Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

132.

Election of Chairman

Minutes:

Resolved: 

 

(1)  That Councillor Denise Knights be elected Chairman for the Municipal Year 2020/21. 

133.

Election of Vice-Chairman

Minutes:

Resolved: 

 

(1)  That Councillor Julian Saunders be elected Vice-Chairman for the Municipal Year 2020/21. 

134.

Declarations of interest

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 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.

Minutes:

No interests were declared. 

135.

Public forum

The purpose of this item is to enable members of the public to direct questions to the Chairman or suggest agenda items for future meetings

Minutes:

The Chair explained the purpose of the agenda item and invited members of

the public present to ask a question or suggest an agenda item for a future meeting.

 

Local resident Stephen Fisher spoke about his concerns regarding vehicle traffic on the A251 Ashford Road, Faversham and the dangers it presented to cyclists and pedestrians. 

 

Several members spoke in support of Mr Fisher’s concerns and raised the following issues: 

 

-        various speed limits in place between Challock and Faversham, there was no consistency;

-        cyclists tended to avoid using the A251;

-        dangerous and inconsiderate parking by public stopping to photograph field of poppies earlier in the year;

-        role of Kent County Council and parish councils in promulgating highways improvement plans. 

 

It was noted that connectivity between Faversham and rural areas was to be considered under a later agenda item. 

 

Local resident Louise Bareham asked that the Committee to consider the need for safe cycling routes between the villages and Faversham and the provision of bus services between rural villages and Faversham.

 

Several members spoke in support of Mrs Bareham’s concerns and raised the following issues: 

 

-        A251 not conducive to safe cycling: it was the main route between Faversham and the William Harvey hospital;

-        need for logistics to fit their vehicles with correct Sat Nav devices: freight route should use M2-A249-M20 to reach the channel ports/channel tunnel; and

-        importance of maintaining footpaths: local residents could take the lead as they did recently in Teynham.

136.

Purpose and role of Area Committees in Swale pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Minutes:

The Chair introduced the report which set out the purpose of Area Committees and the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

 

It was noted that each member had an allocation of £4k, £48k in total as there were twelve Members representing the seven wards covered by this Area Committee. The funds could be allocated to projects in consultation and agreement with the Area Committee.

 

Members agreed to note the report and recommendations. 

137.

Health and wellbeing

Minutes:

This agenda item was deferred to the next meeting as the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing was unable to attend. 

138.

Local issues pdf icon PDF 44 KB

-       Brown tourist signs

-       Heritage issues

-       Conservation issues – including ponds

Minutes:

Brown tourism signs

 

The paper for this item described the process for obtaining and siting of brown tourism signs. It was noted that there were many demands for more brown signs to support the leisure and tourism offer across Swale.  However, it was not straightforward or cheap to get these signs put up.  Cabinet asked Area Committees to provide a prioritised list of sites which they would be interested in funding signage for, and an indication where they would like those signs to go.

 

Members raised the following issues: 

 

-        some brown signs were obsolete, e.g. no longer a vineyard in Newnham;

-        local brown signs were important to direct visitors to attractions, local businesses could invest in these;

-        stone chapel off the A2 near Syndale  was an important heritage site, but no car parking provision nearby; and

-        needed to make a prioritised list. 

 

Heritage issues

 

The paper explained that SBC had around 50 Conservation Areas, many of which had not been reviewed for several decades.  Earlier this year the Council launched a new Heritage Strategy, part of which included reviewing these Conservation Areas over the period of the Strategy.  The Committee were invited to consider bringing areas forward for review which were not part of the Heritage Strategy Action Plan by allocating part of the grant funding available to them.

 

A member suggested inviting parish and town councils to propose priorities. 

 

Conservation issues – including ponds

 

The paper explained that it was important that the Council had an up-to-date and accurate picture of the ponds in Swale, their current condition, and their ownership details. This did not include private ponds in peoples’ gardens.

 

There was both a strategic need for this information and also a heritage, conservation and tourism aspect. Ponds were often signifiers of underground waterways which SBC needed to be aware of, and were also strong promoters of biodiversity. They could also be used in promotional material encouraging visitors to Swale’s rural areas.

139.

Improving the Parish to Town connections

Minutes:

Councillor Eddie Thomas introduced this item.  He spoke of the need to improve connectivity between Faversham and the rural villages, especially so for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.  He proposed undertaking an audit of current routes and then coming up with a plan of action to improve the routes.

 

In discussion, members raised the following points: 

 

-        bridleways did not always have a suitable surface for cycling;

-        important to feed into Transport Strategy as part of the Local Plan process: intelligence gathering;

-        important to liaise with local groups, e.g. Faversham Footpaths Group;

-        different needs of leisure and commuting cyclists;

-        KCC were the highways authority;

-        wanted to see written proposals, it was important not to take decisions ‘on the hoof’; and

-        requested to put on the agenda for the next meeting and invite officers and Cabinet Member to attend. 

 

Councillor Eddie Thomas proposed and Councillor Tim Valentine seconded the following motion: 

 

-        that local knowledge of the most suitable walking and cycling routes between parishes and towns be shared across the Eastern area, both for the benefit of residents and visitors;

-        that an investigation/report be made into reviewing existing community transport models to see what might be suitable for the Eastern area.

 

On being put to the vote, Members agreed.

 

Resolved:

 

(1)  That local knowledge of the most suitable walking and cycling routes between parishes and towns be shared across the Eastern area, both for the benefit of residents and visitors.

 

(2)  That an investigation/report be made into reviewing existing community transport models to see what might be suitable for the Eastern area.