Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)      The fire alarm is a continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)      Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)      In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)      Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.

The Chair outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 November 2022 (Minute Nos. 415 – 421) and the Extraordinary Meeting held on 19 December 2022 (Minute Nos. to follow) as correct records.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 November 2022 (Minute Nos. 415 – 421) and the Extraordinary Meeting held on 19 December 2022 (Minute Nos. 544 - 548) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as correct records.

Resolved:

(1)      That the report be noted.

The Greenspaces Manager introduced the report which provided the basis for starting the process and the consideration of a reviewed and updated Open Spaces and Play Area Strategy for Swale.

In response to an initial question from the Chair, the Greenspaces Manager provided some information on the future provision of new burial space and the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) process.  He explained that there were currently five cemeteries within the Borough, with new plots only being available at Faversham and the new Iwade site, which had about ten years of burial space remaining.  The Greenspaces Manager said it was not a statutory duty for the Council to provided burial space.  The Head of Environment and Leisure explained that it was necessary to review this now as any suggestions for provision of land for new burial space would need to be included within the Local Plan process.

The Greenspaces Manager explained that in the past five years there had been no new open space provision adopted by the Council from developers.  There was a policy in place whereby developers managed open spaces through management companies or other arrangements, although the Council still took on strategic open spaces, such as large country parks or countryside gaps.  These management arrangements for open spaces were usually agreed through Section 106 Agreements and required the developer to continue to own, manage and maintain the open space and public access.  The Greenspaces Manager explained that there had been a move towards community asset management transfer, with, for example, sports clubs taking on an open space as part of their remit with the club investing and managing these through leases.  There was a legal requirement to keep the land as public open space within any agreement.  This reduced the burden on the Council in terms of budget, but there was always the risk that the land could be returned to the Council.

The Chair invited Members to ask questions and make comments and these included:

·         Considered open spaces to be a high priority for the Council and a very important asset;

·         the health benefits of residents using open spaces should be recognised;

·         the Council should make a statement about the importance of open spaces;

·         additional assets, such as the introduction of toilet facilities and benches, were beneficial to open spaces;

·         tree planting should be continued;

·         open spaces had improved and needed to continue to do so;

·         natural burials were becoming more popular;

·         sought information on the cost to the Council for maintenance of cemeteries;

·         if the CAT transferee defaulted on their duties, would there be a cost to the Council?;

·         suggested stand-alone solar panels be introduced where required in open spaces;

·         it was very important to remain focussed on good quality open spaces;

·         the existing policy was very good;

·         the key principles set out in paragraph 3.3 of the report still held true and suggested these be carried forward;

·         the cemetery issue was an important one, and acknowledged the importance of planning ahead on this, in relation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 569.

The Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer introduced the report which summarised the benefits of expanding the Hiyacar run Car Club, the justifications for the vehicle locations and the proposed route for procurement.

The Chair invited Members to ask questions and make comments and these included:

·         Welcomed the proposal and hoped it could also be introduced on the Isle of Sheppey;

·         liked the aspect of the provision of an Electric Vehicle (EV) giving an opportunity to ‘try before you buy’ at set out in paragraph 2.10 of the report;

·         were there opportunities to pick up a vehicle in one location and drop off at another?;

·         would welcome a differential pricing structure dependent on the type of vehicle that was hired;

·         were there plans to extend this initiative to rural areas?;

·         suggested more EV vehicles were used, not hybrid vehicles;

·         this was a good initiative;

·         it would be interesting to know more about the CO2 savings;

·         this was a great way of using Section 106 monies; and

·         this scheme could be beneficial to residents struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

In response, the Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer explained that the proposal was a ‘back-to-base’ model, and there would be additional costs if the pick up and drop off places were different.  She said this could be an option in the future.  With regard to differential pricing structure, this was not something written into the contract, but was in place in any case.

Work was ongoing with the Active Travel Co-ordinator to see if the scheme could be expanded to include rural areas as well.  The scheme was looked into initially as being fully operational with EVs, but hybrids were included for accessibility for people who were unfamiliar with EVs, and also there was a higher cost for installing EV charging points.  Hybrids could be changed to EVs in the future, but that would incur higher costs.  The Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer said that she could share a report on the CO2 savings, but highlighted that the savings were not so much from the use of the car itself, but more about the modal shift of car users giving up their personal car use and changing their habits to use both public transport and the car in the manner within the scheme.

Councillor Tim Valentine proposed the recommendations and these were seconded by Councillor Steve Davey.

Resolved:

(1)      That the car club expansion of two hybrid vehicles and one electric vehicle in Sittingbourne be agreed.

(2)      That the direct award of £29,262 to Hiyacar via the TPPL framework, with an additional cost of £4000 for a dedicated car club charge point funded from Section 106 monies proceeds.

To decide whether to pass the resolution set out below in respect of the following item:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 and 4.

3.         Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

4.         Information   relating   to   any   consultations   or   negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relationsmatter arisingbetween theauthority ora Ministerof theCrown and any employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

There was no need to pass this resolution as Appendix I was not discussed at the meeting.

This item was not discussed.