Decisions

The report sought approval for the introduction of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and barrier system at Elwick Place and Victoria Road car parks and to assess suitability for remaining Council parking estate thereafter.

Cabinet Members were extremely supportive of the proposals to introduce ANPR, citing the ease of use and flexibility it would provide for customers.

Resolved:

That    (i)         the implementation of Automatic Number Plate Recognition      (ANPR) at Elwick Place and Victoria Road car parks be approved.

(ii)        the necessary funds to deliver the ANPR solution be approved in accordance with the estimates provided.

(iii)       authority be delegated to the Head of Community Safety and Wellbeing to effect and complete all necessary steps for the implementation of ANPR at Elwick Place and Victoria Road car parks.

(iv)      further update reports be received as necessary.

To adopt the proposed village envelope boundaries for development management purposes.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 9.3 Mr Jaques of Challock Parish Council spoke on this item. He said that although it had been discussed at the public consultation meeting in October 2018, there was still ambiguity where Challock fitted in to Local Plan Policies HOU3a & HOU5 under the modifications. The impact of HOU5 had not been made clear to the majority of parishioners and the Parish Council. It was only through a meeting with the Council’s Principal Policy Planner that the possible effects of the original confines when applying the HOU5 policy had been demonstrated and become more evident. He said that the Parish Council was disappointed that it had missed the opportunity to challenge the allocation of HOU5. To continue with the original confines they would have best been suited to HOU3a only. He considered that the whole process since the Cabinet had approved the village confines in 2015 had declined into disappointment with changes to the Local Plan omission sites and then the modifications which had in fact altered what the confines project set out to do. Now that Challock had been allocated HOU3a & HOU5 the Parish Council was still concerned that they may be open to further large scale development and hoped that the new agreed village confines map, which had made the line tighter, would limit this and protect their green spaces.

The Portfolio Holder thanked Mr Jaques for attending and for his comments. He said that the focus of this particular exercise had been to update the village envelope map. On the wider issue of Local Plan Policies these had obviously moved on greatly since 2015 with the development of the new Ashford Local Plan which had been discussed and examined at length over a number of years. The revised village envelope maps took account of those polices and the National Planning Policy Framework and would assist greatly with the protection of the village as requested by Mr Jaques and the Parish Council. Better and more clearly defining the confines of villages would allow for some small organic growth, and produce clear guidance when considering planning applications that came forward. Both Officers and Members were cognisant of the distinct details of both Polices HOU3a and HOU5 and he hoped that would give all involved some reassurance.

The Portfolio Holder then introduced the report which proposed a village envelope for Challock (as outlined at Map 1 in the report). As part of the process, Officers had been engaged with Challock Parish Council and they supported the map being presented. If endorsed by the Cabinet, the map would be used for the purposes of decision making on relevant planning applications in and around Challock.

Resolved:

That    (i)         the Challock village envelope boundary (Map 1 in the report) be           adopted as informal guidance for development management          purposes and in doing so supersede the 2014 Challock village   envelope (Map 2 in the report).

(ii)        authority be delegated to the Head of Planning and Development and the Spatial Planning Manager, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development, to amend, where relevant, a village envelope boundary to account for the construction of new development.

To propose the structure and activities to be undertaken by an in-house uniformed environmental crime enforcement team for a two year trial (with options appraisal).  This would enable the Council to utilise those powers available to it to deal with a range of waste offences.  The team will target offenders of serious waste crimes, conduct inspections and litter enforcement.

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report which explored the development of an in-house environmental crime enforcement team. The Government had introduced legislation and enforcement tools to enable Local Authorities to take action towards those who committed certain environmental crimes. These included investigative powers and fixed penalty notices and the proposed team would build on and utilise those powers and existing experience within the Council to target offenders of more serious environmental crimes and litter enforcement. Developing this new team would bring Ashford in line with neighbouring Districts in Kent and would meet public expectation that the Council robustly addressed environmental crime including fly tipping. The report also set out the activities that would be covered by the team and how it would function.

The Deputy Leader said that it was important to note that KCC made a budgetary allocation for each District to deal with fly tipping and he considered it was important for Officers to continue to draw down on that money each year for the benefit of the Borough.

In response to a question about whether the team could assist with fly-tips on private land, it was explained that initially the focus would be on public land but if the team were to expand in the future this was something it could look at. If evidence was discovered as part of a fly-tip on private land that could lead to identifying the culprits, then the new team would be able to investigate that.

Resolved:

That   (i)         the implementation of an In-House Environmental Crime

                     Team be approved for a two year period.

(ii)        a progress and future proposal report would come back to the Cabinet for consideration at the appropriate time.

(iii)       the income from fines be “ring-fenced” to support the service.

The Portfolio Holder introduced the report which sought the Cabinet’s endorsement of the strategy which was adopted, in principle, by the Chilmington Management Organisation in November 2019. He said he wanted to thank Officers and colleague Members for their input.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development said it is important to note that this strategy had been very much about engaging the local community. This was already happening with existing residents and the local school, so it was not being imposed on them - they were actively engaged. He thanked Officers in Cultural Services and the Chilmington Management Organisation for their hard work on this strategy.

Resolved:

That the strategy to embed arts, culture and creativity within Chilmington be endorsed.