Contact your Parish Council


Agenda item

Question and Answer Session for Members of the Public

Minutes:

Question to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee from Mr Robert Atkin

 

On 18th December 2019 this Council debated slowing down the Call for Sites process in favour of pushing back on the housing numbers to Government and undertaking a proper assessment of infrastructure needed across the borough.  Councillors voted instead for a motion that sped the Call for Sites process up to avoid the Local Plan Review being extended.  The Save Our Heath Lands Action Group learnt on 5 February that you have now decided to slow the process down.  Can the residents of Maidstone really trust and have confidence that this Council has proper control of its Local Planning process?

 

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor Cox, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Powell, the Leader of the Independent Maidstone Group, and Councillor Perry, the Leader of the Conservative Group, responded to the question.

 

Mr Atkin asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee:

 

Is this Council’s Local Planning process Member-led or Officer-led?

 

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee from Mr Steve Heeley

 

The Save Our Heath Lands Action Group were expecting your long overdue letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government to robustly push back on the housing numbers determined for Maidstone.  We were therefore disappointed that instead the general thrust was 'give us a break now and we'll deliver more for you later'.  Is this an admission that this Council actually accepts the new housebuilding targets set by Government but can’t politically agree its strategy on how to deliver its next five-year housing supply?

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, and Councillor Newton, on behalf of the Leader of the Independent Maidstone Group, responded to the question.

 

Mr Heeley asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee:

 

Also in that letter to the Secretary of State, you referred to wide-spread community resistance with a firm anti-house building sentiment making positive consultation/engagement extremely difficult to achieve.  Our MP, Helen Whately, has undertaken consultation/engagement on your Council-led garden community proposal in the absence of anything done by this Council.  96% of respondents to that survey said that they did not support the proposals.  64% of the people that responded to that survey said that they did not support a garden community approach in any form.  Is the anti-building sentiment and community resistance actually a result of this Council’s failing to listen to its own residents?

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor Mrs Gooch, the Leader of the Independent Group, and Councillor Powell, the Leader of the Independent Maidstone Group, responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee from Ms Kate Hammond

 

This Council claims that they undertook a strategic environmental assessment of potential locations for a garden community which included Lenham and a number of other sites across the borough.  You claim that this looked at environmental, landscape, infrastructure, heritage and topography considerations.  Despite numerous requests for sight of this report by Save Our Heath Lands Action Group, residents, our local MP, County Councillor, as well as Lenham Parish Council, you still will not share it on commercial confidentiality grounds.  Please can you confirm what parts of environmental, landscape, infrastructure, heritage and topography considerations are considered to be commercial?

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor T Sams, on behalf of the Leader of the Independent Group, responded to the question.

 

Ms Hammond asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee:

 

This Council’s insistence that it is unable to release any of the Borough-wide analysis undertaken to reach Lenham Heath as a possible location tells residents instead that either the analysis does not exist or was the motivation to proceed with Lenham Heath really based on political expedience or convenience rather than a sound evidence based planning strategy?  So, I am asking if it was based on an evidence based planning strategy.

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor D Burton, on behalf of the Leader of the Conservative Group, responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee from Mrs Susan Hogg

 

There has been a recent change on how people can pay MBC and have withdrawn the facility to pay bills by cash. Please can you tell me why Councillors or members of the public were not consulted about this decision?

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, and Councillor Powell, the Leader of the Independent Maidstone Group, responded to the question.

 

Mrs Hogg did not wish to ask a supplementary question arising out of her original question or the reply.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee from Mr Michael Hogg

 

Can Maidstone Borough Council explain why your waste operator “Biffa” is allowed to place other residents’ waste into other residents’ wheelie bins which they know they cannot collect, i.e. used paint cans which then spill over the bin and onto the public foot path, when it clearly states on your MBC website that you can’t take “D.I.Y stuff such as paint tins”.  What action will MBC take against “Biffa” who is allowing its staff to do this and evidence can be supplied to show this is happening?

 

The Chairman of the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee responded to the question.

 

Mr Hogg did not wish to ask a supplementary question arising out of his original question or the reply.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee from Ms Joan Langrick

 

Please could the Council and similar authorities refrain from referring to anyone who is homeless as a “Rough Sleeper?”  This label, whether deserved or not, dehumanises any homeless person who is also suffering a multitude of problems and frequently leads to their being physically abused.  Surely history has taught us once labelled, men, women and even children are then too often treated as mere flotsam cut adrift in an out of control life style, which must certainly be of their own choosing.

 

A recently resurrected 400 years old vagabond law now even limits where the homeless are allowed to bed down for the night.  Although sleeping in a public place is far safer than somewhere out of sight, because it is now illegal, it isn’t surprising when MBC carried out their own research they found no one sleeping in the High Street.  The fact that the “Winter Shelter” which only opens from January to March has fewer homeless taking advantage of this facility shouldn’t surprise us.  Firstly, because, applicants have to apply to the local authorities who only work office hours and adhere to a strict regime.  Also because those shelters rigidly stick to their “No pets allowed policy” when they are the only companion their owners can always rely on.

 

Just a few weeks ago the Homeless charity MADM and I held our second Memorial Service for over thirty homeless people who had died in the Maidstone area over the past three years.  At our first Memorial Service Will Myers, our previous Maidstone Outreach Worker, was deeply touched when he read out the list of twenty four homeless people he had known by name and by nature who had died frightened, shivering and terribly alone in our Maidstone area.  Somehow, I can’t help feeling friends and relatives who came to grieve that day would have been devastated if they had known we had merely referred to their loved one as a “Rough Sleeper”.  Hopefully MBC will now lead the way until everyone will show just a little bit more compassion in the future.

 

The Chairman of the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor Perry, the Leader of the Conservative Group, and Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, responded to the question.

 

Ms Langrick asked the following supplementary question arising out of the responses:

 

I feel angry that people even in their responses can use the words “Rough Sleepers”.  Each Member can choose to use another term which is more compassionate.  Can Maidstone Borough Council actually lead the way in referring to them in another way? 

 

The Mayor said that she would invite Ms Langrick and the Chairman of the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee to a meeting to discuss how the Council might help.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee from Mr John Horne

 

What steps has the Council taken to approach owners of brownfield sites, particularly in or adjacent to the town centre, to encourage their re-development as a priority before other sites?

 

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor Harper, on behalf of the Leader of the Labour Group, responded to the question.

 

Mr Horne asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee:

 

Could the Chairman reassure me that there will be a dedicated team looking at this and that recommendations will be put forward where there are relevant and appropriate brownfield sites?

 

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee from Mr Peter Titchener

 

Officers have repeatedly stated that our Borough suffers from 30 years of under-investment in infrastructure.  What steps will you be taking to ensure that Maidstone’s infrastructure catches up in terms of not only roads, but also other facilities provided by the public sector, such as GP practices and schools, and by the private sector such as shops and restaurants?

 

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor Cox, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, responded to the question.

 

Mr Titchener asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee:

 

Unless the infrastructure improvement in the widest sense is put forward by the respective providers, will Maidstone do a Sevenoaks and put forward a Local Plan review that plans for fewer houses than calculated using the Government’s standard methodology especially as in 2016-2019 Maidstone built 35% more homes than required by the Local Plan?

 

The Chairman of the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee from Mr Peter Coulling

 

How will you assess and take account of commuting flows between our Borough, surrounding areas and London when calculating the number and types of jobs you will plan for within our Borough?

 

The Chairman of the Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee responded to the question.

 

Mr Coulling asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee:

 

During the Local Plan examination the Inspector required Maidstone Borough Council to take another look at employment including the aspect of commuting flows across the wider economic area that was Tonbridge and Malling, Ashford, Tunbridge Wells, Swale and Medway.  What formal duty to co-operate dialogue have you had with any or all of these authorities to make sure that jobs, employment and commuting flows are looked at across a wider economic area?

 

The Chairman of the Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor D Burton, on behalf of the Leader of the Conservative Group, responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Planning Committee from Mr Robert Sinclair

 

When deciding an application, how much weight do you give to the opinion of KCC Highways?

 

The Chairman of the Planning Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor Perry, the Leader of the Conservative Group, and Councillor Adkinson, on behalf of the Leader of the Labour Group, responded to the question.

 

Mr Sinclair asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Planning Committee:

 

KCC’s judgement on highway issues should be afforded significant weight.  What is the justification for the Council not giving KCC’s consultation responses appropriate weight and not treating KCC’s analysis as a material consideration capable of overriding the Local Plan policies?

 

The Chairman of the Planning Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, responded to the question.

 

Question to the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee from Mr Stuart Jeffrey

 

It has been over ten months since the Council declared a climate and biodiversity emergency where it committed to review its policies with regard to these twin emergencies.  Can you tell me which policies has the Council reviewed and changed since that declaration of an emergency?

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, responded to the question.

 

Mr Jeffrey asked the following supplementary question of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee:

 

Given that five out of the seven questions in the Council’s current consultation on climate change are about personal actions rather than what the Council can do, should the Council be focusing on the significant and radical actions that it needs to take quickly given the scale of the emergency rather than worrying about individual actions?

 

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee responded to the question.

 

Councillor McKay, the Leader of the Labour Group, and Councillor Munford, on behalf of the Leader of the Independent Group, responded to the question.

 

Note:

 

1.  The Council agreed that Council Procedure Rule 13.1, which specifies that the question and answer session for members of the public will be limited to one hour, be suspended for this meeting only to enable all of the questions and supplementary questions to be dealt with.

 

 

2.  To listen to the answers to these questions, please follow this link:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsqBYamAiZ0&t=454s

 

3.  Councillor Brice joined the meeting at the start of the question and answer session for members of the public (7.05 p.m.), Councillor Harwood joined the meeting during the session (7.28 p.m.) and Councillor Hinder left the meeting during the session (7.10 p.m.).