Agenda item

(1) The Kent Rural Housing Protocol: Tracey Kerly, Head of Customers, Homes and Property, Ashford Borough Council and Brian Horton, Strategic Housing Advisor, Kent County Council

(2) Why Farming Matters: Charles Tassell, Kent Chair, National Farmers  Union

1.                  The Chairman welcomed Mrs Kerly and Mr Horton to the meeting and invited them to give their presentation.  Mrs Kerly introduced the protocol for delivering affordable local needs housing in rural Kent, published in the meeting papers.

2.                  Mrs Kerly explained that speaking with the local communities and understanding the needs of the community was critical in making a scheme work as the developments can 3-7 years to deliver. Mrs Kerly commended the work of “Action for Communities in Rural Kent” which was an independent organisation.  She thanked Miss Joanne Purvis,Housing Strategy Implementation Manager, for all her work in drafting the protocol.

3.                  Mrs Kerly continued her presentation using overheads of previous development sites in Ashford from 1993 to a recently completed site in 2011, to show the mix of properties and how they had evolved to using renewable energy sources such as solar panels and ground source heat pumps.

4.                  Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments which included the following:-

a)     It was considered that KCC’s role would be to provide local leadership on housing acting as an ambassador and an advocate in rural local needs housing. 

b)     It was explained that the housing schemes were small with 6 homes and the highways departments views were sought on the schemes.

c)      It was considered that the benefits of the rural schemes needed to be promoted to Parish Councils that often opposed housing developments in their villages. 

d)     It was suggested that for elderly people in a village moving from their family home to a bungalow built through a scheme in their village, they could remain near family and would not have to rely on Social Services.

e)     Concern was raised about the resale of the homes. It was advised that when a home came up for sale or rent the home would be sold/rented to someone in the village registered as being in housing need.

5.                  Mr Tassell then gave his presentation on “Why Farming Matters in Kent” using overheads, circulated to the Committee before the meeting.  He highlighted that the areas of most concern were the effects climate change, water availability (particularly, since the drought this year) and food security.  Views expressed were as follows:

a)     Good to hear that careers in farming were being nurtured with young people seeing what working in farming was like now with the introduction of technology.

b)     Concerns were expressed that Kent fruits were not on Kent supermarket shelves.

c)      A view was expressed that people coming to the county needed to find the necessary technology to run their business such as broadband.

d)     Members needed to find ways to open up a dialogue with local farmers in their area.

e)     Kent Rural PLC would draw the relevant agencies together who had an interest in Kent’s rural legacy.

6.                  RESOLVED that:

a)      The Committee thanked Mrs Kerly and Mr Horton and Mr Tassell for their informative presentations; and

b)      the responses to comments and questions by Members be noted.