Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Townend.

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on 17 November 2016, copy attached.

Councillor Brimm proposed, Councillor L. Fairbrass seconded and Cabinet agreed the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 17 November 2016.

Members considered the performance for the quarter ended 30 September 2016. The targets set in this year’s performance reports were more challenging than previously, and more challenging than assumed in service plans.

This year, the intention is to apply the same rigour to performance targets, but ensure that service plans are finalised in full knowledge of those targets. Members noted the corrective action suggested by officers at the meeting for the performance targets that were not met.

Councillor Taylor-Smith and Councillor Game spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

Councillor Crow-Brown proposed, Councillor Brimm seconded and Members agreed to note the report.

During debate on the petition referred to Cabinet by Full Council, the meeting was advised that that the Council did not have authority or responsibility for bus routes. That was an issue for the bus operator (Stage Coach) to decide on. Stage Coach was a member of the Quality Bus Partnership together with Kent County Council (KCC) and Thanet District Council (TDC).

It would be appropriate that such an issue be referred to the Partnership meeting, where planning and bus network development matters for the area were discussed. Currently Councillor Matterface was the TDC representative that attended these meetings.

Councillor K. Gregory spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

Councillor Brimm proposed, Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing seconded and Cabinet agreed to refer the petition to Stagecoach and Kent County Council via Councillor Matterface at the next Quality Bus Partnership meeting scheduled for 14 December 2016.

Cabinet welcome the positive principals contained within the petition presented to the Council on the 13th October, and re-iterated the position that Members took at Full Council that we do not condone any form of hate crime, racial abuse or xenophobic behaviour. No-one should ever find themselves targeted by violence or hatred because of the colour of their skin, their religion, gender, sexuality or disability.

Members further confirmed that the Council and community safety partners were committed to tackling hate crime which had featured as one of the actions within the local community safety plan for a number of years. Other actions, include initiatives such as SHARP (Stop Hate and Related Prejudice), Hate crime reporting line, and delivery of the PREVENT programme.

Councillor L. Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Brimm seconded and Cabinet agreed to report back to Council that since through its actions, Council are already showing its opposition to racism, xenophobia and hate-crimes, the petition is unnecessary.

Members considered the revisions to the draft Local Plan that were being proposed for public consultation. They acknowledged that the Local Plan was a statutory document which had to be assessed by an independent inspector and should be evidence based. The proposals also should support the Council’s Corporate Plan priorities, meeting the priority to promote inward investment and job creation. Together with the Council’s newly adopted Economic Growth Strategy, it should set the framework for achieving the Council’s economic ambitions.

The Plan made provision for new housing to meet local needs and to support the growth of the workforce, and support the provision of key new infrastructure. The report presented to Cabinet set out key updates of the evidence base for the Local Plan process; and indicated key changes that were being proposed for consultation as revisions to the Preferred Option Local Plan. Those key changes (set out in Annex 1 to the report) were:

•  The identification of additional sites to meet the increased housing required by Government policy;

•  Sets out the Council’s current position on the future of the Manston Airport site when considered beside the evidence currently available;

•  Identification of key road schemes to be provided alongside development (more localised road schemes are being developed as the plan progresses);

•  To invite proposals for sites to be considered as Local Green Space within the Local Plan (it is important that parish and town councils put forward proposals that may be emerging in their neighbourhood plans);

•  Amended location for the proposed Thanet Parkway station following evidence from the Thanet Parkway Project Board;

•  Proposals for adopting new national technical standards in relation to water efficiency; internal space standards and accessible and adaptable accommodation.

Cabinet also considered the Overview & Scrutiny Panel recommendations which were:

1.  Include specific recommendations in the consultation that underline the inclusion of potential aviation use as part of a mixed use scenario;

2.  Should explicitly explain that evidence produced during the coming phases of consultation can still be considered between now and examination in public; and

3.  Further reviews be conducted to the rejected list to get extra space for housing development in order to minimise the use of green fields.

In response to the Panel recommendations Cabinet made the following comments:

1.  Draft Policy SP05 (relating to the Airport site) requires “Design and Heritage statements to include links to the sites heritage to support tourism in Thanet, including consideration of proposals that would permit a limited element of aviation use”, subject to number of flights being below the threshold that would require a statutory licence; (this does not preclude the application for a statutory licence);

2.  I can confirm that evidence produced during the coming phases of consultation can still be considered between now and the examination in public. There is also the opportunity for people to present evidence to the independent Inspector at the Examination in due course; and

3.  The sites have been assessed in relation to the brownfield  ...  view the full minutes text for item 391.