Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bronwen McGarrity and Alan Ridgers.

The Minutes of the Council meeting held on 9 October 2018 were signed by the Mayor.

No declarations of interest were made.

No questions had been received.

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, any petition that has more than 1,500 signatures will trigger a Council debate.

The following petition has been received and has achieved the signatures required:-

Do Not Build on Gravesham’s Green Belt

Gravesham Borough Council is considering options to remove 80 hectares of land from the Green Belt to allow 2,000 new homes to be built. These homes will not be affordable, and this will do nothing to address the problems faced by the residents of Gravesham – all it will do is attract more people to the area and put more strain on local services and infrastructure.

We do not believe it is necessary to build 8,000 new dwellings to meet local need.

We call on Gravesham Borough Council to reject government-imposed targets, and to focus on developing brown-field sites to provide affordable housing where it is needed and for the local people who need it.

Note: In accordance with paragraph 3.10 of the Council’s Procedure Rules, the petition organiser or nominated substitute will be given up to five minutes to address the Council. The subsequent debate (during which the petition organiser or nominated substitute will not be able to speak) will not exceed a further fifteen minutes.

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, Mr Bob Lane (Petition Organiser) presented the Council with the following petition as it had achieved the signatures required:-

Do Not Build on Gravesham’s Green Belt

Gravesham Borough Council is considering options to remove 80 hectares of land from the Green Belt to allow 2,000 new homes to be built. These homes will not be affordable, and this will do nothing to address the problems faced by the residents of Gravesham – all it will do is attract more people to the area and put more strain on local services and infrastructure.

We do not believe it is necessary to build 8,000 new dwellings to meet local need.

We call on Gravesham Borough Council to reject government imposed targets, and to focus on developing brown-field sites to provide affordable housing where it is needed and for the local people who need it.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Mayor invited the three Group Leaders to speak for up to 5 minutes each as the debate was not to exceed fifteen minutes in accordance with paragraph 3.10 of the Council’s Procedure Rules.

The Mayor thanked Mr Bob Lane for attending the meeting.

To receive and adopt the proceedings, reports and recommendations of the following committees, except those items reserved under Council procedure Rule 5.2 (6) and to ratify and confirm the orders made by them.

Motions that proceedings, reports and recommendations of Committees, except those reserved under Council Procedure 5.2(6) as referred to below be received and adopted and where applicable the Orders made by them be ratified and confirmed were duly proposed, seconded and resolved in each case.

Minutes of the Cabinet held on Monday, 8 October 2018;

Minutes of the Overview Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 18 October 2018;

Minutes of the Regulatory Board (Planning) held on Wednesday, 31 October 2018;

Minutes of the Cabinet held on Monday, 12 November 2018;

Minutes of the Finance and Audit Committee held on Wednesday, 14 November 2018;

Minutes of the Overview Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 22 November 2018;

Minutes of the Regulatory Board (Planning) held on Wednesday, 28 November 2018;

Minutes of the Licensing Committee held on Wednesday, 5 December 2018.

The Council’s attention was drawn to Minute 83 of the Finance and Audit Committee held on Wednesday 14 November 2018.

To receive and adopt the proceedings, reports and recommendations of committees contained in the list of items reserved under Council Procedure Rule 5.2(6) and to ratify the orders made by them. They will be dealt with in the following order:-

Cabinet

Finance & Audit Committee

Licensing Committee

Overview Scrutiny Committee

Regulatory Board

There were no reserved minutes.

The Chief Executive advised that Highways England commenced its statutory consultation on its proposals for a Lower Thames Crossing on 10 October 2018. The Council needed to submit its comments by the end of 20 December 2018.

The Chief Executive stated that, following attendance at all three Group meetings (Gravesham Independent Conservatives, Labour and Conservative), the Council’s response to the statutory consultation had been revised to incorporate the comments made at those meetings. The revised response had been published on the Council’s website and circulated to Members in advance of the meeting.

Due to the interest in the item and time constraints, the Mayor invited four Members of each Group to speak for up to 5 minutes each.

Resolved that:-

1.    Highways England (HE) be thanked for carrying out the statutory consultation process whilst noting that insufficient time has been allowed to properly digest and respond to it given the volume of material involved.

2.    the resolutions of 8 December 2015, opposing in principle a new Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) to the east of Gravesend, be re-affirmed.

3.    the Council is of the view that LTC will only provide temporary alleviation of congestion at Dartford and will only defer a requirement to take action at that location.

4.    the Council considers the Preliminary Environment Information Report (PEIR) to be deficient in a number of areas and it fails the requirements of the relevant Regulations.

5.    the Council considers that further design work, environmental assessment and consultation needs to be carried out on the Thong Lane Bridge north and the tunnel portal to mitigate the impacts of the scheme on local residents through consideration of, amongst other things:

                      i.        Extension of the tunnel southwards whether bored or cut and cover.

                     ii.        Widening of the Thong Lane green bridge to a minimum of 80m.

                    iii.        Mitigation for Riverview Park and Thong residents from the impacts of noise, disturbance and air quality

6.    the environmental impact of the new LTC/A2/M2 junction on the A2 corridor is unacceptable and further detailed work is required if an acceptable solution is to be produced, which needs to address, amongst other things:

                      i.        Design speed of the junction slip roads ensuring free flow.

                     ii.        Width of Thong Lane South and Brewers Road green bridges.

                    iii.        Loss of HS1 landscaping and the overall impact on landscape, nature conservation and historic environment, particularly in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

7.    the Council considers that the Gravesend East junction should connect direct to the A2/M2 east-bound and, if possible, Lower Thames Crossing but that it is not in a position to make a definitive judgement in the absence of a proper assessment of alternative junction designs and detailed highway modelling.

8.    the Council cannot provide a definitive view on the issue of variable charging, given the lack of information, transport modelling and consequential impacts, but basic principles should be:

                      i.        Same charging regime at both Dartford Crossing and Lower Thames Crossing.

                     ii.        GBC residents receive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Council received a report which apprised Members of the steps taken in reviewing the Statement of Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act 2003. Section 5 of the Act required licensing authorities to review the policy every five years.

The Council was informed that the amendments to the revised policy were of a minor or administrative nature to reflect changes of wording in the statutory guidance or for the sake of greater clarity/accuracy. The draft policy had been presented to the Licensing Committee for consideration.

Resolved that the revised Gravesham Statement of Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act 2003 (attached as Appendix 2 to the report) be approved.

The Council received a report which apprised Members of the steps taken in reviewing the Statement of Licensing Policy under the Gambling Act 2005. Section 349 of the Act required licensing authorities to review the policy every three years.

The Council was informed that the amendments to the revised policy were of a minor or administrative nature to reflect changes of wording in the statutory guidance or for the sake of greater clarity/accuracy. Specific mention of a ‘no-casinos’ resolution remained within section 8 of the draft policy. The draft policy had been presented to the Licensing Committee for consideration.

Resolved that the revised Gravesham Statement of Licensing Policy under the Gambling Act 2005 (attached as Appendix 2 to the report) with the continued inclusion of a no-casinos resolution be approved.

The Council received a report seeking approval of an extension to the funding available to deliver the Council’s Property Acquisition Strategy.

Two further acquisitions had been identified that would be beneficial to the Council’s investment property portfolio and would meet the set criteria. The combined purchase price and purchase cost of the two acquisitions would be beyond the current funding authorised of £21.7m. Taking this into account, and following a review of the Council’s long-term cash flow position, Full Council was therefore requested to approve a further £4.5 million of investment balances to be made available to facilitate these and further purchases, taking the total funding to deliver the Council’s Property Acquisition Strategy to £26.2 million.

Resolved that:-

·         additional funding of £4.5 million be made available for further purchases under the Council’s Property Acquisition Strategy, taking the total funding made available to deliver the Council’s Property Acquisition Strategy to £26.2 million;

·         the additional funding be met from investment balances; and

·         the additional funding be included in the current year’s capital programme.

It will be moved by Cllr David Turner and seconded by Cllr Michael Wenban that:-

This Council calls upon all elected Members to represent their electorate effectively by attending meetings of all Committees, Boards and other Council forums to which they have been appointed.  If they are unable to attend a meeting, the Council calls upon them to ensure their apologies are submitted and that they are represented by a substitute where the Council’s Constitution provides for this.

It was moved by Cllr David Turner and seconded by Cllr Michael Wenban that:-

This Council calls upon all elected Members to represent their electorate effectively by attending meetings of all Committees, Boards and other Council forums to which they have been appointed. If they are unable to attend a meeting, the Council calls upon them to ensure their apologies are submitted and that they are represented by a substitute where the

Council’s Constitution provides for this.

The motion was declared to be carried unanimously.

During the debate, the meeting was adjourned in order to provide the Palantypist with an appropriate break.

The Council noted that Colin Meredith had been appointed by Elizabeth Huggins’ Cottages Charity as a family trustee and resolved that Colin Meredith be replaced with Kav Tour as a representative trustee for the remainder of his term.

The Chief Executive advised that Cllr David Hurley had been appointedby Elizabeth Huggins’ Cottages Charity as the Honorary Secretary.

No questions had been received.

The Mayor invited Members to attend:-

·         the Mayor’s Charity DinnerFund Raising event on Saturday, 16 February 2019 with music to suit all taste;

·         the Mayor’s Charity Concert on Saturday, 2 March 2019 at St George’s Church, Gravesend with music from the Kent Police Male Voice Choir; and

·         the Mayor’s Charity Dinner and Dance Fund Raising event on Friday, 5 April 2019 at The Woodville, Gravesend.

Tickets for these events would be available via The Woodville’s Box Office.

The Mayor wished everyone a Merry Christmas and invited those present to join him in the Parlour for refreshments.