Issue - decisions

Conningbrook Masterplan

03/09/2019 - Conningbrook Masterplan

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report which sought endorsement for the draft Masterplan for Conningbrook Lakes Country Park and to approve the proposal to place the draft Masterplan on the Council’s consultation portal for six weeks. It also asked the Cabinet to commend the delivery of the Park for the benefit of the community, subject to relevant funding coming forward.

 

The Deputy Leader said he wanted to draw attention to a discussion that had been held earlier that day at Kent County Council where they had agreed to launch a new initiative called the Kent Bee Plan. This sought to increase the number of pollinators to reverse the serious decline in numbers in Kent and would involve revising grass cutting schedules, ensuring pollinator friendly planting on highway verges and change of use of pesticides at the Country Parks run by KCC. It was an extremely important initiative and he considered it was vital that the Borough’s new Parks at Conningbrook, Victoria Park and Discovery Park, and indeed the work at the Royal Military Canal, all incorporated this new scheme.

 

The Deputy Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development said that she wanted to take the opportunity to praise the extra planting in the town this year, which looked extremely pretty, but hoped that in future a mixture of both geraniums and pollinating plants could be used. The Head of Environment and Land Management advised that geraniums had been chosen for their environmental impact as they were long flowering and needed less water.

 

Resolved:

 

That   (i)         the contents of the report be noted and the draft Masterplan be endorsed.

 

            (ii)        Officers be authorised to place the draft Masterplan on the Council’s consultation portal for a period of six weeks.

 

            (iii)       authority be delegated to the Head of Culture, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Culture, Tourism and Leisure, to make any minor changes to the draft Masterplan following the authorised consultation period.

 

            (iv)      an approach to paying back previous forward funding spend from the expected £2,054,727 Section 106 funding for the Country Park be agreed, as described in Paragraph 2 of the report.