The Policy & Engagement Officer introduced this item and explained that although there was no longer funding available for Area Committees to allocate to support their priorities, it was still possible for areas to agree priorities and work towards achieving them without funding.  

One of the first tasks for the new Council was to create a Corporate Plan which would set-out what the Council wanted to achieve over the next four years.  This would help to make sure Council resources were allocated in an accountable and effective way.

Area Committees were being asked to have an input into the Corporate Plan at an early stage by outlining their own aspirations for their individual areas. The aspirations of this Area Committee could be issues that were the responsibility of SBC to achieve, or items that were the responsibility of external organisations which the Council could try to influence.  They could also be ambitions the Area Committee would like to work towards in the future.

When considering what these aspirations should be, the Policy & Engagement Officer said it was important to bear in mind the challenging budget position which was likely to continue over the next few years and the capacity of SBC to deliver them on top of the previously agreed workloads.

A discussion activity took place with everyone in attendance splitting into groups to discuss what the priorities for the Sittingbourne Area were. Four questions were asked, and a summary of ideas included the following:

What issues affected residents in your Ward that fell within the responsibility of SBC?

·         Safety – use of closed circuit television (CCTV);

·         speed limits – 20 mph;

·         grass cutting;

·         anti-social behaviour;

·         parking;

·         graffiti;

·         vandalism;

·         bins;

·         parks and open spaces;

·         homelessness;

·         housing;

·         fly tipping/litter;

·         planting green spaces and grass cutting;

·         parking particularly outside schools; and

·         lack of toilets in Milton Recreation Ground.

What issues affected residents in your Ward that fell within the responsibility of external partners?

·         Noise;

·         pot holes;

·         bus services;

·         crime;

·         school and school transport;

·         GPs and health services;

·         public transport;

·         lack of bus service in Milton;

·         leisure services;

·         overgrown trees (bottom and top); and

·         illegal use of e-scooters.

What changes would you like to see that could improve the life of residents in the future?

·         Community Police, more police patrols;

·         Swale road cleaning;

·         heritage;

·         improved situation for the homeless;

·         empty shops, look to see if they could be used as a community asset;

·         anti-social behaviour – use of CCTV;

·         police community engagement; and

·         more to do in Sittingbourne.

What were the top three issues you would like the Area Committee to take forward in the coming year?

·         Increased CCTV;

·         bins;

·         pollution;

·         anti-social behaviour including vandalism and policing, working with young people – constructive activities;

·         tourism, leisure, hospitality and heritage offer – link together and prove information on attractions;

·         bring rural element into the town, Milton Regis Country Park was an asset to the town;

·         housing;

·         employment;

·         holistic approach to uniting the community (leisure, health, mental health services);

·         condition and maintenance of roads;

·         green spaces – improve and maintain;

·         parking particularly outside schools;

·         road safety;

·         fly tipping; and

·         improved transport to get around Swale.

The Chair thanked everyone for their input and said it was clear that anti-social behaviour, greenspaces and travel across Swale were issues that were of greatest concern in the Sittingbourne area and all issues raised would be fed into the preparation of the Corporate Plan.