Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the Code of Conduct.  However, in the interests of transparency, Councillor M Balfour indicated that he was the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste at Kent County Council.

To confirm as a correct record the Notes of the meeting of the Street Scene and Environment Services Advisory Board held on 9 October 2017

RESOLVED:  That the notes of the meeting of the Street Scene and Environment Services Advisory Board held on 9 October 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Further to Minute SSE 17/11 of the meeting of the Advisory Board held on 9 October 2017 the report of the Director of Street Scene, Leisure and Technical Services provided an update on the retendering of the Waste Services Contract on a partnership basis with Dartford and Tunbridge Wells Borough Councils and Kent County Council.  Particular reference was made to the proposed Inter Authority Agreement and the financial disaggregation arrangements between the partners.  Details of the proposed procurement process and the evaluation criteria for the award of the contract were also presented.  Members thanked the Officer team for the comprehensive report, sought clarification on a number of issues relating to Green/Garden Waste and acknowledged the potential for improving the service provided while making a significant contribution to the Savings and Transformation Strategy. 

RECOMMENDED:  That the Cabinet be commended to agree that

(1)          the core principles for the Inter Authority Agreement between this Council and Kent County Council, as outlined in the report, be agreed;

(2)          a final draft Inter Authority Agreement be reported to a future meeting of the Advisory Board for consideration;

(3)          the financial arrangements relating to the new contract, as outlined in the report, and associated financial implications be noted; and

(4)          the approach to the evaluation of the contract tenders, as outlined in the report, be agreed and incorporated within the tender documentation.

*Referred to Cabinet

The joint report of the Director of Street Scene, Leisure and Technical Services and the Director of Finance and Transformation set out recommendations for car parking fees and charges for implementation from 1 April 2018.  

Careful consideration was given to the options set out in the report and Members noted that, whilst the Council regularly reviewed its fees and charges for services provided for the local community, the last review of car parking charges in 2016 had not recommended any increases.  Consequently, there had been no increase in any parking charges in the Borough for the last two years.

Additionally, Members were provided with details of the set of guiding principles established by the Council for the setting of fees and charges together with a summary of the level of investment and cost to the Authority of providing the parking service. 

RECOMMENDED:  That the following proposals be approved by Cabinet with effect from 1 April 2018:

(1)          the schedule of charges for short and long stay parking in Tonbridge, shown in Table 1 to the report, be introduced;

(2)          week day short day parking charges to the car parking bays in the Tonbridge Castle grounds, including the purchase of a new car parking ticket machine,  be introduced;

(3)          the schedules of Peak and Off-Peak Season ticket charges in Tonbridge, shown in Tables 2 and 3 to the report, be adopted;

(4)          the Ryarsh Lane, West Malling Annual Season ticket charges be increased to £175;

(5)          the schedule of charges for short stay parking in West Malling, shown in Table 5 to the report and including a new 4 hour tariff of £3.20, be introduced;

(6)          the schedule of charges for Blue Bell Hill car park, shown in Table 6 to the report, be introduced;

(7)          the schedule of charges for Borough Green Western Road car park, shown in Table 7 to the report, be introduced;

(8)          Residents Permits (Residential Preferential Parking Scheme) be retained at £40 per year;

(9)          the schedule of charges for Business Permits and Dispensations, shown in Table 8 to the report, be introduced;

(10)       Visitor Permits be retained at £12 for a book of 10 permits, the current offer of 10 free Visitor Permits be limited to new applicants for a Residents Permit and the offer of 10 free Visitor Permits on renewal of a Residents Permit be discontinued;

(11)       the schedule of charges for Haysden and Leybourne Lakes country parks, shown in Table 9 to the report, be introduced;

(12)       the schedule of charges for On-Street Pay and Display parking in Tonbridge, shown in Table 10 to the report, be introduced; and

(13)       the potential introduction of On-Street Permit and Pay and Display parking in designated areas of North Tonbridge be investigated.

*Referred to Cabinet

The joint report of the Director of Street Scene, Leisure and Technical Services, the Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health and the Director of Finance and Transformation set out proposed fees and charges for the provision of services in respect of household bulky refuse and fridge/freezer collections, “missed” refuse collections, stray dog redemption fees, pest control, condemned food certificates, exported food certificates, contaminated land monitoring and private water supplies from April 2018. 

In bringing forward the proposals for 2018/19, it was noted that consideration had been given to a range of factors including the Council’s overall financial position, trading patterns, the current rate of inflation, competing facilities and customer demand. 

RECOMMENDED:  That Cabinet approve the scale of charges for household bulky refuse and fridge/freezer collection, “missed” refuse collection, stray dog redemption fees, pest control, condemned food certificates, exported food certificates, contaminated land monitoring and sampling private water supplies with effect from April 2018, as detailed in the report to the Advisory Board.

*Referred to Cabinet

Decision Notice D170071MEM

The report of the Director of Planning, Housing and Environmental Health summarised the content of the Government’s UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations published on 26 July 2017 and made particular reference to the intention to produce a new Clean Air Strategy in 2018 which would address other nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and sulphur dioxide, amongst other, emissions. 

Additionally, the report provided an overview of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s 2017 Annual Status report in respect of the Borough’s 7 Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) recently submitted to DEFRA which demonstrated some improvements in nitrogen dioxide levels and assessed the need to vary the boundaries of the Larkfield and Borough Green AQMAs and identified other factors to be taken into account in preparation of the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan.

RECOMMENDED:  That the retention of all current AQMAs be endorsed and a review of the boundaries of the Larkfield and Borough Green AQMAs be reported to a future meeting of the Advisory Board for consideration.

The Chairman to move that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting during consideration of any items the publication of which would disclose exempt information.

There were no items considered in private.