The Chairman of the Council to answer any questions by the public of which notice has been given no later than midday three clear working days before the day of the meeting in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 12.
Minutes:
Question 1 - Laura Knight to Councillor Holt, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth
The council reports that have been released to date relating to the sale of Belle Vue do not reference the impact to Belle Vue House terrace and gardens. The access into that area from the current main entrance of the park is being sold to Churchill as part of the disposal site. You can also get into the gardens through a trampled clearing through the trees to gain access but this is not suitable for many park users, including those with mobility issues or buggys etc. Please can you confirm that BDC will provide access to this area of the park; that it has been included in costings and confirm that public access will remain to the terrace and steps outside the house which was not included in the sale, which you have categorically stated that land outside the red line would not be disposed of and which is as confirmed by BDC, public accessible open space held on statutory trust for the public.
Response:
Ms Knight thank you for your question to Cllr Holt. Unfortunately, Cllr Holt is not able to join us this evening and he has asked me to respond on his behalf. As has been agreed previously at Cabinet, the capital receipt from the sale of Belle Vue House and part of the old swimming pool site (as defined by the red lined disposal area) will be directed towards the creation of a new park entrance and in fact work is already underway on this project. Plans for the new entrance, new toilets and the proposed new café will be subject to a public exhibition later this autumn alongside enhanced proposals for the park and we will welcome comments and suggestions at that time which will lead to the creation of a planning application for the park and the new access/facilities.
I can confirm that access shall remain to the whole park and in fact our aim is to improve not just the access but the movability around the park for all users. More details of our plans re landscaping will be available at the public engagement event.
Question 2 - Roger Young to Councillor Malvisi, Cabinet Member for the Environment
Would you kindly confirm the detailed brief given to the designer
of the Strategic Parking Questionnaire, and the objectives sought
from it, that was available on the BDC website and has now
apparently been withdrawn?
When will a detailed map, showing all existing car parking
facilities, including on-road parking and additional car parking
opportunities needed to cater for expansion, be made available
to Hadleigh's residents so that they can make a meaningful
contribution to the Strategic Parking consultation
exercise?
Response:
Mr Young, thank you for your question which I believe is one of many recently.
Babergh is keen to develop a Parking Strategy that provides a comprehensive route map with regard to the long-term approach to the provision of parking across the district. The strategy is at a high level and needs:
· to identify our parking requirements for the next 5-10 years,
· to reflect national policy guidance as it applies to both the future of town centres/high streets
· to recognise the need for sustainable transport and travel as well as patterns of demand.
Ensuring the right level and types of car parking facilities, with the right controls in place for their use, will help to support regeneration and enable development in and around the District’s town centres as well as in rural villages.
It is important to ensure that shoppers, tourists, visitors, residents, workers and commuters have access to sufficient, good quality, safe, welcoming parking opportunities. More specifically the parking strategy needs to provide a set of detailed recommendations as to the nature of future parking provision serving both town centres and rural villages, and how they will function operationally.
The parking strategy is building on work previously undertaken in the form of the Joint Area Parking Management Plan and the subsequent Babergh Car Parking Study Report which highlighted the increasing need for a parking strategy for the medium to long term. The strategy comprises of three stages as was published in the timetable and agreed by Cabinet on 2 August 2021 (BCa/21/16).
· Stage 1 - investigation & data collection. This includes our parking strategy survey which launched on 31st August for a period of 4 weeks. The purpose of the survey is to give everyone the opportunity to have their say / give their views / thoughts etc on what parking issues are important to them. Alongside the survey will be virtual workshops for targeted stakeholders, again an opportunity to tell us what’s wrong / give their views.
· Stage 2 - creation of the strategy. This is expected by the end of April 2022. This stage will allow for further opportunity for consultation with stakeholders.
· Stage 3 – the Governance process, expected completion date of September 2022.
So, in summary, the consultation currently under way is there to
collect your views on how parking, both on street and off street is
affecting you right now. It is about the places you use already,
what works and what doesn’t. These are spaces that you know
well and will have experience of that we would like to hear about.
We will use all that narrative, along with that exists with regard to future housing and capacity as well
as existing Traffic Regulation Order’s, and all this will
assist us to draft a Parking Strategy. We will then share this with
all stakeholders for comment prior to any decisions.
Supplementary Question
At the Babergh District Council meeting on Thursday the 4th February Councillor Malvisi confirmed that she had attended two parking meetings about parking in Hadleigh. And the minutes confirmed that she said that the steer to us was clear, more free time and later implementation date. My supplementary question is why has why has an implementation date of 1st January 2022 been set before we are free of covid restrictions, because this is in direct contravention of the promises given to Hadleigh residents by this council?
Cllr Malvisi to respond in writing outside of the meeting.
Supporting documents: