Agenda item

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

The Leader, Councillor Ashbee, presented her report to Council, covering the following key points:

• The Annual residents survey of 6000 people was underway; this would help the Council prioritise Council services.
• Hard decisions had to be made each year during the budget building process, however the Council constantly looked to improve efficiency whilst maintaining the standard of service.
• Thanet had seen a 71% increase in visitor numbers during the peak season; this was expected to continue next summer.
• The Beach Management Plan had proved very successful. 1,800 tonnes of litter had been collected and 7000 hours of litter picking had taken place across Thanet’s eight most popular beaches.  The volunteers who had conducted litter picks deserved our thanks.  The Council wished to find a way to generate revenue from visitors to offset these additional operating costs that did not impact upon local business by deterring visitors from coming to the area.
• To encourage biodiversity, the flower beds managed by the Council now contained perennial plants, this created habitats for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths.
• The Council had commissioned consultants to conduct a feasibility study of the Westbrook Loggia redevelopment.  It was difficult for the Council to maintain these iconic coastal buildings; it was hoped that this would restore the Loggia to its former glory.
• ‘Fiver Fest’ would be running during October to encourage use of local businesses as part of the Totally Locally campaign.
• The Tenant and Leaseholder Service had been running for a year.  Since the service had been bought in-house, there had been a significant improvement in the service.  The Housing Team should be congratulated for their efforts.
• Work on the Ramsgate Future initiative had continued.  The public engagement stage regarding the Ramsgate Future Town Investment Plan was now complete, and responses would be collated to finalise the document that would be published in November.
• The Council was looking for engagement with a survey into proposed highway improvements to the road and pedestrian areas of Ramsgate.
• The Margate Town Deal process had entered phase two, this included the development of ‘Green Book’ business cases.
• The Ramsgate 200th Royal Harbour status celebration was a success; the District could be proud to have the only royal harbour in the Country.
• Ramsgate Football Club deserved acknowledgement for their work in support of the HAF programme.  The Government scheme was only funded during the end of term school holidays, however Riveroak Strategic Partnership had offered to fund hot meals to allow the course to continue during the October half term holiday as well.
• Southern Water had commissioned a drainage study for Thanet costing £400,000. 
• The Council was not advised of the recent Southern Water discharge event that occurred from the Joss Bay pumping station on 5 October.  The discharge had been identified by a Council Officer.  The Leader would be meeting with the Southern Water CEO Mr McAulay, and had requested that the local MP’s take the matter up in Parliament.  The Leader would also write to the Environment Agency and Ofwat to express her concern and frustration at the situation.

Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor Everitt,  made the following points:

• He wished the Leader a happy birthday.
• The residents survey was important, the challenge was to have cleaner streets and better waste collections without any additional cost. 
• The Beach Management Plan was good, and there had been some good work despite workforce challenges.
• Councillor Whitehead deserved some acknowledgement for her involvement in the creation and success of the Tenant and Leaseholder Service.
• Councillors recently had a tour of a Southern Water pumping station, but the following day there was another failure, it was hard to know what more elected members of the Council could do.
• The work of Ramsgate Football Club, with the support of Riveroak Strategic Partnerships, was good to hear. 

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

• Staff shortages, and lorry driver shortages in particular, had been a national problem, however the Council had dealt with the situation well and had experienced very little disruption to services.

Councillor Reverend Piper, as leader of the Thanet Independent Group, made the following points:

• He offered thanks to everyone involved in cleaning up after visitors and residents over the summer season.
• Thanks were offered to the Leader for her work and efforts with Southern Water, and to the officers who were trying to deal with the issue.

The Leader noted Councillor Rev Piper’s comments.

Councillor Garner as Leader of the Green Party made the following points:

• Thanet was lucky to have so many people working to benefit the area, from volunteer litter pickers, to gardening groups,  and to those responding to surveys.  People were passionate about making things better for those living in,  and visiting the area.
• We should all support ‘Fiver Fest’.
• The repeated failures of Southern Water were unacceptable and the company should pay for their negligence.

The Leader replied to Councillor Garner’s comments noting that:

• The Southern Water issue was a high priority, the Leader, the District’s two MP’s and the Council’s Chief Executive would be meeting Mr McAulay to discuss the latest incident.

Members noted the report.