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Agenda Template

You are hereby summoned to attend a meeting of the

 

MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

 

Date:       Wednesday 18 December 2019

Time:      6.30 p.m.

Venue:    Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone
          

Membership:

 

Councillors    Adkinson, Bartlett, Mrs Blackmore, Brice, Brindle, D Burton, M Burton, Chappell-Tay, Clark, Cox, Cuming, Daley, English, Eves, Fermor, Fissenden, Fort, Garland, Garten, Mrs Gooch, Mrs Grigg, Harper, Harvey, Harwood, Hastie, Hinder, Mrs Hinder, Joy, Khadka, Kimmance, Lewins, McKay, McLoughlin, Mortimer, Munford, Naghi, Newton, Parfitt-Reid, Perry, Powell, Purle, Mrs Ring (Mayor), Mrs Robertson, D Rose, M Rose, Round, J Sams, T Sams, Spooner, Springett, Vizzard, Webb, de Wiggondene-Sheppard, Wilby and Young

 

 

AGENDA

Page No.

 

<AI1>

1.        Prayers

 

</AI1>

<AI2>

2.        Apologies for Absence

 

</AI2>

<AI3>

3.        Dispensations (if any)

 

</AI3>

<AI4>

4.        Disclosures by Members and Officers

 

</AI4>

<AI5>

5.        Disclosures of Lobbying

 

</AI5>

<AI6>

6.        To consider whether any items should be taken in private because of the possible disclosure of exempt information.

 

</AI6>

<AI7>

7.        Minutes of the meeting of the Borough Council held on 25 September 2019

1 - 8

</AI7>

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8.        Mayor's Announcements

 

</AI8>

<AI9>

9.        Petitions

 

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<AI10>

10.    Question and Answer Session for Members of the Public

 

</AI10>

<AI11>

11.    Questions from Members of the Council to the Chairmen of Committees

 

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<AI12>

12.    Current Issues - Report of the Leader of the Council, Response of the Group Leaders and Questions from Council Members

 

</AI12>

<AI13>

13.    Report of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 23 July 2019 - Maidstone Property Holdings Limited - Governance

9 - 108

</AI13>

<AI14>

14.    Report of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 18 September 2019 - Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2020-2021

109 - 258

</AI14>

<AI15>

15.    Report of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 20 November 2019 - Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21-2024/25

259 - 300

</AI15>

<AI16>

16.    Oral Report of the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee to be held on 16 December 2019 (if any)

 

</AI16>

<AI17>

17.    Notice of Motion - Housing Numbers

 

 

Notice of the following motion has been given by Councillor J Sams, seconded by Councillor Powell:

 

This Council has been informed that between 2017 and 2037 it must accept upwards of 30,000 new homes. We firmly believe that this is untenable for our communities.

 

If we continue with the proposed housing plans, it will have a detrimental effect upon the living environment for Maidstone residents in the following ways:

 

  • A serious impact upon the health of local people with additional demands being put on medical services, which are already stretched to breaking point
  • Adverse impact on air quality as a consequence of a substantial increase in the number of vehicles on the roads directly as a result of increased housing numbers. More traffic congestion on local roads in the Borough which are already frequently gridlocked with a knock on effect to our public transport system
  • Poor infrastructure is already having a choking effect and restricting the movement of residents impacting on employment, education and social mobility. And this will get worse
  • Our open spaces, the green lungs of our community, being reduced as housing encroaches upon them
  • These proposals fly in the face of the Climate Change Crisis by damaging our environment, ecology and our future sustainability.

 

We call upon this Council to as a matter of urgency

 

  1. Temporarily suspend its analysis of the more than 300 sites that have come forward in the call for sites process.
  2. Allow residents, residents’ groups, Parish Councils to make representation to this Council directly, particularly on the overall effect on the Borough’s health and its future sustainability.
  3. Promote and resource a review based upon this information, and our own investigations, to positively demonstrate and evidence that the Borough's housing numbers are impossible to deliver.

 

 

</AI17>

<AI18>

18.    Notice of Motion - Membership of Committees

 

 

Notice of the following motion has been given by Councillor Perry:

 

This motion seeks to amend the current Constitution to allow Members to be appointed to both the Licensing Committee and to the Planning Committee. It is recognised that these are statutory committees, which carry out quasi legal functions; but, there is not a legal requirement to prevent Members from serving on both Committees simultaneously and in fact many Councils do allow this to take place.

 

These Committees perform important statutory functions and it is essential from a democratic perspective that they are fully appointed and reflect as closely as possible the political make-up of the Council; having this self-imposed restriction makes this more difficult to achieve. It might be argued that there could be a possible conflict of interest but this can only be extremely rare and if it did occur could be easily managed.

 

Given the above the Council is asked to approve the following amendments to Part 2 of the Constitution:

 

In paragraph 2.2.5 under Planning Committee delete: (NB – Councillors and substitute members of Licensing Committee cannot be members of Planning Committee).

 

In paragraph 2.2.6 under Licensing Committee delete: (NB – Councillors and substitute members of Planning Committee cannot be members of Licensing Committee).

 

 

</AI18>

<AI19>

19.    Membership of Committees

 

 

The Council is asked to approve the following changes to reflect the wishes of the Leader of the Conservative Group:

 

Planning Committee

 

Delete Councillors Bartlett and Round as Members of the Committee

 

Add Councillors Brindle and Chappell-Tay as Members of the Committee

 

Delete Councillors Brindle and Chappell-Tay as Substitute Members of the Committee

 

 

 

 

 

 

</AI19>

<AI20>

Public Speaking and Alternative Formats

If you require this information in an alternative format please contact us, call 01622 602899 or email committee@maidstone.gov.uk.

 

In order to speak at this meeting, please contact Democratic Services using the contact details above, by 5 p.m. one clear working day before the meeting i.e. Monday 16 December 2019. If asking a question, you will need to provide the full text in writing. If making a statement, you will need to tell us which agenda item you wish to speak on. Please note that slots will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

 

To find out more about the work of the Council, please visit www.maidstone.gov.uk.

 

 

 

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