Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Elizabeth Hughes, Sohan Sangha and Peta Vaught and from Councillor Gurmail Lal for lateness.

The Chair, Cllr Gopal Dhillon, proposed that Cllr Sohan Sangha be appointed Link Member for Hounslow Homes Area Forums. Cllr Shantanu Rajawat seconded the motion which was carried unanimously.

 

The Chair, Cllr Gopal Dhillon, proposed that Cllr Mohinder Gill be appointed Link Member for Housing Strategy Forum. Cllr Sohan Sangha seconded the motion which was carried unanimously.

 

 

Resolved:

 

That the following appointments be made to the Heston & Cranford Area Committee for the municipal year 2012/2013.

 

 

• Councillor Sohan Sangha as the Link Member for Hounslow Homes Area Forums.

 

• Councillor Mohinder Gill be appointed Link Member for the Housing Strategy Forum.

 

• Members agreed to defer the appointments to a S.106 sub-group to the next meeting when there would be more Councillors present to discuss the membership.

 

 

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 May 2012 were agreed as an accurate record.

Matters arising from the previous minutes.

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

i)       Members of the public or applicants should contact the Committee Administrator, David Christopher on 020 8583 2071 with details of the proposed submission no later than 5pm, on the Thursday of the week before the meeting. The Chair will decide whether or not to grant the request to speak and notification will be given of the decision.

 

ii)      For all highways matters, if there are members of the public with opposing views regarding the proposal the chair will allow both sides to speak. Generally, speakers will only be allowed to speak on issues where funding is available.

 

iii)     Each party will be given no more than 5 minutes to speak.

iv)     Planning items for comment are for councillors’ comments only. Members of the public or applicants can apply to speak at the Sustainable Development Committee, should a report be taken to that meeting for decision.

 

v)      The Area Committee will consider submissions on 3 items per meeting.

 

vi)     Written submissions must be made to the Committee Administrator no later than 4pm on the day of the meeting.

Presentation.

 

A presentation was made to the Forum by David Graham, a partner at DP9 (advisers to the site’s owners, Formal Investments Ltd) and Kevin Carmody of Carmody Groarke, architects, on a proposal to extract gravel from Rectory Farm.

 

Mr Graham advised that the previous owners of the 40 acre agricultural field had applied for permission to extract gravel from the site which had been refused; however he said that planning policy was consistent with gravel extraction in principle and he believed the proposals would address the concerns which had led to the earlier refusal.

 

Mr Carmody advised that the applicants had met with the GLA, Design for London and others and would now like to present their proposals to the Area Forum before taking it to the local community. He then presented the slide show (pages 14 to 42 of the Agenda).

 

Mr Carmody stated that Rectory Farm was one of two sites highlighted as grade A for gravel extraction within the Borough Plan and described it as a relatively featureless field above alluvial gravel, with a historic farm building at the edge. The site was no longer used for agriculture and was unsuitable for that purpose due to its size and surroundings and was now subject to flytipping and other anti-social behaviour, particularly on the pathway on one side. The site was 1.2 km across and although a visual amenity was not publicly accessible.

 

Cllr Gurmail Lal joined the meeting at this point, 7.20 pm.

 

Mr Carmody advised that trial borepits had been dug between 1 and 9 metres below the topsoil and the owners had spent a considerable time working with the engineers to find a method to extract gravel with the minimum effect on the local community. The company proposed to carry out the extraction using the method of Cellular Top Down Construction. The broad principle was, he advised, to build a hoarding around the site, remove the topsoil, drive in palings and pave it over using concrete slabs before replacing soil and creating a park. The gravel would be extracted quietly and safely over a 20 year period and the method would, Mr Carmody was sure, address 5 of the 6 grounds for refusal when the previous owner had asked to carry out open cast extraction in the 1990s:

 

1)     There would be no groundfill and water level would be maintained.

2)     Works would be underground eliminating much of the noise.

3)     The land would be improved by landscaping carried out by award winning architects VOGT immediately and extraction carried out underground eliminating visual objections.

4)     Traffic issues would be mitigated. The owners had worked with Arup, the consulting engineers and had a strategy to minimise traffic disruption; talks had also taken place with TfL to create sliproads. (Arup is an engineering, planning and design consultancy involved with the project).

 

5)     Loss of agricultural land – the farm was not currently used for agriculture, was in fact unsuitable for such use and was in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

An opportunity for members of the public to address the meeting on general issues relating to the Monitoring items on the agenda.

 

Protocol:

•        Questions will be allowed at the Chair’s discretion.

•        The Chair will normally only allow one question per item.

•        Items on the main agenda should not be raised in the open forum.

•        Individual cases cannot be discussed.

•        Items submitted to the Chair in advance of the meeting are welcomed.

Miss Margaret Bull asked the following questions regarding the Hermitage:

 

With regard to the minutes of the meeting of 31 May 2012: Where did the half funding referred to in minute 82 paragraphs 5 & 6 come from?

 

Can you confirm that Ms Urquhart has written to the owner many times offering to discuss the matter and has not received a reply in two years?

 

Can you confirm that following the placing of draft guidance notes on the Council website on 25 May 2011 Ms Urquhart has received several enquiries from developers stating that they wish to purchase the Hermitage and that the agent has not said that his company is unwilling to sell?

 

Referring to the Planning Policy Statement 5, can you confirm if the following has been done:

 

Has the Council considered using their Repair and CPO powers to remedy the neglect?

 

Has the Council made reasonable efforts to find a public or charitable organisation to take on the asset or find grant funding?

 

Ms Bull advised that in order to obtain funding from the Lottery or TV exposure as Cllr John Chatt had suggested in the meeting of 31 May 2012, the best use of the property would be for the Local Authority to restore the house, maintain it and lease it out as a tourist attraction.

 

Ms Bull stated that unless answers to her questions were forthcoming she would refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.

 

The Chair noted her concerns and advised that they would be passed to the relevant officer.

 

Ms Archana Sharma advised that there were serious issues regarding very large vehicles entering and leaving Lampton Park in connection with funfairs and social days, causing congestion and noise, particularly at night. She stated that vehicles up to 50’ long sometimes entered or left in convoy, damaging pavements and grass verges, taking a very long time to get clear and that the drivers could be aggressive towards other road users. Along with the congestion these vehicles caused a disturbance with noise and lights, sometimes until the early hours of the morning. Ms Sharma asked who was responsible for the management of the park and added that no one seemed willing to accept responsibility. She stated that residents were extremely frustrated with the lack of response from either the Council or the police. They did not wish to stop such events taking place but simply wished to be treated with respect and their problems to be taken seriously; the problem had gone on for over 20 years and residents were tired of complaining to no avail. Ms Sharma advised that one Councillor had called her selfish for complaining although others had been more supportive.

 

The Chair advised that the relevant officer be contacted and Lorraine Srivastav stated that she would pass on the necessary details to Ms Sharma.

 

The Area Forum noted Ms Sharma’s concerns.

 

 

See the report in the agenda.

 

No police officer was available to present the report. Cllr Amrit Mann stated that he wished to register dissatisfaction with the lack of a police presence, as it was not the first time this had happened. The Chair agreed and requested that the police are asked to ensure that an officer attends meetings in future.

Please see the report by the Director of Environment (agenda item 9). Please note that paragraph 4.5.2 has been updated since the original publication to correct an error.

 

Bob Seera presented the report together with Sonny McCann, Assistant Project Manager and Tim Douglas.

 

Mr David Blackett, Chair of Heston Residents’ Association, stated that he accepted all of the report and noted the problems that had been outlined. He hoped that the problems could be overcome, particularly those regarding infrastructure that had been raised by local residents. He asked if adequate parking for leisure centre users was to be provided and also if every possible opportunity for raising the funding without building on open land had been examined. Mr Seera advised that all avenues had been explored and there had been no other viable options although nobody liked the loss of open space. The cost savings if the plan went ahead, according to Fusion’s business plan, would be £800,000 per annum, not enough to enable the Council to borrow the money prudentially.

 

Resolved:

 

The Area Forum noted the contents of the report.

See the report by the Director of Environment. Lorraine Srivastav, Community Environment Officer, presented the report.

 

Members made the following comments:

 

Cllr Lal stated that he found the report shocking and he found the quoted costs beyond comprehension and difficult to believe. He acknowledged that electricity supply had been a problem but that he thought it had been resolved, only to find that now electricity could not be supplied after all. Cllr Lal expressed the view that officers wanted to bury the matter. He accepted that the Forum could not do much given the financial restraints but asked the cost of removing the rubbish dumped by flytippers and advised that more had to be done to protect the area. 

 

Cllr Amrit Mann said that members had been told that electricity could be drawn from the M4 supply. He advised that he was disappointed that Osterley Lane had not been included in the PFI initiative as it would benefit greatly from the introduction of street lighting. Cllr Mann asked if dummy cameras could be installed as a deterrent as it was wrong to ignore residents’ concerns on this matter and imperative that something be done. He added that if the value of scrap fell then the problem of dumped cars would inevitably re-emerge.

 

Mr David Blackett, Chair of Heston Residents’ Association, agreed and added that other forms of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in addition to flytipping were a problem for both local residents and the National Trust, particularly south of the M4 bridge. Given that the PFI project was worth £300 million Mr Blackett saw the required £31,000 as a comparative drop in the ocean; he said that CCTV would be a big help and said that he would support any plans to secure funding for street lighting.  He asked that the Council support any plea for funding for street lighting and CCTV.

 

Lorraine Srivastav advised that she had raised the issue but that due to funding cuts spending had to be prioritised; she had asked Community Safety and Parking about CCTV funding and they had been unable to assist. Ms Srivastav said she would report back to Trevor Wallis, PFI Project Director, that the Area Forum had raised the issue.

 

Cllr Mann asked if Ealing Council and the National Trust could be asked for funds as they would also benefit. Ms Srivastav advised that the expense of connecting to the M4 electricity supply was an issue as well as the installation of lighting columns. Cllr Lal asked if the expense of clearing rubbish from the site had been balanced against that of prevention and queried the stated cost of £20,000 for cameras. Ms Srivastav said that she would liaise with officers to find out the cost of clearance but that cheaper cameras would not be useful; high quality images would be essential. Cllr Gopal Dhillon asked if dummy cameras were a possibility; Ms Srivastav gave the opinion that dummy cameras may be counterproductive by giving the public a false  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

Aine Hayes presented the reports.

 

Athula Dassana Multi-Cultural Buddhist Community Centre.

 

Members expressed serious reservations concerning this application and were also advised that correspondence that had been received making very serious allegations about a person connected with the Centre.

 

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat moved that the application be refused.

 

Cllr Sohan Sangha seconded the motion.

 

Votes to Refuse: Cllrs Gopal Dhillon, Mohinder Gill, Gurmail Lal and Amrit Mann.

 

Votes to grant: None.

 

Abstentions: None.

 

Children in Care Council/Youth Empowerment Service.

 

Members were concerned about a lack of information within the application, particularly with regard to the organisation’s other sources of funding.

 

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat moved that consideration of the application be deferred to allow more information to be submitted.

 

Cllr Sohan Sangha seconded the motion.

 

Votes to Defer: Cllrs Gopal Dhillon, Mohinder Gill, Gurmail Lal and Amrit Mann.

 

Votes to grant: None.

 

Votes to refuse: None.

 

Abstentions: None.

 

Cranford Ladies Group.

 

Cllr Sohan Sangha moved that the application be granted.

 

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat seconded the motion.

 

Votes to grant: Cllrs Gopal Dhillon, Mohinder Gill, Gurmail Lal and Amrit Mann.

 

Votes to Refuse: None.

 

Abstentions: None.

 

Equiptt.

 

Members were concerned about a lack of information within the application, particularly with regard to the quality of training offered.

 

Cllr Gurmail Lal proposed that the Head Teacher of Cranford Community College be contacted to request information on the quality of the training. If the College found the training satisfactory they would be asked to consider funding it themselves.

 

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat seconded the motion.

 

Votes in favour: Cllrs Gopal Dhillon, Mohinder Gill, Amrit Mann and Sohan Sangha.

 

Votes against: None.

 

Abstentions: None.

 

Goldy Goldy Asian Women’s Group (Heston)

 

Members were concerned about a lack of information within the application. It was asked if other sources of funding had been approached and if the organisation, which had been previously funded by Small Grants, had achieved the targets they had submitted on earlier occasions. Aine Hayes advised that she would seek the requested information.

 

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat moved that the application be granted in principle; Ms Hayes would obtain the requested information and if members approved the grant would be made, otherwise it would be refused.

 

Cllr Sohan Sangha seconded the motion.

 

Votes in favour: Cllrs Gopal Dhillon, Mohinder Gill, Gurmail Lal and Amrit Mann.

 

Votes against: None.

 

Abstentions: None.

 

The Sikh Art and Cultural Centre.

 

Cllr Sohan Sangha moved that the application be granted.

 

Cllr Mohinder Gill seconded the motion.

 

Votes to grant: Cllrs Gopal Dhillon, Gurmail Lal Amrit Mann and Shantanu Rajawat.

 

Votes to Refuse: None.

 

Abstentions: None.

 

 

 

 

Resolved:

 

That all successful applicants shall be monitored and a report presented to the Area Forum after six months informing them of success or failure to deliver the services promised.

 

That the Committee approved the allocation of the Area Committee Fund to the following organisations:

 

Cranford Ladies Group                                                        £500

 

The Sikh Art and Cultural Centre                                         £500

 

That the Committee approved the allocation of the Area Committee Fund in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Presentation by Councillor Colin Ellar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment.

 

A presentation regarding the Highways Maintenance PFI Scheme was made by Cllr Colin Ellar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment, and Trevor Wallis, PFI Project Director. Please see document in electronic agenda pack.

 

Cllr Ellar advised that grant bids to renew infrastructure via PFI had been put in nationwide over the previous five or six years and that Hounslow had been one of only three (and the only London Borough) to receive the grant. It would amount to £350 million over a 25 year period. A very large sum would be invested at the start as improvement work would take place during the first five years and the remaining period of the contract was to maintain the network. The company awarded the contract were Vinci Ringway, a French company with a UK base.

 

Cllr Ellar presented the slides covering the scope of the contract, contract brand and the investment programme. He advised that if streets were in very poor condition the company would remake the road; they would also replace lights in their entirety. Otherwise, they would resurface roads and replace the heads of lights. Cllr Ellar announced that he would present the Forum with additional detail in an additional meeting in October. He stated that the contract was to be signed on 24 July, the day the Olympic Torch came to Hounslow, by himself and the Leader, Cllr Jagdish Sharma, and that a report would go to Cabinet on 31 July. The works programme would be finalised in November and the contract start date was 1 January 2013.

 

Moving to the criteria for creating the works programme Cllr Ellar advised that the contract required there to be specific measurable improvements for the contractor to be paid and so there would be significant improvements made in two or three years. There would inevitably be disruption but the company had great experience and expertise and would do their best to minimise this; for example they will not concentrate on a single area but would spread works out across the Borough in order to maintain traffic flow. Work would be carried out on the Cycle Superhighway at the same time and great care would be taken to avoid disrupting events and festivals. Cllr Ellar stated that he would inform the Forum of the first year’s schedule in the October meeting.

 

The maps showed the projected areas of work over the first five years of the programme, by the end of which Cllr Ellar advised the Borough would have the best roads pavements and lights in London. He stated that the Council would continue to listen to all input but that changes to the programme would only be made if absolutely essential to avoid additional cost and reduced effectiveness. Cllr Ellar gave assurances that communications with residents and businesses would be as fast, effective and thorough as possible to ensure that everyone understood that some disruption was unavoidable but beneficial in the longer term.

 

A member of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Slide presentation attached to the electronic agenda pack following the meeting.

 

 

The next scheduled meeting will take place on 27 September 2012.

The next scheduled meeting will take place on 27 September 2012.

Any other items which the Chair accepts for consideration on grounds of urgency.

Three petitions were presented to the Area Forum:

 

1011 signatures were received requesting that 30 minutes of free parking be provided in the car park located outside numbers 334 to 388 Bath Road, Hounslow West and that current car parking charges be reviewed.

 

Resolved: The Chair advised that the petition was not relevant to the Heston & Cranford Area Forum as the address was outside the area. The petition should be for Central Hounslow Area Forum.

 

107 signatures were received from the staff and families of Springwell Infant & Nursery School asking the Council to consider the installation of a zig zag school entrance area, “kill your sped” signs on lampposts and a 20 mph limit in the surrounding area and a zebra crossing.

 

Resolved: The Area Forum noted the petition.

 

96 signatures were received from residents asking the Council to consider the introduction of red route marking or other parking restrictions at all times at the corners of the Great West Road/Springwell Road junction.

 

Resolved: The Area Forum noted the petition.

 

A petition was handed to the Chair by Cllr Mohinder Gill from residents who were concerned about fly tipping in Broadwalk, Heston and requested that the Council install CCTV cameras and relevant signage.

 

Resolved: The clerk will forward the petition to the appropriate officer.