Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relating to the work of the body in question.  Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.

David Rutley MP said that residents had expressed concern about the car parking arrangements for the Belong Care Home and that staff and visitors were parking along the roads, blocking access to their homes.  He was pleased that the Council were taking an interest in this issue.  He understood that the Open Space area proposed for the car park was not frequently used.

Councillor Martin Hardy, Ward Councillor, said that he was sympathetic to the residents cause and this proposal was a way forward for dealing with the parking issue.  The proposed area for the car park had been used by the builders when the Belong Care Home was built, but was not deemed necessary once the build was complete.  The loss of Open Space would be minimal and the public right of way could be moved by going through the correct process.  The proposal had the support of the local residents.

Councillor Louise Brown, Ward Councillor, said that this was an important issues as affected residents on a daily basis and a solution needed to be found.  The cars parked on the roads was causing problems for buses as they had difficulty getting through.  Only a small amount of Open Space would be used for the car park and there was other areas of Open Space in the vicinity.  She asked that the Cabinet Members approve the release of the land so that a solution to the car parking issues could be provided.

Mrs Lynne Wallace, resident of Brampton Avenue, said that since the Belong Care Village had opened in 2007 there had been a continual and fast growing problem of inappropriate and dangerous car parking.  In 2012 over 120 residents had signed a petition in favour of addressing the problem by creating a car park and these residents still held the same view.  The Open Space required would be minimal and with the use of grasscrete and no fencing would enhance the Open Space adjacent to the Care Home and protect the outlook and view.

Mr John Evans, resident of Kennedy Avenue, said that the provision of a car park would help solve the problem of cars parking along the local roads and that residents strongly supported this idea and were in favour of a new car park in the Open Space next to the Belong Care Home.  Only a small amount of Open Space land would be needed for the car park and these was plenty of other areas of Open Space in the local area. 

Nigel Franklin, Belong Care Home, said they supported the proposal for a car park on the Open Space land and had tried to convince staff and visitors to not park on the local roads. 

To consider a report on the land adjacent to Belong Village, Kennedy Avenue, Macclesfield.

That the land adjacent to Belong Village, Kennedy Avenue, Macclesfield, be declared surplus to operational requirements and that authority be granted to enter into negotiations with Belong to dispose of the land by way of a leasehold, or freehold, on terms and conditions to be determined by the Property Services Manager and the Borough Solicitor.

The Cabinet Members considered a report seeking to declare the land adjacent to Belong Village, Kennedy Avenue, Macclesfield surplus to operational requirements.

The land concerned was owned by Cheshire East Council (CEC) and was currently identified in the Macclesfield Local Plan proposals map as Existing Open Space and was therefore subject to policy RT1, which states that areas of open space would be protected from development.  The land was also identified within the CEC Open Space Assessment as Open Space.  This document formed part of the background evidence and informed the emerging local plan and had been used in the formation of the Green Space Strategy.

The Belong Care Home had approached the Council to facilitate a car park on the land, which was adjacent to their existing property, as the current capacity of their car park was limited and staff and visitors were parking on Kennedy Avenue.  The parking on Kennedy Avenue had been identified as a nuisance to residents with inconsiderate parking also obstructing the driveways.  Local Ward Members had been approached by local residents for some time over the parking issues on Kennedy Avenue and around and between the junctions with Millbank Drive and Brompton Avenue.

The Client Service (Environment) had confirmed that the land was not surplus to operational requirements.  However, the need for a car park to prevent the ongoing parking issues in the area and to improve the quality of life of local residents by relieving an unused or under-utilised area of public open space was required.

In accordance with Section 123 (2A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council would be legally obliged to publish notice of its intention to dispose of open space for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper circulating in the area in which the open space was situated. 

RESOLVED:

That the land adjacent to Belong Village, Kennedy Avenue, Macclesfield, be declared surplus to operational requirements and that authority be granted to enter into negotiations with Belong to dispose of the land by way of a leasehold, or freehold, on terms and conditions to be determined by the Property Services Manager and the Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer.  .