Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received at the meeting.

Councillor Jay-Jones made a declaration of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) on Agenda Item 9 (Public consultation-designation of the proposed Conservation Areas, Cliftonville West).

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on 30 July 2015, copy attached.

Councillor Lin Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Townend seconded and Members agreed the minutes to be a correct record of the previous meeting.

Cabinet observed that the proposed new corporate priorities and values are being made in an economic context of further spending cuts following the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review in November 2015. In order for the Council to maintain frontline service delivery; there was a need to be more focused by reducing the amount of Corporate Priorities from eleven to three. These priorities were aimed at improving the quality of life for Thanet residents.

The Leader agreed to consider the suggestions from Shadow Cabinet Members for the need to review the design of current council services to better focus on delivery of services in the light of the proposed Council priorities for 2015-19. The Leader also agreed to review the current approach for the collection of green waste, but advised that this would have budgetary implications. He also agreed to look at the introduction of staff suggestion box.

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure Rule 24.1:

Councillor Bayford;

Councillor Taylor-Smith;

Councillor K. Gregory;

Councillor I. Gregory.

Councillor Wells proposed, Councillor Brimm seconded and Members agreed to recommend the report and the proposed Corporate Plan 2015–2019 (with any amendments) to be presented to Full Council on the 15 October 2015.

Members considered the report that represented an update of the existing corporate risk register. It was important that the Council assessed its strategic risks as part of its Annual Governance Statement. The adoption of new corporate priorities will inevitably require the need to identify new risks to consider alongside the existing ones.

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure 24.1:

Councillor Collins;

Councillor Taylor-Smith;

Councillor I. Gregory.

Councillor Wells proposed, Councillor Townend seconded and Members agreed to note the report.

The meeting was advised that the developer was granted planning permission to develop seven residential flats at Marina Esplanade in Ramsgate, in 2012 and construction has now been completed. Unfortunately a small part of the property overhangs the council’s land and the developer was now seeking permission to acquire the title of the land, without this the developer will not be able to sell some of the flats. The piece of land has been valued and the price agreed was £20,000 net of professional fees.

Councillor Bayford spoke under Council Procedure 24.1.

Councillor Townend proposed, Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing seconded and Cabinet agreed to dispose of the site for the sum of £20,000 with the purchaser being responsible for the payment of the Council’s Legal and Surveyor’s fees.

Cabinet acknowledged that the building in question required extensive repair and refurbishment. The high cost of maintaining these unique buildings meant that they are readily suited to the Council’s social housing stock and could not be easily maintained as part of routine planned maintenance programmes.

Councillor Lin Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Brimm seconded and Cabinet agreed the following recommendations:

i.  The proposed disposal strategy set out in section 3.3 of this report, including the immediate marketing of the 5 vacant properties, and subsequent marketing of further properties as they become vacant and the Council’s freehold interests flat blocks, communal grounds, boundary walls and paths;

ii.  To authorise the Director of Community Services to negotiate and agree terms and complete transfers for all disposals in relation to this site;

iii.  To utilise up to £30,000 of the value of the receipts obtained to fund the costs of marketing and disposal;

iv.  An HRA capital budget of £324,000 to fund essential works, to be vired from the HRA Major Repairs Reserve;

v.  To authorise the Director of Community Services to negotiate a reasonable and proportionate contribution to the costs of the work form the leaseholder owner, taking into account all of the circumstances and take necessary steps to recover these amounts;

vi.  That the receipts from the sales should be used to support the Council’s HRA activities.

Supplementary Clarification 2/9/15:

Paragraph 2.11 of the Report indicates that “The SPD will set out the planning policy position for different areas of the site, defining the mix of uses that might be acceptable, and establishing design and other planning principles.”

For clarification, the “mix of uses” referred to in paragraph 2.11 is a mix of Airport-related uses and uses complementary to the Airport, to “support Airport development”, as mentioned earlier in paragraph 2.11.

Cabinet received the report on the adoption of the Local Development Scheme. Planning regulations require that the Council prepared and maintained a local development scheme, which was a work programme for local planning policy documents. The Scheme had to be kept under review on a regular basis.

Councillor Bayford and Councillor Campbell spoke under Council Procedure Rule 24.1.

Councillor Lin Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Townend seconded and Cabinet resolved to bring the revised Local Development Scheme into effect on 11 September 2015 (or if necessary as soon as possible thereafter)

After declaring a pecuniary interest on the issues to be considered under this item, Councillor Jay-Jones left the Chamber before consideration of the item.

The Council has a duty to determine which parts of their area are areas of special architectural or historic interest the character of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance, and to designate those areas as conservation areas under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. A public consultation will be carried out before formal designation as Conservation Areas.

The Leader agreed to consider the request from the Shadow Deputy Leader and Shadow Member for Regeneration & Enterprise Development that a grants scheme to support improvements on properties that were located in designated conservation area be set up and that there was a need to respond accordingly to the work load of the conservation function if the designation was approved. He said that these suggestions had budgetary implications for Council.

Councillor Savage spoke under Council procedure 24.1.

Councillor Lin Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing seconded and Cabinet agreed the following:

1  To carry out an eight weeks public consultation exercise from 11 January 2016 to 7 March 2016 on the proposed designation of conservation areas at the Northdown Road, Edgar Road/Sweyn Road, Clifftop, Norfolk Road/Warwick Road/Surrey Road and Clifton Place/Grotto Gardens; and progress as part of the management plan for adoption as a designated Conservation Area subject to the public consultation;

2  That officers report back to Cabinet on the results of consultation on all the proposed Conservation Areas.

Cabinet received the progress update report as a follow up to the one they received July 2015, which anticipated a project overspend of £2,225,000. Funding for the shortfall had been identified as being Dreamland reserves, car parking income, borrowing and estimated income from the operator.

Councillor Bayford and Councillor Campbell spoke under Council Procedure 24.1.

Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing proposed, Councillor Wells seconded and Cabinet approved additional funding of £2.225m as set out in section 5.1 of the Cabinet report.