Issue - meetings

Background:

This report provided an update on progress on the Future Hoo project and the related wider planning context, following the successful Housing Infrastructure Fund bid which will provide £170m to be spent on a Strategic Environmental Management Scheme as well as road and rail network upgrades. The report sought approval for the continuation of work to ensure that the infrastructure, which would support sustainable development on the Hoo Peninsula, was able to be delivered.

In particular the report presented a draft of the Hoo Development Framework (attached at Appendix 1 to the report) which was intended to be published for public consultation between 15 August and 30 September 2022.

The report had been circulated separately from the agenda but had been accepted as urgent to enable the timeline for the consultation period to be met.

It was noted that there was a typographical error at paragraph 4.25 on page 75 of Supplementary Agenda no. 2, within the Design Development Report for Road (Appendix 2). The second reference to the Bell’s Lane Roundabout, which was at the 3rd row underneath the header of the table, had been included in error and should have been removed from the document.

The Cabinet was advised that some minor amendments would be required to the documentation before it was issued for consultation, for example, the enhanced education provision section would benefit from greater clarity and accuracy. It was therefore proposed that an additional recommendation be added to those set out at paragraphs 10.1 and 10.2 to the report so that these changes could be effected.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:56pm pending the publication of an updated Appendix 5, which was published as part of Supplementary Agenda No.6. The meeting resumed at 4:30pm.

The key changes made and further changes required to the document were highlighted as follows:

·       Funding remaining to be identified in a table on page 87 was incorrectly stated as circa 4.7 billion. The correct figure was £273,831,322

·       Appendix 1B to Appendix 5 contained matters that were entirely policy matters. Costs for these would be determined once policy had been determined.

·       With reference to passenger subsidies, it was noted that costs due to be incurred in six to ten years’ time would be a matter to be determined by those who were Members of the Council at that time. The budgetary pressure of £24million had therefore been removed.

·       Highways block wider implications had been correctly included in Appendix 1A to Appendix 5 but should not have been included in Appendix 1B as this specifically related to the Hoo Development Framework. Such references had been removed from Appendix 1B. Related spending had also been removed. It was not possible to accurately predict the costs and pressures for projects delivered as far ahead as 2037. The result of these changes was that the predicted Hoo Infrastructure cost had been revised downwards to £225million compared to £418million. Funds remaining to be identified were now £75 million.

·       The previous version of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4