22 October 2013 – Minutes

THAME TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of Thame Town Council held on 22 October 2013 at 6.30pm in the Upper Chamber, Thame Town Hall
 
Present:
Cllr D Bretherton, D Butler, N Champken-Woods, A Dite, N Dixon, M Dyer, L Emery, H Fickling, A Gunn, V Humphries, P Lambert (Town Mayor), D Laver, J Matelot Green (Deputy Mayor), M Stiles and M Welply.

Officers

H Stewart, Town Clerk

A Oughton, Committee Services Officer

 
1 Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Dodds (Holiday) and County Councillor Carter and District Councillor Midwinter.

 
2 Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

 
3 Public Participation

There were no applications to address the Council.

 
4 Sealing of Documents

RESOLVED that:

 i) The deed for land at the rear of 10 Chalgrove Road, Thame from Transferor Thame Town Council to Transferee the property 10 Chalgrove Road, Thame should be duly signed and sealed.

 
5 Pre-Application Schedule of Charges

The Council had not previously been party to pre-application discussions with developers; however, it would now be very involved particularly on strategic sites identified in the Neighbourhood Plan.  These discussions required officer time and professional planning advice both of which incurred a cost to the Council not previously accounted for.  It was therefore proposed to develop a similar range of charges to that of the principal planning authority ensuring the charges were fair and proportionate to the pre-application.

RESOLVED that:

i)             A good practice guide and schedule of charges for pre-application discussions be developed for approval by the Policy & Resources Committee.

 
6 P13/S2330/O – Land West of Thame Park Road

At the Council meeting held on 20 August 2013 it was resolved that a Holding Objection be recommended to South Oxfordshire District Council until the amendments within the report submitted to Council were incorporated.

Following receipt of the formal amendments made to the application (P13/S2330/O) Mr Collinge presented a report to Council summarising the amendments and additional information submitted and reviewed the amendments in the context of the holding objections and other matters previously raised by the Council.

RESOLVED that:

i)             The Council remove their Holding Objection and resolve to support the application, subject to:

  • the inclusion of appropriate mechanisms, in either a Section 106 Agreement or Planning Conditions, to secure delivery of the design principles set out in the Design and Access Statement, as amended and updated;
  • the inclusion of an appropriate clause with the S106 Agreement to secure and facilitate at some future point the creation of a footpath/cycleway from the north-west corner of the site to the Phoenix Trail;
  • the outcome of discussions in respect of access to the south-western field, and delivery mechanisms in respect of the provision of publicly accessible routes (including the land edged blue to the south of the site and extending up to Cuttle Brook);
  • receipt of a comprehensive response to each of the matters set out in Document 1 of the August Report.
  • the Town Council having full involvement in the negotiation and preparation of the Section 106 Agreement and Planning Conditions.

 

Cllr Butler left the meeting.

 
7 The Elms

This item was withdrawn from the agenda as it is not yet subject to a planning application.

 
8 Thame Theatre

A request for grant funding of £18,000 towards the planned refurbishment of the theatre and in particular the cost of replacing the heating had been received.

RESOLVED that:

i)             A grant of £10k towards the refurbishment of the theatre be given to Thame Players and be taken from the Capital Rolling Fund.

 

The meeting concluded at 7.22pm

 

Signed …………………………

Chairman, 17 December 2013