Call to order
A meeting of the Management Group of Hoylake Vision Community Planning Forum was held at 21st Amendment Bar on 12.07.23.
Attendees
Attendees: Mark Howard (MHo), Tom Hutchinson (TH), Jon Morgan (JM), Alex Woods (AW), Nigel Blacow (NB), Maureen Hanson (MHa), Jon Caswell (JC)
Members not in attendance
Jade Wright (JW), Andrew Snell (AS)
Approval of minutes
The minutes of the June meeting were approved.
Management Group Meeting Reports
- Response to Councillor Cox social media comments
MHo reported that he had a reply from WMBC Head of Law acknowledging the request for a meeting with ward councillors and that she would contact them to discuss, but no date was proposed. It was agreed he would write again, including asking of there might be a reason for the further delay. Action: MHo to contact WMBC. - Future social media strategy
TH and JW had put together a helpful draft for social media strategy. All agreed it should be pursued imminently. TH agreed to start with the first post, relating to the Conservation Area Appraisal. Action: TH to initiate; JW, AW and JC to support as required. - Planning Application Update APP/22/01127 Melrose Avenue
TH again reported that this continues to show on the WMBC planning portal as ‘Decision: Conditional Approval’ and also as ‘Pending Consideration’. We had still not heard back from Kath Lawless who was looking in to the matter at our request. Action: TH to follow up again.
- Proposed meeting with One West Kirby (OWK) representatives
MHo and TH had a fruitful meeting with members of One West Kirby (OWK) with particular reference to the emerging ideas for environmental enhancements to the hinterland behind Hoylake. These are primarily the delivery of improved public access and a potential Wildfowl and Wetlands centre alongside potential new sports facilities. This is essentially the land that had been designated for the council’s “five star golf resort”. Some work had already been undertaken by the council in the form of a Biodiversity report that would still remain relevant. A feasibility study relating to a Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre and Eco Golf Resort had previously been costed at £15-£25k but the council had declined to cover this cost at the time. It was agreed to keep in touch with OWK as the forum’s research and contacts with local groups and other interested parties progressed. Action: MHo and TH to continue contact as appropriate. - NDP awareness raising meeting with local developer
MHo, TH and AS had met with a local developer to raise awareness of the NDP, the Masterplan and the Design Guide and Codes. The initial response from the developer was skeptical of the benefits of NDPs and the principles of Localism generally. Frustration with negative approaches to change and new development proposals in Hoylake generally was expressed. The point was expressed by the management group that the NDP is in fact very supportive of new and sustainable development, of the right type, scale and location. In particular, it was agreed that intensification of development within town centres was necessary to increase footfall which, in turn, would support the local economy. Follow up correspondence was positive and it is hoped that the forum can establish a longer term contact with developers and potential investors more generally in this way.
Action: Contact will be maintained and other contacts will be made in due course. - Next forum member newsletter
Content for the next e-newsletter was agreed. MHo would publish within a few days and monitor analytics. Action: MHo to publish. - Open Day/ AGM Planning
NB would be unavailable for the AGM but most other management group members would be around for part or all of the day (September 16th at St Luke’s). The display panels would be set up, tables with post it notes for comments and one to one conversations would be available. The last Open Day had been a great success with over 200 people attending during the day; many had found the information helpful and many misapprehensions had been corrected. TH would speak around Heritage and Density; AW around Engagement Strategy and MHo around “Legacy; the need for a revival of long term vision vs short termism in planning.” Action: MHo, AW and TH (presentations), NB (membership/voting), AW (venue liaison). - AOB
- JM had reported that the owner of the ROW had implemented parking charges in the space behind the ROW and that he understood this had been the source of some complaints. It was agreed that this was not an issue for the forum since private landowners are within their rights to charge for access and car parking on their land.
Provisional date of next meeting Weds 9 August 2023
