The Leader updated Members regarding a meeting he had attended on Tuesday, 16 July 2019, with the Director of Regeneration and Councillor Bonney at Ebbsfleet on “Good Growth” in the Thames Corridor.  He advised that the Thames Corridor embraced a line from Bexley to Thanet on the Kent side and Barking to Clacton over in Essex, and that this was the latest initiative from Government.  There was more anxiety from some of colleagues in local government about governance rather than delivery. Most projects on the horizon, such as Crossrail, were focussed on the London area, or the parts of Kent and Essex nearest to London.

The Leader said that as a Borough with too much poverty and inequality, it was important to welcome any opportunities that might come from creating a productive economy in the Thames Corridor but it had to be “good growth”, i.e. it had to be sustainable.  He advised that the Corridor was due to be included in government Cabinet responsibilities, and they would be appointing a Government approved “envoy” and creating a Board of 9, plus a Chair, with three representatives each from Kent, London and Essex.

The Minister for Local Government James Brokenshire had made a speech which both him and Councillor Bonney had responded robustly stressing that “good growth” was impossible without investment in infrastructure, and especially in health and education. 

The Leader acknowledged that Swale had the worst GP-to-patient ratio in the land, and they were also facing a crisis in finding places for Secondary School pupils.  They had been told that the viability of a Further Education college was constrained by the retention of so many 16-year olds in Swale Secondary schools.  He questioned this information, given that schools had not had the capacity for 11-year olds but could accommodate extra post-16 students who could be in further education.  He questioned how, if Swale could not find school places for young people now, how was Swale expected to do so after the building of thousands more houses?  The mirage of a new school at Grovehurst was not an immediate answer.

The Leader gave an update on a meeting he had held with Gordon Henderson MP, where the discussion had focussed on the high levels of poverty in the local area. The Leader advised that Swale was the second most deprived borough in Kent and if Sheppey were its own Council, it would be the second most deprived in the country. The Leader had also visited Sea Shells in Sheerness and the Stanford Hill prison. He had also asked for a meeting with the MP for Faversham.

The Leader then spoke about the National Planning Policy Framework, the Council’s current Local Plan, and the restraints that it placed upon the Council by Viability assessments and the funding restrictions placed on housing providers.  This all combined to leave Swale woefully short of the affordable and social housing needed for local people. The Coalition was determined to intervene to re-balance the impact of the market and, the Leader advised two exploratory meetings had been held with major housing associations, with more to follow.

The Leader advised that much of his time was being spent, along with the Deputy Leader, the Cabinet Member for Economy and a small cohort of officers, to sort out the chaos that had been bequeathed to them in the Sittingbourne Town Centre project. He said that the situation was worse than they had anticipated, and it had begun with a decision made several years ago to embrace a developer consortium in a comprehensive and very long-term agreement.

The Leader advised that the chaos extended across the piece but immediately it manifested itself around the Council’s own multi storey car park. He referred to a conversation with the previous Cabinet Member about what a good deal had been made with the company involved, using words such as specialists, state of the art, outstanding design and at such a good price, which he did not agree were words to describe the project.  The Leader spoke of the delay that had been caused by a dispute that had its roots in confusion at the start about what was expected and what it was worth. However, he was pleased to update Members regarding a high-level meeting with the contractor, where many issues had been resolved.  He now had high hopes that the car park would finally open in September 2019.

The Leader said that as imperfect though much of the Sittingbourne Town Centre project was, the Council had been committed by the previous administration to a considerable financial investment. With that in mind, the whole of the project had to be completed as soon as possible so that the Council could start to get some returns on that investment.   He added that the financial viability of the investment had to be a matter of continual concern to all members of this Council. Whilst they were limited in what could be done by a Development Agreement entered into several years ago.  He hoped that they could take back control to ensure the town of Sittingbourne developed economically as soon as possible, and in the interests of local residents.

The Leader of the Conservative Group responded to the Statement. He spoke about the difficulties regarding private sector contracts and suggested that it might be best to enlist the help of private sector negotiators in the future to assist with this.  He also expressed his concern about the shortage of medical provision in Swale, and that the NHS often responded to planning applications saying that no additional surgeries were required.  He hoped that Members could work together to prove that this was not the case.

The Leader responded by saying that they would look at ways, such as developing more partners, to avoid any similar situation.  In respect of the medical provision, the Leader advised that the NHS could not attract GPs to the area and this problem was well acknowledged and was due to insufficient funding for training of new GPs, and insufficient funding to provide the services required.