As the district in Kent which suffers by far the greatest impacts from unofficial lorry parking in the County, Swale Borough Council asks that the Department for Transport places a high priority on working with the Highway Authorities and other relevant Stakeholders to develop a County wide/South East England strategy which helps tackle the issue in a co-ordinated way, not just in Swale but for the whole county. This strategy must include an appropriately robust and resourced enforcement regime, which does not place additional pressure on already stretched local authorities and their local partners. Swale Borough Council cannot support ad-hoc proposals, for new lorry parking facilities such those at Brenley Corner (Junction 7 M2), without understanding how this fits in with a Kent wide strategy and any planned future investment in the strategic road network.

Proposed by: Councillor Monique Bonney

Seconded by: Councillor Mike Baldock

Councillor Monique Bonney proposed the following motion:

“As the district in Kent which suffers by far the greatest impacts from unofficial lorry parking in the County, Swale Borough council asks that the Department for Transport places a high priority on working with the Highway Authorities and other relevant Stakeholders to develop a County wide/South East England strategy which helps tackle the issue in a co-ordinated way, not just in Swale but for the whole county.  This strategy must include an appropriately robust and resourced enforcement regime, which does not place additional pressure on already stretched local authorities and their local partners.  Swale Borough Council cannot support ad-hoc proposals, for new lorry parking facilities such as those at Brenley Corner (Junction 7 M2) without understanding how this fits in with a Kent strategy and any planned future investment in the strategic road network”

In proposing the motion, Council Bonney said that an urgent upgrade of much of Kent’s highway infrastructure was required, and she said that it was premature to consider a lorry park at junction 7 when significant junction improvements were required. She referred to the enforcement of lorry parking in the Borough and said that the £25 fine imposed, the same approximate cost of staying overnight at a lorry park, was not a deterrent and she highlighted the issues around collecting fines from foreign lorry drivers.  Councillor Bonney highlighted the success of an experimental Traffic Regulation Order in Ashford and said that there needed to be more lorry parks, with better facilities.  She said that the current regime was not fair or equitable and was harmful to communities.

In seconding the motion, Councillor Mike Baldock reserved his right to speak.

The Leader said that he supported the motion and said that a Swale-wide approach was a better approach than ad-hoc solutions.

The Leader of the Conservative group advised that he had not heard a significant amount of the proposer’s speech and would therefore abstain from the vote, but added he would have voted against the proposal as SBC were responsible for assisting residents whose lives were affected by fly lorry parking, and SBC could assist in addressing the issue.  He went on to say that he did not believe the motion was about lorry parking but about the administration’s desire to generate housing, and he referred to the proposed development land opposite the proposed lorry park, and made an allegation of probable improper practices regarding private discussions about this land.

The Leader asked the Leader of the Conservative group to withdraw his allegation of improper practices.  The Leader of the Conservative group said that similar language had been used by the opposition to describe the work of his own group. In response, the Leader said that he personally had never used such language.

Councillor Mike Baldock proposed a motion that Councillor Alan Horton be ejected from the meeting for his comments.  This was seconded by Councillor Richard Palmer who reserved his right to speak.

Councillor Mike Baldock said that standards were required at a Full Council meeting, and Councillor Alan Horton had not withdrawn his comments when given the opportunity.

In the debate that followed, Councillor Alan Horton accepted that his comments were inappropriate for a Full Council meeting, and he apologised to all Members, officers and members of the public.  Councillor Baldock withdrew his motion.

Members then debated the substantive motion and raised points including:

·         There was a shortage of lorry parks;

·         a cohesive strategy was required;

·         the proposals at junction 7 of the M2 would not solve the problems along the A2;

·         collaboration with other districts, Kent County Council (KCC) and the Department for Transport was required;

·         compared lorry parks in other parts of Europe;

·         poorly worded motion;

·         Cabinet had been asked to consider this before, writing a letter would not achieve much;

·         KCC had already produced a strategy – Delivering Growth Without Gridlock 2016 -31;

·         there should be joined up thinking;

·         the motion wrote off any home-grown schemes;

·         any opportunities should be supported;

·         the issue could be resolved by providing adequate parking;

·         SBC were responsible for on-street parking;

·         SBC should provide enforceable parking; and

·         there was no evidence that SBC had lobbied Central Government.

In response, Councillor Mike Baldock said that lorry parking had been an issue for many years and the objections to the motion were not reflective of what the motion hoped to achieve.  He said that Swale did not want to attract lorries to the area if a park was over-subscribed and proper enforcement was required.

In summing up, Councillor Monique Bonney said that the previous administration could have taken action on this issue.  She added that a proper joined up strategy and a good network of facilities was required, and solutions would be sought from Central Government and KCC.

The substantive motion was then put to the vote, and was agreed.

Resolved:

(1)  That the Council asks the Department of Transport to place a high priority on working with the Highway Authority and other relevant Stakeholders to develop a County wide/South East England strategy to help tackle the issue of lorry parking in a co-ordinated way for the whole county.

(2)  That the strategy should include an appropriately robust and resourced enforcement regime which does not place additional pressure on already stretched local authorities and their local partners.

(3)  That Swale Borough Council could not support ad-hoc proposals for new lorry parking facilities such as those at Brenley Corner (Junction 7 M2) without understanding how this fitted in with a Kent wide strategy and any planned future investment in the future road network.