Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present

Apologies were received from Mr A Hook, Mr I Chittenden and Mr T Bond. Mr R Bird and Mrs P Beresford attended as substitutes respectively.

To receive any declarations of interest made by Members in relation to any matter on the agenda.  Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared.

A Declaration of Interest was received from Mr Booth in relation to item 7 on the agenda (17/00025(b) -  A2500 Lower Road Improvements - Phase 2 Lower Road Widening) as a Member of Swale Borough Council and involvement with the Local Plan. Mr Booth remained in the room and took part in the discussion.

A Declaration of Interest was received from Mr A Cook in relation to item 7 on the agenda (17/00025(b) -  A2500 Lower Road Improvements - Phase 2 Lower Road Widening) due to his involvement with the Local Plan and frequent use of the Sturry by-pass. Mr Cook remained in the room and took part in the discussion.

To consider and approve the minutes as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2018 are a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

To receive verbal upadtes from Mr M Hill, OBE, Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services and Mr M Whiting, Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste.

1. Mr M Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) commended the success of the 10^th Rail Summit held on 14 May 2018 at Kent County Council. A host of representatives from Southeastern Rail, the Kent Community Rail Partnership and Eurostar were present to discuss their ambitions for the future. He also noted his thanks to the guest speaker from Bexhill who praised Kent Members and officers for their assistance with the cross-border rail issues.

2. With regard to the Pothole Blitz, Mr Whiting said that six contracts had been issued to companies within the Districts to ensure quicker response times and that a short report would be sent to Members confirming the number of repaired potholes within each District. There had been additional resources deployed to Tunbridge Wells and following a review in June 2018, the Leader of the Council would determine whether the Pothole Blitz required further funding. Mr Whiting said that the number of reported potholes had reduced from 15,000 per week to 500 and that the project was due to finish in August 2018.

3. Mr Whiting informed the Committee that the Big Bus Conversation commenced on 19 June 2018. Kent County Council were in discussion with the Kent Association of Local Councils to ensure that a number of public engagement meetings could be held across Kent within each of the Districts, these would be held in the afternoon and the evening to ensure that as many people could attend as possible. Mr Whiting said that independent facilitators would be used for all 16 meetings for the purpose of consistency. Kent County Council had started discussions with providers which included commercial, Community Trust volunteers, taxi firms and other transport providers to ensure a comprehensive agenda for the public engagement meetings. The Kent Association of Local Councils would be advertising the events, Mr Whiting acknowledged that not all Parish Members were Members of the Kent Association of Local Councils so additional methods of communication were being reviewed by Kent County Council to ensure wide-spread advertisement.

4. In terms of the LED conversion, both residential and town centre conversions had been completed which had impacted on the reduction of Co2 emissions and generation of financial savings.

5. Mr M Hill, OBE (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Service) provided an update on the work carried out by the Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) which worked in conjunction with Kent Police, alcohol retailers, youth groups, district councils and health boards to promote responsible attitudes towards alcohol and reduce underage drinking. Mr Hill said that the CAP had recently been launched in Herne-bay where it was greatly received and promoted by students in both Herne-bay High School and East Kent College.

6. In response to comments and questions, the following information was provided:

(a)  In response to questions raised regarding lorry parking, Mr Whiting said that he had met with Tim Read (Interim Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste) and a representative from the Highways Authority in Leicestershire to review the scheme which had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

To discuss and comment on the report and the proposed work plan to implement lessons learned from the recent snow emergencies.

Andrew Loosemore (Interim Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste) and Carol Valentine (Highway Manager, West) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr M Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) introduced the report which provided an update on the winter service actions taken during the two snow emergencies declared in the 2017/18 winter season, the lessons learned and the continuous improvement initiatives to be implemented for the 2018/19 winter season. Mr Whiting paid tribute to all those involved in the extensive winter operations to ensure that Kent’s primary routes remained open.

2. Mr Loosemore said that the severity of the weather had caused Kent Highways to declare a snow emergency. All resources were deployed throughout Kent to ensure the primary networks remained open, however, steps were due to be taken during the summer period to review the secondary routes and to determine which parts of that network could be prioritised during a snow emeregency.

3. Mrs Valentine said that the winter emergency was an extensive operation which cost Kent County Council an additional £1,141million on-top of the allocated winter service budget. She assured Members that all resources were deployed to deal with the snow during the period between 6 February 2018 to 5 March 2018 with additional assistance from Kent Police, Borough and Parish Councils and farmers whom were a valuable asset in clearing snow drifts within the local communities. In terms of communication, social media played a critical role in providing the county with regular updates which helped to reduce the number of complaints. Daily written briefings had also been provided to Members and Senior Management to ensure all information was being cascaded to stakeholders. Following lessons learned, work was due to be carried out to review the deployment of resources to secondary routes and to work with farmers to pilot the use of new gritting equipment. Mrs Valentine commended the work of all those involved and said that the service had been delivered successfully in line with service policy.

4. In response to Members questions regarding number of vehicles deployed, Mrs Valentine assured Members that all routes had been cleared, no primary routes had been left unattended. She said that the deployment of additional vehicles would not have made a difference as all resources would have been deployed to the primary routes and there would not have been capacity to use those vehicles or staff on the secondary routes. Mrs Valentine reminded Members that staff were working twelve hour shifts to ensure all primary networks remained open.

5. With regard to climate change, Mr Loosemore said that the winter service period had been moved forward to accommodate the shift in weather patterns and therefore started in late October and ran until the end of April.

6. Mr Whiting asked that the Committee provide feedback from the public, following the winter operation, to Mrs Valentine and her team as local knowledge was crucial in helping to determine future activity of the winter service.

7. Members commended the work of the Highways Team  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

To consider and endorse, or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste on the proposed decisions as indicated below:

i)     approval to the outline design for the A2500 Lower Road Widening, for public consultation, development control and land charge disclosures as shown on Drawing. No. 0323-PH2-PE-001 Rev 0. (Fig. 1)

ii)    to progress the design through the next stages of development and delivery including any ancillary works such as drainage and environmental mitigation;

iii)   to take all steps necessary to obtain and implement all statutory Orders and approvals or consents required for the schemes;

iv)   to enter into land and funding agreements associated with development contributions;

v)    to enter into construction contracts as necessary for the delivery of the scheme subject to the approval of the Strategic Commissioning Board to the recommended procurement strategy, and

vi)   for the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport, under the Officer Scheme of Delegations, to take further or other decisions as may be appropriate to deliver the A2500 Lower Road Improvement scheme in accordance with these recommendations and the earlier overarching decisions given under Record of Decisions 17/00025, that remains extant.

Tim Read (Interim Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste) and Richard Shelton (Major Capital Programme Project Manager) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) introduced the report which provided an update to Members on the Phase 1 A2500 Lower Road/ Barton Hill Drive Roundabout Improvement Scheme and sought approval from the Committee for the outline design of the Phase 2 A2500 Lower Road Widening.

2. Mr Shelton said that Phase 1 of the scheme aimed to improve the Lower Road/ Barton Hill Drive Junction through the removal of the traffic light signals and implementation of a new roundabout to help reduce congestion. Phase 2 of the scheme was to realign and widen the existing A2500 Lower Road between the A249 at Cowstead Corner and Barton Hill Drive by 7.3 meters which would facilitate the construction of a new shared footway and cycle path alongside the northside of the road. In terms of funding, the overall cost of the scheme would amount to £6.655 million. Phase 1 secured funding from the Single Local Growth Fund with additional developer contributions; Phase 2 of the scheme was supported through an allocation of funds from the National Productivity Investment Fund with additional match funding provided from developer monies and a further contribution from Swale Borough Council. Mr Shelton advised the Committee that the scheme had made significant progress with the design and procurement of Phase 1 completed, the team now sought Members approval to progress the design through to the next stage of the development and delivery of the Phase 2 scheme.

3. In response to Members concerns regarding streetlighting, Mr Shelton confirmed that this had been included within the proposals set out within the detailed design and said that guidance had been sought from the Streetlight Team to ensure that the construction of streetlighting was viable. Mr Shelton welcomed Members concerns and agreed to provide an update when available to those who sought further information.

4. Mr Shelton confirmed that the extension of the carriage way would require removal of the hedgerows along the north and south side, however the proposed design included a replacement of these along the fence lines as part of the Environmental mitigation within the scheme.

5. Prior to the conclusion of the Committee discussion, Mr A Booth reminded Members that as a Member of the Swale Borough Council Planning Committee, he neither wished to endorse nor object to the recommendations around the decisions in relation to paragraph 1.7 of the report.

6. RESOLVED that the proposed decisions to:

(a)  approve the outline design for the A2500 Lower Road Widening, for public consultation, development control and land charge disclosures as shown on Drawing.

(b)  progress the design through the next stages of development and delivery including any ancillary works such as drainage and environmental mitigation;

(c)  take all steps necessary to obtain and implement all statutory Orders and approvals or consents required for the schemes;

(d)  enter into land and funding agreements associated with development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

to consider and endorse, or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste, to take the proposed decisions as indicated below:

i)     to give approval to the revised preferred outline design scheme for the Sturry Link Road Drawing No. 430392/000/71 Rev 0 – Fig 2, updated to incorporate amendments arising from the public consultation, for development control and land charge disclosures.

ii)     to give approval to all acts required to acquire the land and rights for the carrying out and completion of the A28/A291Sturry Link Road scheme, including by means of a compulsory purchase order, and any other necessary statutory orders.

iii)     to accept, if necessary, any blight notice that may be served, on terms to be agreed with the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services.

iv)     to delegate to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment & Transport, under the Officer Scheme of Delegations, to take further or other decisions as may be appropriate to deliver the A28/A291 Sturry Link Road scheme in accordance with these recommendations and the earlier overarching decisions given under Record of Decisions 15/00070A and 17/00061, that remain extant.

Tim Read (Interim Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste) and Richard Shelton (Major Capital Programme Project Manager) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) introduced the report which sought the Committee’s approval to endorse the preferred outline design of the Sturry Link Road which would run north and west of the A28 and A291. He welcomed Members questions and comments which would be used to inform the final decision.

2. Mr Shelton said that the Highway Authority had identified congestion issues within the town centre of Sturry; the Link Road would allow all A28/A291 through traffic to avoid the Sturry level crossing and therefore reduce the amount of congestion. Furthermore, in July 2017, Canterbury City Council’s Local District Plan had identified land at Sturry and Broad Oak as a suitable location for a new housing development. This required improved infrastructure, including a Sturry Link Road to relieve the level crossing, road investiture to the new housing and access to the station. The proposal was most recently presented to the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee in July 2017 which identified the need to go out to public consultation. A public consultation exercise was undertaken for six weeks from 26 July 2017 to 6 September 2017 and following the feedback received, amendments were made to the scheme which included: the widening of shared-use footway and cycle paths, the widening of the existing Shallock Road due to safety concerns of Network Rail, additional signal-controlled crossings, the relocation of a surface water pond; and discussions had taken place with bus operators regarding the location of bus stops. The next stage of the process would be for the Cabinet Member to approve the preferred scheme which would then be submitted as a planning application to the County Council. Mr Shelton assured the Committee that the scheme had been developed by Kent County Council in conjunction with Canterbury City Council, Network Rail and the Environment Agency to achieve the best possible outcome for the Sturry area within the restraints of the allocated funding.

3. In response to concerns regarding the development timetable, Mr Shelton said that the developer for the Sturry site had submitted a planning application in August 2017 which went out to consultation. Work had commenced to review the responses from that consultation and to amend the design proposals where feasible and a re-submission of that planning application was due to take place in four to six weeks’ time. These would then need to go through a formal planning process. Kent County Council needed to ensure that the application for the Sturry Link Road was submitted to support the applications for the housing developments. Mr Shelton advised the Committee that should the scheme be successful in getting consent to progress, the housing development would start to be built in 2019 and the Sturry Link Road would commence 2020/2021.

4. With regard to the level crossing and the impact this would have on journey time, Mr Shelton said that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

To consider and endorse, or make recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport to approve KCC entering into an Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) with TMBC and TWBC to increase levels of recycling and reduce disposal costs for KCC. To encourage improvement, savings will be equally shared between respective Collection and Disposal Authorities as performance payments. This is to be the policy approach in all new Waste Partnership Agreements with Collection Authorities.

David Beaver (Head of Waste and Business Services) and Nichola Wood (Waste Business Partnership Manager) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr Payne introduced the report which sought approval from the Committee for Kent County Council to enter into an Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) to increase levels of kerbside recycling and reduce the cost of waste disposal through the incentivisation of performance payments.

2. Mr Beaver said that Kent County Council had worked with all west Kent District and Borough authorities to promote the newly commissioned kerbside model of waste collection. Both Sevenoaks and Dartford had made the decision not to enter into an Inter-Authority Agreement, however, Gravesham Borough Council, following the adoption of the new collection model in 2014 had seen an improvement in their recycling figures from 32% in 2015/2016 to 39% in 2017/2018, which produced a significant saving in their waste disposal costs. Mr Beaver said that the Inter-Authority Agreement would reward Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for increasing recycling rates and reducing residual waste as this would in turn reduce disposal costs for Kent County Council.

3. In response to concerns regarding the disposal of garden waste, Mr Beaver said that the charging of this was not part of the decision and that it was the responsibility of the Borough Council’s to determine the rates.

4. Members commended the work of the officers and the efforts made by the Borough Councils to adopt a new and economically improved model of kerbside waste disposal.

5. RESOLVED that the proposed decision to:

(a)  approve Kent County Council entering into an Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) with TMBC and TWBC, to increase levels of recycling and reduce disposal costs for Kent County Council; and

(b)  equally share savings between respective Collection and Disposal Authorities as performance payments, as part of the policy approach in all new Waste Partnership Agreements with CollectionAuthorities

be endorsed.

To note the recent announcement by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and requirement for the preparation and submission of a full business case to inform a final decision on the award of funding.

Tom Marchant (Head of Strategic Planning and Policy) and Andy Moreton (Project Manager - Major Capital Schemes) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) introduced the report which provided an update on the Housing Infrastructure Fund following the announcement in March 2018 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding the success of Kent County Council’s ‘Expression of Interest’. The report also set out the next stage of the process and the anticipated timescale for the submission of a full business case to inform a decision on an award of funding.

2. Mr Marchant informed the Committee that the Government launched the £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) in July 2017. At the time of its launch the Government sought ‘Expressions of Interest’ and bids from District Authorities, County Councils and Unitary Authorities. Kent County Council submitted two ‘Expressions of Interest’ for forward funding; the first relating to infrastructure necessary to enable and accelerate delivery at ‘Otterpool Park Garden Town’ and the second for ‘Swale Transport Infrastructure’ to enable the delivery of long term planned growth in the Swale Borough. Following the submission of the two schemes, Government announced in the autumn budget that an additional £2.7 billion had been allocated to the Housing Infrastructure Fund, offering a total amount of £5 billion.  In March 2018, Kent County Council received confirmation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that the ‘Expression of Interest’ for the £40 million Swale Transport Infrastructure scheme had been successful, however, the other bid for £281 million Forward Funding relating to ‘Otterpool Park Garden Town’ would not be taken forward. The second stage of the Forward Funding element of the HIF was to enter into a period of ‘co-development’ with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop the infrastructure projects ahead of the submission of the final business case which would inform the final funding decision. Mr Marchant anticipated that the deadline for the business case submission would be in the late summer of 2018 with final funding decisions announced in autumn 2018.

3. In response to why the Otterpool Park Garden Town was not successful, Mr Marchant said that feedback from Government was simply that the Housing Infrastructure Fund was oversubscribed, rather than any specific issue with the submission. Kent County Council would continue to work closely with Folkestone and Hythe District Council to review other avenues to secure the infrastructure funding. Homes England had also recently purchased land within Otterpool Park Garden Town and would be another key partner supporting the future ambitions of Folkestone and Hythe Borough Council.

4. RESOLVED that the recent announcement by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and requirement for the preparation and submission of a full business case to inform a final decision on the award of funding, be noted.

To discuss and consider the draft Rights of Way Improvement Plan and to endorse the recommendation to progress to public consultation. 

Mike Overbeke (Head of Public Protection) and Denise Roffey (Access Improvement Plan Officer) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr M Hill, OBE (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services) introduced the report which set out details of the Rights of Way Improvement Plan review and sought the Committees agreement to progress to public consultation.

2. Mr Overbeke said that the first Rights of Way Improvement Plan was adopted by Kent County Council in 2008 and a review was required after ten years of publication. The Rights of Way Improvement Plan was a Strategic and Statutory document which provided ten years of objectives and action plans which were based solely on feedback received from the public. The Rights of Way Improvement Plan also set the direction of travel for the Public Rights of Way Team and provided the service with the intelligence required in order for them to prioritise and manage an extensive degree of work.

3. Mrs Roffey said that that the preparation for the new Rights of Way Improvement Plan involved a lengthy process including: a reflection of the lessons learned, an extensive range of market research to look at the priorities and limitations based on public demand, customer surveys, face-to-face interviews with District and Borough Councils; and a detailed questionnaire which was sent to Stakeholders, Members, Parishes, Borough and District Councils, and relevant user and interest groups to complete. The Public Rights of Way Team also carried out a policy and literature review to identify how the new plans would tie in with the most recently produced policies and strategies and how the Rights of Way Improvement Plan would impact on the physical, mental health and well-being of those in Kent. Mrs Roffey said that the process used helped the team to gather information, produce a new Rights of Way Improvement Plan and identify a number of key aims and objectives to be achieved over the next ten years.

4. In response to Members queries regarding the resources available to the team, Mr Hill said that Kent County Council were committed to finding funding to provide additional resources to the service and appreciated Members recognition of the extensive amount of work carried out by the Public Rights of Way Team within the restraints of limited funding.

5. Officers commended the work of the Public Rights of Way Team.

6. RESOLVED that the Rights of Way Improvement Plan be noted and progression to public consultation, be endorsed.

To consider and agree a work programme for 2018

1. RESOLVED that the work programme be noted subject to the inclusion of the following item:

(a)  Update Report on the Minerals and Waste Local Plan Consultation

To note the report.

David Beaver (David Beaver Head of Waste and Business Services) and Kay Groves (Waste Services Manager) were in attendance for this item.

1. Mr Beaver introduced the report which set out the process for the review of the Allington, Final Disposal Contract (Energy to Waste) in conjunction with information around high-level findings. The Allington Waste Contract was a key enabler in applying the Waste Hierarchy to Kent’s waste and meeting the EU Landfill Diversion Targets. The Contract covered all twelve Districts within Kent and provided: ‘A final disposal solution through energy recovery of municipal waste from Kent households and from Household Waste Recycling Centres through two lots:  Lot 1 Municipal Waste & Lot 2 Food and Dry Recyclate.’ Mr Beaver said that the contract needed to be managed effectively to address the on-going changes required to ensure that Kent County Council received good value for money. The contract team had shown a good level of contract management professionalism and a willingness to take on board constructive challenge. The contract and progress update was scheduled to return to the sub group no later than April 2020.

2. RESOLVED that the report be noted.