Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Partnership Panel held on 2 September 2021

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2021 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman advised that no updates had been identified in advance of the meeting.  However, further to Minute Number PPP 21/22 of the meeting held on 2 September 2021, he advised that the outcomes of the Borough Council’s review of the operation of the Panel would be presented at Item 5 of the agenda.

At the request of the Parish Partnership Panel, the Road Safety Co-Ordinator (Gabriella Grain) has been invited to provide details of recent deployments and planned activities relating to speeding and hotspots.

Gabriella Grain, Road Safety Co-ordinator for Kent Police, provided an update on recent deployment and planned activities relating to speeding and road safety hotspots.  She answered a number of questions on ‘hot-spot’ mapping, education and enforcement activity and, in particular, the options available for controlling speed limits on the A227 Stumble Hill, Shipbourne and on Seven Mile Lane. 

A number of options were presented to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 October 2021 in respect of Tonbridge Forum and the Parish Partnership Panel.

The proposals relating to the Panel are set out at 1.3 of the attached report.   The recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were considered by Cabinet on 12 October and Council on 26 October.  The decision of Council will be circulated as soon as possible.

The Leader of the Council, Matt Boughton, provided details of outcome of the Borough Council’s review of the Parish Partnership Panel which had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 7 October and at the meeting of Council on 26 October 2021.   He expressed the hope that the following would enable a reformed PPP which would improve and enhance the relationship between the authorities and help achieve solutions collaboratively for the benefit of residents.

·        PPP would enable the Borough and Parish/Town Councils to share information and communicate on enhancing the well-being of the community through the identification of problems (within the remit of the borough and parishes) and the joint working towards solutions;

·        The Chair of PPP would be a Borough Councillor. There would be two Vice-Chairs, one a Borough Councillor from a different political party and the other a Parish Councillor selected by KALC T&M Area Committee. Neither the Chair nor Vice-Chair should be a member of the TMBC Executive;

·        The frequency of meetings would be 4 per year.  Meetings will alternate with 2 meetings per year being held ‘in person’ at the Borough Council Offices and 2 meetings to be held virtually;

·        Each Parish/Town Council to nominate a representative (total 27 representatives).  The 5 County Councillors covering parished area in Tonbridge and Malling will be members.  There will also be 13 Borough Council representatives, to include cross party representation.  These members must represent the parished areas of Tonbridge and Mallling;

·        If a nominated representative of a parish cannot attend, then they may send a nominated substitute;

·        Members who are both Borough and Parish Councillors cannot be on PPP in both capacities.  If they are representatives of a parish on PPP, then they cannot sit as a borough representative, and vice-versa;

·        There will be no standing items on agendas, however it is within the gift of the Chair/Vice-Chairs to invite whoever they wish to the meeting (such as local businesses, utility providers, Police etc).  The question and answer session will be retained, providing questions are submitted in advance of the meeting.  Issues that need to be raised on the evening can be covered during the ‘Any Other Business’ section; and

·        A forward plan of agenda items will be agreed each year.

It was noted that the appointment of the Chair and Vice-Chairs, the Future Work Programme 2022/23 and the Future Programme of meetings would be considered at agenda items 6, 7 and 8.

To confirm Borough Council appointments and to seek nominations for a parish council vice-chairmen, pending views of the Council.

The Chairman, Councillor Roger Dalton, advised that he would continue to hold this position for the current municipal year.  He welcomed Councillor Michelle Tatton to the new post of Vice Chair (as a Borough Councillor from another political party).  He invited the KALC T&M Area Committee, following consultation with Kings Hill Parish Council, to provide details of nominees for the post of Vice Chair (representing the Parishes) to Democratic Services by Monday 20 December 2021 so that this appointment could be confirmed at the meeting of the Panel scheduled to be held on 27 January 2022.  

Information on how parish councils can suggest matters for inclusion on the work programme for 2022/23

The Chairman advised that the Work Programme was a way to identify any items or issues parish councils wished to discuss during the forthcoming year which assisted with agenda setting/management and ensured that meetings had at least one item to discuss.  He stressed that this did not prevent further agenda items being submitted in advance of the meeting, so long as these conformed with the timescale of publication.  Additionally, he confirmed that if any urgent matters arose these would continue to be accepted under ‘Any Other Business’.  He invited the parish/town councils to submit details of any matters/items for the Future Work Programme (Forward plan), either directly or via the KALC T&M Area Committee, to either the Chair, Vice-Chair or Democratic Services by Monday 20 December 2021 so that the programme could be considered at the meeting of the Panel scheduled to be held on 27 January 2022.  

The following items were suggested:

·        Waste Disposal Service

·        Review of Parish Charter

Subject to the views of Council, additional meetings of the Parish Partnership Panel will be included in the Borough Council’s programme for 2022/23 which is due to be considered by Council in early 2022.

It was noted that Panel would meet in the format indicated on the following dates:

Thursday 27 January 2022 – online, via MS Teams

Thursday 26 May 2022 – in person at Gibson Building, Kings Hill

Thursday 1 September 2022 – online, via MS Teams

Thursday 3 November 2022 – in person at Gibson Building, Kings Hill

To consider any other issues raised at the meeting.  Any answers, actions and/or outcomes will be provided at the next meeting of the Parish Partnership Panel.

The following items were raised:-

(1)             Recent Boundary Review Consultation

A number of parish council representatives expressed disappointment about the lack of liaison with parish councils in the early stages of the consultation and that there had been an expectation of greater transparency on the Borough Council’s response to the Boundary Commission.  The Deputy Leader responded that, while he regretted this perception, the Borough Council was, like the parishes, a consultee, and could not take the views of the parishes into account in preparing its response, particularly if those views were in conflict with those submitted by the Borough.

(2)             Planning Enforcement

In response to comments about the lack of visibility/transparency about the way in which planning enforcement is undertaken/reported in respect of issues raised by parish councils the Chairman suggested that a meeting be arranged between the Council’s Enforcement Officers and those parishes who had raised concerns about particular sites.

(3)             Climate Change Officer

The representative of Kings Hill parish welcomed the recruitment of a Climate Change Officer and asked that, once appointed, they be invited to give a presentation to the Panel.