the KBRA campaign against the closure of Andover Road.

In response, Councillor Cramoysan reminded Mr Slinn that the proposed closure of Andover Road had been agreed as part of the Kings Barton masterplan and it was not within the remit of the Forum to challenge this.  Proposals for SJMB were at pre-application stage and the council would conduct a full evaluation if and when a planning application was submitted.  The other points raised by the KBRA would be considered during discussion of agenda items below.

Highways update

Jo Holmes (HCC Strategic Project Lead Implementation) provided an update on the progress towards approval of roads within both Phase 1A and Phase 1B of the development.  In general, good progress was being made and there was a good working relationship with CALA.

Ms Holmes and Ian Curry (CALA) responded to Members’ questions including clarifying the following points:

a)    Ms Holmes responded to questions in relation to the design of the roundabout and the northern junction.

b)    Mr Curry estimated that Winchester Avenue should be fully open (and consequently the existing Andover Road closed) in early 2026.  However the plans involved were very complex.  Ms Holmes confirmed that HCC would work closely with CALA to ensure disruption to local residents was minimised.

c)    Mr Curry explained that as part of the planning agreement, the existing Andover Road would become a cycle way and footpath with vehicular access to the properties along it.  There was no provision for wider access for emergency vehicles or buses as these would be diverted via the new Winchester Avenue.

d)    The appropriateness of agreeing to requests for residents to see the detailed plans for the roads through the development.

Councillor Cramoysan thanked Ms Holmes for the update provided.

Bus service update

Mike Griffin-Thorn (HCC Assistant Local Bus Manager) gave a presentation updating on the county council position in relation to the bus service.  The presentation was available on the council’s website here.  In conclusion, he emphasised that unfortunately the level of service expected might not be achievable or sustainable longer-term.

Mr Griffin-Thorn responded to various questions including on the following:

a)    The current taxi service.  He agreed to explore the possibility of increasing the hours of operation and advertisement of the service.

b)    Whether the existing number 86 service could be diverted through Kings Barton.  He agreed to investigate this suggestion with Stagecoach as it was a commercial (not HCC subsidised) service. 

c)    The impact of the opening of Winchester Avenue.

d)    The impact of the opening of “Park and Ride Light” which would have buses operating through Kings Barton. 

In his summing up of the discussion, Councillor Cramoysan emphasised that realistically it was unlikely a regular bus service would be in place before Winchester Avenue had opened which was estimated to be in early 2026.  He thanked Mr Griffin-Thorn for the update and for continuing to provide updates to both the Forum and HWPC Kings Barton Committee.

Phase 2B Manley Road recreation ground update

Daniel Jenkins, Ed Spooner and David Leighton (members of the residents’ Manley Road recreation ground working group) addressed the Forum as summarised briefly below.

They expressed concern that no proposals for floodlights, fencing off of the area or an artificial pitch had been mentioned previously under proposals for Phase 2B and believed inadequate consultation had been undertaken with local residents on the proposals.  The requested a written response from CALA on their plans and that the working group should be regarded as a key stakeholder.  They believed that CALA had sold homes on the basis of the masterplan and a commitment to a grass recreation area and asked why and when this plan had been changed.

Ruth Beard (WCC Senior Planning Officer – Kings Barton) responded to the comments made.   She advised that the detail for the recreation ground area had been extracted from the approved scheme for Phase 2B to be agreed via a condition and the key aim of this was to allow a consultation process to take place.  The new facility was not required to be in place until the final occupation of Phase 2B so there was a significant amount of time before the condition needed to be discharged.  She advised that further information on the consultation proposed should be available within the next month.

Viv Hill (CALA) requested that the residents who had spoken on this matter email him directly in order that he could respond to their points.  He confirmed that a full consultation would be undertaken sometime between May and July 2024 and CALA would be guided by WCC and HWPC on the extent of this consultation.  Mr Hill agreed to provide further information regarding where the request for the enhanced 3G facilities had originated in due course.

Occupations

Ms Beard advised that there were currently 562 properties registered for council tax of which six were unoccupied.

Section 106 updates

Ms Beard drew attention to the update which had been published prior to the meeting and available on the meeting page here.  She confirmed that officers would work on improving the formatting and readability of the document prior to the next Forum meeting.

Ian Curry stated that the majority of the updates had been provided in the discussions outlined above.

He provided a update on the closure of the temporary “goodwill” footpath in Phase 2A due to the archaeological dig.  He also advised that he was reasonably confident to meet the trigger regarding Winchester Avenue and emphasised the ongoing good working dialogue with HCC.