The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Vice-Chairman in the Chair reminded Members of the evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 June 2016 (Minute Nos. 712 - 716) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 June 2016 (Minute Nos. 712 – 716) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Vice-Chairman in the Chair as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the room while that item is considered.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Director of Corporate Services as Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Rural Affairs and the Economy and Community Services Manager have been invited to attend for this item.

This report provided details of the Swale Green Grid Strategy and Biodiversity Action Plan.  The Council, on behalf of the Swale Green Grid Partnership, wished to consult residents, businesses and local organisations that might have an interest, before seeking approval to adopt the Strategy and Plan.

The Vice-Chairman in the Chair welcomed the Cabinet Member for Environment and Rural Affairs, and the Economy and Community Services Manager to the meeting.

Swale Green Grid Strategy

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Rural Affairs reported that the current strategy had been written in 2007, and the present document was a ‘refresh’ to update it.  He advised that the Council had a working budget of £1,000, which he considered to be small for such a large project.

The Economy and Community Services Manager stressed that this was not a Swale Borough Council (SBC) document.  It was a partnership document which comprised of SBC, Natural England, Groundwork Kent and Medway, Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Kent Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency.  It was important for SBC to relate the document to its Corporate Plan, to consider regeneration in the Borough, and to be able to add value to external funding applications.  The Economy and Community Services Manager emphasised the importance of having a strategy with environmental issues; and advised that there would be an 8-week consultation period.  She drew attention to the six issues under the bullet points on page 2 of the report which sought feedback from the Committee.  In response to a question, the Economy and Community Services Manager advised that consultation had already commenced with strategic partners.

Members’ views on the document were invited and they included the following comments:

·        the budget was a missed opportunity;

·        would like to see more detail on Milton Creek included;

·        the document would have benefitted from Member involvement at an earlier stage;

·        with reference to page 15 of the report, and costs of Public Rights of Way (PROW), how realistic was it to extend/enhance existing PROW? and

·        there were a lot of good ideas in the document, but not a cohesive plan to extend green gaps, etc.

In response to these comments, the Economy and Community Services Manager, re-iterated that this was not purely an SBC document, but a partnership one, and she explained that they worked on a ‘living’ document which was comprised of 40 projects across the Borough, placed there by the partners.  In terms of the expense of PROWs, she explained that a lot of the projects were large ones, and it was not possible to deliver everything.  The Economy and Community Services Manager explained that the document was a strategic framework which helped to enable funding bids.  This was an opportunity to shape the framework and to deliver projects.

Further comments included:

·        the area around Sittingbourne and surrounding villages was not very well covered in the document;

·        issues raised in the Local Plan Inquiry do not appear to be considered in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 898.

The Committee is asked to review and discuss the Committee’s Work Programme for the remainder of the year.

The Policy and Performance Officer introduced the report, which set-out the policies, plans and strategies due to be reviewed by the Committee during the coming year.  He advised that the next four items would be split between the October and November meetings of the Committee.

A Member suggested that when a particular issue in a policy was not Borough-wide, that site visits be made so that Members were more aware of the issues that were being considered.

With regard to the Stray Dog Policy, a Member congratulated officers on their hard work under the current policy.

A further Member requested that, when reviewing the Property Strategy, the register be looked at as well.

Resolved:

(1)          That the schedule of policies, plans and strategies due for review be noted.