Call to order
A meeting of the Management Group of Hoylake Vision Community Planning Forum was held at Tom Hutchinson’s house on 23.11.22.
Attendees
Attendees: Tom Hutchinson (TH), Nigel Blacow (NB), Mark Howard (MHo), Maureen Hanson (MHa), Jon Morgan (JM), Jon Caswell (Jon C), Alex Woods (AW)
Members not in attendance
Jade Wright (JW), Bryony Parsons (BP)
Approval of minutes
The minutes of the October meeting were approved.
Management Group Meeting Reports
- Welcome
It was agreed to further postpone the conversation about young people’s engagement until more management group members and hopefully Jess Trigg can be present. Action: MHa to follow up
- Carr Lane recreational site as an ACV and related sites and covenants
Following detailed research into all Land registry information available, no evidence of any restrictive covenants on the recreation ground site was forthcoming. In the current context, with the council attempting to dispose of unused or underused assets, it was agreed that is will be important to monitor how these sites are used in the coming months. An ACV on the recreational ground remains in place, although the adjacent site between this and Edward Road / Yeoman’s cottages is council owned but currently not in use and is not subject to an ACV.
- APP/22/01127 To demolish existing building and structures and erect 15no dwellings, comprising 12no. houses and 3no. apartments with access, landscaping and ancillary works at 8 Melrose Avenue, Hoylake
An objection to this proposal had been submitted by the forum. TH had spoken to the case officer to make her aware of the NDP Masterplan Area and would continue to liaise with them. The primary concern is that this site is one of two pockets of land within the masterplan area (this and the site of the Melrose Hall) that are owned by the council and could be sold off to private developers in due course. This could further deteriorate a key opportunity to realise the potential for a public space as set out in the Masterplan, while missing other opportunities to provide better design and more appropriately sited and scaled residential accommodation and other facilities. The Tennis courts, prreviously owned by St Lukes Church, had already been sold for private development some years ago, before the NDP was “made”; the NDP would not have supported that earlier scheme if it were to be proposed now. It is hoped the council will be willing to engage with the management group to better understand the need for future proposals to be better aligned with the NDP and to realise the potential of this large and strategically important site for the town. TH would contact the applicant and the owner of the Row, who the management group had liaiased with previously, as well as the new applicant, to open a dialogue about exploring a more structured long term plan for future development that would be more beneficial for the town while being commercially attractive for developers. Action: TH/MHo - Locality funding update
NB and JonM reported that the Locality funding (£4,400) for the next stages of consultation and engagement had been received. We would therefore be able to draw down funding as required for the next stages of consultation.
- Hoylake Library
NB had attended a meeting about the future of the library and would continue to monitor progress and had explained the ACV process. The management group agreed that unfortunately the forum can not do anything else at this stage to support the proposals. Some high level ideas for alternative uses were discussed and could be pursued should the current proposals be ultimately unsuccessful. It was agreed that community /public use of the existing building would be preferable to private redevelopment (eg residential/commercial) as this would align with the overall objectives of the NDP. Action: NB to continue to monitor and feed back.
- AOB
TH was continuing to liaise with WMBC and the Conservation Area Society regarding the possibility of developing a management plan for Hoylake’s two conservation areas. £10,000 funding from the council had been agreed but this still need to be match funded.
Date of next meeting Weds 11 January 2023
