Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

It was noted that apologies for absence were received from Councillors M D Conolly, P J Hawkins, K Mills, D G Smallwood and J F Tranter.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

Where a Member has a new or registered Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) in a matter under consideration they must disclose that they have an interest and, unless the Monitoring Officer has agreed in advance that the DPI is a 'Sensitive Interest', explain the nature of that interest at the meeting.  The Member must withdraw from the meeting at the commencement of the consideration of any matter in which they have declared a DPI and must not participate in any discussion of, or vote taken on, the matter unless they have been granted a dispensation permitting them to do so.  If during the consideration of any item a Member becomes aware that they have a DPI in the matter they should declare the interest immediately and, subject to any dispensations, withdraw from the meeting.

Where a Member is declaring an Other Significant Interest (OSI) they must also disclose the interest and explain the nature of the interest at the meeting.  The Member must withdraw from the meeting at the commencement of the consideration of any matter in which they have declared a OSI and must not participate in any discussion of, or vote taken on, the matter unless they have been granted a dispensation to do so or the meeting is one at which members of the public are permitted to speak for the purpose of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence relating to the matter.  In the latter case, the Member may only participate on the same basis as a member of the public and cannot participate in any discussion of, or vote taken on, the matter and must withdraw from the meeting in accordance with the Council's procedure rules.

In response to a query from Councillor S C Manion regarding whether he had an interest in Agenda Item 7 (Land Allocations Pre-Submission Local Plan) by reason of owning a house in an area included in the Plan, the Director of Governance advised that Members would have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an Other Significant Interest only if they, a spouse or Associated Person would benefit financially from a specific parcel of land included in the Land Allocations Pre?Submission Local Plan. 

Decision Notices

At the Chairman's request, the Director of Governance advised on the publication of decision notices.  These were published on the website without a signature for the reason that including a signature would necessitate the creation of a PDF document which could not be 'read' by reading devices used by those with visual impairment.  This raised website accessibility issues which could put the Council in breach of its equality duties.

It was moved by Councillor N S Kenton, and duly seconded, that the order of business on the agenda be varied in order for Agenda Item 7 (Land Allocations Pre?Submission Local Plan) to be considered as the next item of business.

On being put to the vote, the motion was CARRIED.

RESOLVED:    That the order of business be varied.

The Cabinet at its meeting on 1 October 2012 considered the report of the Director of Regeneration and Development (circulated separately) upon the Land Allocations Pre?Submission Local Plan. 

The Cabinet recommendation will be circulated at the meeting.

The Council considered the report of the Director of Regeneration and Development regarding the Land Allocations Pre-Submission Local Plan and viewed a presentation.   

At its meeting held on 1 October 2012, Cabinet had agreed the recommendations contained in the report (CAB 23), subject to the amendment of the Dover urban boundary to include land at Copthorne, Dover Road, Guston.

It was proposed by Councillor N S Kenton, duly seconded and

RESOLVED:    (a)        That the Land Allocations Pre-Submission Local Plan and the accompanying Sustainability Appraisal and Habitat Regulations Assessment, as set out at Appendices 5 and 6 of the report, be agreed and taken forward for adoption, subject to the amendment of the Dover urban boundary to include land at Copthorne, Dover Road, Guston.

                         (b)        That the Director of Regeneration and Development be authorised to make any necessary editorial changes to the Land Allocations Pre-Submission Local Plan, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitat Regulations Assessment, to assist with clarity, consistency, explanation and presentation.

                         (c)        That the Director of Regeneration and Development be authorised to determine whether, in the light of any representations received on the Land Allocations Pre-Submission Local Plan, it should be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination.

                         (d)        That the Council's gratitude to officers for their work be recorded.

The Governance Committee at its meeting on 27 September 2012 considered the attached report of the Director of Governance upon the Rules for Substitutes on the Planning Committee, Regulatory Function Committees and Other Committees.

The Governance Committee recommendation will be circulated at the meeting.

The Council considered the report of the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer which outlined constitutional changes that had become necessary following the coming into force of The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012. 

At its meeting held on 27 September 2012, the Governance Committee had agreed the recommendations contained in the report (Minute No), subject to the following revised text to replace the word 'of' with 'or' being included:

'The purpose of the Leadership Forum is therefore to:

·             Facilitate discussions on general or particular issues or enable clarification of matters between the Leader, the Chief Executive, members of the executive, members of the Corporate Management Team.'

It was proposed by Councillor T J Bartlett, duly seconded and

RESOLVED:    (a)        That it be noted that the Access to Information Procedure Rules incorporated within the Council's Constitution would need to be amended.

                         (b)        That the Director of Governance be requested to submit a revised text for the Access to Information Procedure Rules to a future meeting of the Governance Committee and the Council.

                         (c)        That the amendments to the Constitution set out in Appendix 1 relating to Strategic Management Team be adopted, subject to the following revised text to replace the word 'of' with   'or' being included:

                                     'The purpose of the Leadership Forum is therefore to:

                                     ·         Facilitate discussions on general or particular issues or enable clarification of matters between the Leader, the Chief Executive, members of the executive, members of the Corporate Management Team.'

The Governance Committee at its meeting on 27 September 2012 considered the attached report of the Director of Governance upon the Rules for Substitutes on the Planning Committee, Regulatory Function Committees and Other Committees.

The Governance Committee recommendation will be circulated at the meeting.

The Council considered the report of the Director of Governance on the rules for substitutions at Planning Committee, Regulatory Function Committees and other committees.

At its meeting held on 27 September 2012, the Governance Committee had agreed the recommendations contained in the report (Minute No) and made an additional recommendation that the Governance Committee should be requested to review the impact of the change in twelve months. 

It was proposed by Councillor T A Bartlett, duly seconded and

RESOLVED:    (a)        That Council Procedure Rule 4(3) be deleted and replaced with a new 4(3) as follows:

                                     'For each committee, with the exception of the Cabinet, the Council will allow the same number of substitutes in respect of each political group as that group holds ordinary seats on that committee.'

                         (b)        That the Governance Committee be requested to review the impact of this change in twelve months.

The Cabinet at its meeting on 1 October 2012 considered the report of the Director of Governance (circulated separately) upon the Review of the East Kent Arrangements.

The Cabinet recommendation will be circulated at the meeting.

The Council considered the report of the Solicitor to the Council regarding future East Kent committee arrangements.

At its meeting held on 1 October 2012, Cabinet agreed the recommendations contained in the report (CAB 25).

It was proposed by Councillor P A Watkins, duly seconded and

RESOLVED:    (a)        That the East Kent Arrangements Committee and the East Kent Joint Scrutiny Committee be dissolved with effect from whichever is the later of:

                                     (i)       1 October 2012 or

                                     (ii)      The establishment of the Committee referred to in (b) below.

                         (b)        That operating arrangements for a committee relating to functions shared by Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council and Thanet District Council ('the Continuing Councils') be drafted by the respective heads of legal and be submitted to the Continuing Councils for approval with scrutiny being undertaken by the scrutiny committees of the Continuing Councils.  Kent County Council and Shepway District Council to be notified of the date of establishment of the new committee.

                         (c)        That any existing delegations to the Director of Shared Services, the Head of the East Kent Human Resources Partnership and the Payroll Officer for Kent County Council relating to the functions of the Continuing Councils continue.

                         (d)        That the delegation to the Payroll Officer for Kent County Council through the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee (EKJAC) for the benefit of Shepway District Council continue.

                         (e)        That all agreements or arrangements which may need to remain in effect after the dissolution of EKJAC be reviewed by the Heads of Legal of all the participating councils and they be delegated the power by their respective councils that, if relevant to them, they agree the continuation of those matters in such form as they think appropriate.

                         (f)         That a further meeting of EKJAC be convened if necessary to deal with any residual issues.

                         (g)        That the Scrutiny Committees of the five individual councils be invited to participate in an arrangement for Scrutiny members to meet four times per year to consider strategic matters relating to shared services and other joint interests.

The Cabinet at its meeting on 1 October 2012 considered the report of the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets (circulated separately) upon the Urban Renewal – Proposals for the Development of New Housing on Council Owned Land.

The Cabinet recommendation will be circulated at the meeting.

The Council considered the report of the Director of Environment and Corporate Assets.

At its meeting held on 1 October 2012, Cabinet agreed the recommendations contained in the report (CAB 24).  The Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee, at its meeting held on 2 October 2012, agreed with the report recommendations and added an additional recommendation as follows: 

(c)          That priority be given to the refurbishment and development of additional social and affordable housing.

It was moved by Councillor S S Chandler, duly seconded and

RESOLVED:    (a)        That the Council's support for the initiative be confirmed.

                         (b)        That an additional revenue budget of up to £125,000 per annum be established within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget to meet staff and other costs and to support the delivery of the proposals.

                         (c)        That an initial budget allocation of £2.5 million be made from within the HRA capital programme for the development of additional housing.

                         (d)        That priority be given to the development of additional social and affordable housing.