The Chair 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 Chair 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 Chair 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 Chair 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 Chair 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 Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

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 Chair 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 Interests (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 meeting 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.

No interests were declared.

The Business Support Officer introduced the report which summarised the procurement process and results and sought Committee approval to instruct the recommended contractor for the repair and partial reconstruction of St Michael’s Church Flint Wall, Sittingbourne. The Business Support Officer said that the recommended contractor scored the highest for quality and cost at, £108,708+VAT, but the quote was £20,708 over budget. The Director of Regeneration and Neighbourhoods added that the High Street Fund was originally allocated for staff and projects but there was an underspend of £35,000 to accommodate the additional costs of the recommended contractor.

The Chair invited questions from Members.

Members asked questions and raised points including:

·         What was the start and end date for the proposed works?;

·         how long were the works expected to last?;

·         were the Church contributing towards the cost?;

·         £20,000 over budget was a lot and questioned whether costs had gone up that much;

·         the work to the wall was urgent;

·         if the asset list had been better looked after the wall would have been properly maintained;

·         understood that the project was important but why did the underspend have to be spent on this project and no other projects on the Capital Projects list?;

·         were Historic England going to be contributing to the costs?; and

·         worried that if Swale Borough Council (SBC) contributed to the repair of this wall other churches would be asking for funds to repair and this could set a precedent.

The Chair advised that legally it was the responsibility of the Council to fund the repair of St Michael’s Church Wall due to legislation that required local authorities to take responsibility of Church walls if the Church in question was no longer taking burials.

The Business Support Officer informed Members that the works would start as soon as a contract for works had been approved. The planned project would take 12-14 weeks, working on ten sections of the wall, one week per section and included time for preparations and clear-ups.

Councillor Mike Henderson proposed an amendment to recommendation two of the report for £20,708 to be allocated to the repair of St Michael’s wall from the High Street Fund and the rest of the money to fund Faversham Way-finding project for new signs in Faversham. This was seconded by Councillor Alastair Gould.

The Director of Regeneration reminded Members that it was in the Community Committee’s portfolio to deal with Church walls, and the Regeneration and Property Committee were responsible for the High Street Fund. Therefore, the Committee could not make a decision on the allocation of the High Street Funds.

Members debated the amendment and it was agreed that as the amendment did not fall under the remit of the Committee it did not be progressed to a vote.

Members were invited to make comments on the original recommendations and points included:

·         The Council had no choice but to repair the wall;

·         could a report be made to the Community Committee so they knew what could be spent on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 234.