Agenda and minutes

Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee made a voluntary declaration in respect of the item relating to Otterpool Park, in that she owned a property within the boundary of the project.  

To receive the minutes of the meeting of the council held on 31 October 2018 and to authorise the Chairman of the Council to sign them as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2018 were submitted, approved and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman gave the following update:

“It seems that I have been referring to the Remembrance season for some time now but since we last me the commemoration – some traditional and some unique – have now taken place and with the passing of the 100 year anniversary of cessation of hostilities of World War 1, now is perhaps the time to bring a finality to that terrible conflict. It’s gone but will never be forgotten!

Throughout the week leading up to Remembrance Sunday, I was very happy to be able to represent the District in Hythe for the unveiling by the Mayor and Lord Lieutenant of Kent, of the enhanced War Memorial with its innovative and permanent red poppy now in place before the War Memorial.  The same day I attended the Garden of Remembrance dedication in Folkestone and during the ensuing week, the Annual Service of Remembrance at the Cruise Terminal at Dover which takes place at the site of the landing of the body of the Unknown Warrior being brought back from Flanders at the end of WW1 to finally rest in Westminster Abbey. Closer to home we paid our respects to the Machine Gun Corps who have a memorial in Cheriton Road Cemetery – they were unique as they were mounted on horses with machine guns.

An annual highlight for me is Folkestone’s Youth Festival of Remembrance held at the Leas Cliff Hall. Supported by Pupils from throughout the District together with the Scouts and Guides as well as the Cadets from all three military services, it is a wonderful evening and the commitment of all those who organise the event as well as take part is truly inspirational. For Remembrance Day itself this year, I joined the many residents of Hythe at their annual commemoration which in common with the rest of the country finalised with the national lighting of Beacons, ringing of church bells and, in Hythe, a wonderful firework display. Before I close on this subject, I want to pay a special tribute to the outstanding Pages of the Sea depiction of the poet Wilfred Owen on Sunny Sands. 

I now want to change tack and tell you of a both heartwarming and sad story that hsas been happening very close to all of us. Last Friday, I, together with Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee and a number of members of the council’s staff attended the funeral of Mrs Nicola Baker who has died at an early age from Pancreatic Cancer. I did not know Nicola very well but I heard from colleagues what a remarkable lady she was. I asked a colleague of Nicola’s to give me a note and I can do no better than to read it to you”.

The Chairman then read out comments from Nicola Bakers colleagues sharing their memories and paying tribute to her.

There were no petitions to be submitted.

1.    From Michelle Dorrell to Councillor Ewart-James, Cabinet Member for Housing

Earlier this year, District Council publicly promised to review its current SWEP procedures to protect homeless people. Can I ask what has been the result of that review, how and when will it be made public; to ensure Folkestone doesn’t add to the statistics of homelessness deaths across the country?

2.         From Dr Geoff Burrell to Councillor Malcolm Dearden, Cabinet Member for Finance

The Princes Parade development is critically dependent on the availability of cash receipts from its own residential build programme.  Those receipts will however fall substantially short of the needs of the project, due to under-estimation of the engineering difficulties and because Betteridge & Milsom have used Savills land valuation figures that are based on quite different assumptions.  The level of debt will therefore be much larger than anticipated and will ramp up more rapidly due to a combination of later sales receipts and a greater need for up-front expenditure on external work.

Would Councillor Dearden please advise what levels of debt will be incurred and how the council intends to service that debt?

The questions asked, including supplementary questions (if any), and the answers given are set out in Schedule 1, appended to these minutes.

(Questions can be found on www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk from noon 2 days before the meeting).

Up to 45 minutes is allowed for questions from councillors.

The questions asked, including supplementary questions (if any), and the answers given are set out in Schedule 2, appended to these minutes.

The Leader of the Council made the following Announcements:

“I would like to start by acknowledging the sterling work done by all our officers that were involved in the repercussions of the Morrisons store fire. I would particularly thank Lisette Patching who helped speedily resolve the planning issues around the opening of a temporary store which, I am pleased to say, will actually open next Wednesday.

On the Monday following the fire, I, along with the store manager Andy Parkinson, hand delivered letters to property owners adjacent or in the near vicinity of the store that told them what was happening and where on the site the temporary structure would be located. We also spoke to those residents that were at home and the information was well received and we were able to scotch the spurious rumours that were beginning to circulate about a housing estate being developed.

I have admired the way in which Morrison’s have looked after their employees, a not insignificant 123 of them, very important to the local economy, relieving them of any worries about their jobs or bonuses just prior to Christmas.

And now, just a brief update on the Area Officer initiative. Since their start on 15 October, they have logged over 1300 interventions, of which 678 were related to graffiti removal, some of which were years old, the taking down of 73 planning and 107 parking related and other redundant notices such as one about dog fouling that is over 40 years old.  Just as an aside then the £20 fine would equate to £230 today and our PCN is only £100. They have also removed a magnificent 324 fly posters. They have intervened in 11 cases of fly tipping. They have engaged with our residents on organised litter picks on 12 occasions and on corporate litter picks on 4 occasions. Among these numbers, 35 of them were directly related to member requests. All which I think is rather impressive for a fledgling service. I should also add that they also do dawn patrols in our town centre and are thereby building good relationships with the business owners.

As we go forward we are looking to expand their remit to include, among other things, putting up planning notices, that will enable our planners to concentrate on the actual applications, and taking charge of the street nameplate replacement scheme.

If you have not yet met with your Area officer, I would suggest you do, as they are there to help us”.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Meyers, responded and stated that he commended Morrisons management for their response, and their care for employees.

He stated that he had not yet met with the area officers, but was pleased to hear about the removal of fly posting.  He added that the group passed on their admiration for Nicola Baker and extended condolences to her family.

Proposed by Councillor Monk,

Seconded by Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee; and

RESOLVED:

That the announcements of the Leader be noted.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

There is no opposition business.

There was no opposition business.

There are no notices on motion.

There were no motions on notice.

This report considers the recommendation of the cabinet that borrowing for ten million pounds be approved in order that the council can secure further parcels of land within the site of the proposed Otterpool Park Garden Town and to enable to get the scheme to the point where development can start.

The report considered the recommendation of the Cabinet that borrowing for ten million pounds be approved in order that the council can secure further parcels of land within the site of the proposed Otterpool Park Garden Town and to enable to get the scheme to the point where development could start.

Proposed by Councillor Monk,

Seconded by Councillor Dearden; and

RESOLVED:

1.        That report A/18/15 be received and noted.

2.        That the council borrows an additional £10 million to enable the council to purchase land for the Otterpool Garden Town project and to progress the scheme to the point where development can commence.

(Voting figures: 24 for, 4 against, 0 abstentions).