An apology for absence was received from Alan Robinson.

Phil Collins was duly elected as Chairman until the next Annual General Meeting in 2015.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2013.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2013 were accepted and agreed as an accurate report of the meeting.

·         Appointment of Vice-Chair

·         Co-ordinators

Vice-Chairman

No nominations were received.

Co-ordinators

Torquay – Margaret Forbes-Hamilton agreed to continue.

Paignton – Wanda Hollingsworth agreed to continue.

Brixham – Mick Lear and Robert Boyd agreed to continue.

The Local Plan is a very large document and for the purposes of this meeting only the policies that would be of interest to the Local Access Forum have been included with the agenda.  If you wish to read the entire local plan please refer to www.torbay.gov.uk/newlocalplan.

Members considered the “Landscape for Success – The Plan for Torbay to 2032 and beyond” Development Plan Document, Submission Plan.  At the meeting Steve Turner, Strategic Planning Team Leader, explained the how the plan had been developed and the examination process that was to be undertaken before Council could formally ratify the document.  Mr Turner responded to Members question and welcomed any comments on the plan.

Members were pleased to note that comments they had made on the draft plan had been taken into account and reflected in Policy SS6.  Members also felt that the plan appeared to be sustainable with enhancements to the policies having been made.  If the opportunity arose Members would like to see ‘4.3, Aspiration 2: Achieve a better connected, accessible Torbay and essential infrastructure’ paragraph 4.3.8 slightly amended.  However, overall Members were very supportive of the submission plan.

Paignton Co-ordinator – Wanda Hollingsworth

·        No new issues to report.

Brixham Co-ordinator – Mick Lear

·        Queried how long there would be a diversion in place at St Marys Bay?  Members were advised that following a landslip the steps at St Marys Bay had been undermined with further landslips expected in the future.  James Nicholson advised that he would be meeting with South West Coast Paths to determine if there was any funding available to address the closure.

Torquay Co-ordinator – Margaret Forbes-Hamilton

·        Advised that Tesco’s had submitted an appeal against the decision made on the application at Edginswell.  Margaret further advised that as yet there had not been application submitted for the Marina Development in Torquay but felt when submitted it would be of interest to the LAF.

Members considered the Annual Review Form: April 2013 to March 2014, Members provided comments that they wished to have included and agreed for the Annual Review Form to be submitted to Natural England.

The Chairman provided feedback from the Local Access Forum Regional Chair’s Meeting.  The Chairman advised that Plymouth had sought the services of a consultant to prepare Definitive Map Modification Orders.  Members were advised that Definitive Map Modification Orders were a priority for Torbay Council however it was the statements that was causing a backlog, the authority had a number of ideas to address the issue.  Members were further advised that the Local Access Forum would be consulted when statements were available.

The Chairman also provided feedback on the MENE, explained that the data had been structured in a user friendly format, enabling the data to be interrogated in a number of ways such as Local Access Forum areas.

South West Coast Path

Members were advised of an event that celebrated the success of the South West Coast Path and how the achievements could be built upon.  Members were advised that a Stakeholder Group had been established which would be considering the wider benefits of the South West Coast Path.  Members were informed that it was highlighted that Torbay may have failed to capitalise on the funding that was available and had therefore ‘missed a trick’.  Members were asked to think about the coast paths in their areas, what might need doing and whether the ideas could be linked to the conservation agenda.  Suggestions should be forwarded to the Chairman and James Nicholas by the end of April 2014.

Proposed Disposal of Seven ‘Open’ Areas of Council Land

Members considered seven ‘open’ tracts of land that were being recommended to Councillors for disposal as the areas were deemed not required for service delivery.  The tracts of land were:

Ø  Paignton Windmill

Ø  Land at Loxbury Road and Vicarage Road

Ø  Land at Alpine Road

Ø  ‘Hillside’ former South Parks Children’s home and adjoining land, South Parks Road

Ø  Former playground adjoining 7 Glebeland Way, Torquay

Ø  Land rear of Borough Road, Paignton

Ø  Land adjoining 92 Colley End Road

Members requested a formal response be sent in relation to Land at Loxbury Road and Vicarage Road, due to the land having the safest route due to the surrounding roads not having pavements.

Members noted that they had previously commented on Land at Alpine Road and requested their previous response be re-submitted.

Members were not prepared to consider ‘former playground adjoining 7 Glebeland Way, Torquay’ without information detailing the rationale for disposing of a playground.  Once the rationale had been established Members would then consider their response.

Subject to the three tracts of land detailed above the Local Access Forum had no objection to the other tracts of land being disposed of.

Members noted the date of the next meeting.