Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Bambridge, Braidwood, Connor, Curran, Dennis, Dixon, Evans, Hayton, Messenger, R Potts, Shonk and Wells.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 11 October 2018, copy attached.

It was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman and agreed, that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 11 and 15 October 2018 be approved and signed by the Chairman.

To approve the Minutes of the extraordinary meeting of Council held on 6 November 2018, copy attached.

It was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by the Vice-Chairman and agreed, that the minutes of the Extraordinary Council meeting held on 6 November 2018 be approved and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman, Leader, Members of the Cabinet or Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2 (iv).

Mr Marie, an Enforcement Officer at TDC, was awarded with an Acknowledging Excellence certificate by the Chairman in recognition of his professional response to a very challenging situation. Members applauded Mr Marie as a sign of their appreciation of his conduct.

Members congratulated Mr Davies, an Empty Homes Officer at TDC, who had recently won the Rising Star award at the Empty Homes Awards. This was a national award that recognised new empty homes practitioners who had made a significant contribution.

The Chairman invited all Members to join him for a Christmas drink and mince pies after the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in accordance with Council Procedure rule 2.2 (v)

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive petitions from the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

Mr Smith-Stewart presented the petition to Council.  Members noted that the following petition which contained 94 valid signatures, had been received:

“We the undersigned petition the council to reaffirm that there will be no sale or disposal of the buildings known as Margate Museum and the Mayor's Parlour.

The Museum is ideally placed on its existing site, and only requires an extension into the Mayor's Parlour where a lift was to be installed to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.

The Mayor's Parlour also known originally as a municipal building was funded by the widow of Mayor Kendall and must continue for mayoral use.

The Tudor House and Maltings are not suitable to take all the museum artefacts, a heritage lottery bid needs to be revisited for all for these buildings as a matter of urgency.”

In accordance with the council’s Petition Scheme, the petition was referred to Cabinet without debate for report back to the Council within three ordinary meetings.

Mr Coombes presented the petition to Council.  Members noted that a paper petition containing 1119 signatures and an e-petition containing 154 valid signiatures with the following prayer, had been received:

“We the undersigned petition the council to accept we have no confidence in the Council’s operation of the Royal Harbour and Port. So we demand that Thanet District Council create an independent working party to investigate the losses and bring forward a comprehensive regeneration plan within six months”

Following debate by Members it was agreed that;

“The petition would be referred to Cabinet as the petition related to an executive function.

Cabinet should consider the inclusion of independent expert advisors in the membership of the Port and Harbour Working Party.”

Mr Green asked Councillor Bayford the following question:

“Highways England, Historic England, Natural England, Public Health England, KCC, CCC, and 1100 Thanet residents, have registered concerns regarding RSP’s DCO application. Could he detail how the Council has engaged the applicant to produce a SoCG and LIR, what issues have been discussed, and included in a section 106 agreement”

Councillor Bayford responded with the following points:

·  The Council engaged with the applicant on the planning matters raised in the pre-application letter and relevant representation, This was published on the Council's website and on the Planning Inspectorate's website. It discussed how the Council and the applicant could work to resolve as many of the issues raised in those documents as possible, to inform the Council's Local Impact Report and any Statement of Common Ground produced.

·  It would be a decision for the Planning Inspectorate, as the examining authority, whether a Section 106 Agreement would be required in addition to a Development Consent Order if granted.

Mr Wise asked Councillor Bayford the following question:

“Ramsgate port/harbour is said to have lost c£20m since 2010. Will you please list the services, council jobs and grants to organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau that have been lost as a result of the Council’s failure to manage this loss-making TDC infrastructure”

Councillor Bayford responded with the following points:

·  Ramsgate Port and Harbour had operated at a loss since 2010.

·  Since taking control the Leader had made it clear that the Port and Harbour was a top priority to the administration.

·  Much of the costs connected to the Port were the result of maintaining readiness for a ferry operator. Discussions with a potential operator were positive and ongoing.

·  There could come a time in the future when a different strategy was required that looked at other options for the Port area.

·  It was impossible to establish causality in order to answer the question directly.

No questions from Members of the Council have been received in accordance with council procedure rule 14.

To receive any Notices of Motion from Members of Council in accordance with the Council Procedure Rule 3.

No motions on notice have been received in accordance with council procedure rule 3.

To receive a report from the Leader of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.4.

During his report the Leader covered the following areas:

• The Draft Local Plan had been submitted to the Secretary of State.  It was available to view on the Council’s website, in the Gateway Library and at a number of other locations across the District.
• Government would invest a significant amount of money in the Port of Ramsgate as part of resilience planning for Brexit.
• The number of rough sleepers within the District had dropped from 45 to 23 over the past year.  It was expected that the recently established RISE (Rough Sleeper Intervention, Support and Empowerment) team would help to continue this trend.
• The Winter Shelter was now open and was supported by the Salvation Army, TDC and a number of Churches.
• There had been a recent visit by delegates from Ards and North Down Borough Council in Northern Ireland, they were interested in the Council’s role in the regeneration of Thanet.
• A guide to housing services had been created by the Housing team and had been distributed across the District.
• The Council had successfully bought another 40 empty homes back into use, and congratulations were offered to Mr Davies the Council’s empty homes officer in winning the Rising Star award.
• There would be a digital parking pilot project taking place across the District.
• The Leader attended a meeting of the Thames Gateway Strategic Group which considered its response to the Thames Estuary Commission 2050 Vision Report.  It was proposed that a Thames Estuary Prosperity Board be set up as a single voice to Government for the Thames Estuary.
• The Thanet Parkway project continued to be supported by Kent County Council and it was hoped that funding would be secured by 2019.

In the absence of Councillor Wells, Councillor L Fairbrass as deputy leader of the Independent and UKIP Group, made the following points:

• The reduction in the number of rough sleepers was good, however there was still lots of work to be done.
• The opening of the Winter Shelter was good.
• Congratulations were offered to Mr Davies.

Councillor Reverend Piper as Leader of the Thanet Independent Councillors Group made the following points:

·  There should be acknowledgment of the work by the Council officers who put the draft Local plan together for submission.

·  He hoped to hear news of a successful development at Ramsgate Port in the near future.

·  Thanks were offered to everyone involved in the Winter Shelter project.

·  The Housing team do excellent work.

·  On behalf of the Thanet Independent Councillors Group, everyone was wished a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The Leader replied to Councillor Reverend Piper’s comments to say that he also wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

Councillor Matterface as Leader of the Labour Party Group made the following points:

• It was good to highlight the amazing work done by the RISE team and those involved in the Winter Shelter.  Councillors also played a role in helping to prevent homelessness.
• There was a lack of mental health and rehabilitation facilities available locally, many rough  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Councillor G Coleman-Cooke, the Chairman of the Executive, Policy and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel, presented his report and the following points were noted:

• The Panel met on 13 November to review the work programme and consider a report on crime statistics from Kent Police.
• The Panel made recommendations to Cabinet regarding the Housing Allocations Policy, and the Food Law Service Plan and Enforcement Policy.
• The digital parking pilot project was ‘called in’ by the panel and following a briefing which provide additional information, it was agreed that no further action was needed by the Panel.
• The Chairman of the Panel offered to follow up the request for an update from Cabinet in relation to money bequeathed to Dickens House.
• The Chairman of the Panel agreed to consider having a report on crime statists for rape, sexual assault and violence against women at a future meeting of the Board.

Members noted the report

Councillor L Piper, the Chairman of the Finance, Budget and Performance Scrutiny Panel, presented her report and the following points were noted:

• The Panel had met twice since the last meeting of Council. A key item for consideration had been a presentation on the performance of Ramsgate Port and Harbour from the Leader.  It was agreed that the Port and Harbour topic would be included at a future Members Briefing.
• The Panel considered the 2019/20 Council Fees and Charges and made recommendations to Cabinet.

Members noted the report.

It was noted that in accordance with council procedure rule 17.6, a recorded vote would be taken on the motion or any amendments and substantive motions.

It was proposed by Councillor Gregory and seconded by the Leader that:

“Council approve the Fees and Charges as listed in Annex 1 of the report, subject to the removal of cremation fees for those up and including 17 years of age.

An all party Cabinet Advisory Group would be created to consider future fees and charges.”

The Monitoring Officer conducted a recorded vote on the motion as follows:

42 Members voted in favour the motion: Councillors Ashbee, Bayford, Brimm, Buckley, Campbell,  G Coleman-Cooke, K Coleman-Cooke, Constantine, Crow-Brown, Dawson, Day, Dellar, Dexter, Edwards, J Fairbrass, L Fairbrass, Falcon, Fenner, Game, Gregory, Grove, Hillman, Jaye-Jones, Larkins, Martin, Matterface, Parsons, L Piper, S Piper, L Potts, Pugh, Rogers, Rusiecki, D Saunders, M Saunders, Savage, Stummer-Schmertzing, Taylor, Taylor-Smith, Tomlinson, Townend and Wright.

0 Members voted against the motion.

1 Member abstained from voting on the motion: Councillor Johnston.

The motion was carried.

It was proposed by Councillor Game, seconded by Councillor Savage and Members agreed the Food Law Service Plan and Enforcement Policy 2018-2020.

The Leader proposed, Councillor Matterface seconded and Members agreed option two as detailed at paragraph 2.6.1 of the report, namely;

“That a seat is removed from the Boundary and Electoral Arrangements Working Party and the Labour Group loses that seat.”