The Chair, Councillor Gordon France, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Decision: That the minutes of meeting held on 16 October 2019 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Chair gave an update on Japanese Knotweed.  11 people have now been trained to treat knotweed and have gained city and guilds qualifications.  They can also treat any other invasive weeds such as Hogweed, balsam etc.

The knotweed and hogweed sites are all in the process of being mapped on GIS.   There is a national database that people can log sightings of knotweed on - all records of INNS should also be uploaded to the national database: https://ywt-data.org/inns-mapper/   

There are no further people from across the Borough who are waiting for the training.  The Council could carry out a further stem injection qualification should any of the people already trained are interested.

The first River Douglas Catchment Invasive Non Native Species (INNS) Advisory Group met in November and another meeting is planned at the end of Jan. There were lots of actions from the meeting and a funding bid has been put in.  This steering group will be the main catalyst for taking forward co-ordinated action on knotweed and other invasives within the river catchment.

Knotweed is being treated when it starts to grow again in April/May.

The Chair explained that the item relating to the Youth Zone outreach project has been deferred to the next meeting.

Carolyn Williams, Central Lancashire Local Plan Co-ordinator, and Alison Marland, Principal Planning Officer, will attend to give an update on the ongoing consultation. 

This item has been requested by a number of Parish Councils. 

The Chair welcomed Alison Marland (Principal Planning Officer) and Johndaniel Jaques (Central Lancashire Planning Policy Officer) who gave a presentation on the Central Lancashire Local Plan Issues and Options consultation.  The presentation can be found here: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/documents/s109045/Parish%20Liaison%20Hour%20-%20Issues%20and%20Options%20Consultation%2015%20Jan%202020.pdf

Members of the Liaison noted the complexity of the plan as a whole and that a drop in session has been held in each Ward within Chorley.  The spell checker function was highlighted as broken.  Officers undertook to incorporate feedback into the next stage of the plan. A database of email addresses is being collated and the consultations are being signposted on social media and via meetings such as this.

A query was raised in relation to Q66 “Do you agree that Chorley should not have a policy for safeguarded land in the new Local Plan?” (Issues and Options Consultation Document November 2019 – para 8.24 (page 51) and Appendix 1 (page 72 (Summary of Questions for the Issues and Options Consultation Survey)): https://centrallocalplan.citizenspace.com/central-team/issuesandoptions/supporting_documents/smaller%20%20Main%20IO%20Consultation%20Paper%20FINAL%20111119.pdf

The Chair thanked the officers for their attendance.

Update

Safeguarded land

The following information has been provided since the meeting - 'Safeguarded land' is land between the urban area (settlements) and the Green Belt that has been identified to meet longer-term development needs stretching well beyond the local plan period.  It is land which should be genuinely capable of sustainable development when needed.  Safeguarded land is treated in a similar way to Green Belt, except that its protection is not necessarily guaranteed beyond the plan period.

The Council is not proposing to allocate safeguarded land in the new Local Plan.  This means that the Council does not propose to identify land to keep free from development at the present time for the purpose of meeting possible longer-term development needs in the future.  The designation of safeguarded land can only be determined by a Local Plan review.

Citizen space web pages 

Officers have also reviewed the web pages since the meeting.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to move the link to access the online survey to the top of the web page.  However, in light of the comments made at the meeting, officers have reviewed the content and reduced the amount of text so that it is easy to find the link.  The same has been undertaken on the page where people can give their comments.

Could LCC confirm that the Ironman event will follow that used in 2019? If it is going to be changed, could LCC explain the proposed route and why the change has been made?

An update will be presented from LCC at the meeting. 

County Councillor Keith Idddon confirmed that the Ironman event will follow the route used in 2019.  This news was supported by the meeting. 

Councillor Iddon also advised that the decision relating to the 40mph limit in Bretherton will be taken by LCC Cabinet.  Some signs highlighting the concerns of residents regarding the speed of motorists will be provided.

Councillor Iddon undertook to provide information about some statistics around the use of 20mph speed limits. 

Update

The information can be found here: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/documents/s109041/Info%20from%20CC%20Keith%20Iddon%20Jan%2020.pdf

The Parish Council is looking into the possibility of a CCTV camera to assist with anti-social behaviour around the Community Hub. The building has broadband and wi-fi.

The Council would like to ask whether the images could be monitored by the control room staff monitoring the Chorley system.

A response will be provided at the meeting. 

Discussions are ongoing regarding the possibility of including a CCTV feed from around the Community Hub to assist with anti-social behavior. 

An update will be provided at the next meeting. 

The Parish Council would like the request the provision of Electric Vehicle Charging Points in rural villages is investigated.

A response will be provided at the meeting.

The Chair advised that Lancashire County Council have a programme for the installation of electric vehicle charging points.  Further information can be found here: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/council/strategies-policies-plans/roads-parking-and-travel/installation-of-electric-vehicle-charge-points/

There are a number of charge points in car parks within the Town Centre.  Information can be found here: https://chorley.gov.uk/Pages/AtoZ/Parking.aspx

A future agenda item was requested on this topic. 

Following information on the Rural Community Energy Fund received via Chorley Council a suggestion to install a solar farm on a reservoir in the Heapey parish was put forward.

As a project of this nature is way beyond the resources of a small parish council, the Parish Council wonders whether there is a possibility of Chorley Council leading on a project of this nature which might also involve other rural parishes?

An update on the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group into Developing the Council’s Green Agenda will be given at the meeting. 

A verbal update on the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group was given.  The report will be presented to the Executive Cabinet in March, but it was noted that the recommendations proposed should be treated as the beginning of a process of change rather than an end.

Update

The report can be found here: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=76193

In order to allow members of the Liaison and members of the public to raise issues of local concern, a period of 20 minutes has been set aside.

A member of the public may speak for no more than 3 minutes.  Members of the public are not required to give notice of the issue they intend to raise, although it is expected in the case of service issues that the appropriate mechanisms for resolving the issue have been explored. 

Where a question is raised which cannot be answered at the meeting, a record will be kept by officers supporting the meeting and it will be responded to via the appropriate mechanism.

Councillor Alan Whittaker, Heskin, queried the change in policy in sending paper copies of major planning applications to Parish Councils. It was noted that support has been offered via the council's Digital Inclusion Officer and that many of the Parishes access this information electronically.

A schedule setting out deadlines for items to be requested on the agenda for the Chorley Liaison and dates for future meetings is enclosed. 

Future agenda items were requested in relation to the Police, Climate Change (Task Group report) and electric car charging points.