Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor H M Williams.

It was noted that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Councillor K Mills had been appointed as substitute member for Councillor H M Williams.

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

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

To receive the Cabinet decisions in respect of recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The decisions of the Cabinet relating to recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting held on 5 July 2021 were noted.

Please note that in accordance with the agreed Protocol for Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny, the right to speak only applies to agenda item 6.

Members of the public wishing to speak must register to do so by no later than 2.00 pm on the second working day (Thursday) before the meeting.

The Democratic and Corporate Services Manager advised that no members of the public had registered to speak on items on the agenda to which the public speaking protocol applied.

To consider the report of the Head of Housing and Investment.

The Strategic Director (Corporate Resources) presented the report on Electric Heating and Photo-Voltaic (PV) Installations at Affordable Housing Developments at Kimberley Close, Dover and Stockdale Gardens, Deal.

Members were advised that the Cabinet had previously approved projects to build a total of 24 flats as interim housing for homeless people at two DDC owned sites at Kimberley Close, Dover and Stockdale Gardens, Deal.

The report was seeking an additional expenditure of £160,000 (or £6,666 per flat) in order to enable electric heating to be installed in all 24 flats. This would avoid the use of gas fired boilers and provide for enhanced PV installations to all the buildings. The use of electric heating with PV installations would significantly reduce the environmental impact of the developments and reduce the long-term heating costs for the tenants, helping to mitigate fuel poverty concerns whilst tenants were in the accommodation.

Dover District Council’s net zero carbon target would include avoiding the use of gas as a fuel in line with the anticipated changes to legislation not to permit new domestic

buildings to use gas from 2025. It was therefore considered appropriate to avoid its use in all new build affordable housing.

Members considered alternative heating methods to electric boilers such as hydrogen or air/ground source boilers. The Strategic Director (Corporate Resources) advised that whilst gas boilers were cheaper to operate than electric boilers, when combined with PV they became cheaper to run that gas boilers. In addition, electric heating was future proofed where as alternative heating sources might not be.

RESOLVED:       That it be recommended to Cabinet that decision CAB 22 be endorsed as follows:

(a)  That the upgrade to the incoming electricity main to Kimberley Close, allowing electric heating to be installed in lieu of gas, and the associated additional budget required, be approved.

(b)  That the installation of enhanced photo-voltaic systems to both Kimberley Close and Stockdale Gardens developments, and the associated budget required, be approved.

To scrutinise the issue of angling at Admiralty Pier.

The Chairman welcomed Mr D Bannister, CEO of the Port of Dover, to discuss the issue of angling at Admiralty Pier.

Members were advised that Admiralty Pier had closed in March/April 2020 and whilst closed the Port of Dover had reviewed its protocols and found some issues that needed to be addressed before angling could resume on the Pier. Prior to the review it had been assumed that angling would have been able to resume without too much problem.

These issues were in respect of emerging security issues. In accordance with the Port Security Regulations 2003, Admiralty Pier was a controlled area but became a secure area when a cruise ship arrived. There were also further risk assessments carried out following the Manchester Arena and London Bridge attacks that had required changes to be made and additional legislation was expected before the end of the year.

The Port of Dover was keen to continue a dialogue with anglers and it had not finalised arrangements at this point. As part of this, the Port of Dover was examining operating a trial of new security arrangements, the costs of which would be met by the Port of Dover. As part of the trial, they were keen to involve disabled participants.

Members were advised that anglers had traditionally come from a great distance to use Admiralty Pier and there were concerns over a ‘lone wolf’ style attack as there were limited evacuation routes from the Pier. The proposed new security arrangements for anglers were actually similar to those already used by disabled anglers.

There was also a significant amount of infrastructure work required in the Eastern Docks including several listed buildings that required work and some railings and access points that needed work to be made safe. Admiralty Pier was primarily a sea defence and it had suffered damage in a previous storm. The Port of Dover had allocated £150 million for these works and the Marina Pier and Curve had been opened to the public.

The Port of Dover undertook a number of community events and had distributed £750,000 in grants to 45,000 people in and around Dover.

Ultimately, the Port of Dover was seeking to balance its obligations with the desires of sea anglers so that they could resume fishing on Admiralty Pier. The current situation was the start of a process of dialogue that would hopefully achieve that.

Angling Trust

The Angling Trust was the national association for anglers in England.

Members were advised that the Dover Sea Angling Association (DSAA) had used Admiralty Pier since 1903 and wanted to achieve a mutually acceptable position with the Port of Dover. However, the proposed arrangements were financially unsustainable for the DSAA. 

The DSAA had provided security on Admiralty Pier for 30 years when in use by anglers and had encouraged disabled anglers to use the facility as it was one of the view suitable locations. It was stated that angling had been one of the few sports that had been able  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.