Agenda and minutes
PDF 197 KBVenue: Meeting Room 2 - Level 3, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham ME4 4TR
Contact: Ellen Wright, Democratic Services Officer
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To approve the record of the meeting held on 21 August 2014. Minutes: The record of the meeting held on 21 August 2014 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from the Chairman, Councillor Carr Councillor Griffin and Councillor Juby. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman, Councillor Adrian Gulvin took the chair. |
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Urgent matters by reason of special circumstances The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. Minutes: There were none. |
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Declarations of interests and whipping (A) Disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests
A member need only disclose at any meeting the existence of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in a matter to be considered at that meeting if that DPI has not been entered on the disclosable pecuniary interests register maintained by the Monitoring Officer.
A member disclosing a DPI at a meeting must thereafter notify the Monitoring Officer in writing of that interest within 28 days from the date of disclosure at the meeting.
A member may not participate in a discussion of or vote on any matter in which he or she has a DPI (both those already registered and those disclosed at the meeting) and must withdraw from the room during such discussion/vote.
Members may choose to voluntarily disclose a DPI at a meeting even if it is registered on the council’s register of disclosable pecuniary interests but there is no legal requirement to do so.
Members should also ensure they disclose any other interests which may give rise to a conflict under the council’s code of conduct.
In line with the training provided to members by the Monitoring Officer members will also need to consider bias and pre-determination in certain circumstances and whether they have a conflict of interest or should otherwise leave the room for Code reasons.
(B) Whipping
The Council’s constitution also requires any Member of the Committee who is subject to a party whip (ie agreeing to vote in line with the majority view of a private party group meeting) to declare the existence of the whip. Minutes: Disclosable pecuniary interests
There were none.
Other interests
There were none.
Whipping
There were no declarations of whipping |
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Attendance by the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth will be held to account for matters within her portfolio relative to this Committee Minutes: Discussion:
The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth, Councillor Chitty attended the meeting to be held to account for the areas of her portfolio that fell within the remit of this committee. Members asked questions and Councillor Chitty responded as follows: -
The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth advised that regeneration works were continuing in Chatham Centre with the introduction of a creative quarter at one end of the High Street. However, she confirmed that there was still more work to be done. Major developments had slowed as a result of the current economic climate. She referred to the Pentagon Centre and advised the Committee that whilst there had been proposals drawn up to revitalise the Centre, unfortunately, the owners of the Centre had been unable to proceed with the works in the current economic climate. However, the desire to undertake these works remained. She advised that funding for regeneration works in Chatham had been received through the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and she was hopeful that this would continue.
She did not accept that the town centres of Canterbury and Maidstone were comparable with Chatham as they were located within a different demographic area.
In response to comments that both Canterbury and Maidstone had undergone significant investment, the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth informed the Committee that there continued to be the desire for investment in Chatham Centre and she referred to the substantial improvements to the river walk, the investment made by individual companies to improve their stores, recent works to the former Theatre Royal and the recent addition of the Big Screen. In addition, Chatham High Street had been substantially improved at its Rochester end following the removal of the flyover. These works had opened up this area and considerably changed its atmosphere. Employ Medway, a successful venture was located within this part of Chatham and creative industries were moving into this area. It was however acknowledged that there was still work to be carried out on the regeneration of Chatham Centre.
The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth advised the Committee that regular discussions had taken place with businesses on the Medway City Estate over the years on a range of issues affecting the Estate. At these meetings, the issue of the transport infrastructure for access to and egress from the Estate had occasionally been discussed. She accepted that the difficulties were even more challenging when roadworks were taking place.
The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth advised that the Leader had obtained LEP funding to investigate and deliver an initiative to alleviate the problem. This funding would be available in 2015.
The Portfolio Holder for Strategic Development and Economic Growth confirmed that there was a cross party group that dealt with issues relating to the Local Plan. It was unfortunate that the previous Government and the current Government had ... view the full minutes text for item 401. |
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2014/15 Quarter 1 Performance Monitoring This report summarises the performance of the Council’s Key measures of Success for April - June (Quarter 1) 2014/15 as set out in the Council Plan 2013/15.
Additional documents: Minutes: Discussion:
The Committee received a report summarising the performance of the Regeneration, Community and Culture Directorate for Quarter 1, (April - June 2014) as set out in the Council Plan 2013/2015.
It was noted that any performance information highlighted grey within the report was not relevant to this Committee as it fell under the responsibilities of other overview and scrutiny committees but had been included in the report to provide context and clarity as to how the priorities as a whole had been performing.
The Committee was advised that whilst there were 19 key measures of success that were monitored to assess delivery of the Council Plan, data for 11 of the key measures would not be available until Quarter 2 or Quarter 4. Out of these 11 key measures, 7 related to perception data from the tracker, a phone based survey of around 400 customers carried out bi-annually. The next survey was due to take place in September 2014 and results would be included in Quarter 2.
It was reported that the performance data included within Appendix 1 to the report included information from the Citizen Panel results obtained in April 2014. It was explained that this involved a quarterly paper survey of approximately 2,000 residents who had been recruited to be a Citizen Panel member. It was stressed that targets within the Council Plan 2014/15 had been based on tracker performance and not the results from the Citizen Panel therefore, due to the different methodologies for capturing customer/resident perception it was not possible to undertake comparisons on the views expressed. It was confirmed that this was the reason for the discrepancy in the figures between the two different methods of obtaining satisfaction data.
The Committee was advised that 7 out of 8 Council Plan key measures specific to this Committee were on target or had exceeded their target for Quarter 1 and 8 out of 8 key performance measures of success had improved compared to Quarter 1 2013/14 performance.
Under the priority - A safe, clean and green Medway, 2 out of 2 measures of success achieved or exceeded target in Quarter 1.
Key performance highlights included:
- The Street Scene Enforcement Team had managed 372 fly tips with 16 cases leading to prosecution resulting in fines totalling almost £11,000.
- The Walking to Schools Campaign continued to be a success resulting in a reduction of approximately 31,000 cars off the road and 81,000 green journeys. This placed Medway top of the league across Kent.
- In addition to securing a Green Flag across 5 existing sites, Green Flags had also been awarded to the Great Lines Heritage Park and Gillingham Park.
- In Quarter 1, there had been higher than anticipated kerbside organic recycling and this would provide a positive effect on Medway’s overall recycling rate.
Under the priority - Everyone benefiting from the area’s regeneration, 5 out of 6 measures of success had achieved or exceeded target and 4 out of 6 measures had improved compared ... view the full minutes text for item 402. |
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Draft Medway Cultural Strategy 2014 - 2019 This report brings forward the draft Medway Cultural Strategy 2014 – 19 reviewing the last 5 years and setting out aspirations for the next period. Additional documents: Minutes: Discussion:
The Committee received a report and detailed presentation from the Deputy Director, Customer Contact, Leisure, Culture, Democracy and Governance on the Draft Medway Cultural Strategy 2014 – 2019.
Members were advised that much had been achieved since the adoption of the current cultural strategy in October 2009 and improvements had been made across the range of Medway’s cultural offer including:
It was recognised that Medway’s cultural offer had a pivotal role to play in the regeneration and place making of Medway, making Medway an attractive place to live, work, study and visit.
The Cultural Partnership, chaired by Mark Little at the University of the Creative Arts and comprising partners from across Medway’s cultural offer including the universities, Mid Kent College, English Heritage, King’s Rochester, the Dockyard, the Cathedral, Nucleus Arts, artists and creatives, the French Hospital, Gillingham Football Club, Icon Theatre and the Royal Engineers Museum had produced the existing cultural strategy and developed the draft strategy for 2014 – 19.
The draft cultural strategy was intended to be a public facing document and a strategic overview for the council and other cultural organisations in Medway.
The draft strategy, whilst being action focused followed a strategic framework provided by the following priorities retained since 2009:
Members discussed various aspects of the strategy including:
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This report sets out the basis of an issue raised by Councillor Hubbard. Minutes: Discussion:
At the request of Councillor Hubbard, the Committee discussed the issue of a protocol for communication/engagement with elected members on major transport projects.
In response to the points raised by Councillor Hubbard in his Member’s Item, the Assistant Director Front Line Services advised that a protocol was already in existence to brief Ward Councillors on major transport projects both within their Wards and in Wards directly affected by the transport projects. However, he accepted that this had not worked as transparently in Strood as it should have done regarding works at Darnley Arch and he apologised for this oversight.
The Assistant Director Front Line Services explained that a roadworks list was regularly circulated to all Councillors detailing the location of scheduled works, the reason for the works, the sponsor, start date and the anticipated duration of the works. In addition, he advised that the Director of Regeneration, Community and Culture had regular meetings with Members across all Groups for which reports were prepared by Officers on up and coming transport projects.
In response to the suggestion that the works at Darnley Arch be delayed or undertaken overnight, the Assistant Director Front Line Services advised that roadworks could only be carried out overnight if they were not located close to residential properties or where the works would only last for a limited duration e.g. one or two nights. He explained that to have undertaken the works at Darnley Arch overnight would have resulted in the works lasting longer than 6 weeks and would have affected approximately 70 residential properties located within 100m from the site. Owing to the likelihood of noise complaints, this was not therefore an option. In addition, to have undertaken the works in phases would have lengthened the duration of the works which was not considered desirable.
The Assistant Director Front Line Services informed the Committee that the works at Darnley Arch were due for completion one week earlier than planned.
In response to comments made about Medway City Estate, (paragraph 2.8 of the report), the Assistant Director Front Line Services informed the Committee that Southern Gas were undertaking essential repairs to replace a leaking mains gas pipe. He advised upon the outcome of negotiations between Officers and Southern Gas on the routing of the works as a means of minimising the effect upon the community. In recognition of the current problems being caused for traffic leaving Medway City Estate during the evening rush hour, a traffic management initiative involving use of a buffer vehicle to slow traffic travelling through Medway Tunnel had been put in place so as to relieve pressure on St Anthony’s roundabout. This temporary initiative would remain in place until the Station Road roadworks were complete. Any Member wishing to view this initiative in operation could do so by prior arrangement through the CCTV control room.
The Director of Regeneration, Community and Culture and informed the Committee that £2m funding was available for initiatives aimed at resolving the issues at Medway City Estate. ... view the full minutes text for item 404. |
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This report advises the Committee of the petitions presented at Council meetings, received by the council or sent via the e-petition facility, including a summary of officer’s response to the petitioners. Minutes: Discussion:
The Committee received a report setting out details of one petition relevant to the work of this Committee where the Director’s response had been accepted by the petitioner.
In respect of the petition requesting a review of speed restrictions in Watling Street, Strood, the lead petitioner, whilst requesting that his petition be referred to this Committee for consideration, had agreed that this be referred to a meeting of the Committee after the traffic survey had been undertaken and the results were available. The Assistant Director Frontline Services had advised that the traffic survey was required to be undertaken at a time of normal traffic usage. Therefore having regard to the major road works in Strood in the locality of Darnley Road/Cuxton Road and the oncoming Christmas shopping period, the survey would be undertaken after Christmas.
Decision:
The Committee noted the Officer’s response to the petition and that the lead petitioner for the review of speed restrictions in Watling Street, Strood has agreed that his petition not be referred to the Committee until after the traffic survey has been undertaken and the results are available. |
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This item advises Members of the current work programme and allows the Committee to adjust it in the light of latest priorities, issues and circumstances. It gives Members the opportunity to shape and direct the Committee’s activities over the year. Additional documents: Minutes: Discussion:
The Committee received and considered its work programme.
The Committee noted changes to the Committee’s work programme as outlined in the report and the Democratic Services Officer advised the Committee of one further item included on the Forward Plan published on 29 September which fell within the remit of this Committee.
Decision:
The work programme be noted with the revisions outlined in the report. |