Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2014 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(1)          This item had been placed on the agenda for discussion by the Chairman and Spokesmen. Circulated with the agenda was detailed information on the project including the responses from the Environment & Transport directorate to questions raised in relation to the decision to endorse the Lorry Park Network (Phase 1) project.

(2)          Mr Crick introduced the item by outlining that the project had arisen as a result of the identified need for Lorry parking provision which was detailed in the Growth Without Gridlock KCC Strategy.  The method of delivery had changed over time in line with reduced resources and updated demand models but the main issues it sought to address remained the same; reduce disruption from Operation Stack and to alleviate the anti-social behaviour linked with HGVs parking inappropriately in residential and industrial areas.  He continued by explaining that the M20 had been identified as the priority due to evidence of the traffic flow of HGVs being primarily along the M20 / A20 corridor.  Furthermore, Mr Crick stated that a detailed Commercial Assessment had been undertaken to evaluate whether a KCC developed Lorry Park Network would be a viable business decision, providing a return on investment and remaining affordable.

(3)          On being asked to clarify the financial position of the project, Mr Tilson explained that KCC’s Treasury Policy was to ensure best value was obtained  and that all financing options should be considered and that only the most appropriate and the most beneficial to the authority should be pursued.  He stated that the £12.7million loan (Public Works Loan fund) that had been secured for the delivery of this project had been declared – and approved by Full Council - in the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) in February 2014 to ensure all protocols had been followed and that this was a viable option to fund the project. It is/was not however a definitive stance on how the project would be funded.  This loan has not been drawn down, nor a formal loan agreement entered in to, but was presented as a viable option due to the favourable interest rate and high anticipated return on investment.  Its presence in the MTFP gave the authority to use the secured finance if required but a future decision would be made on how the scheme was to be funded This is completely separate to the authority’s current stance on Treasury, whereby due to the level of cash reserves currently held that, at this moment in time, KCC would look to borrow/lend internally and not utilise external funding. That stance is reviewed weekly and therefore the two issues are not mutually exclusive. One is having the relevant authorities in place to fund a specific scheme, the other is the current stance that KCC may not choose this route as it has funds internally that could be used, albeit they still need to be paid back so it is not free funds.

(4)          Ms Carruthers summarised the process used for the assessment of potential sites.  She  ...  view the full minutes text for item D61