Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Carr, Fearn and Tranter.

To approve the Record of the Meeting held on 17 January 2023.

In relation to equipment at Twydall play areas, which had been discussed during the Attendance of the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Services (Minute No. 524 refers), a Member said that they had written to the Portfolio Holder to ask for an update on the play areas in their Ward and also for clarification around the sum of £500,000 quoted as having been spent on The Hub. The Member requested that this be recorded in the meeting minutes.

The Democratic Services Officer advised that the minutes of the January 2023 meeting reflected the discussion that had taken place and that they could not be amended to include anything that had happened since. However, this update could be noted in the minutes of the Record of Meeting agenda item for the March 2023 meeting.

The record of the meeting held on 17 January 2023 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

Councillor Tejan declared an interest in relation to references to Kyndi within agenda item no.10 (Council Plan Performance Monitoring Report and Strategic Risk Summary Quarter 3 2022/23) because he is a Director of Kyndi. Councillor Tejan did not leave the room as there was no discussion of this agenda item.

Councillor Rupert Turpin declared an interest in relation to references to Kyndi within agenda item no.10 (Council Plan Performance Monitoring Report and Strategic Risk Summary Quarter 3 2022/23) because he is the Council’s Kyndi Shareholder representative. Councillor Turpin did not leave the room as there was no discussion of this agenda item.

Other interests

There were none.

This report advises the Committee of petitions received by the Council which fall within the remit of this Committee including a summary of the responses sent to the petition organisers by officers.

Discussion:

Members considered a report which advised the Committee of petitions received by the Council which fell within the remit of the Committee, including a summary of the responses sent to the petition organisers by officers.

One petition had been referred to the Committee for consideration. This related to Speeding and Safety Hazards on the A230 Maidstone Road, Chatham between the Ridgeway and A229 Junction. It was requested that Medway Council and Kent Police take urgent action to reduce speeding and traffic accident frequency.

The lead petitioner was invited to speak to explain why the Council’s response to the petition had been referred to the Committee and made the following points:

• The stretch of road was dangerous with cars overtaking in the hatched area along the middle of the road and the 30mph speed limit was ignored by drivers.
• Pedestrians were unable to cross the road safely due to vehicle speed, traffic volumes and the approximate 10 metre road width.
• Other nearby roads had traffic islands to enhance road safety but there were no islands on this section of the Maidstone Road. Road markings were also worn and the petitioner considered the road condition to be sub-standard for an ‘A’ class road.
• Kent Police and Medway Council had completed multiple speed surveys in recent months, which demonstrated an underlying concern.
• Every resident the petitioner had contacted had signed his petition and there was strong local concern.
• The initial response from Medway Council had been that there would be no physical alterations to the road as there had only been one accident involving injury in the area. The petitioner welcomed that the Council was planning a scheme to extend and renew the road hatch markings.
• Installation of a traffic island was needed as a matter of urgency to promote pedestrian safety. This would stop pedestrians needing to stand in the road as they crossed it. There were significant numbers of pedestrians in the area.
• The petitioner had personal experience of a road traffic accident in the area when a car had left the road and caused extensive damage to his property. It had been due to luck that none of his family had been injured.
• The petitioner had been advised that there had not been enough incidents resulting in injury at the location to warrant installation of a speed camera.
• In conclusion, it was requested that a traffic island be installed at the location to facilitate safe crossing of the road.

The Head of Transport and Parking said that the road was part of a major route into Chatham. The Council had a statutory duty under the Road Safety Act to investigate road accidents and to take appropriate measures to prevent them. There had been one accident at the location which had resulted in a slight injury. There had been no other crashes resulting in injury on this section of the road. A traffic island had been installed to assist pedestrians crossing the road close to nearby Horsted Park and there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 697.

This report sets out progress made within the areas covered by the Portfolio Holder for Inward Investment, Strategic Regeneration and Partnerships, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE, which fall within the remit of this Committee.

Discussion:

The Committee received an overview of progress made on the areas within the scope of the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Investment, Regeneration and Partnerships which fell within the remit of this Committee.

The Portfolio Holder responded to Members’ questions and comments as follows:

River Strategy – In a response to a question about when this would be published, the Portfolio Holder said he understood that the River Strategy was due for consultation.

Pentagon Healthy Living Centre (HLC) – In response to a question about when it was expected that the HLC within the Pentagon Shopping Centre would open, the Portfolio Holder clarified that he was responsible for securing funding and spending of funding allocated but not for scheme delivery. The Assistant Director, Regeneration said that work was ongoing with the NHS and the Integrated Care Board to deliver the HLC at the Pentagon. Design work was taking place and it was anticipated that the centre would open in mid-2024.

The Paddock – In response to a question about the timescales for the Paddock public realm work it was explained that a contractor was due to be appointed in April 2023. In relation to design changes made to the Paddock public realm proposals due to the impact of inflation, it was asked what the changes were and whether there was any information available regarding the cost of maintaining the fountain. The Assistant Director said that the changes had focused on material quality while ensuring that they were fit for purpose and that there would also be a reduction in artistic elements. The ecology element had not been reduced. A cost figure was not currently available for the fountain, but it was confirmed that the fountain would be maintained.

Former Debenhams site – A Member asked why the former Debenhams building had been acquired by the Council given that its sale was now being considered. The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the Debenhams site had been acquired by the Council to secure the usability of the site and give the Council control over its future use. Market testing was now being undertaken to explore future options for the site. He added that the building had not initially been part of the Future High Street Fund proposals as the Debenhams store had still been open at that point. The Assistant Director said that future uses may be divided separately between the ground and first floors of the building or there could be a single bid covering use of both floors. March 2025 was the drop-dead date for the ground floor to be operational.

Brook Theatre - In relation to the Brook Theatre, the Portfolio Holder explained that the holistic approach referred to in the report was about joining up work using funding that had been secured from the Future High Street Fund and from the Levelling Up fund. This funding would be used to improve the creative digital offer and to better utilise the space. There was also a need to make the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 698.

This report sets out progress made within the areas covered by the Portfolio Holder for Business Management, Councillor Hackwell, which fall within the remit of this Committee.

Discussion:

The Committee received an overview of progress made on the areas within the scope of the Portfolio Holder for Business Management which fell within the remit of this Committee.

The Portfolio Holder responded to Members’ questions and comments as

follows:

Waste services – A Committee Member asked for a breakdown by ward of the locations of Waste Warden visits, details of the standards for Waste Warden inspections and details of on street litter bin locations in Princes Park, including the 20 locations that had been deemed not suitable. The Member also asked when the QR data collected from a project, that aimed to improve the public reporting of overflowing bins, would be available. In relation to stickers used by a volunteer group to help identify overflowing bins and to promote the work of the group, it was suggested that the Council should provide these stickers.

The Portfolio Holder agreed to provide details of Waste Warden visits. He advised that the inspection standards were nationally set. Some bins had been removed due to safety issues or them being duplicates. One example was dog bins close to a dual purpose bin. This was unnecessary as there was no longer a requirement for separate dog bins to be provided. The Portfolio Holder said that a list of locations that bins had been removed from in Princes Park would be provided. He suggested that Norse bin liners could be left next to full bins rather than stickers and said that consideration could be given to putting messages on the bags in relation to the local volunteer group.

St Margaret’s Cemetery – A Member highlighted signs installed at St Margaret’s Cemetery to promote responsible behaviour by dog owners. These had been paid for by Member ward improvement funding.

Streetscene, bin locations and dog fouling - Members of the Committee offered their thanks to the Streetscene Team. The issue of persistent flytipping and the work to address this with ward Councillors was highlighted. A Member asked whether bins identified as being in an unsuitable location were relocated elsewhere and requested that ward Councillors be involved in the identification of locations. The Member also asked if anything further could be done to address dog fouling.

The Portfolio Holder agreed that the Streetscene Team did an excellent job and said that some team restructuring had been undertaken to assist with staff retention. He said that although the provision of bins did not fall under his Portfolio remit, the number of bins would be specified in the Norse contract. Signs and pavement stencils were used to address dog fouling and it was requested that details of specific issues identified by Members be passed to Council officers.

Stray dogs – in relation to stray dogs, which were taken to Battersea Cats and Dogs Home to be rehomed if they had not been reclaimed within 7 days, the Assistant Director, Frontline Services, understood that there was no financial cost to the Council. This would be confirmed. In response to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 699.

This report presents the Shard Prosperity Investment Plan outputs and outcomes. It also sets out the launch of Year 2 proposals.

Discussion:

This report set out what been achieved so far in 2022-23 in relation to the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and Multiply programme. It also set out the 2023-24 programme of spend for the SPF and Multiply.

A Member asked when the SPF and Multiply programme would be open for applications and the process for this. The Assistant Director, Regeneration said that staff recruitment was currently taking place with one person having been recruited so far. It was anticipated that the launch of the SPF would take place in the first quarter of 2023/24. The Multiply Programme was a specific investment plan that involved the local authority procuring services.

In response to a question that asked what criteria were in place to meet the Multiply Programme objective of improving numeracy skills of adults aged 19+ who did not currently have a level 2 qualification in maths, the Assistant Director was confident that ways of measuring this were in place and undertook to provide details to the Committee.

Decision:

The Committee:

i)      Noted progress in relation to the Shared Prosperity Fund and the Multiply Programme and noted the Year 1 outcomes.

ii)    Requested that an update report be provided to the Committee in six months’ time.

This report provides an update on progress made in relation to the Innovation Park Medway (IPM) project.

Discussion:

This report provided an update to Committee Members and outlined progress made on the Innovation Park Medway (IPM) project.

A Member asked whether any occupiers had yet signed up to locate at IPM and what the impact of the unsuccessful Levelling Up Round 2 bid would be. The Member questioned the effectiveness of marketing of IPM and expressed concern that it would be difficult to find businesses to locate at the site, which could expose the Council to additional risks.

The Assistant Director, Regeneration said that the Business Case was being reviewed following the Council’s unsuccessful Levelling Up Round 2 bid and that there was a need to wait to see what opportunity was presented by Round 3. Marketing work was being undertaken with Locate in Kent. This included marketing the site in London and using a national property consultant. Heads of Terms had been agreed with an occupier for the southern site and it was expected that this would be finalised within the next two months. The Local Development Order (LDO) aimed to streamline the process for businesses that might locate at IPM, for example, by removing the need for individual planning applications. The LDO required refreshing due to new ways of working and changing sector needs. Work was taking place with three potential occupiers on the Northern site.

A Member asked how many meetings had taken place of the IPM Steering Group and who was on the Steering Group. The Member was concerned about resource capacity to deliver IPM.

The Assistant Director said that the Steering Group met quarterly at Member level. Assistant Director level meetings took place once a month and the project team and service met bi-weekly as well as holding a number of ad-hoc meetings.

A Member requested that his thanks to Tracey Crouch MP be placed on record as she was understood to be moving her office to Innovation Park Medway.

It was asked what market analysis work had been done and whether there were concerns about what impact new ways of working had on demand. The Assistant Director said that there were no concerns as evidence was that there was demand for space. There had been nine serious offers by potential occupiers but these had not been appropriate for the site. There was a need to ensure that the offer was fit for purpose whether this was potential occupiers developing land themselves or the Council developing suitable premises. It was considered that once the first occupiers had been secured, IPM would become more attractive to others.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report setting out progress in relation to Innovation Park Medway and wished for successful marketing of the site.

Medway’s Council Plan 2022/23 sets out the Council’s three priorities. This report and appendices summarise how we performed in Q3 2022/23 on the delivery of the programmes and measures which fall under the remit of this committee which are: Place and Growth.

Background:

The Committee received a report setting out performance for Quarter 3 against the Council's two priorities Place and Growth insofar as they fell within the remit of this Committee, along with a review of the Council’s Risk Register.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Q3 2022/23 performance against the measures used to monitor progress against the Council’s priorities and considered the Strategic Risk Summary as set out in Appendix 3.

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. 

Background:

The Committee received a report setting out the current work programme.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)    Requested that the documents that form the Local Plan evidence base be provided to the Committee at the June 2023 meeting.

b)    Noted the proposed work programme, set out at Appendix A to the report.