In accordance with the Code of Practice no organisation has indicated that they wished to address the Area Committee as part of the Open Forum arrangements.
Minutes:
Marple in Action (MiA)
The Chair reported that she had invited representatives of Marple in Action (MiA) to take part in an Open Forum about the newly formed group.
David Hoye and Di Jackson attended the meeting and gave a presentation on MiA, the work of the group and its aims and objectives.
The presentation set out the background and aims of the group and covered the following issues:-
· MiA was a community focussed group established in response to the possibility of a supermarket being built on Hibbert Lane at the Cheadle and Marple College site.
· It was an umbrella organisation representing residents and local business owners and other local groups such as the Civic Society and local churches.
· MiA aimed to act as an official voice for the Marple community throughout any process for the sale and development of the Hibbert Lane site.
· The group was not affiliated to any political party.
· MiA was keen to cooperate with the Council and College and be involved with any consultation taking place.
· A recent march from Market Street to Marple Memorial Park that was arranged by MiA and was attended by approximately 1000 people. The group had also set up stalls on Market Street to provide information to residents and businesses.
· A petition had been started, with over 3500 signatures listed to date.
· The group wished to raise public awareness and ensure that the community was represented at all levels of negotiation concerning the site and any proposed development. The group would feed back information to the public.
· MiA aimed to persuade the Governors and management of the College to reconsider the possible sale of land and to encourage the College to make a long term commitment to the Marple area.
· The group hoped to engage the College and be able to hold a meeting with the Governors and Principal.
· The group wished to lobby the Council to reject any planning application for a supermarket on the site.
· MiA believed that a supermarket development at the College site would have a negative impact on the Marple area, the local economy, loss of jobs from the College and local businesses, the quality of life of the community, the environment and the impact of increased traffic and congestion on many roads in the area. It was also felt that such a development would be out of keeping with the atmosphere of the Marple village.
· From research done by the group, it was claimed that for every £1 spent in a small local business 80p would be recycled in the local community, whereas for a supermarket it would only be 10p. It was also claimed that £400,000 had to be spent in a supermarket to sustain 1 job whereas the figure for a small local shop was £60,000. To sustain a supermarket in Marple it was likely that it would need a turnover of £50m per annum which would equate to 200 vehicle movements per hour.
· 80% of respondents to an online MiA survey were against a supermarket on the College site.
· The group planned to lead a rally in Marple Memorial Park on 11 September 2011 and had invited the local MP.
Members of the public were invited to ask questions of MiA.
The following comments were made:-
· There was a suggestion that the land in question could not be used for anything other than educational purposes for legal reasons and this should be investigated further.
· Many of the people who attended the recent rally admitted to not shopping in Marple on a regular basis. More needed to be done to encourage local shopping and to encourage businesses to do more to make themselves a more attractive and pleasant shopping experience.
The Chair thanked Marple in Action for their presentation and announced that she intended to hold an extraordinary meeting of the Area Committee in the near future to allow residents, business and other interested parties to discuss the issues further. She also confirmed that she intended to have a standing item on all future area committee agendas so as to provide updates on current developments, if any.
RESOLVED – (1) That the Democratic Services Manager be requested to arrange an extraordinary meeting of the Area Committee, inviting Council Officers, MiA, residents and representatives of the College to attend, to be held as soon as possible to consider the issues surrounding a proposed development in the Hibbert Lane area.
(2) That the Democratic Services Manager be requested to place a ‘standing item’ on the Hibbert Lane site on Area Committee agendas until further notice.