Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Blackmore, Jones, Kimmance and Trzebinski.

The following Substitute Members were noted:

·  Councillor English for Councillor Kimmance

·  Councillor Hastie for Councillor Blackmore

·  Councillor Hinder for Councillor Trzebinski

·  Councillor Jeffery for Councillor Jones

There were no urgent items.

There were no Visiting Members.

Note: Councillor Hastie arrived at 6.33 p.m.

There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.

Councillors English and Jeffery disclosed they had been lobbied on Item 10 – MBC Response to the Kent Minerals and Waste Plan and Kent Minerals Site Plans Reviews.

The Chairman stated that Item 10 – MBC Response to the Kent Minerals and Waste Plan and Kent Minerals Sites Plan Reviews would be taken before Item 9 – Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan Update and Estimated Costs for Achieving Net Zero 2030 to allow the Officer in attendance for the Item to address the Committee.

RESOLVED: That all items on the agenda be taken in public, as proposed.

The Chairman informed the Committee that the attendee list required amendment, to accurately reflect the Members in attendance at the June 2023 meeting.  

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed, subject to an amendment to the attendance list to read: ‘Councillors Blackmore (Chairman), Cleator, Conyard, Jones, Kimmance, McKenna, Munford, Spooner and Trzebinski’.

In response to questions, the Principal Democratic Services Officer stated that the Forward Plan would be amended to reflect the updated Cabinet decision dates.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan relating to the Committee’s Terms of Reference be noted.

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development introduced the report, and stated that the Council had recently received a response from the Planning Inspectorate arising from the ongoing Local Plan Review; as the Council was discussing a variety of matters with Kent County Council (KCC), the Cabinet Member felt that further time was needed to review the letter’s contents before submitting a response to KCC. KCC had confirmed that a response could be submitted at a later date.

The Committee expressed support for deferring the matter until the next meeting. During the discussion comments were raised in relation to the use of Policy of CSW3 in relation to waste services, and the impacts on the natural environment, including woodland and biodiversity. 

In response, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development noted the comments raised with the response to be reviewed.

RESOLVED: That consideration of the item be deferred to the  next meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development introduced the report, which provided an update on the progress and implementation of the Council’s Biodiversity and Climate Change Action plan (the plan), and the estimated costs for achieving net zero emissions for the Council’s operations by 2030. The plan’s actions that related to the Committee’s terms of reference were outlined. 

During the discussion, the Committee requested that the actions’ procurement costs be broken down further to outline the cost differential in choosing green initiatives; as the Council would have to conduct some of the actions irrespective of them being within the plan, such as replacing the Council’s fleet.

There were concerns raised that the Maidstone Quality Bus Partnership (QBP) had not met recently, as some other Kent Local Authorities had begun meeting with Kent County Council, with a request made for the forum to meet and consider including other service providers. The importance of a sustainable integrated transport strategy, alongside how adaptations would be made to mitigate the impacts of urban heat islands, were raised.

In response, the Cabinet Member stated that the financial information requested could be provided ahead of the next update on the plan and emphasised the importance of achieving best value in procurement. The Principal Planning Officer had been in correspondence with Kent County Council on the QBP; there had not been any progress yet, with the Cabinet Member stating that he would follow-up on this. The comments made by the Committee were noted.

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to the CABINET: That the action plan implementation updates and indicative costs of achieving net zero by 2030 for the Council’s operations be noted, subject to the consideration of the Committee’s comments on:

The Quality Bus Partnership, Urban Heat Islands, a sustainable Integrated Transport Strategy and providing the further  financial information on cost breakdown for procurement.

6.30 p.m. to 7.01 p.m.