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YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF OUR PARISH​

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This page contains updates from the Lyminge Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.

 

For additional information posted by the Lyminge Parish Council, relating to the Neighbourhood Plan, please click here

 

Page updated 28.1.2025

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Update following our report in the January Newsletter.

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The has, regrettably, made little progress in the past month. The impediments mentioned in the closing paragraphs of the earlier report remain in place.

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Representatives of the Steering Group have attended Lyminge Parish Council (LPC) committee meetings and it is to be noted that one LPC sub-committee (Community Engagement and Events) meeting that took place on the 7th October 2024 agreed to look at the Neighbourhood Plan. This sub-committee met again on the 2nd December with an agenda item ‘to start mapping out ideas’. At the time of writing this report the draft minutes of their meeting are not yet available on line but it is to be hoped that some real progress will be made soon.

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Currently the Steering Group along with the LPC are awaiting clarification of the new powers the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government introduced on 12th December 2024 (online at Gov.uk and search for ‘Guidance on Plan Making’, Plan Making 12/12/24 para 085) regarding, in part, local planning regulations.

If, and when, the Steering Group has more news for you, further updates will appear in future Newsletters.

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THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE, FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE JANUARY 2025  EDITION OF THE LYMINGE NEWSLETTER, HAS BEEN REPRODUCED BY KIND PERMISSION OF THE ETCHINGHILL WORKING GROUP (PREVIOUSLY CALLED THE 'LYMINGE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP' 

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Unfortunately following our upbeat report in the December 2024 Newsletter, we now have to advise Lyminge residents of a major setback.

 

At  the full Lyminge Parish Council (LPC) meeting on 11th November 2024 the Council, following a presentation from the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (NPSG), approved three motions suggested by councillors concerning

 

1) ‘To allow residents to form a steering group to complete work on the Neighbourhood Plan

2) To agree to two or more councillors to be part of the steering group

3) To pass on the details of the consultant and any work already completed’

(Source - LPC Minutes agreed 09/12/24)

 

Each one was proposed, seconded and passed on the 11th November 2024.

 

At the subsequent full LPC meeting on 9th December 2024, although there was some disagreement as to the accuracy, the Minutes were agreed by a majority of councillors. There was no agenda item to allow further discussion of this subject.

 

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On the 10th of December at an informal meeting arranged at the Coach and Horses attended by two councillors, the clerk and two members of the Steering Group it emerged that the LPC would only allow, amongst other things, the Steering Group be known as a Working Party and that it would only be able to concern itself with Etchinghill matters. This is totally against the spirit behind the creation of the Steering Group which was to involve the whole Parish.

 

Furthermore, the Steering Group representatives were advised that the re-employment of the consultant would be undertaken by the LPC and the individual would only be allowed to consult/ report directly to the clerk.

 

In addition, most of the existing files are, supposedly, subject to data protection rules and would likely only be released in a heavily redacted format.

 

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The public meeting previously arranged and publicised by the NPSG (although now a Working Party) took place on 11th December 2024. After much discussion the public felt there was little to be gained by working with the LPC under the restrictions they had introduced (noting that there had been no subsequent motions to overturn those originally agreed at their meeting of 9th November) and that the degree of cooperation the LPC had previously expressed had no relationship to reality.

 

At the Coach and Horses meeting the Working Party representatives were told there were four to five other ‘working groups’ already actively working on the Plan within the Parish. However. they could not be told who these groups were, who their members were and which part of the Plan they were working on. The next full LPC committee meeting is Monday 13 January 2025 (the location is not yet posted on their website). If members of these groups could attend the LPC meeting and make themselves known to us then, surely, greater co-operation across the whole Parish could be achieved.

 

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Considering all of these impediments the public meeting concluded that no further work by the NPSG/Working Party could realistically be undertaken until the LPC had resolved its differences with the consultant, with a strong endorsement that the previous incumbent, Alison Eardley, be reemployed to work with all the groups!

 

 

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THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED BY THE ABOVE 

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It should be noted that David McCombe (Communications) has since resigned from the aforementioned committee for personal reasons

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Page Update 20.11.24

 

The above Lyminge Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (LNPSG), was formally created on Tuesday 19 November, at the Gatekeeper PH after a series of public meetings

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The group will comprise 4 elected officers, up to 4 parish councillors, and a further 6 or so members from the Lyminge Parish communities, some of whom are still to be contacted as they couldn't attend the earlier meetings

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The elected officers are:

Chair - Roger Joyce

Vice Chair - Susan Hayward

Secretary - Liz Joyce

Treasurer - Victoria Couper-Samways

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Monthly Steering Group meetings will alternate between Etchinghill, Lyminge & Rhodes Minnis (future venues and dates TBA) with the first meeting being held on...

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WEDNESDAY 11TH DECEMBER AT ETCHINGHILL VILLAGE HALL STARTING PROMPTLY AT 7 PM

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The Steering Group encourages Rhodes Minnis residents to attend to give balance throughout the parish, in addition to those from Lyminge and Etchinghill who have already expressed an interest in becoming involved in the group

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Our appointed NP consultant will also be attending

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We are currently formulating the best methods of communication for the Group (dedicated website, Lyminge Parish Council website, Facebook, WhatsApp etc), so that we can quickly and efficiently reach all corners of the Parish but, in the meantime, please keep a lookout for items in the Lyminge Newsletter, the Etchinghill Residents' (ERA) Facebook page (click on the link below), public notice boards and on this website, as these communication methods exist already

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A formal agenda for the 11/12 meeting will be published in due course

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Dave McCombe

'Communications'

LNPSG

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