Minutes for the Meeting of the Council held Wednesday 17 February 2021

Councillors Present

Cllr K Kelly – Chairman

Cllr S Thredgle – Vice Chairman

Cllr J Burrell

Cllr L Canham

Cllr P Cutler

Cllr J Fukes

Cllr K Grehan

Cllr J Hoadley

Cllr L Howes

Cllr M Mitchell

Cllr C Pearce

Officers Present

J Thomas – Parish Clerk

L McLean – Council Administrator

45/01/21CL: To receive apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr J McQueen

46/01/21CL: To receive declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

47/01/21CL: Questions from the public

A member of the public asked about construction works  at Dartford International Ferry Terminal. The building is 21m high at its tallest point making it extremely visible to residents in the surrounding area, and particularly Stone Village and entirely blocking any view of the river. The member of the public questioned why Dartford Planning Authority had not informed them of the application when it was submitted and told members that the noise of the construction, including daily piling and hammering, has been having a large negative impact on residents in the area.

Cllr Kelly told the resident that due to the placement of the building on Crossways Business Park, it was likely that neighbour notifications would not have included residents. Cllr Kelly advised that he would request the Planning Officer’s report from Dartford Borough Council and would arrange to meet with the member of the public in Stone Village to discuss the impact further.

The member of the public thanked the Chairman and agreed to send him an email with his details to arrange the meeting.

48/01/21CL: To approve the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting on 20th January 2021 and the Meeting of 27th January 2021

Members requested an additional paragraph be added to the Minutes of 20^th January 2021 confirming that when CIL money becomes available, the Council would be able to decide to use this to pay back any loan obtained for the Recreation Ground Masterplan.

Members approved the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting on 20^th January 2021 and the Meeting of 27^th January 2021 following the above amendment.

49/01/21CL: To receive reports from outside organisations and agencies

1. Kent Police

No report was given by Kent Police

2. Kent County Councillors Report

Cllr Cole provided a report to members.

Members received a report of the reduction in Covid cases over the Dartford area.

Cllr Cole advised that KCC had been working with the DFE to provide children in Kent with computer equipment for remote learning. A number of schools still have not received all of the devices they may have ordered through this scheme. KCC has asked schools to highlight any gaps in provision.

Cllr Cole advised members of the Council Tax increase resolved by KCC the week before. It had been agreed that Council tax should rise by 4.99% – 1.99% on the general Council tax and 3% ring-fenced towards Adult Social Care spending. It was also agreed that a £50 discount will be applied to many residents who are “just about managing” on top of the discounts for residents who are on Universal Credit.

A further £10million of emergency funding is being rolled out to continue helping Kent’s most vulnerable households and businesses hardest hit by the pandemic. The Helping Hand Scheme includes a raft of support – ranging from assisting just-managing families with heating bills and helping struggling firms stay afloat, to tackling digital poverty and match-funding crowdfunded community projects providing vital local assistance.

Cllr Cole had made enquiries regarding  eligibility and criteria for crowdfunding projects  and  will pass on this information to the office as soon as possible.

Members thanked Cllr Cole for her report.

3. Dartford Borough Councillor’s Report

Cllr Burrell informed members that Dartford Borough Council’s budget meeting would be on March 1^st 2021.

50/01/21CL: To note response to new playground consultation and resolve recommendations for tender brief

Members were requested to note the response and findings of the recent Recreation Ground New Playground consultation and resolve recommendations for the forthcoming tender brief. 

Members were pleased to have received so many responses and noted that a large climbing frame and swings were the most popular requests.

Members noted that the tender had deliberately been made flexible to invite a variety of solutions. This would include the possibility of a separate area for toddlers and pieces for teenagers outside of the playground.

Cllr Howes asked if a requirement for recycled/sustainable materials was included in the tender. The clerk informed Cllr Howes that tenders would advise on proposed materials and as there may be a cost implication, the Council would need to weigh up the use of recycled materials against the level of provision to determine appropriate balancing once tenders are being considered..

It was suggested to include in the tender brief that any trucks leaving the site would ensure they were clean before they leave to avoid any mess on the local roads.

The Clerk noted, as part of the Strategic Plan’s Environmental Policy, a decision matrix for all council procurement would be established. This will ensure any future procurement falls in line with the Council’s policies on the environment and sustainability.

Members unanimously agreed to resolve the tender brief as outlined.

51/01/21CL: To receive a progress update regarding the development at Cotton Lane

Members received up to date pictures of the progress that had been made on the Cotton Lane Development.

Members commented that the site is really taking shape and looks impressive. The Clerk informed members that the scheme is reaching a major milestone with the first fix about to be completed, with the building likely to progress quickly beyond this point.52/01/21CL: To resolve council support for extension of Covid-19 regulations due to expire in May 2021

The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels Act came into force on 4 April. Broadly speaking, the 2020 Regulations enable local councils and parish meetings to hold remote meetings (including by video and telephone conferencing) for a specified period until 7 May 2021.

These regulations apply to local authority meetings that are required to be held, or held, before 7 May 2021. This means that, without any further action from the government, all local authorities including local councils must return to face to face meetings from 7 May.

NALC is working with a number of national bodies to press the government to extend these regulations beyond this date and will continue to stress the urgency and importance of this issue.  KALC has requested that local councils correspond with their MP to encourage them to support an extension of the regulations permitting remote meetings.

Members unanimously resolved for correspondence to be sent to Gareth Johnson MP requesting his support for the government to approve an extension to Covid regulations regarding remote meetings for local government.

53/01/21CL: To receive an update regarding the Stone Parish Neighbourhood Plan

Members were requested to note the current status of the Stone Parish Neighbourhood Plan following formal submission in November 2020.

After the plan had been submitted to Dartford Borough Council in November, DBC had sought legal advice regarding policy H2. Planning consultant T Burton, J Thomas and P Winchester had then met with members of DBC planning team to discuss this issue.

The objection of the Borough Council was in relation to Policy H2, which afforded Stone residents first priority for affordable housing within the Neighbourhood area. As DBC believe this to be a housing policy rather than a development policy, they would formally object to this policy remaining in the Neighbourhood Plan, leading to the rejection of the plan altogether.

Neighbourhood Plan Directors have been informed they would either need to amend the policy or face the prospect of a judicial review to determine if the policy could remain in the plan.

Any judicial review would be an extra cost and time extension to the plan being submitted and there was also no guarantee that the result would be in favour of the plan.

Directors were advised that amending the policy to align with Dartford’s housing allocations policy, would remove the objection and enable the plan to proceed.

Directors at a subsequent Neighbourhood Plan meeting had unanimously voted to amend the H2 policy and for this to be confirmed at the Full Council Meeting.

Members were unanimously in agreement with the Neighbourhood Plan Directors for the change to be made to the policy and resolved to delegate authority to the Clerk to finalise the plan document for re-issue to DBC.

54/01/21CL: Payments for Authorisation

Members were requested to resolve authorisation of supplier payments as contained in the report.

Members resolved to approve the payments for Authorisation.

55/01/21CL: To note responses to Planning Applications under delegated authority since the last Council Meeting

Members noted the responses to Planning Applications made under delegated authority.

56/01/21CL: Exclusion of Press & Public

To resolve, pursuant to section 1 (2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, that because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and the press leave the meeting during consideration of the following items.

57/01/21CL: To Resolve the award of tender for provision of AV equipment at the Claire Tiltman Centre

Members were requested to resolve award of tender for provision and installation of AV equipment at the Claire Tiltman Centre.

Two tenders had responded by the deadline. Members discussed tender provision noting they were very similar.

Members unanimously resolved expenditure of £20,572.08 from the Community Infrastructure Levy Fund for the AV tender with Electrosonic.

There being no further business, the Chairman closed meeting at 19:50.