Agenda item

Leaders Report

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

 

Minutes:

During his report the Leader covered the following areas:

?  The Ramsgate Port and Harbour feasibility study specification had been finalised.

?  A cross party working group had been set up to look at toilet provision across the District.

?  The Chief Executive and Deputy Leader had met with Margate Harbour Arm businesses.

?  Beach cleansing team had done an extraordinary job to keep the beaches clean during a busy summer season.

?  Following the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency, a working group would be set up, and a situation report would be brought to the February 2020 meeting of Council.

?  A Scrutiny working group regarding Travellers had been set up to look at how the Council could address unlawful incursions.

?  The Turner Prize 2019 would be hosted in Margate by the Turner Contemporary between 28 September 2019 and 12 January 2020.

?  The Council had worked with the Sunshine Café who would host an art exhibition for five weeks from 13 September 2019.

?  Ramsgate was one of 50 towns invited to apply for Future High Streets Funding.

?  The Council had successfully secured £226,100 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to tackle rogue landlords.

?  Cabinet recently held an extraordinary meeting to consider Overview and Scrutiny Panel’s (OSP) recommendations regarding the sale of Dreamland.

?  A recent Air Quality Annual Status report had found an improvement in air quality across Thanet.  The Council had been working with partners to encourage more environmentally friendly travel methods.

 

Councillor Everett as Leader of the Labour Party responded with the following points:

?  There were a number of topics missing from the Leaders report, such as a reference to staffing and East Kent Housing.

?  Progress on the Ramsgate Port feasibility study was welcome, however there was lots of public concern about the Port and its future.

?  Councillor Yates deserved recognition for his scrutiny of the Dreamland sale process.  The Labour Group would continue to seek assurances that the future of the site was protected from property development for as long as possible.

?  In Future group leaders should be consulted before a Council meeting was cancelled.

 

The Leader replied to Councillor Everitt’s comments with the following points:

?  The Leader would provide an update regarding staffing and East Kent Housing to Councillor Everitt when they had their next one to one meeting.

?  The process regarding the sale of Dreamland had been as open and transparent as possible.  There had been a Members Briefing, an OSP meeting and two Cabinet meetings on the subject.

 

Councillor Reverend Piper as leader of the Thanet Independents Party made the following points:

?  When would the Ramsgate Port and Harbour feasibility study be completed?

?  The public outcry following the recent litter incident on Margate beach was understandable, a strong response was needed if it happened again.

?  Lessons should be learnt from Hove’s recent traveller incursion experience.  Hove had a dedicated traveller site, however it was not used.  The benefits of a dedicated traveller site should be made clear. 

?  The Turner Prize in Margate was a wonderful thing.  It would be good to charge a nominal fee to visitors.

?  Funding to tackle rogue landlords and the nomination of Ramsgate to apply for Future High Street’s Funding was good news.

?  Cabinet should take notice of OSP’s recommendations regarding the future of the Dreamland site.

 

The Leader replied to Councillor Reverend Piper’s comments with the following points:

?  Cabinet considered all of the recommendations from the OSP.

?  The Council could consider charging a tourist tax, this practice was seen as normal in other Countries.

 

Councillor Garner representing the Green Party made the following points:

?  It was good to hear about the Turner Prize and other exhibitions opening in Thanet.

?  Funding to tackle rogue landlords and for Ramsgate High street was positive.

?  A cross party working group set up to produce a climate emergency action plan was good.

?  Once the arboricultural officer was in place  a biodiversity plan should be published and implemented as soon as possible.

?  There was concern that the process to sell the Dreamland site had not been transparent.

?  No new spending should be authorised at the Port of Ramsgate until the review had been completed.  Members should be provided with business plans and engineers reports in order to understand the reasoning behind recent spending decisions.

?  External help was needed to assist the Council in overcoming its challenges and to restore the community's confidence in the Council.

 

The Leader replied to Councillor Garner’s comments with the following points:

?  The planned expenditure at Ramsgate Port was in regard to berths 4 and 5, this work had been built into the capital programme by the last Council.

?  The sale of Dreamland would ultimately reduce the Council’s future liabilities.  The process had been very transparent and Cabinet had taken on board the recommendations of the OSP.

?  The Leader invited Councillor Garner to meet with him to discuss what kind of help he felt that the Council needed.

 

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