Agenda and draft minutes

Councillors Hills and Meade made voluntary declarations in respect of their roles as KCC Councillors.

To receive the minutes of the meeting of the council held on 3 October 2024 and to authorise the Chair of the Council to sign them as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2024 were submitted, approved and signed by the Chair.

The Chair gave the following communications:

“Good evening. It’s lovely to see everyone again!

October and November have passed quickly with a number of great events both in and out of the District including the Folkestone Book Festival, A Trip on the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway and a Military concert in St Leonard’s Hythe among many other things.

We’ve had the Season of Remembrance which gave me plenty of time to reflect on how grateful I am to live in a peaceful country when parts of the world are currently at war. I attended a number of events around the District, including the Dedication of the Garden of Remembrance in Folkestone, the Remembrance Sunday Service in Lyminge, the Youth Festival of Remembrance at the Leas Cliff Hall and a Remembrance Day event in Hawkinge with the Battle of Britain Museum, children from Hawkinge Primary and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It was significant that at all these events, alongside the veterans, there were young people leading parts of the service and laying wreaths.

This week marks National Tree week! You may remember that when I was given the position of Chair in May, I announced that I had ordered 400 native tree saplings from the Woodlands Trust to plant around the District to increase biodiversity. I was delighted that Hythe Town Council were keen to have as many of my saplings as possible for their biodiversity project. Our KCC councillor in Hythe, Cllr Jenni Hawkins, had also ordered 400 saplings, so we joined forces last week and with some help, planted around 600 in Hythe.

I still have about 200 left which need to be planted out in the next couple of weeks. I have had some interest from a few councillors on the Marsh which is great, but if you would like some for a small project in your Ward, please let me know as soon as possible and I will come and help you plant them! They are very small, so don’t need as much space as you might think.

As many of you know, after tonight’s meeting, I am sleeping outside with Cllrs Jim, Tim & Polly to raise money for the Folkestone Rainbow Centre. Thank you to those of you who have sponsored us. I am delighted that we have exceeded my original target of £1000. It’s going to be a cold and uncomfortable night, so if anyone else would like to sponsor us, it would make us less uncomfortable!

It’s not a glamorous sleep out and we’re not just doing it to raise money. I am hoping that it will raise awareness of the difficulties and challenges many people will be facing this winter. We get to go home after the sleep out, but for those who are homeless, this will be a daily trial. I’m sure it will open our eyes to how hard it is.

When I was sourcing cardboard boxes for this evenings sleep out, the man who provided them for me told  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

There were no petitions.

1.       From Mr Mouland to Councillor Speakman, Cabinet Member for Assets and Operations

What does the district council intend to do with the disused 1898 Victorian gents convenience embedded in the slope road, renamed in 1924 as The Road of Remembrance, if anything? This issue was publicised in the July issue of the newspaper the Looker.

2.       From Ms Fay Meek to Councillor Holgate, Cabinet member for Place Plan, Heritage, Tourism and the District Economy

My question concerns the moving of the bus stops, at present in the bus station, to Middelburg Square. I ask you, is it safe to have three of the five new bus stops situated between Bouverie Place and the busy road going into Asda, where people could be knocked down trying to cross it, and which is on a steep hill, which prohibits people with bad hearts, going from the bottom bus stops to the top ones?

The questions asked, including supplementary questions, and the answers given are set out in Schedule 1, appended to these minutes.

(Questions can be found on www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk from noon 2 days before the meeting, on Modern.gov, under the agenda for this meeting).

Up to 45 minutes is allowed for questions from councillors.

The questions asked, including supplementary questions, and the answers given are set out in Schedule 2, appended to these minutes.

The Leader of the Council gave the following announcements:

“I have held regular meeting with Stagecoach and I am looking forward to hearing how the injection of government money will improve services, fingers crossed.

I have also been in regular contact with Southern Water and have held meetings with them, on line and in person. These meetings principally concern the sewage spills in the sea and the quality of our bathing water. I also discussed the problems on the Copperfield's Estate in Lydd, which seems according to Southern Water beyond solution at the moment, the flooding on Udan Rd and Beverley Gardens in Dymchurch, which I think there is a more optimistic outlook on and the impact the use of tankers have during the winter, moving sewage from Newington and Peene to Range Rd in Hythe. Southern Water’s response on that is that they’re keeping their fingers crossed for a dry winter. I have had further meetings with Southern Water and the Environment Agency planned, but without massive financial investment, and I refer back to Councillor Cooper’s question there, into their ailing infrastructure, I do not hold out a lot of hope. I am organising a meeting to discuss the specific drainage issues that affect Folkestone and that’s pencilled in for the 14^th January.

The leaders of the four political groups and Independent Councillor Paul Thomas have been meeting regularly as we move towards a committee system. Councillor's briefings continue. These meetings will continue, and we are on track to move to a Committee system at our AGM in May.

I have been chairing the committee considering applications under the Rural Prosperity Fund along with officers and Ward councillors. The Fund is now fully subscribed. I am however, pleased to note the Green Community Grants programme received positive feedback from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. This programme of grants will primarily be aimed at Town and Parish Councils, Community Buildings, Schools and Church Halls with the intention of reducing their carbon footprint and reducing energy costs to community groups. The fund is open to all community-based initiatives that reduces Carbon, a car club for example. The launch date will be agreed and publicised shortly.

Our Corporate Plan consultation has been approved by Overview and Scrutiny. There has been significant input from all parties represented in this chamber and I am grateful to members for their ideas, suggestions and advice. I hope everyone in the District will find the Corporate Plan useful in understanding the direction of the Council.

I have attended many meetings regarding Otterpool Park with government agencies, developers and consultants, these discussions have been positive and will continue. I am limited in what I can say precisely at the moment, but I can confirm we have received a draft collaboration agreement from Homes England and this agreement is being looked at in detail by the Task and Finish Group set up by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The agreement is for an initial 6 months with a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

The Portfolio Holder updates had been circulated within the agenda pack and noted by Members.

There is no opposition business.

There was no opposition business.

There are no motions on notice.

There were no motions on notice.