| Item | Description | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| PART 1 - PUBLIC | ||
| C 05/047 |
Declarations of interest. |
Councillor Diment declared a personal interest in the item relating to Council Tax in respect of Former Police Houses (Minute CB 05/048 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 7 September 2005 refers) in that he was an employee of the Police Authority. |
| C 05/048 |
Minutes |
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 12 July 2005 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor. |
| C 05/049 |
Minutes |
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the proceedings of the extraordinary meeting of the Council held on 10 August 2005 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor. |
| C 05/050 |
Mayor's Announcements. |
The Mayor advised that he had attended 49 engagements over the last two months and he thanked the Deputy Mayor for attending a further 12 events on his behalf. He reported that he had attended the English Picnic in Heusenstamm on 23 and 24 July with the Chairman of the Twinning Committee, Councillor Dobson. He had also visited the Borough's Twin Town of Le Puy-en-Velay over the weekend 17/18 September, together with Councillor Dobson and the Chief Executive, for the official twinning ceremony between Le Puy and Tortosa in Spain. This event had coincided with the 20th occasion of the now famous Roi de L'Oiseau Festival. He advised Members that the Mayor of Le Puy, Madame Arlette Arnaud-Landau, had requested that her best wishes be conveyed to the Councillors and residents of Tonbridge and Malling. He reminded Members that the annual cricket match against Maidstone Borough Council had been held on Sunday 31 July and was pleased to announce the success of this Council's team. Regretfully, he was unable to announce a similar success at the Mauling Cup golf match against a team from Poult Wood Golf Centre which had been held on 11 September. He was very pleased to announce that £200 had been raised for his charities during the River Cruise held on 13 August, while a further £600 had been raised at his Garden Party held on 15 September. The Mayor advised Members that a Charity Latin Swing Night would be held at Poult Wood Golf Club on 1 October, that he would be switching on the Christmas Lights in Tonbridge on 4 December as part of the Christmas Festival and that the usual celebration of Christmas would be held after the Council meeting on 13 December. Remaining on the theme of Christmas the Mayor advised that a Tea Dance for senior citizens would be held on 18 November where he hoped to have Christmas hampers as raffle prizes. He welcomed any contributions Members may like to donate, such as a box of chocolates, tin of salmon, Christmas crackers or a bottle of sherry. |
| C 05/051 |
Questions from the public pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.6. |
No questions were received from the public pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.6. |
| C 05/052 |
Questions from Members pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.5. |
No questions were received from Members pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.5. |
| C 05/053 |
Notices of Motion submitted pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No 5.17 |
The following Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor Court and seconded by Councillor Worrall:- "This Council recognises that the Government Consultation Paper on "Local Government Finance: Formula Grant Distribution" will have substantial impacts on the grant allocated to all councils in Kent, and to the Police and Fire Authorities, including possible losses in Formula Funding of £40 million. This Council notes that this Consultation Paper is based on out-of-date 1991 Census data which disadvantages Kent by some £9 million per year. This Council urges the Government to address realistically the implications for funding of the extra houses it has imposed on Kent. This Council believes that council taxpayers in Kent should not have to pay for the shortfall in Government funding for Social Services, compared with other areas of the country. This Council acknowledges that there are areas of very high deprivation in Kent, comparable in severity to almost anywhere in England. This Council emphasises that underfunding of public services in the South East should not be used as an instrument of regional policy, that could and should be addressed by other substantial funding streams. This Council is alarmed that the Treasury has announced its intention to give a Grant increase to local authorities in England of only 0.8% (excluding schools), whilst the Treasury Red Book assumes a Council Tax yield increase of 7.5%. This Council therefore resolves to work with the County Council and other authorities in Kent, and independently, to draw attention to the deficiencies of the system, both as it presently operates and especially the further detriment to services, which would flow from the proposals in this latest Consultation Paper. This Council demands fair and equitable Government support for the residents of this Borough and the county of Kent." RESOLVED: That the Motion be carried unanimously. |
| C 05/054 |
Leader's Announcements. |
Further to the motion set out above the Leader advised that, together with the Chief Executive, he would be attending a "Fair Funding Summit" the following day which had been convened by Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart to discuss and highlight the inequitable treatment all Kent authorities received under the Government's proposed changes to the funding arrangements. He indicated that he would be supporting any lobbying efforts designed to redress the situation. The Leader advised that the Council was approaching an important stage in producing an action plan for Tonbridge Town Centre. He reported that an exhibition would commence the following week which would enable the residents of Tonbridge to have their say on the proposals drawn up by the Council's consultants and approved for public consultation by the Tonbridge Town Centre Panel. He further advised that the exhibition would be followed, on 10th October, by a special meeting of Tonbridge Forum at which the action plan would be the sole topic for discussion. He hoped that this would give a full opportunity for residents and organisations in Tonbridge to comment on the proposals and to shape their further development. The Leader reminded Members about the consultation event organised by the County Council regarding The South East Plan which would take place at the Kings Hill Conference Centre at the University of Greenwich, Kings Hill on the evening of Tuesday 4th October. He hoped that, as the South East Plan affected all residents, as many Members as possible would attend this event and make their views known on behalf of the communities they represented. The Leader indicated that, under the chairmanship of Councillor Heslop, a series of meetings was taking place between the Housing Association Liaison Panel Members and the Council's housing association preferred partners. He commented that this was proving an extraordinarily useful initiative for both the Council and the associations which had enabled the sending of some powerful messages about the Authority's approach to affordable housing and its willingness to support good quality schemes in the Borough. The Leader commended Councillor Mrs Kemp and her fellow Licensing Panel Members for the hard work they had put into dealing with the applications received for variations to existing justices licences. He stated that this has been a considerable task and one which he believed they had discharged admirably, with extremely able support from Duncan Robinson and Melvyn Wood. With regard to the Tonbridge to Penshurst Cycle Link the Leader commended the achievement of the Council's long held ambition to establish a comprehensive cycle link from Tonbridge to Penshurst. He stated that this was a superb achievement for which both Peter Wright and Rod Thompson could be justifiably proud. Finally, the Leader was pleased to record that the partnership between the Borough Council and Borough Green, Wrotham and Platt Parish Councils had successfully achieved the creation of a skate park at Whitegate Field which had been opened by the Mayor the previous weekend. He stated that this was a fine example of what could be achieved through partnership working with one or more parish councils and he hoped that further projects would be delivered in this way in the future for the benefit of local communities. |
| C 05/055 |
Capital Strategy 2005/06 Item CB 05/045 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005 . |
The Council received proposals from the Cabinet in respect of this item in relation to the Council's budget and policy framework and RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute CB 05/45 be adopted. |
| C 05/056 |
Anti-Fraud Policy and Benefits Anti-Fraud Policy Item CB 05/046 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005 . |
The Council received proposals from the Cabinet in respect of this item in relation to the Council's budget and policy framework and RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute CB 05/46 be adopted. |
| C 05/057 |
West Malling Car Park - Emergency Repairs Item CB 05/047 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005 . |
RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute CB 05/47 be adopted. |
| C 05/058 |
Council Tax in Respect of Former Police Houses Item FP 05/042 referred from Finance & Property Advisory Board minutes of 13th July, 2005 . Item CB 05/048 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005 . |
and as item CB 05/48 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005. RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute CB 05/48 be adopted. |
| C 05/059 |
Tonbridge to Penshurst Cycle Route - Additional Off-Road Section to Avoid Use of Haysden Lane Item FP 05/046 referred from Finance & Property Advisory Board minutes of 13th July, 2005 . Item CB 05/049 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005 . |
and as item CB 05/49 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005. RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute CB 05/49 be adopted. |
| C 05/060 |
Customer Contact Strategy Item ICT 05/012 referred from ICT and E-Govt Advisory Board minutes of 21st July, 2005 . Item CB 05/050 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005 . |
and as item CB 05/50 referred from Cabinet minutes of 7th September, 2005. RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute CB 05/50 be adopted. |
| C 05/061 |
Sealing of Documents |
RESOLVED: That authority be given for the Common Seal of the Council to be affixed to any instrument to give effect to a decision of the Council incorporated in these Minutes and proceedings. |
| PART 2 - PRIVATE | ||
| C 05/062 |
Improving Customer Satisfaction (Reason: LGA 1972 Sch 12A Para 1 - Employee Information) Item GP 05/037 referred from General Purposes Committee minutes of 2nd August, 2005 . |
RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute GP 05/37 be adopted. |
| C 05/063 |
Accountancy Section, Financial Services - Staff Restructure (Reason: LGA 1972 Sch 12A Para 1 - Employee Information) Item GP 05/038 referred from General Purposes Committee minutes of 2nd August, 2005 . |
RESOLVED: That the recommendation at Minute GP 05/38 be adopted. |