Agenda and minutes

(1) The Chairmen welcomed Members, guests and members of the public to the meeting. She explained that it was the first occasion that the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee had met outside of County Hall, and since the issue related to a single location, the best place to discuss it was in the town itself, which would enable local people to attend.

(2) The Chairman explained that meeting would be recorded and would be available on the Kent County Council website within 48 hours. Normally it would be webcast live, but that was not possible from this location.

(1) Mr Brookbank declared that he is a member of the Development Control Committee of Sevenoaks District Council. (Mr John Scholey also declared that he was a member of the Development Control Committee of Sevenoaks District Council, but was not on the Committee when the relevant planning decisions had been taken).

This item will be considered in four parts:

1. Overview of project and benefits

2. Implementation timeframe and lessons learned

3. Long term financial sustainability

4. Local concerns

Mr P Lake, County Councillor, Sevenoaks South, Mr R Aldous, Capital Strategy Manager, Mr K Tilson, Head of Finance for Communities and Mr J White, Capital Project Officer have been invited to attend the meeting to answer Members’ questions on this item.

The following external witnesses have also been invited to answer Members’ questions: Ms Christine Lang, Town Clerk, Edenbridge Town Council; Councillor Jill Davison, Edenbridge Town Council and Sevenoaks District Council; Councillor John Scholey, Edenbridge Town Council and Sevenoaks District Council; and Ms Sally Richards, Regional Development Manager, Orbit Housing Group.

(1) The Chairman explained that, having gained permission from two of the Vice-Chairmen of the Committee, Mr Kingham, the Chairman of Edenbridge Chamber of Commerce would be invited to speak as a witness.

(2) Due to the fact that a number of members of the public had arrived at the meeting, the Chairman felt it appropriate to state the role of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee and its powers, including the fact that rather than being a decision making body, it could only make recommendations to Cabinet.

(3) Since there were a number of Members, Officers and witnesses, each individual sitting at the table introduced themselves and their role. The Chairman explained that, of these, only Members of the Committee had voting rights.

(4) The Chairman proposed, and Mr Christie seconded, that the members of the public present be able to participate in the meeting. The vote was carried unanimously.

(5) Responding to a number of queries from Members about why the Committee had met in Edenbridge, and what it hoped to achieve, the Chairman explained that she wanted to know:

• Why the centre had taken nine years to get to the current stage.
• How, once built, the centre would be financed and in the event of a funding gap who would be liable
• Any local concerns about the operation of the centre

(6) Mr Aldous gave a presentation on the Edenbridge Community Centre, encompassing:

• History
• Challenges
• The Future; and
• A Summary

(7) Members of the public then had the opportunity to put questions to the Committee. These questions included:

• Why a community centre had been built, instead of a secondary school
• Why the library had been moved to the community centre, when it had worked well in its present location for approximately 50 years
• What KCC would be doing to mitigate the reduction in high street business that would result from the library move
• What proportion of library users and what proportion of Edenbridge residents had been consulted

(8) Mr Lake, the local member for Sevenoaks South, gave an overview of the history of the project, with key reports and events:

• In 2000 delegated powers were withdrawn from Eden Valley School, which had a large deficit and a falling number of students. Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls came on board to help turn the situation around, but student numbers continued to fall.
• In January 2002 the Cabinet Member for School Organisation and Early Years announced that the number of students had fallen to 228, the deficit was still climbing and that the school would be placed in special measures. He authorised a public consultation on the future of the school with closure as an option.
• In February 2002, following public consultations, there was a proposal document prepared by KCC called ‘The Eden Valley Vision’ and similarly a proposal document prepared by Edenbridge Town Council called ‘The Edenbridge Vision’.
• In July 2002, a report went to Cabinet. Cabinet authorised Officers to undertake a feasibility study with Sevenoaks District Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.