Meeting with the Mayor at Brunel Manor Chapel, January 26th 2015
The meeting was attended by
representatives of the Council
Gordon Oliver (Chair meeting), Chris Bouchard (Council Estates), Ray Hill (councillor/trustee TCCT)
representatives of the Maidencombe Community Group
Doug Palmer (Chairman), Jim Campbell (Secretary), Neal Taylor (Committee), Tania Kennedy (Committee), Craig D’Allen (Committee)
representatives of the Maidencombe Residents Association
James Harvey (Chairman), Rodney Horder (Secretary), Kevin Steele (Committee), Leslie Bill (Committee), Suzanne Austin (MRA member & covenant holder)
The meeting commenced at 6:35pm with a brief outline of the current situation by Gordon Oliver together with reference to similar projects around the Bay.
James Harvey (JH) opened the discussion, stating that the MRA would prefer to maintain the status quo and work with the TCCT.
After hearing that, the MCG stated that they also wished to work with the TCCT, assisting with maintenance and would prefer not to transfer the land at this time. Gordon Oliver (GO) broached the idea of a 5 year management plan (duration to be negotiated) for the Village Green. The land would remain in the ownership of the Council. He elaborated that a small joint working group, composed of both the MCG & the MRA, would be set up to execute the management plan in collaboration with the TCCT. This would also allow both groups to keep their identities. The Mayor stated he was aware of the divisions in the community.
Ray Hill, speaking on behalf of the TCCT, indicated that this would probably be acceptable.
GO mentioned that Maidencombe could be eligible for a Heritage Lottery bid, but with the cautionary rider that it could only be successful if there was complete agreement between the groups.
JH asked about a going back and adopting a different approach. GO explained that the council has already decided and that we cannot ‘go back’.
JH then asked about a further option.
JH stated that the MRA had all the paperwork, including witness statements, prepared to send off for registering the Village Green on the Land Registry. Rodney Horder (RH) said they would send it off before noon the next day.
This was countered by Jim Campbell (JC), who asked whether this was, in fact, a new application to register the land as a TVG. If so, it was unnecessary.
JH replied that it was not a new application. He claimed it was merely an application to register the land with the Land Registry – As the council had already approved the voluntary handing over of the green, this application, therefore, is de facto approved i.e. it does not need to go to the council for further approval. Chris Bouchard (CB) agreed with this point of view.
GO asked CB if this was possible to submit the application from the MRA. CB indicated that it shouldn’t be problematic.
JH asked how quickly their application could be approved by the legal department so that the registration can be finalised before May when the Mayor leaves office. GO explained it was impossible to gauge or guarantee any timescale. The Mayor also added that he hoped he was in office after May.
GO asked if anyone was opposed to the MRA submitting their application and witness statements. None disagreed. Doug Palmer (DP) reiterated that the protection of the Green was paramount.
GO then instructed that the application from the MRA would have to have the support of the MCG, despite JH suggesting that the whole application could be undertaken by the MRA solely. RH pointed out that a single person can submit an application. GO reiterated that this doesn’t mean that only one person/organisation should submit and added that, in this case, that was certainly not the case.
CD added that a joint submission would indeed be seen more favourably in the future.
RH and JH acquiesced.
GO, after consulting with CB on forthcoming full Council meetings, provisionally cited February 26th when the item could be discussed on the agenda. (This is the last meeting before the election.) He went on to say that a further meeting of both groups would be necessary subsequent to the Feb 26th Council meeting to discuss and organise the details of the previously mentioned management plan.
GO asked if there were any covenants on the land.
Suzanne Austin (SA) stated that she has the covenant together with her property, Maidencombe Farm.
GO asked about other issues such as buildings, planning permissions, mains, water, etc. Of the issues highlighted, none were considered relevant.
GO asked if the majority view of the village is being represented here.
JH answered with ‘yes’.
Neal Taylor (NT) answered that whilst both groups, even combined, cannot claim to constitute a majority view of Maidencombe, they do represent a broad cross section of the village.
Before the meeting was formally closed, GO was presented with a copy of the MCG’s publication, ‘Coves of Maidencombe’. The Mayor was favourably impressed and said that this publication was exactly what the Bay needed with regard to funding, etc. He also stressed that such activities were exactly what he envisaged for local Community Groups.
ADDENDUM
The next day – January 27 – Jim Campbell phoned the Mayor to verify whether or not the MRA submission constituted a new application or not or whether the witness statements were for the files and constituted supporting documents to the original. The Mayor advised Jim to confirm this with Chris Bouchard and he advised the MCG to submit witness statements of their own so that both groups were equally represented.
Chris Bouchard then wrote to Jim to confirm that the MRA’s submission was, in fact, a new application and, as such, needed to be processed by the Legal Dept. They had advised that they could not process this application before the February deadline.
The Legal Dept pointed out that the decision had already been made to designate the land as a Village Green. They, therefore, suggested that the topic of the Green should be referred back to the Full Council Meeting on February 26th with the request to remove the condition of transferring the land. The Mayor agreed. The MCG informed Chris Bouchard that they, too, agreed with this proposal as the best way forward.