Minutes:
The Leader referred to the photograph taken earlier in the evening to mark 40 years of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. He also thanked the Mayor for allowing a minute’s silence in memory of Honorary Alderman Russell Dorling who was highly respected among colleagues and staff alike.
The Leader commented that a glance through the weekly licensing update and the Mayor’s diary gave a good indication of the hive of activity in the Borough in terms of the summer fairs and carnivals which had taken place. He highlighted three events in particular and paid tribute to the local organising committees: the Tonbridge Lions for their carnival, Snodland Town Council for its carnival and the Tonbridge Arts Festival Committee for the week long arts festival.
Members were advised of work undertaken with restaurants, pubs and clubs throughout the Borough to ensure that both the Licensing team and Police were aware of World Cup related functions, this initiative having set the standard in Kent. Likewise, the Environmental Protection team had worked on a number of high profile events, not least the recent Hop Farm festival.
The Leader commended the “Love Kent Hate Litter’ campaign during June, undertaken with communities throughout the Borough and supported by the Council’s own Street Scene team. In total, there had been 28 supported events, averaging one event a day during the month, and had shown significant results which would be reported to the next meeting of the Local Environmental Management Advisory Board.
Members were advised of a further example of local leadership in addressing the issue of litter which involved businesses in Snodland agreeing to sign up to a voluntary litter code aimed at reducing littering from their premises and the surrounding area. It was understood that the Town Team in Tonbridge was now working with High Street retailers and others to establish a similar code.
Six months on from the establishment of the Leisure Trust, the Leader was pleased that all the leisure facilities continued to exhibit the highest rating standards. As reported to the Leisure and Arts Advisory Board, the customer satisfaction rating for Larkfield Leisure Centre was 90 per cent, the Angel Centre 87 per cent, Tonbridge Swimming Pool 88 per cent and Poult Wood Golf Centre 78 per cent, all scores being well in excess of the industry standard of 60 per cent.
Reference was made to the Government’s recent announcement on the outcome of the transport funding across the South East for 2015/16. The Leader was delighted to report that the two strategic schemes that the Council had fought hard to achieve – namely, Improvements to Junction 4 on the M20 and Tonbridge High Street – had been included against a substantially reduced overall transport budget for the South East. This built on the success of the campaign to bring forward the early construction of the A21 improvements.
Referring to the report of the recent Peer Review Challenge, the Leader placed on record his appreciation to Members and staff who had met the team. He welcomed the fact that the overall tone of the report endorsed the approach taken by the Council over the last two years. It also reinforced the challenges faced and the Chief Executive and Management Team had been invited to bring forward options reflecting those challenges for Members to debate and consider.
The Leader indicated that this month the Council would be bidding farewell to two loyal and dedicated employees upon their individual retirements: Phil Beddoes and Neil Hewett, followed shortly after by Paul Griffin. On behalf of the Council he thanked them sincerely and wished them all a very happy retirement.
Finally, the Leader indicated that Councillor Martin Coffin had news from attending a recent RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) Awards Ceremony. The Council had received a Gold Award for the fifth consecutive year in recognition of its approach to occupational health and safety and Councillor Coffin presented the Award to the Mayor.