REPORT OF THE ANNUAL PARISH
COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY MAY 10 2011 IN LEAVENHEATH
VILLAGE HALL
Councillors present: Mrs Rowe (Chairman), Dr Gurden (Vice
Chairman), Mr Jackson, Mr Cowell, Mr Leaf, Mr Mortlock. Mrs
Hattrell (Clerk). In attendance: District Councillor Mrs
Jenkins, 143 parishioners.
Chairman opened meeting for the Public Forum and
requested that all comments go through the Chair.
Mr Weston declared he had lived in the parish, on the
High Road, for 25 years. He advised those present that he
had been until recently a Parish Councillor and a member of
the Housing sub committee but had felt he must resign
because he had become aware that he was being kept in the
dark over decisions that had already been taken, and that
although he had asked questions he was unsure that he was
being given the full facts. He was very unhappy about the
proposed development of social housing in the High Road with
the possibility of a new junction on a busy road and the
drainage/sewage problems that are often experienced.
Mr Pratt, Edies Lane, reported that he had ascertained
that the ancient hedgerow on the south side of High Road,
with its mature trees, is protected by law, and that Babergh
District Council is very pro-active in hedgerow
preservation. Desecration can warrant unlimited fines,
unfortunately if there is a proven need for access through
then this can be allowed.
Mr Taylor, Bramble Way advised he had lived in the parish
for 23 years, had served on both the Parish Council and the
Village Hall Committee during that time. He congratulated
the current Councillors for bringing together this number of
parishioners who were united in their opposition to the
proposal for Council housing on land to the south of the
High Road. His opinion was that there had been a
misrepresentation over the wording of the housing survey and
that many parishioners had assumed that what was described
as affordable homes had meant "shared equity" – "to buy" not
rented. He advised that all Parish Councillors, elected or
co-opted, were legally accountable in law, and he was aware
that the housing sub group had been engaged in meetings but
there did not appear to be any minutes of these meetings.
Which would appear to be illegal. Where are they and why are
they not available? He made a proposal that the housing
survey be undertaken again.
Dr Hickman of High Road described the High Road hedgerow
as being species rich with many oaks protected under present
legislation. It is described as part of the continuous
network of hedgerows throughout the parish through to
the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Reserves at Arger Fen and
Spouses Vale. They are part of a continuous wildlife
corridor and should this proposal for
housing development be approved, the road access with the
wide site splays that would be necessary, would decimate a
very large section of it and not consistent with Suffolk's
Biodiversity Action Plan. Part of the UK's plan "A
programme for helping the most threatened species and
habitats to recover."
Mrs Morgan, High Road advised she had been the Parish
Clerk for 24 years and had attended the meeting in the
Village Hall on September 18th 2007 described as "An
Opportunity for Leavenheath?" The poster stated "The quality
of the decision taken on September 18th depends
fundamentally on a high attendance for this special
occasion." Subsequently the report of the meeting in the
Parish Newsletter said "There was a superb turnout with
standing room only as over 200 residents attended for this
key event for the village." "It was then time to vote on
whether to proceed with a Parish Plan for the village. The
vast majority were against. The second vote was whether to
carry out a Housing Needs survey. Again the vast majority
were against. The Chairman confirmed that both schemes will
therefore not go ahead, thanked the presenters and thanked
everyone for the overwhelming support in attending."
Subsequently a Housing Needs survey had been circulated to
every household. And in January 2010 she had received a
letter from Iceni Development Co stating that a survey had
identified a need for 8 dwellings and offering to purchase
her land for £5000 per building plot, valuing her 1.5 acre
field at £40,000. Then in October of last year she met two
people with a theodolite surveying the corner of the orchard
and the High Road/Maple Way junction. When asked what they
were doing they advised they were surveying for a new
development and an access road opposite to Maple Way. It
therefore would appear that a decision had already been made
then on the preferred site. She advised the meeting that
there were 130 1 and 2 bedroom houses and bungalows in the
estate and every dwelling had a garage and a car parking
space, so should this proposal go ahead with 8 dwellings
they also would need similar requirements, therefore it
would entail quite a substantial development.
Mr Martin of Edies Lane asked why other sites for this
development had not been surveyed.
Mrs Jenkins, District Councillor, advised she will
inspect the proposed site and will take on board
parishioners concerns and observations.
Mr Bramhald of High Road informed the meeting that he had
accessed the web page printed in the current edition of the
Parish Newsletter under the auspices of the Planning sub
group, entitled "Welcome to the Gateway to Homechoice
website". The first paragraph stated "This is the website
for the Gateway to Homechoise based lettings scheme. If you
are looking for SOCIAL housing in Babergh, Braintree,
Colchester, Ipswich, Maldon, Mid Suffolk or Suffolk Coastal
and Waveney areas then this website can give you
information." Further it states – "Looking for a mutual
Exchange? Gateway to Homechoice have joined House Exchange!
House Exchange has people registered across the country
looking for exchanges and also specialises in three way
swaps, helping you find the home you are looking for." This
therefore showed that these dwellings were not just for
local people but it was part of a national scheme.
Mrs Shephard stated that this village has no facilities
whatsoever and Mrs Phillips pointed out that the development
of social housing would devalue a great number of properties
in the vicinity. A lady advised she lived in the vicinity of
High Road and had never experienced drainage problems.
Mr Phillips, who had attended the last Parish Council
meeting, expressed his dissatisfaction.
A parishioner advised the meeting that we lived in a
democracy and therefore we should be kept fully advised on
such matters that affect us and secrecy should not be
tolerated.
Mr Robertson asked why there appeared to be such secrecy
over the entire scheme, where were the sites and who were
the people involved in making the decision on the preferred
site?
Mr Leaf, a Parish Councillor, advised that there were
four members of the Council on the Sub group who had
discussed 12/15 sites, and did not want the possibility of
that number of meetings of parishioners with a ‘not in my
back yard’.
Mr Taylor requested once more the minutes of the sub
group meetings to establish the truth regarding this whole
scheme. This was supposed to be a democracy and parishioners
should be kept informed of Council decisions.
Chairman advised the final decision will be announced at
the Annual Parish Meeting next week on Tuesday 17 May. It
had been decided to keep the knowledge of the sites
restricted as it was deemed a sensitive matter.
Mrs Morgan reported that the sites in the vicinity were
marked on the map forwarded by Iceni Developers when they
approached her to purchase her field. They included land on
both the east and west side of Kingsland Lane and the field
adjacent to Dr Gurden’s property, The Diamonds, at the
Plough Lane/A134 junction.
Mrs Collins admitted she was one of the people who had
ticked the box on the Survey as she wanted a house for her
son, but had assumed that the entire scheme was for shared
equity homes, but now regrets that this did not appear to be
so. She did recommend that more parishioners attended the
council meetings.
Mrs Chapman, who has always attended the meetings, asked
what happened to the planning application that was made for
50 houses on this orchard site some years ago?
The public forum was closed at 8.45 pm by the Chairman
who thanked parishioners for attending and reminded
parishioners of the Annual Parish Meeting the following week
During the subsequent closed Annual Parish Council
meeting, District Councillor Mrs Jennie Jenkins reminded the
Councillors that they must listen to the parishioners and
respect their wishes. The Parish Council meeting closed at
9.45 pm and the Chairman again reminded parishioners of the
Annual Parish Meeting next Tuesday.
Notes produced by Mrs P Morgan for the High Road
Residents Collective
