Agenda item

Question from Mike Summersgill to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development

The former ICI Pesticides (Syngenta) site at Yalding has been undergoing significant earthmoving works this year with the creation of what appears to be a significant open body of standing water where a designated 'conveyance channel' is to be constructed in 2024.  Under Planning Application MA/22/501299, a Groundwater Monitoring Plan was approved by MBC just over a year ago, which refers to the frequency of monitoring during each phase of construction, plus an annual monitoring event and weekly monitoring during a 'flood event'.  What monitoring information on chemicals in the standing/flood water, groundwater and the adjacent River Medway has the Council received since that Condition 11 approval in October 2022, particularly during the recent construction works?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Mr Summersgill asked the following supplementary question of the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development:

Should the Council be contacting the contractor to get up to date information on any possible soil contaminant disturbance caused by these excavation works especially for the workers on the site and the adjacent properties and the River Medway to ensure they are safe from any increase in contaminant health risk?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Question from Kimmy Milham to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development

I would like to ask the relevant Council Member how many parking permits are issued, and how many parking spaces are there in total, in the permit zone of W1 and W2 please?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Ms Milham asked the following supplementary question of the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development:

Given the pressure on parking in W1 and W2, why did the Council refuse to revoke permitted development rights for HMOs in this area?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Question from Rachel Rodwell to the Leader of the Council

Can the Leader of the Council tell me when the draft Town Centre Strategy, that the Council has spent £150,000 on, will be published?

The Leader of the Council responded to the question.

Mrs Rodwell asked the following supplementary question of the Leader of the Council:

In view of the fact that you need to get more evidence and get more people together to go through this, has the Council considered asking residents directly by way of a citizens’ assembly for instance so that the local residents would not feel disengaged in the process and the wide range of expertise within the community could be drawn upon?

The Leader of the Council responded to the question.

Question from Kate Hammond to the Leader of the Council

Helen Whately MP said in her response to your recent Main Modifications consultation about Heathlands:

“There is also serious concern locally about the impact of the development on the River Stour – as raised in the consultation by Fish Legal.  They say that the plans present a material risk of environmental harm to fish and protected species and habitats, and that these risks are not being sufficiently considered.”

Why is Heathlands still being promoted and taken forward by this Council when the risk of environmental harm is not being managed?

The Leader of the Council responded to the question.

Ms Hammond asked the following supplementary question of the Leader of the Council:

Do you feel that the environmental impact of Heathlands has been sufficiently analysed by the Council and are those details available to the public?

The Leader of the Council responded to the question.

Question from Steve Heeley to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development

In relation to the draft Maidstone Local Plan Review and the most recent Main Modifications, how many acres of greenfield land in the Borough are being proposed for development sites up to 2040?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Mr Heeley asked the following supplementary question of the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development:

As the Cabinet Member probably knows, Helen Whately MP's survey of 2,000 local residents earlier in the year found that the overwhelming majority wanted high quality farmland and greenfield land protected.  Does the Cabinet Member think that the Maidstone Local Plan and the 1,600 or so acres of greenfield being proposed for development is consistent with local residents’ views and that of his Conservative government and local Member of Parliament?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Question from Kate Moore to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development

Many 5G phone masts are being installed in and around Maidstone, and often these are situated very close to nurseries, schools, business premises and homes.

These phone masts emit radiofrequency radiation, which in 2011 was classified by the World Health Organisation as a possible human carcinogen.  Masts emit this radiation continuously – i.e., 24 hours per day, and 365 days of the year.

The UK implements the radiation limits provided by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (or “ICNIRP”).  When a planning application is submitted, telecoms companies declare that their phone masts will comply with ICNIRP's limits, and that exclusion zones will be in place to protect the public.

However, the ICNIRP Guidelines state that, quote:

‘Metallic implants may alter or perturb EMFs (electromagnetic fields) in the body’, and ‘the utilization of conducting materials for medical procedures is beyond the scope of these Guidelines.’

This appears to place the health of people with medical metallic implants - for example, cardiac pacemakers or implanted defibrillators – at risk. Their situation is aggravated if they live, or work, in close proximity to a phone mast, as they could be within the exclusion zones.  Plans showing these zones are not made available to the public, and so affected individuals wouldn't even know that they are at risk.

My question is: How will Maidstone Borough Council protect people with metallic implants from the radiation from phone masts, and will it require plans showing the exclusion zones to be made publicly available by telecoms companies, when they submit a planning application for a phone mast?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development responded to the question.

Ms Moore asked the following supplementary question of the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development:

Who will be liable for any successful claims against damage to health after a telecoms mast has been put up especially in the planning applications which display a company name that is not on the Ofcom register and was dissolved in 2015?

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development advised Ms Moore that he was unable to answer the question at the meeting but would respond in writing in due course.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LVfbbzvCqg&t=1275s

Note:  Councillor Hastie entered the meeting during this question and answer session (6.50 p.m.).  She stated that she had no disclosures of interest or of lobbying.