minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 16th December 2008 (Minute Nos. 546 - 553) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

part b minutes for information

core strategy

The Chairman welcomed Natalie Earl (Senior Planner) and Shelly Rouse (Planner) to the meeting.

Misses Earl and Rouse held a workshop for the Forum and welcomed input from everyone at the meeting. Miss Earl explained that the Core Strategy set out the future direction for the Borough including its strategic policies and proposals. Consultation was being carried out with a wide variety of people. Miss Earl explained that the Core Strategy was the main document within the Local Development Framework and provided a vision of where the Borough was going. The Core Strategy dealt with aspects of the Borough from 2006 to 2026 and she emphasised the need to look beyond the present credit crunch. She reminded the Forum that the Borough was predominantly rural and this rural aspect should play an important role in the Core Strategy. Miss Earl invited the Forum to raise any issues, that there was no right or wrong answer and encouraged the Forum to think strategically and be ambitious and she advised that any thoughts from the Forum would be taken forward.

Miss Earl and Mrs Rouse prompted the Forum on issues for discussion and debate:

What direction was the Borough going and was there potential for growth?

A representative from the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) considered that there had been a decline in the countryside, including the protection of rural areas. He suggested there was potential for more tourism opportunities as Swale had historic areas which were not publicised. He added that there were also opportunities to provide employment to rural areas.

A representative from the National Farmers Union (NFU) believed that the vision should include flexibility to allow diversification of employment in rural areas.

Miss Earl advised that small industries in rural areas should be assisted.

A representative from KALC suggested that it was important to look at the sort of development that occurred in rural areas and that it was important that housing was affordable and not too large.

Was there any scope for managed decline?

A representative from the NFU considered that this was not appropriate in the countryside. A representative from Swale Countryside Forum stated that it was important that community aspects of a village were continued by having the facilities of a school, public house and suitable housing.

How will rural areas earn their living, are there any new opportunities?

A Member considered that rural areas were all about agriculture and that support was needed for local businesses.

A representative from the KALC believed that rural areas had survived for thousands of years with little help. He suggested that it was necessary to accept that farming needed to continue in rural areas to keep the vision of the countryside in tact. It was also important to consider the industries that supported farming as well.

Miss Earl advised that it was important to get the balance right between diversification of the rural economy and the protection of the countryside.

A Member suggested that poor internet access held back many rural businesses in Kent. Another Member considered that by trying to protect rural areas they could instead be ruined. He suggested that interference should be held back.

With regard to internet access in rural areas, the Leader stated that it was important that in order to reduce people's carbon footprint by reducing travel to work journeys, it was necessary to give people a chance to work from home and ensure that there was a good broadband service. He suggested that rural areas were fashioned by rural industries but these were different to previous rural industries. He believed that rural areas would change and progress. The Leader highlighted the potential problem of food shortages in the future and that food production would become crucial in the future which would see a renewal of an agricultural economy.

How are rural areas geared up for climate change? Is this an opportunity for rural areas to reduce their carbon footprint?

A representative from the KALC advised that the merge of some villages into surrounding towns had increased the carbon footprint. He suggested that access to rural areas needed to be increased. With regard to large rape fields, he suggested that the type of agriculture that was carried out need to be looked into and that it was important to encourage the purchase of local produce.

A Member suggested that nowhere in England was geared up for climate change and that some people were unaware of the consequences of climate change that had occurred already.

The Leader suggested that Kent should be considered as a whole, not solely Swale, when climate change was being considered, so that Swale did not act in isolation.

A Parish Council representative highlighted the potential problem of increased flooding to both urban and rural areas due to climate change. This would have an impact on agriculture.

A representative of the NFU considered that Swale was the most fruit productive Borough in recent years. He advised that fruit production was now much more intensive, although there was a problem with a lack of fruit pickers. He reported that he was able to farm intensively with the use of polytunnels and this helped to reduce the carbon footprint as it meant that crops were not being flown in from other countries. Fruit could only be grown and stored for six months of the year in England and imports from other countries enabled related fruit industries to continue to run and employ people throughout the remaining six months of the year.

Miss Earl advised that, although polytunnels helped to increase production, some people were against them being in the countryside. She stated that there were arguments for both sides and that maybe it was necessary to educate people about their use and their benefits.

A Member believed that polytunnels damaged the ecology and wildlife of an area. He suggested that people working at home increased the pressure on development in rural areas and there needed to be a balance between employment and the preservation of the countryside.

What are the future selling points/niches of rural areas?

A representative of the NFU suggested that the landscape and countryside of Kent were unique.

A Parish Council representative suggested that there were many sustainable businesses within the countryside in Kent, including high quality niche tourism.

A Member suggested that coppiced woodland and the long rural coastline were unique in Swale.

The Leader considered that it was important to recognise that in order to support the livestock industry there would be a need for slaughter houses to be in the locality to make it more sustainable.

Miss Earl advised that it was possible to contribute to the consultation on the Swale Borough Council website until the end of April 2009.

The Chairman thanked Misses Earl and Rouse for their workshop session.

information items

rural broadband

The Chairman introduced the report and advised that distance from the telephone exchange and old copper wire were the reasons that there were poor broadband services in rural areas.

Councillor Duncan (Selling Parish Council) explained that he had carried out a survey on the poor local broadband services in rural areas. He outlined the results of the survey and brought the Forum's attention to a meeting in Selling on 1st May at 6pm that would look into the broadband service in rural areas. He raised concern that residents were paying for a service that was not being provided.

The Leader brought attention to the paper that he had tabled; which reported the broadband problems that had been encountered by people living in rural areas. He suggested that there needed to be a lot of support for the problem. He emphasised the importance of looking at the actual cost of providing a good broadband service against the cost to the carbon footprint if this was not done.

A representative of the KALC considered that technological progress was being made all the time and that it might be better to look at what technologies there may be in the future, rather than concentrate on broadband.

Some Members agreed that it was important to keep the problem of poor broadband service high on the agenda.

planning applications

A Member considered that 21 days to comment on a planning application was not long enough in rural areas where the communities were not close together.

A KALC representative stated that it would be beneficial, when Parish Councils had made objections to planning applications, to know why these were then over-ridden by the Planning Department.

The Forum were reminded that if planning applications were delayed this could effect the Planning Delivery Grant which funded some planning staff at SBC.

review of drains

The Kent County Councillor advised that a programme of locating drains in Kent was being carried out. He reported that this was often difficult in rural areas as they were difficult to identify. He stated that there were 17,000 soakaways in Kent and many of these had never been cleaned. Areas where there had been flooding were being concentrated on. He explained that in the last year, 800 drainage repairs had been carried out. He was unable to determine how long the programme would take as it was not known how large the problem was.

large waste items

A Member suggested that the concessions should also include people over 60 years of age.

A KALC representative outlined the reasons that the report had been requested as it had been thought there may have been an impact on rural areas following the decision to charge for taking away large waste items. The report had shown there was no evidence that the introduction of charging had an adverse effect on fly tipping in rural areas. Members suggested that the KALC representative produced evidence to show that there had been a problem.

street lighting

No comments were made.

swale rural forum sub-group report

The Special Projects Officer introduced the report which followed the workshop held by Sheils Flynn in July 2008. Two sub-group meetings had met and discussed the issues that had been raised from the workshop. An Action Plan had also been produced.

A Member raised concern with the employment of a consultant and questioned what had been achieved. In response to a question, the Regeneration Manager advised that the cost of the workshop run by Sheils Flynn had been £1,300.

The Regeneration Manager advised that she had received requests for presentations to be made to the Rural Forum.

A KALC representative suggested that the format of the Swale Rural Forum included more discussion items, rather than presentations.

The Leader reminded the Forum that its role was to 'rural proof' decisions that were coming forward. He suggested that presentations curtailed debate, although outside site visits had been beneficial. He emphasised the need for agenda planning meetings to assist in ensuring that the agenda was correct.

The Regeneration Manager told the Forum that a site visit to three Swale farms had been arranged for 17th June 2009.

action plan

rural forum for the south east

Some Members considered that the minutes were too informal and requested that they be more detailed.

The Leader brought the Forum's attention to the tabled minutes from the LGA Rural Commission held on 17th March 2009.