Audio Recording

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. Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; 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 Chairman ensured that those present were aware of the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 November 2018 (Minute Nos. 369 - 373) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 November 2018 (Minute Nos. 369 – 373) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman 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 Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

Councillor Andy Booth declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest as he was Chairman of Swale Community Leisure Limited.  He advised that if this was discussed, he would not take part in the debate.

Councillor Monique Bonney declared a Disclosable Non-Pecuniary Interest as she was Chairman of the Five Parishes Opposition Group.

The Principal Planning Officer introduced the report which provided the evidence base to assist in the formulation of future development plan policy, as well as providing baseline information to assist in the determination of planning applications for retail and leisure development.  The Assessment superseded the previous 2010 Retail and Town Centre Study.

Specialist consultants were commissioned to assess the retail and commercial leisure needs for the Borough up to the period 2037/8.  As part of the brief they also looked at the ‘health’ of the town centres and reviewed the retail hierarchy.  She drew attention to the key findings and recommendations set out from page 116 of the report.  She summarised the findings and reported that there was capacity for additional convenience floorspace in Sittingbourne and Sheerness, but not for Faversham; and there was capacity for additional comparision (non-food) floorspace in Sittingbourne, Sheerness and Faversham, and they had identified capacity for between 7 and 9 gyms.  The consultants concluded that the health of the town centres was good, with a range of shops and services, facilities, state of the environment, and access to and within the centres.  However, for a number of reasons, including the unpredictability of the retail sector, they considered the good health of the Borough’s town centres was in the balance.  They had consequently recommended that the Council adopted a locally set threshold of 500 square metres, instead of 2,500 square metres set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) before the requirement for a retail impact assessment set in.  So any applications that came in for retail or leisure on sites not in the town centre, those larger than 500 square metres would need an impact assessment.  At the moment only schemes of 2,500 square metres required an impact assessment.  This lower threshold would give the Council the flexibility needed to test the impact implications of edge of centre proposals of both leisure and retail.  The Principal Planning Officer also reported that other information provided was the current retail hierarchy set out in Policy DM2 of Bearing Fruits.  She explained that in Swale there were two levels of centres:  the town centres were the primary focus, with a number of local centres meeting the day-to-day needs of local communities.  The consultants had concluded that Rushenden should be removed from the hierarchy as it did not function in the way that other local centres did because it did not have their range of facilities.  They had also recommended ‘tweaks’ to the town centre boundaries and to the primary shopping areas to better reflect what was on the ground, i.e. where there was a concentration of retail.

The Principal Planning Officer summarised and explained that the information in the study provided base-line evidence for the town centre and for retail policies for the Local Plan Review.  She read out the recommendations and stated that these would be used as a tool in advance of progressing with the Local Plan.

The Chairman invited Members’ comments on the key  ...  view the full minutes text for item 561.

The Principal Planner introduced the report which presented the current state of the work undertaken by officers and consultants Peter Brett Associates and Land Use Consultants, and sought a steer on whether work on new garden communities should continue.  He drew Members’ attention to Appendix I which included the consultant’s draft assessment, with key issues, assessment and recommendations.  From page 266, the appendices to the consultant’s report and the assessments for each individual submission was included.  Appendix II showed the landscape work to inform the assessment work.  The Principal Planner explained that work on this had been carried out in the past year and was about the challenges of meeting the Council’s development needs.  In February 2018, PBA had submitted their ‘Choices for Housing Growth’ report to the Council, and a Swale New Garden Communities (NGC) Prospectus was published.  He explained that the report this evening was about whether progress on NGCs had been sufficient for them to be a possible option for the Council to consider as part of the Local Plan review.

The Principal Planner introduced Richard Pestell from PBA who gave a presentation, a summary of which is outlined below.

Emerging Findings

·         The next Local Plan needed to achieve 1,050 dwellings per annum (dpa) which was not negotiable and might even be more than this;

·         the ‘Choices for Housing Growth’ document tested the feasibility of Garden Communities in Swale; and

·         there had been five expressions of interest for the Garden Communities, and four sites were included in the Prospectus.

Assessment Process

·         The sites were not being recommended at this stage;

·         the Assessment Process looked at deliverability, with risks and issues being flagged up;

·         extensive feedback from consultees was considered;

·         this was about de-risking the four options prior to a decision being made on their implementation; and

·         the process had benefits for the Council in that it could shape any early proposals, and check and challenge before a decision was made.

Key Issues

·         Looked at potential non-starters on technical grounds, such as highway constraints;

·         timing and viability – slippage for Swale was a major problem so needed to get viability and deliverability addressed before any sites went forward, with a detailed viability assessment being carried out for all the sites;

·         Transport – Garden Communities themselves might assist as they offered the chance for more infrastructure funding.  However, there were no show-stopping issues in terms of transport; utilities work was still ongoing; and

·         Landscape and Environment – all four sites had impacts; independent landscape consultants confirmed these, and offered possible ways to mitigate them.  It was about addressing issues early on in the process.

Summary

The assessment process was not about making a decision.  When the time came for the decision to be made, this could be done knowing there was lots of evidence behind it.  However, at this point in time, there were no ‘showstoppers’.

The Principal Planner explained that the decision this evening was not about the individual sites, but the concept and he drew  ...  view the full minutes text for item 562.

The Principal Planning Officer introduced the report which provided an overview of the local plan review process moving towards the preparation of the formal Regulation 18 Issues and Options consultation document currently scheduled to take place this autumn.  She explained that this was the evidence gathering stage, and Appendix I to the report outlined the evidence so far and the headline figures.  

Members debated the three recommendations and made the following comments:

·         It was unwise to continue to look at Junction 5a of the M2 until delivery of improvements at Junctions 5 and 7;

·         did not support Recommendation (2); and

·         reference to Council Minute No. 151 of 26 July 2017 in Recommendation (3) was misleading and flawed.

Councillor Mike Baldock moved the following motion:  That Junction 5a not be advanced until Junctions 5 and 7 were improved and the M2 widening secured.  This was seconded by Councillor Monique Bonney.  On being put to the vote the motion was lost.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 19(2) a recorded vote was taken on Recommendation (3), and voting was as follows:

For:  Councillors Andy Booth, James Hunt, Gerry Lewin, Peter Marchington, Roger Clark and David Simmons.  Total = 6.

Against:  Councillors Mike Baldock, Monique Bonney and Richard Darby.  Total = 3.

Abstain: 0

Recommendations:

(1)      That the report, which provided an update on the current position in the local plan review preparation process including an update on the evidence, be noted.

(2)      That work on new garden communities continues in order that their position be considered as potential options for the Local Plan Review process.

(3)      That further to Council Minute No. 151 of 26 July 2017 which aimed to deliver M2 junction 5a, A2/M2 link road, completion of the Northern Relief Road and Southern Link, investigation of potential strategic options that will deliver this infrastructure and wider benefits, subject to evidence and Sustainability Appraisal be agreed.

Alan Best was leaving the Council after 32 years and the Chairman wished him well.  He was thanked for all his work over the years and Members applauded.