Agenda and minutes

To confirm Borough Council appointments and to seek nominations for a vice-chairman from the Parish Councils.

Appointments of the Chair and Vice Chair from the Borough Councillors were confirmed to be Councillor R W Dalton and Councillor Mrs M Tatton respectively.  Appointment of the Vice Chair from Parish and Town Councillors was confirmed to be Councillor Sue Butterfill from Borough Green Parish Council.

Notification of substitute members was recorded as set out below:

·         Councillor M D Boughton substituted for Councillor R P Betts

In accordance with Council Procedure Rules 17.5 to 17.9 this Councillor had the same rights as the ordinary member of the committee for whom they were substituting.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Partnership Panel held on 9 February 2023.

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendment:

·         Attendance of Parish and Town Councils to be amended to include presence of representative from Wrotham Parish Council.

The Chair advised that no updates had been identified in advance of the meeting.

The Chair of TAMS, Sue Curtis, to provide a presentation promoting activities of the organisation and advise of upcoming events.

Apologies were received at short notice and this item would be deferred to a future meeting of the Panel.

Returning Officers Certificate attached for information.

Members received the Returning Officers certificate which certified those persons who were duly elected as councillors at the ordinary election of borough councillors held on 4 May 2023, for information.

The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Infrastructure to address issues raised by the Kent Association of Local Councils (Tonbridge and Malling) and parish councils.

In addressing questions raised by Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) in advance of the meeting, a briefing note was provided updating on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in respect of the waste contract with Urbaser, with particular reference made to street cleaning, litter picking and fly tipping in the borough.  Members reviewed the KPIs for the period April 2022 to March 2023, with comparative data for April 2021 to March 2022, together with percentage variance when compared with the 2021/22 performance.

It was noted that the Borough Council’s Street Cleaning Schedule was based on four main categories, as set out in the Code of Practice, depending on the types of land and their intensity of use, and both the categories and frequencies were stipulated in the original contract tender documents with submitted schedule being regularly reviewed and updated.

The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Infrastructure (Cllr M Coffin) outlined the progress of the re-rounding of the waste collection system currently underway and its general success so far, benefiting from the introduction of a new fleet of vehicles.  The Cabinet Member also brought to Member attention the ongoing Litter and Fly Tipping Enforcement pilot with the National Enforcement Solutions with particular reference made to the progress they had made in taking enforcement actions against fly tipping.

During discussion, Members recognised the importance and effectiveness of educating school children in terms of preventing litter and further consideration was being given to the successful initiatives in the nearby areas.

With regard to recycling, there was concern raised in respect of the suitability of the unlidded green recycling box for paper and cardboard and its impact on the value of the recycled contents under adverse weather conditions.  It was explained that an interim solution would be looked into, however, the benefits would need to be balanced against the costs given the financial implications for any change to be made part way through the existing contract.

The Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health to provide a verbal update on the progress of the Local Plan and s106 matters.

The Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health was unable to attend the meeting at short notice and the substantive debate and update would be deferred to the next meeting of the Panel.  However, the Cabinet Member for Planning (Councillor M Taylor) provided a brief update on the progress of the Local Plan, with particular reference made to the Local Development Scheme and its timetable in order to meet the deadlines for the preparation of the Local Plan.  Clarity was sought around the inclusion of the additional 57 identified sites as part of the Regulation 18 consultation and, in response, the Leader (Councillor M Boughton) explained that to ensure consistency these additional sites would be treated in the same way as the other sites identified through the previous Call for Sites exercise and all the sites would be considered as a whole set during the second round of the Regulation 18B consultation. 

In addressing a question in relation to expectation of the Borough Council from Parish Councils in respect of responses to planning applications, the Cabinet Member for Planning advised that an amended Member Call In Protocol, including a list of planning considerations to inform responses to applications, would be presented to Members for consideration shortly.

With regard to another question in relation to enforcement on new developments to meet the Government’s ‘Net Zero’ carbon emissions goals, it was explained that the developers could meet the building regulations and standards in a variety of ways, depending on the development, to ensure the buildings were constructed with materials and/or facilities to increase efficiency and lower emissions, however, the actual consumption of energy could not be legislated against and would not be subject to building regulation enforcement.

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

(1)        Kent Police Update

Members received a verbal update from Inspector Terry Newman on the new policing structure which started on 14 June 2023 and it was noted that Parish Councils were able to identify their respective Neighbourhood Policing Team via a link circulated to parish clerks.

Inspector Newman took the opportunity to promote Neighbourhood Policing Week (week commencing 19 June 2023) and Anti-Social Behaviour Week (week commencing 3 July 2023).  Members were encouraged to promote My Community Voice messaging service with communities in order to engage local residents to build a two-way communication with the Police. 

Members raised a number of local concerns in respect of policing speeding through villages, anti-social behaviour in particular areas and illegal e-scooting and they were assured that the issues reported were being investigated and appropriate actions being undertaken.