County & District Councillor’s Monthly Report
Cllr. Jacqi Hodgson – Date of Report: 10th July 2018
County Councillor for Totnes & Dartington
(incl. Harberton, Harbertonford, Staverton, Landscove & part of Berry Pomeroy)
District Councillor for Dartington & Staverton
Key Issues
Devon County Council seem to have embraced very fully the issue of single use plastics and broadened this to include other plastic waste. Their report at June Cabinet meeting included an action plan and there are elements of this that fit well for use at Town and Parish level. I have circulated the DCC report separately.
The SHDC Clean Air Strategy and Air Quality Management Plan for Totnes is in my view very worrying as I believe that as it stands it offers very little by way of practical actions to improve either congestion of air quality in either the South Hams or Totnes and environs. I have suggested that the Totnes & District Traffic & Transport Forum prepare a submission for this public consultation (James Kershaw – Environmental Health Officer – has agreed to take further comments and views) and that as part of this the Totnes TC Transport Strategy and Policy and schemes is reviewed and updated to benefit not only the Green Travel Plan work now taking place in Totnes, but also the Neighbourhood Plans in this town and neighbouring Parishes but also to provide a community view when significant developments are put forward once the Joint Local Plan is approved. It is appreciated that James Kershaw has attended Parish and Town Council meetings to encourage submissions and answer questions.
Green Travel Plan for Totnes & Environ
Tracy Cheeseman who works with Transition Town Totnes has been working with residents of Follaton Oak as part of the 106 planning agreement to assist new residents in reducing their car use and carbon footprint. This has been very successful and this work is now being looked at with a view to this moving seamlessly to the Baltic Wharf and wider Totnes Green Travel plan coordination that has been agreed under the original S106 agreement for the Baltic Wharf development. Tracey’s work has been very successful and has enabled deeper understanding of how non-car routes are perceived as safe or otherwise new residents and the kinds of travel modes new residents wish to adopt. Incentives such as public travel vouchers and bicycle vouchers have been explored as options and one clear outcome is that ‘one size’ does not fit all and meeting practical needs rather than wants has been very welcome by new residents. This project is highly relevant to all new large developments in South Hams as it will provide informed options and incentives that a106 monies can be used for to reduce car use as the first option for travel. It also has implications for adjacent rural parishes who are affected by key routes in and out of Totnes.
HIGHWAYS MATTERS:
Collapsed wall in Maudlin Rd: update. Non – the liability wrangle continues! I have asked for this to be referred to this months South Hams HATOC.
Collapsed Pavement in Castle Street.I attended the scene the night it happend. The local Fire service were in attendance and had checked and ensured that the footpath had been made safe, the severe drop was barricaded and they agreed to provide amber lights. I contacted the out of hours highways service to ensure this was checked and recommended Building control investigate as the public footpath had been undercut by the developer. I have been assured that all is in hand and safe. I understand a licence for these works adjacent to the highway has now been sought.
South Hams HATOC 6thJuly 2018: Items I requested to be on the agenda
- Totnes – Littlehempston cycle path update and progress report:
This was taken forward and a meeting with SWW and the Steam railway with Officers and County Cllrs will be requested. Monies to develop the path (est. £30-40,000) were reported to potentially be available via the A385 Traffic Management plan funding.
- Dartington Village Centre – 106 monies, speed limits and safety. Plus site visit to include Parish Councillors:
A Site visit has been set up for the end of July with Parish Councillors and County Councillor with Highways Officers. This will inform a site visit of all the HATOC committee in advance of the next SH HATOC (Nov’18). The 106 monies are being looked into by SHDC Monitoring Officer.
- Maudlin Road collapsed wall– update on progress. The legal wrangle continues, but the Road Closure Notice will b lifted.
- (I also requested that the outcomes of the SHDC Clear Air Strategy Review and public consultation be on the next SH HATOC agenda – this was agreed)
Highways matters reported on behalf of Dartington Parish. I have had conversations with Highways Officers Darren Cole regarding the treacherous pot holes in the lane from Follaton to Sawpit Lane just near to the railway bridge. There are severe drainage issues there and they are hoping to improve the drainage and repair the road very soon. To assist Parishes with Lengthsmen work I requested hard copies of A1 drainage maps for all my rural parishes – these have been produced to be given to each.
SOUTH HAMS DISTRICT COUNCIL
ENFORCEMENT CASES:There are currently 28 Enforcement Cases outstanding in this Ward: 12 cases in Dartington and 16 in Staverton: I am very concerned about the length of time taken to resolve these issues, some of which have been outstanding for years. I will be attending a meeting on 10thJuly with all three Enforcement Officers to discuss all of these cases and receive updates. As many of these enforcement cases relate to illegal traveller sites I have written to Sophie Hoskins CEO at SHDC to request that a more creative approach is taken to accommodating the wider community of people now living as travellers. I have proposed that a Gypsy and Traveller Forum as established (and very productive in Teignbridge) is established in SHDC.
JOINT LOCAL PLAN: The revised JLP with the Inspectors recommendations is expected by the end of July to early August. This will then go out for further public consultation. I have added additional comment on behalf of the parishes I represent to ensure that the comments we all made at the oral hearings are included in the new draft JLP
This past month I have made formal submissions on:
- The Greater Horseshoe Bat Public Consultation
- SHDC Air Quality Management Plan – Clean Air StrategyPublic Consultation
- National Consultation on Gypsy & Traveller Sites: on powers for dealing with unauthorised developments and encampments.
- The Dartington 15m Mast Appeal (copy attached)further to which the appeal has been withdrawn
My submissionsare available for public viewing and information (and recycling) on a website blog I have set up:You are welcome to reiterate points and issues I raise in my responses: www.jacqihodgson.org
Attendance at meetings etc. as elected public representative:
Weds June 13th
DCC Cabinet: items:
- Roadworks Permit scheme for consultation: proposed to replace the current Notification Scheme. Ie seeking prior approval rather than works simply going ahead.
- A new policy for persistent evaders of parking enforcement
- DCCs speed management policy review
- Position on enforcement of bus lanes and box junctions
- A New Strategy and Action Plan for Plasticsprepared by officers was presented and approved (I forwarded this to all T.Cllrs to assist with our plans for local action). This report was further to a motion on single use plastics that I seconded in Autumn 2017 and raised further at last month’s Full Council meeting.
- DCC Crowdfunding workshop to encourage Councillors to work with others increase the value of their Locality budgets
KEVICCS Foundation Governor’s meeting
Thurs June 14th
SHDC Executive Meeting: Totnes 106 monies for Transition Homes were discussed
This was the meeting where a confidential matter was discussed that has since been cited as a “secret meeting”. It is my view that this matter should have been discussed in full public view (and I said so at the meeting)
Caring Town Totnes: Keeping Young People Safe meeting
SHDC Planning Enforcement workshop for Members
Dartington Rcreational Association Public Consultation event on revisions to play area
Mon June 18th
Meeting on site with enforcement Officer re: Higher Tweedmill Development issues.
(AONB) Dart Estuary Forum inauguration meeting – well attended and very positive
Tues June 19th
Totnes Rural Area Youth Engagement (TRAYE) Project meeting with the youth workers
Weds June 20th
Totnes – Littlehempston Cycle Path group mtg. Proposals to be raised at SH HATOC in July
Sat June 23rd
National Rally in London for a People’s Referendum on the terms of Brexit
Mon June 25th
Totnes Neighbourhood PlanTask & Finish Group meeting.
Tues June 26th
Dartington School protest at Mast installation(on Highways land) and Appeal for other mast
Weds June 27th
Totnes Green Travel Plan strategy meeting.
Thurs June 28th
SHDC Members session regarding waste procurement contracts
Mon July 2nd
SHDC DM Committee Site meeting
Totnes TC meeting
Weds July 4th
SHDC DM Committee: Beacon Park was reconsidered and further approved. I challenged the Ecology Officer on the status of the Ecology Reports and said they were out of date. Also traffic safety issues were a key concern. However they were only considering the impact on amenity of the Educational facility opposite.
Weds July 4th
Totnes Traffic & Transport Forum
Staverton PC meeting
Friday July 6th
South Hams HATOC: (see report in highlighted issues above)
TRAYE project:Staff Review
Tues July 10th
SHDC Meeting with Enforcement officersto go through all the 28 cases currently open in my Ward – very helpful.
Harberton PC meeting
Diary Dates
Thurs 19thJuly 2.15pm DCC Full Council
Thurs 26thJuly 2pm SHDC Full Council – special Full Council to approve new waste contracts
Information: For 2018/19, the previous Town and Parish (TAP) Fund, has been relaunched as the Communities Together Fund.
The aim of the Communities Together Fund is to encourage communities to work together; identifying new ideas for their mutual benefit. Applications are welcome from community projects benefiting, enhancing and making a difference to communities. There are some minor changes between the TAP and Communities Together Fund, including the purpose of the fund, those that are eligible to apply and also the projects that can be supported. The more notable changes are:
- The fund is now open to applications from voluntary and community organisations (as well as Parish and Town Councils)
- The fund will no longer support grass cutting/ditching and drainage/lengthsman projects
- Match funding will increase the likelihood of an application being supported
- You will need to demonstrate that you have explored opportunities to work with other voluntary and community groups to either identify and/or carry out the proposed project
- The project should benefit more than one Town or Parish.
The Guidance Notes and Application form for the 2018/19 scheme will be accessible from w/c 11th June via the link at https://www.southhams.gov.uk/article/3854/Community-Grants-Funding . You are strongly encouraged to review the detail of the Guidance Notes before applying. The deadline for applications is noon on Friday 14th December 2018. More info: Rob Sekula Email: rob.sekula@swdevon.gov.uk
Public Consultation: DCC and Charity Libraries Unlimited (which is commissioned to run Devon’s Libraries) are considering ways to increase the take up in rural areas in order to reach more people who can’t easily access Devon’s 50 public libraries. They have launched a review to invite ideas and suggestions to help shape the design of an outreach service that better meets the needs of everyone and offers better access to the wider range of library services. People can take part in the consultation by visiting devon.cc/librariesoutreach The consultation can be completed online or paper copies are available at libraries. The deadline for responses is 28thJuly 2018
COPY OF MY LETTER OF REPRESENTATION REGARDING THE APPEAL LODGED BY VODAFONE FOR THE 15M Mast in Dartington
Councillor Jacqi Hodgson
27thJune 2018
Submitted online: enquiries@pins.gsi.gov.uk
The Planning Inspectorate,
Room 4A Kite Wing, Temple Quay House, 2, The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN
Submission regarding APP/K1128/W/17/3191716
South Hams District Council Planning reference: 3137/17/PAT
15m high replica telegraph pole mast with 2 base units
Site location: Highways Land adjacent to Car Park,
A384, Shinners Bridge,
Dartington, Totnes, Devon. TQ9 6JD
Dear Sir / Madam,
This is my submission regarding the above planning Appeal.
I wish to state clearly that I support the key reasons for and recommendation of refusal cited in the SHDC Case Officer report, and for which I supported and provided a delegated decision of Refusal on 14thNovember 2017.
Support for local concerns and third party objections
As a local elected public representative and in my own right I also agree with the many reasons for objection as cited by the many residents, local schools and community groups cited in the reports. These are valid reasons and none of which have changed.
I also support the many representations that I am aware have been sent into your offices regarding this appeal. Over ten of these and representations from the local schools (which in turn represent over 100 children and parents) have been copied into myself and I wish to state my support for those very valid objections.
You might be aware that a protest march took place just this week, when over 150 parents and children left the school early to make a public rally for their school, Dartington Primary School to the newly installed 10meter mast on the same site as that proposed as the subject of this Appeal. Their protest was about both the installed 10meter mast and the Appeal for the 15 meter mast. I entirely support their very valid concerns for the children’s health and wellbeing.
Two separate Planning Applications for masts at the same location
You might be aware that there has been a recent installation of a 10 meter mast (in exactly the same location as that which is the subject of this appeal) further to the decision taken by South Hams Development Management (Planning) Committee for planning application 4325/17/PAT on 7thFebruary 2018 based on the Case Officer recommendation by SHDC to Vodafone that Prior Approval was not required. However at that DM Committee meeting (of which I am a Member) I put forward a motion of refusal which was seconded; however this was lost in the vote of 3:8.
However the same concerns and issues which SHDC found against the current subject of Appeal and this subsequent application for Prior Notification which was granted approval carries significant contradictions and it is with regret that I observe that the difference of 5mters on the height of the mast was sufficient to satisfy the Case Officer and eight of my colleagues on the Planning Committee. I would like to stress that the local residents were no further addressed in their concerns and reasons for objections in for the 10 meter mast proposal than they were for the shorter 10meter mast. I see no reason why the decision of Prior Approval not required for the 10meter mast could b used to argue in favour of the 15meter mast, i.e. the subject of this appeal as the 5 meter or 30% difference in the height of an intrusive structure in a picturesque rural village is a substantial difference. However I still stand by my view and that of the residents and other objectors that neither mast has a place in this sensitive location.
While I accept that planning applications can be made for sites and that the presence of another development on the same site does not preclude an application being valid or approved or otherwise; it would appear however that the applicant being the same for both mast structure applications in question, raises the concern of ‘planning by stealth’. I would have thought that this is not to be welcomed or supported by any planning authority.
I would suggest that Planning Application 4325/17/PAT was passed by a very slight but never the less significant difference from 3137/17/PAT and that difference was simply the five-meter height difference that had material visual significance.
Health and safety concerns
The key concerns regarding this mast relate the precautionary principle with regard to health and safety from non-ionising radiation emissions from the proposed mast. This principle was incorporated into the Principles of Sustainable Development as adopted in Rio de Janiro at the United Nations Earth Summit in 1992 and subsequently underpinned EU Legislation[1]. The Precautionary Principle enshrines the ‘Human Right’ to a safe environment.
While Health Matters in general cannot be challenged as the guidelines used (and approved by Government) says they are safe, we should challenge that very premise as the current guidelines ICNIRP) date back to 1999, almost 20 years ago and there have been many changes to the demand for mobile phone services as well as the power of the transmissions; the cumulative effect will be much more of an issue now. Before any mobile phone mast is considered for planning permission, in particular when health and safety concerns have been raised, we should ensure that the guidance being applied is in line with current research.
The Government’s own Health and Safety webpage has some useful information, some of which is clearly open to challenge, not least of which is that it is dated 21/05/2001, again over seventeen years old. On this (at point 15) it recognises the distress to residents living close to masts and at point 20 states”20 A further recommendation of the report was that there should be a programme of independent auditing of sites. It has been agreed that the Radio communications Agency (RA), an executive agency of DTI, will commence such a programme and will begin with an audit of base stations sited at schools” This raises the question “where has this been carried out and what are the results?”.
Other health and safety information and studies are available and make a clear case for public concern about these emissions for example: http://www.mastaction.co.ukand at https://www.radiationresearch.org/…/mob…/mobile-phone-masts/where it is noted that the major city of Paris is addressing this. The current guidelines need to be updated to incorporate this research and guidance. In the mid 90’s The Irish Government produced guidelines for the planning authorities to use when mobil phone masts were proposed. These were based on then current Swedish studies which had raised health and safety concerns. The basic guidance was:
- Masts should not be sited within 1kilomenter of schools, kindergartens, residences or workplaces
- Masts should be monitored for their emissions on a regular basis
Children’s lives should not be put at risk as part of an experiment. The Glenville Tower tragedy should be a lesson to all decision makers about complacency and following paper trails rather than common sense and a prudent precautionary approach. Before any mast is installed a base line map of current non-ionising emissions should be presented to the planning authority and a further map indicating the anticipated cumulative effect on those baseline readings based on possible maximum radiation at any on time. Remember school children are in school and outside playing during peak usage times for mobile phone and associated likely emissions from masts.
Failure to properly consult with or consider other potentially suitable locations
The local schools and Community Centre:
Immediate vicinity: Bidwell Brook special needs school
Robins Respite Centre for special needs students
Dartington Primary School
Dartington Academy
Meadowbrook Community Centre + outdoor play area and swimming pool
Dartington Village Hall
Less than 1 km distance: Park School, Dartington
Steiner School at Hood, Dartington
King Edward VI Community College
None of these important community facilities were properly consulted and all are deeply concerned about the impact of a mobile phone mast so close.
One of the requirements of the planning process is that operators should consider a range of sites and justify why they select a certain site. The list of sites put forward with the planning application listed in the submitted Declaration of Conformity – Document 3241784 were not consulted either. Having spoken to a number of local people it seems that those who should have been contacted for these other sites, were not contacted, in particular the schools, who should also have been asked for the views on the proposal to site the mast where it is now installed. This is a material planning consideration that seems to have been flouted.
The Parish Council has offered to discuss with the Applicant other possible sites that could be far more suitable; in particular within the context of its Neighbourhood Plan group this exercise could provide a site that meets more of the preferential options for the location of a mast.
Under the Localism Legislation 2012 this would be a far more conciliatory way to assist th local community in determining what it needs and where such structures could be located.
Visual Amenity
This mast was considered extremely likely to have a significant adverse impact on Visual Amenity in a rural village centre, in particular one with a high tourism and visitor footfall. The artist’s impression with the planning application was misleading as it suggested this mast would be within a row of much higher trees; trees that are actually on the other side of the road – this mast stand would alone and be very visible.
This has been borne out by the recent installation of the approved 10meter mast. It stands out in the landscape in an obtrusive way and detracts significantly from the village centre and the historic rural landscape setting.
Without reservation I restate my continued objection to this planning application and the appeal that has been lodged. I would like the opportunity to represent the local residents and groups who object to this planning application at the appeal thereon.
Yours faithfully,
Jacqi Hodgson
Cllr. Jacqi Hodgson
[1]The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) generally defines actions on issues considered to be uncertain, for instance applied in assessing risk management. The principle is used by policy makers to justify discretionary decisions in situations where there is the possibility of harm from making a certain decision (e.g. taking a particular course of action) when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result.
In some legal systems, as in law of the European Union, the application of the precautionary principle has been made a statutory requirement in some areas of law.
Cllr Jacqi Hodgson 