Agenda item

Investment Income

The Leader was pleased to update Members on the returns being seen from short term investments.  Since the Council was elected in 2015, the interest alone from short term investments had generated approaching £1m.  In addition, investments made in property funds since June 2017 had added £75,000 during 2017/18 and £118,000 for the first three quarters of 2018/19.  The final figure for the last quarter of 2018/19 was awaited and would be reported through the outturn reports.

Rough sleeper funding

The Leader referred to the bid for funding to help tackle rough sleeping within the Borough. He was pleased to report that the Council had been awarded £100,000 to fund a multi-agency approach to tackling rough sleeping. This included raising awareness of initiatives to end rough sleeping, outreach work which would focus on engaging with those already on the street and trying to locate and secure suitable accommodation and support, three units of accommodation for a housing first pilot to be delivered, and access to the private rented sector.

Retail shop scheme

Referring to the Business Rate Retention pilot, the Leader indicated that a Town and District commercial frontages scheme had been launched with grants of up to £5,000 to independent shopkeepers to help renovate and improve their shop fronts.  The total project funding was £100,000 and small retailers in Tonbridge, West Malling, Borough Green, Snodland, Hadlow, Larkfield, Kings Hill, East Peckham, Aylesford and Wrotham could apply to the grant scheme.

Local Authorities Parks Improvement Fund

Due to high winds over the weekend of 16/17 March, a large oak tree located on the Motte at Tonbridge Castle fell, causing substantial damage to the paths and fencing.  The Leader reported that the Council had employed a specialist contractor to remove the fallen tree together with another adjacent tree assessed by the contractor to pose a health and safety risk to the public.  The cost of the works to remove the two trees had been met from the 2018/19 health and safety of trees revenue budget.  Quotations were being sought to reinstate the path and the fence in liaison with English Heritage to enable the works to be progressed without delay.  An initial budget estimate of £20,000 had been identified and later in the proceedings, consideration would be given to making use of an award of £20,231 from the Government’s Local Authorities Parks Improvement Fund.  The award expected that the monies would be used to undertake remedial and renovation works to existing parks and also allowed for addressing health and safety concerns.

Retiring Members

The Leader indicated that this was the last meeting of Council before the local elections and among the membership there were 19 Members not seeking re-election.  He listed and thanked each one of them for their individual service to the Borough, the Council and their local communities over varying years in length of service:

Peter Bolt’s first term was May 1976 to May 1995 (19 years) and he was re-elected in May 1999 for a further 20 years – total service to this Authority of 39 years;

Owen Baldock had served for 35 years since May 1984;

Matthew Balfour and Chris Smith - 20 years since May 1999;

Sasha Luck and Allan Sullivan - 16 years since May 2003;

Barbara Brown, David Keeley, Russell Lancaster and Sarah Spence - 12 years since May 2007;

Tom Edmondston-Low, Steven King and Simon Jessel - 8 years since May 2011;

Sophie Shrubsole - 7 years since July 2012;

Finally, Tom Cannon, Ben Elks, Steve Perry, Ben Walker and Trevor Walker - 4 years since May 2015.