To receive a report from the Leader of the Council on the business of the cabinet and on matters that the leader considers should be drawn to the council’s attention. The leader shall have 10 minutes to make his announcements.
The opposition groups will have an opportunity to reply to the leader’s remarks. The opposition group leaders shall each have 5 minutes to respond after which the Leader of the Council will have a right of reply. Any right of reply will be for a maximum duration of 5 minutes.
Minutes:
The Leader gave the following announcements:
“1. To start with, some good news! I successfully completed the Folkestone Half Marathon, a brilliant event which I have completed a number of times before and one I highly recommend to everyone, including Councillors!
2. I have been honoured to attended a number of events with an Armed Forces connection in my role as Leader but also Armed Forces Champion: the Ghurka Memorial Service, the Dedication of the Royal British Legion Standard in Hythe, Armed Forces Champion training at Ashford Barracks and of course Remembrance Sunday, which was both poignant and moving.
3. The Leaders of the four political groups and Independent Councillor Paul Thomas have been meeting regularly as we move towards a committee system.
4. I have attended many meetings regarding Otterpool Park with government agencies, developers and potential Joint Venture Partners, these discussions continue.
5. I have been delighted to visit many businesses in our District: Holiday Extras, who have created one of the most exciting and dynamic work environments I have ever been in, Port Lympne who, at the height of the summer season, employ over 600 people full or part time and Church and Dwight a long established Folkestone Company who are busy making and exporting nasal spray to China! Impressive, dynamic, forward looking, our business community creating jobs, offering training and giving people a future. This Council is a friend to good business.
6. Princes Parade hoarding: We are now out to tender to obtain prices from contractors to remove the hording and the concrete blocks that support it, and then erect a low level fence around the site. Once the site is refenced we will be consulting next year to ask local people for their views on the future of Prince's Parade.
7. Following their announcement of cuts to local bus services I have been in almost daily contact with Stagecoach to discuss. The Stagecoach Managing Director will be considering my views on how we might save further routes . There have been meetings, email and some difficult discussions with Stagecoach but so far my only success is the No.10 bus service which has been reinstated to Lympne.
8. I have been in regular contact with Southern Water mainly because of the sewage on the Copperfield's Estate in Lydd, the flooding on Udan Rd in Dymchurch and the failure of the pumps at the Range Road pumping station in Hythe. I have a site meeting with Southern Water and KCC Councillors on 1st December.
9. Along with many coastal District Councils I attended a meeting organised by the Environment Agency to collectively express our shared concern about Southern Water's consistent failure to meet the needs of their customers. As a result of the meeting I signed a joint letter along with all the other leaders, addressed to OFWAT, the water regulator, asking them to take action against Southern Water.
10.I have attended the Kent Leaders Forum to discuss the issues which affect the Council's in Kent. I have also attended meetings of the East Kent Leaders forum which has a more focused view of the issues affecting the East Kent Districts.
11.I have held meetings with Go Folkestone to try and locate the foundation stone to the long demolished Folkestone Pier in its original location.
12.I was delighted to attend the opening of the Sunflowers Room on the Bayle, I was equally pleased to attend a breakfast prayer meeting at the Baptist Church in Cheriton and I ate too much when I attended the Rotary Club dinner in Hythe”.
Councillor McConville, Leader of the Labour Group then responded to the announcements and echoed his support in respect of the Leader completing the half marathon. He also stated he was glad to have joined the Leader at the opening of the Sunflowers Room on the Bayle and looked forward to fostering community wealth building across the district. Everyone knew residents needed it. He echoed the comments in relation to Stagecoach, and expressed disappointment that they did not attend the recent consultation event relating to the new bus stop layout, and transformation of the current bus station. There were many residents who would have wanted to talk to someone from Stagecoach, and a lot of questions were taken in writing and sent to the directors of Stagecoach. They needed to be more involved in the community. He also stated, in respect of ‘big business’, it was important to recognise the challenges faced by small businesses in the current climate, and there had been a flurry of new businesses opening recently, particularly in Folkestone, and he hoped that this council, despite its stretched resources, gave full support to these new businesses in terms of queries on licensing, planning, food safety and all the other things they had to navigate. He also added that it was the last meeting before Christmas, and wished all staff and Councillors a festive and safe holiday period.
The Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee also responded and stated that she thought that the council had always been business friendly, and the previous administration had bought in lots of schemes. She added that the previous administration had not left a £18.5 million budget gap, but had saved by putting non-essential spending into action, £1.2million, and then a rebate of over £500,000. She stated that she was looking forward to the consultation on Princes Parade, and was hoping residents would realise the importance of the asset, and that something would be done with this asset. She added that without the previous administration, the council would not have had the Otterpool Park project, and every member of the council who was a previous member voted against it, but now stressed it’s importance. She also stated that the previous administration had initiated the Folkestone Regeneration scheme and levelling up. She wished everyone a happy Christmas, and thanked all the staff who worked extremely hard, particularly given the challenging circumstances they faced at the moment.
The Leader then responded to the points raised by the Opposition Group Leaders and added that he echoed the thoughts in respect of staff being hard working, and highlighted the support he had personally received from officers, which said a lot about the culture of the council. He referred to the homelessness count which had taken place the night before, and stated that the officer who had carried out this work had done so in their own time, unpaid. He then wished all Members a Merry Christmas.
Proposed by Councillor J Martin,
Seconded by Councillor Prater; and
RESOLVED:
That the announcements of the Leader of the Council be noted.
(The recommendations were agreed by affirmation of the meeting).