Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Gurjit Kaur Bains, Samir Jassal and Jane Cribbon.

Cllr Lyn Milner asked that the recorded votes of last meetings minutes be amended to reflect her name as Lyn Milner or L Milner and requested that all future recorded votes/minutes reflect this.  

The Minutes of Council held on 23 February 2016 were signed by the Chair.

No declarations of interest were made.

No questions from members of the public had been received.

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 Licensing Committee 07 March 2016

Minutes of Regulatory Board 09 March 2016

Minutes of Finance and Audit Committee 15 March 2016

Minutes of Cabinet 29 March 2016

Minutes of Overview Scrutiny Committee 07 April 2016

Minutes of Regulatory Board 13 April 2016

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.

The reserved minutes will be dealt with in the following order:

The Cabinet

Licensing Committee

Regulatory Road

Finance & Audit Committee

Overview Scrutiny Committee

There were no reserved Minutes.

It was moved by Cllr John Cubitt and seconded by Cllr David Turner that -

·         the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy covering the period 2016-17 to 2019-20 be adopted.

·         delegated authority be given to the Leader of the Executive, in consultation with the Chief Executive and Director (Corporate Services), to accept the government’s four-year financial settlement prior to the deadline of 14 October 2016, and to make any changes that are necessary prior to acceptance of the offer, reporting back to Full Council with any such changes.

It was proposed by Cllr John Burden and seconded by Cllr Colin Caller that the motion be amended to –

1.    the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy covering the period 2016-17 to 2019-20 be noted.

2.    delegated authority be given to the Leader of the Executive, in consultation with the Chief Executive and Director (Corporate Services), to prepare a report to be brought back to members for consideration through Finance & Audit and then a Special Council meeting before agreeing to accept the government’s four-year financial settlement prior to the deadline of 14 October 2016.

Following a debate, Council unanimously resolved that: 

1.        the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy covering the period 2016-17 to            2019-20 be adopted

2.         delegated authority be given to the Leader of the Executive, in consultation with the Chief Executive and Director (Corporate Services), to prepare a report to be brought back to members for consideration through Finance & Audit and          then Council meeting before agreeing to accept the government’s four-year     financial settlement prior to the deadline of 14 October 2016

It was moved by Cllr John Cubitt and seconded by Cllr David Turner that –

            Council adopts the ‘Working in Partnership Framework’’,

            attached at appendix two, for incorporation into the Council’s

            Policy Framework

It was therefore resolved unanimously that:

1.         Council adopts the ‘Working in Partnership Framework’’ attached at appendix        two, for incorporation into the Council’s Policy framework

Council resolved to note the information given in the report.

To be moved by Cllr Jordan Meade and seconded by Cllr David Turner that:

This Council congratulate most warmly Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her 90^th birthday and approve the submission to her Majesty of a Loyal Address as set out below:

To the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty

May it please Your Majesty – We the Mayor, members and Officers of Gravesham Borough Council today assembled send Your Majesty this our most loyal address on the occasion of your 90^th Birthday and assure Your Majesty of our continued loyalty and devotion.

On behalf of the people of the Borough of Gravesham we give thanks for Your Majesty’s many years of service and dedication and affectionately offer Your Majesty our most loyal and heartfelt best wishes that you have a very Happy Birthday.

It was moved by Cllr Jordan Meade, seconded by Cllr David Turner that:

This Council congratulate most warmly Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her 90th birthday and approve the submission to her Majesty of a Loyal Address as set out below:

“TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY –

May it please Your Majesty – We the Mayor, members and Officers of Gravesham Borough Council today assembled send Your Majesty this our most loyal address on the occasion of your 90^th Birthday and assure Your Majesty of our continued loyalty and devotion.

On behalf of the people of the Borough of Gravesham we give thanks for Your Majesty’s many years of service and dedication and affectionately offer Your Majesty our most loyal and heartfelt best wishes that you have a very Happy Birthday.”

The motion was put to the meeting and was carried unanimously.

Question

To the relevant Cabinet Member:

If you are pedestrian in Gravesham it has become increasingly difficult to walk around the borough without having your way blocked by vehicles parked on the pavements.

Short term it is a nuisance and can be dangerous, long term it causes damage to the pathway and kerbs.

I have spoken to Police and our own Parking enforcement Officers when I see for myself or get calls about pavement parking, the Police are very reluctant to do anything;  our own PEO’s have not got a policy on it and on the whole ignore it.

What can we as a Council do to deter these drivers from blocking walkways, endangering pedestrians and also damaging our Pavements?

The Mayor read out the following question to Council on behalf of Cllr John Caller:

To the relevant Cabinet Member:

If you are pedestrian in Gravesham it has become increasingly difficult to walk around the borough without having your way blocked by vehicles parked on the pavements.

Short term it is a nuisance and can be dangerous, long term it causes damage to the pathway and kerbs.

I have spoken to Police and our own Parking enforcement Officers when I see for myself or get calls about pavement parking, the Police are very reluctant to do anything; our own PEO’s have not got a policy on it and on the whole ignore it.

What can we as a Council do to deter these drivers from blocking walkways, endangering pedestrians and also damaging our Pavements?

The Leader read out the following response to Cllr John Caller’s question:

Currently, outside of London, Councils do not automatically have the power to carry out enforcement action where vehicles are parked on a footway causing potential dangers or obstructions to pedestrians.  It is an issue that not only affects Gravesham, but lots of other authorities across the UK, which is why it was discussed in Parliament recently and consequently a briefing paper regarding Pavement and on-street Parking in England was issued in February 2016.  

More locally, the Council has (in the past) introduced measures where pavement parking has been identified as an issue and has worked with residents to find a solution taking into account the needs of pedestrians and the need to maintain traffic flow.  This has been achieved through both education and the introduction of parking restrictions.  Where restrictions have been deemed appropriate and introduced, the Civil Enforcement Officers do take enforcement action to uphold the restrictions to help alleviate the problems caused by vehicles contravening the parking restrictions.  Moving forward therefore, it would be sensible to continue with this approach.  Whilst it would be possible to try to introduce a blanket policy prohibiting pavement parking across the borough it is considered that this approach would cause as many, if not more problems, than it would solve and therefore it is advocated that we should look at each problem area or street on its own merits and working with local residents find the most appropriate solution for each specific area.

The council’s Civil Enforcement Officers will as normal carry out parking enforcement action in all areas where new restrictions are introduced.

The Leader also referred to recent media coverage of this matter and highlighted the following newspaper article:

Pavement Parking could be curbed

MPs are considering banning drivers from parking on pavements, extending rules active in London for 40 years to the rest of England. Doing so would make it illegal to park on the curb unlessklocal councilskexpresslykgrantkpermissionktokdokso,kwithkoffendersKfacingkfines of ofkupktok£70.
The Times, Saturday 16  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

The Mayor encouraged Members to attend the following events:

Thursday 21 April 2016 – Lighting the Beacon Event at Windmill Hill

Fri 22 April 2016 – St Georges Day Parade

Saturday 23 April 2016 – Celebrating 90 years of travel event

Sunday 24 April 2016 – Civic Service at Christ Church

The Mayor thanked Members and asked them to join him in the Parlour for refreshments.