Agenda and minutes

Resolved: That all items on the agenda be web-cast.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mrs Gibson.

There were no substitute Members.

It was noted that Councillor English was a visiting Member, interested in agenda item 9.

It was noted that Councillor Burton declared a personal interest in agenda items 10 by virtue of his membership of the Marden Business Forum.

Resolved:  That all items be taken in public as proposed.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2011 be agreed as a correct record and duly signed by the Chairman.

Interview with;

Zena Cooke, Director of Regeneration and Communities;

Sarah Robson, Community Partnerships Manager; and

John Taylor, Chairman of Economic Development and Regeneration Delivery Group.

The Chairman welcomed Zena Cooke, Director of Regeneration and Communities, Sarah Robson, Community Partnerships Manager and John Taylor, Chairman of Economic Development and Regeneration LSP Delivery Group to the meeting, and invited them to present the delivery group update to the Committee.

Ms Cooke summarised that Overview and Scrutiny played an important role in holding the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) to account, the update informed the Committee of the progress made by the group and its planned future activity.

Ms Cooke explained that the LSP Board had five delivery groups, and that the past twelve months had seen radical changes in the way they approached issues. Over the past year the sub groups and their memberships had been established as well as the priorities and outcomes they were seeking to achieve. The priorities, outcomes and actions will be considered by the LSP Board in March 2011. In answer to a question Ms Cooke stated that this structure was different to the previous LSP, which had been considered too large to operate effectively.

The Chairman asked how the membership was formed, and whether there were any funding issues. Ms Cooke informed the Committee that in each delivery group there are representatives from throughout the Borough that hold influential roles in different sectors and gave examples, indicating that this was considered to be the LSP’s strength. She explained that each group had a support officer from within the Council, along with a Cabinet Member to ensure continuity. The Chairman of each delivery group was not from the Council in order to promote better partnership working and ownership and by default that Chairman is then a Member of the LSP Board. Ms Cooke stated that the LSP does not hold a budget. However, at the end of last financial year they had received approximately £250,000 as an LSP in Performance Reward Grant. The Board decided to use this to fund community based projects. Ms Cooke highlighted that there were few bids relative to economic development and regeneration, however the ‘Time Banking’ project in Parkwood had made a successful bid and received funding. In answer to a question Ms Cooke informed the Committee that ‘resource mapping’ had been undertaken to collate information and identify public sector spending across the Borough. A final draft of this had recently been received and a workshop will be held to validate the information and then used to support the Board in discussions to decide where to direct spending over the next twelve months and beyond.

In answer to a question, Mr Taylor informed the Committee that many businesses including Invicta Chamber of Commerce, Network Rail, KCC, MBC, are required to work together to create a strong influence over rail services in Maidstone. The Chairman asked for Mr Taylor’s opinion on whether Maidstone was well placed to get out of the recession. Mr Taylor informed the Committee that in comparison to the rest of Kent a recent report from the Federation of Small Businesses indicated that Maidstone was doing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Interview with;

Michael Thornton, Head of Spatial Planning;

Darren Bridgett, Principle Planning Officer (Policy); and

Peter Rosevear, Partnership Officer - Kent Highways Services.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Darren Bridgett, Principal Planning Officer (Policy) and Mrs Flo Churchill, Interim Head of Core Strategy Development

to the meeting, and invited them to present the report.

Mr Bridgett presented his report to the Committee highlighting the three sets of projections as mentioned projections as mentioned on page 13 of the agenda. In answer to a question Mr Bridgett informed the Committee that the figures are updated as soon as the information is available, enabling the calculations to be as accurate as possible.  It was not clear if any trends had been spotted over a period of time, but that accuracy had been maintained. In response to a request Mr Bridgett agreed to circulate an example of the calculation used to improve Members understanding. The Committee also enquired if further information was available regarding the variance between the expected and delivered housing rates. Mr Bridgett confirmed that this information would be available via Kent County Council and agreed to circulate this to the Committee.

The Committee asked how robust the decision was when it was based on statistics alone. Mr Bridgett informed the Committee that it was difficult to include all of the other factors involved, however the Economic Development Strategy and Employment Land Review was being updated which played a major part in the process. In time, the 2011 Census information would be used as part of the calculations. However this information will begin to be released over a two year period starting the end of 2011, after the Core Strategy document has been through the publication consultation (regulation 27).

The Committee enquired about the information used in the calculation, and gave examples of the ‘Travel to Work’ scheme and Eastern European seasonal workers.  Mr Bridgett informed the Committee that both permanent and seasonal workers may not have been included, and that the travel to work statistics comparing Maidstone to the South East and National figures would need to be clarified. The Committee agreed that this should be presented to the Committee within this municipal year.

Mrs Churchill, gave a presentation to the Committee on the transport data (attached at Appendix A).

Ms Churchill informed the Committee that although Jacobs had been commissioned to address any transport issues raised, this was at a cost of £10,000 per model which took four weeks to complete. She highlighted that there are two types of modelling used, Strategic-level transport model (e.g. the Core Strategy) and the Site-level transport model (this is much more detailed, but due of the level of detail, this will not work over a wider area such as the entire borough).

In answer to a question Ms Churchill stated that they would look at ways to reduce parking within the Borough to encourage cycling and walking, and that there is no policy in place to support this, although it is stated in Government Guidance. Ms Churchill confirmed that a previous model will be used as an example for the workshop scheduled for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Committee considered the future work programme, it was noted that the 3^rd quarter performance monitoring report and the rural economy will be considered at the next meeting.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that as part of the rural economy review, a Rural Business Survey would be undertaken by Members and requested that they return their results to the Overview and Scrutiny Officer by the end of March 2011.

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer reminded the Committee that the following events were scheduled; 14March, Rural Economy Tour meeting in the Gateway Reception at 9.15am;and 22 March, 4pm at the Museum for a tour of the East Wing with Simon Lace, Museum and Heritage Manager.

The Committee discussed the possibility of changing the schedule for the rural economy tour so that a discussion with members from the Marden Business Forum could take place over lunch. The Overview and Scrutiny Officer informed the Committee that Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Malcolm Greer and Interim Head of Core Strategy Development, Mrs Churchill had agreed to accompany Members on the Rural Tour, and was seeking confirmation from two beneficial Council officers who would hopefully attend. The Committee suggested that space permitting the shadow Cabinet Member, Councillor Tony Harwood should be invited.

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer offered to circulate information following previous Scrutiny meetings to aid with research for the Committee.

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer informed the Committee of the progress made towards the rural economy review, and reminded both the Committee and members of the public of the contact number to use for providing further information.

Resolved: That:

a)  Members will meet in the Gateway Reception on 14March at 9.15am for the rural economy tour;

b)  The information from previous Scrutiny meetings relating to the rural economy would be circulated; and

c)  The work programme be noted.

6.30pm to 8.33pm.