Council - Wednesday 1 October 2025, 7:00pm - Folkestone & Hythe webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 1st October 2025 at 7:00pm 

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  1. Cllr Anita Jones
  2. Microphone Forty
  3. Microphone Forty
  4. Cllr Anita Jones
  5. Dr Susan Priest
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  1. Cllr Anita Jones
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  1. Microphone Forty
  2. Cllr Anita Jones
  3. Cllr Stephen Scoffham
  4. Cllr Paul Thomas
  5. Cllr Anita Jones
  6. Councillor Tony Hills
  7. Cllr David Wimble
  8. Cllr Adrian Lockwood
  9. Cllr Anita Jones
  10. Cllr Alan Martin
  11. Cllr Anita Jones
  12. Cllr Jim Martin
  13. Cllr Anita Jones
  14. Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
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  1. Cllr Polly Blakemore
  2. Cllr Anita Jones
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  1. Councillor Tony Hills
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  13. Cllr Tony Cooper
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  17. Cllr Belinda Walker
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  25. Cllr Anita Jones
  26. Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
  27. Cllr Anita Jones
  28. Cllr Jim Martin
  29. Cllr Anita Jones
  30. Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
  31. Cllr Jim Martin
  32. Cllr Anita Jones
  33. Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
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  35. Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee
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  40. Cllr Paul Thomas
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  44. Cllr Anita Jones
  45. Cllr Nicola Keen
  46. Cllr Polly Blakemore
  47. Cllr Anita Jones
  48. Cllr Nicola Keen
  49. Cllr Anita Jones
  50. Cllr Anita Jones
  51. Cllr Polly Blakemore
  52. Cllr Anita Jones
  53. Cllr Nicola Keen
  54. Cllr Anita Jones
  55. Cllr Rebecca Shoob
  56. Cllr Anita Jones
  57. Cllr Nicola Keen
  58. Cllr Anita Jones
  59. Cllr Nicola Keen
  60. Cllr Anita Jones
  61. Cllr Nicola Keen
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  1. Cllr Gary Fuller
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  5. Webcast Finished

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:00:00
Microphone Forty - 0:00:00
If you would like to pray, I invite you to join in with the armors.
Let us pray.
Microphone Forty - 0:00:08
Heavenly Father, in this season of Creation Tide, we give you thanks for the world around
us, the beauty of our district and the vibrant lives of those who populate it, especially
considering tonight its various dogs and all creatures.
Among those whom we represent, we ask you to bless our rural communities and those who work the land, particularly in this harvest time.
Be with those farmers who face increasing challenges from a changing climate, a tough economic situation and a shortage of help.
By your grace, may they find the support and resources they need to flourish. Amen.
Father, you have created us all equal and blessed us with varieties of opinions and
approaches. As different forces conspire to polarise us, Father, we ask for the strength,
wisdom and grace to work together. Fill our hearts with hope and peace. Take from us and
all people in our district any sense of distrust or hate. May we all and every community here
come together with respect and grace to talk, build bridges and seek the common good. Amen.
We know Father that there are so many who struggle in this district. Be they those who
have lived here all their lives or those who have only been here a short while. Bring
comfort, bring hope, bring help, bring salvation to the people in our district who struggle
and suffer this night.
Bless to our local institutions and services which seek to support them, our NHS and healthcare
services, our police, our social services and charities like the Rainbow Centre and
Napier Friends.
Help us always to be compassionate and caring people.
Your lights in the darkness of the world bringing light to others.
And tonight in particular, Lord, we pray for all of those caught up in the road traffic accident in Hythe,
those who suffer now and those who are responsible for their care and supporting a struggling community.
Amen.
And as always, Father, bless and guide our conversations, our co -working tonight,
that we would strive together for the benefit of our whole district, its people and the earth itself.
Amen. Thank you.
Thank you. Please be seated.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:02:51
So good evening and welcome to the meeting of full council.
This meeting will be webcast live to the internet.
For those who do not wish to be recorded or filmed, you will need to leave the chamber.
For members, officers and others speaking at the meeting, it is important that the microphones
are used so viewers on the webcast and others in the room may hear you.
Would anyone with a mobile phone please switch it to silent mode as they can be distracting.
I'd like to remind members that although we all have strong opinions on matters under
consideration it is important to treat members officers and public speakers
with respect and please feel free to sit or stand when speaking thank you so item

1 Apologies for Absence

Dr Susan Priest - 0:03:45
one on our agenda this evening apologies for absence thank you chair and good
evening good evening councillors members of the public and colleagues nice to see
you all we have apologies for absence this evening from councillors Goddard
McShane and Meade. Thank you.
Thank you. And item two, declarations of interest.

2 Declarations of Interest

Do we have any declarations of interest you'd like to make?
No? Okay, that's fine. We'll move on to item three,

3 Minutes

where I'm to sign the minutes of the meetings held on the 23rd of July.
And if we're all in agreement, I'll sign those.
Are we agreed? Thank you.

4 Chair's Communications

Cllr Anita Jones - 0:04:48
So moving on to item four, Chairs Communications.
So I hope you all had a lovely summer.
I've had the great pleasure to support a number of events,
both in and out of the district since our last meeting.
So, in addition to flying our Union Jack outside the Civic Centre,
I was delighted to raise the Pride flag for folks in Pride at the start of the summer.
And during August, we raised the Ukrainian flag to mark their Independence Day,
showing our ongoing support for peace in Ukraine.
During August, I attended the Kent International Jamboree
with scouts from all over Kent, the UK and the world.
Although I was there as a Scout leader, I also joined the Mayors and VIPs when they visited,
and I was proud to see Scout groups from HIVE, Folkestone, Cheriton and Limage in attendance.
They experienced a huge amount of activities, made new friends, learned about other cultures and sustainability.
In support of our armed forces, I laid wreaths over the summer for VJ Day and the Battle of Britain Day.
I also laid a wreath in Dover for the Merchant Navy Day.
In Hyde, the Civic Society have been celebrating their 80th anniversary by holding a series
of events, including a concert by the Hythtown Concert Band last week, who started originally
in 1880. The Civic Society not only celebrate and share Hyde's history but help improve
the town through activities such as sprucing the town bollards, putting on flower displays
with Hyde in bloom and gardening near the town centre.
Hightown Council recently hosted their second reloved fashion show to highlight the issues
of the fast fashion industry by featuring models in second hand clothing or old friends
from their wardrobe. I was pleased to be invited to be a model and to feature clothes that
I'd bought second hand. In Cheriton we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Strange Cargo who
have bought us the Cherivari each summer involving schools from all over the district. In addition
they've hosted and organised a number of other installations and events involving many members
of the community. Thank you to Bridget and her team for everything they do for our community.
I was pleased to support Folkestone Live which took place a couple of weeks ago.
I attended an excellent show entitled Letters You'll Never Send. I also supported Folkestone
New Music with their HIVE concert as they endeavoured to bring new music, artists and
composers to our district. I joined the Mayor of New Romney for his tour of the Romney HIVE
Dimchurch Railway and also supported the Mayor of Folkestone for her charity fundraising
Afternoon Tea. On Friday the 12th of September, Councillor Mike Blakemore, Councillor Tim
Prater and I took part in a charity fundraising fire walk for South Kent Mind. This was a
fun event and despite the temperature being measured at 491 degrees, we didn't burn
ourselves. Mike and I raised £270 plus gift aid and Tim raised a similar amount.
Our Nepalese community invited me to two events.
Firstly, their food festival at the allotments in Pent Farm.
They cooked Nepalese food with their own vegetables
and treated us to lunch and dancing.
The following week I joined them with a number of councillors
for their celebration of dasen.
This is the celebration of victory of good over evil.
Again, we had wonderful food and dancing
and we also awarded many certificates to members of the community
for various achievements.
Last week I was pleased to welcome the District Youth Forum
back with Councillor Mike Blakemore and Councillor Rebecca Shubh.
We focused mainly on the district leisure strategy
and housing and homelessness.
The young people grilled our councillors
and made many valid points and suggestions
and we look forward to welcoming our second cohort in December.
Our district has been honoured to host the folks from Triennial again this summer.
This amazing event has brought a huge amount of visitors to our district this summer.
I've certainly enjoyed visiting the artworks.
If you haven't managed to visit it yet, I've organised a guided tour on the 14th of October,
which you're all welcome to join.
Thank you.
So we'll move on to item five, petitions, and we have a petition this evening.

5 Petitions

So the lead petitioner is Amanda Ferrant.
She will have five minutes to present,
and then there's 15 minutes allowed for debate.
So that will be a total of 20 minutes.
Microphone Forty - 0:09:12
And one of the four options in the report
will need to be proposed and seconded.
So your five minutes starts when you begin.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity
to present our petition on behalf
of the Hansa -Fahr -Marche community
and hundreds of Romney Marsh residents and visitors who are extremely concerned
about the industrialization of sprawling tracks of this area's unique Romney
Marsh by private solar energy and battery storage developers. In the last
ten months three new breed giant -sized solar power stations have been proposed
by a number of private companies who are energy investors and developers. The most
recent is EDF's proposed 2 ,700 acre plant around Lid called Southbrook Solar Farm. These
three huge scale projects by private companies are being put forward as nationally important
infrastructure projects or NSIPs. They will not be decided by you and the Folkestone High
District Council but by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. However,
the district council will be statutory consultees,
unlike us residents and community groups
such as Hansloff -Au -Marche.
In addition to these giant energy schemes,
there are a number of smaller schemes in the area
going through local planning at the moment,
such as the St Mary -in -the -Marche solar farm
and Pondwood solar.
Our petition focuses on the three large -scale
ENSIT power stations, plus two to three more schemes
that are listed on NISO's connexion queue register.
In total, the three large -scale solar and battery power stations
announced so far will cover around 8 .5 square miles
or 10 % of Romney Marsh.
To put that into perspective with other NSIP infrastructure,
it's the size of about three Gatwick airports.
Two of the schemes have agreed lease options with landowners
to develop Grade 1 and 2 farmland,
some of the best farmland in Kent, if not the UK.
Much of the other scheme around LID will border directly onto sensitive SSSI and Ramsar designated areas of Dungeness,
posing a great threat to migratory birds and the habitats of rare species of flora and fauna.
One of the schemes, SSE's Shekwe Energy Park around Newchurch, about six sites,
could have solar panels up to five metres high.
Picture the height of a double -decker bus.
There will also need to be new 400kV substation,
a new one built somewhere along the pylons for the scheme to connect to.
They don't even have a connexion point yet.
So, yeah, that's more infrastructure
that will completely change the open rural views across the marsh.
The harms that this scale of solar and battery storage facilities would pose for Romney Marsh
are too many to go into here, but I will mention the very real threat to human and animal life
and water sources that lithium -ion battery fires in particular would pose.
I also want to highlight that the Council's own Places and Policies Local Plan, HW3, states
that development and proposals should not result in the loss of best and most versatile
land like the land around Newchurch and Old Romney. We are not against solar energy, but
we are against building such vast solar energy and battery storage power stations in the
wrong places. Much of Romney Marsh is in the highest risk flood zone. For over 800 years,
humans have managed water on the marsh to keep the sea out and allow agriculture to
thrive. We believe industrialising the marsh on the scale proposed puts this whole system
at risk. For many residents on Romney Marsh these schemes will also have a hugely disruptive
impact on people's homes and businesses, on wildlife habitats, on the agricultural economy,
on tourism and on our amazing heritage assets. Building solar and battery power stations
across the marsh is not, I imagine, the kind of eco -business that will encourage eco -tourism
which I know is something that the council wants to promote. In the long term these solar
schemes will not bring much needed jobs to the Marsh either and could see an
exodus of residents especially the younger generation. As residents we are
presenting this petition to the council to request that you support our concerns
and when it comes to the NSIP examination process as a statutory
consultee you represent residents voices and views and you do everything in your
power to protect Romney Marsh's unique environment and ecology. Its people and
economy, its heritage, and the unique character and sense of place that make residents proud
to call it home.
We ask that councillors debate the issue of industrial solar sprawl on Romney Marsh and
decide to further examine the issues we raise, either as part of a scrutiny programme or by
referring it to the Cabinet and the overview of the scrutiny final committee for their
observations and recommendations.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
So this is now open for debate. Can we just switch that microphone off, is that okay?
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:14:50
Thank you. So I think I saw Councillor Scoffin's hand first. Is that... So, Councillor Scoffin.
Cllr Stephen Scoffham - 0:15:01
Well, I welcome that petition.
I think it's timely, I think it's measured
and I think it was very well expressed.
Having been a Councillor for two and a half years now,
this is the first time I've been in this chamber for a petition
that was very professionally argued.
I just emphasise really the points that are in the petition.
A huge amount of land, 10 % of the marsh,
three times the size of Gatwick Airport,
it will totally change that area.
And totally one of them, as we heard,
the Southbrooke scheme will surround Lid with solar panels.
As the cabinet member for climate and environment,
I'm in an interesting place on this one.
Solar energy is one of the ways we can respond to the current crisis
and it's an absolute imperative.
recognised by the Council in 2019,
when it declared the climate change emergency.
But we need a measured and proportionate response,
which takes into account local circumstances.
When it comes to new solar frequencies,
scale and location are critical considerations.
I'm really concerned about the proposed solar farms on Romy Marsh,
and I wonder who they're really for.
Their capacity will be way beyond the needs of the area.
We're always told how solar farms will provide energy for thousands of homes.
Well, that could be true.
But they certainly won't all be local homes
and the energy may well be used in other ways.
For example, Cleve Hill solar farm near Pavisham, the largest in Britain,
is currently signed up to supply Tesco and, ironically, Shell.
And R is the title,
Is it a solar farm appropriate or is it a solar power station?
There's a danger that Romney Marsh will be exploited by big business interests
and local residents will pay the price.
The open fields that we see today
will be turned into a sprawling industrial landscape
so that companies can make profit.
The landscape of the marsh, as we've heard, is treasured on many levels,
particularly its heritage and ecological value.
And it's high -grade farmland,
So that adds to the other dimension.
I'm very much aware of the danger to climate change.
Clean energy is critical to our future.
Additionally, we need to see that we reduce our overall energy use,
both locally and nationally and internationally,
if we have a reasonable chance of meeting net zero.
There are lots of dimensions to this.
I'll be the first to vote for schemes that are of an appropriate scale,
in the right setting and which benefit local people.
but I'm not in favour of covering large areas of the marsh
with solar panels that are alternatives.
For example, we could perhaps make use of unproductive land,
rooftops, brownfield and former landfill sites.
That seems to be a sensible approach to me.
So when it comes to the recommendations before us,
I favour option B,
referring the petition to the overview and scrutiny committee,
which will give the council the chance to consider and debate what is happening in depth.
We do have no direct powers when it comes to strategic infrastructure, but we can express
the views of our local residents and I want to do so.
So I will be supporting and moving the motion for option B.
Thank you.
Do we have somebody who would like to second that?
Councillor Thomas?
And then I think Councillor Thomas was next to speak.
Yeah, thank you, Chair.
I'm happy to second and I fully support everything that Stephen said.
So Romley Marsh has been the centre of carbon -free generation for over 60 years with the two
Cllr Paul Thomas - 0:18:52
nuclear stations at Dungeness, the largest onshore wind farm in south of England and
the first solar farm in Kent at Sycamore Farm.
The proposed large -scale solar farms developed by Shekway EP, South Kent EP and South Brooks
are proposed to take 10 % of the agricultural land as we've heard.
FHCC's CC6 precludes solar farm development on the best and most versatile agricultural
land and development of such land is also precluded as we've already heard in policy
Hw3.
Our green infrastructure strategy map identifies the above areas of Romney Marsh as being best
and most versatile.
Many of these sites are also adjacent as we've heard to sites of special scientific interest
And indeed, with at least two of these schemes, the final cable connexion to Dungeness will
have to cross these sites.
The impact on Romley Marsh infrastructure will be significant.
The cable tunnels taking these dispersed sites, connecting these dispersed sites, will themselves
be significant engineering structures, connecting the sites to the 400 ,000 substation of Dungeness.
They cross the A259, the 2075 and many smaller roads across the marsh.
the construction traffic will also be hugely impactful
on the towns and villages across the marsh.
These schemes will also result in thousands of square metres of concrete
being poured on this high -grade agricultural land,
with a consequential impact on the drainage.
The schemes will directly impact the new sewer, the Wollingham sewer,
the Jewry's Gap sewer and White Kemp sewer,
all of which are significant rivers which manage drainage across the marsh.
Let's be clear, Chair.
the proposed battery storage schemes play no part whatsoever in carbon -free generation
but are merely proposed to make these schemes financially viable
while introducing a significant fire risk
and potential land contamination should a fire occur.
If these schemes are inadequately conceived and executed
they will impact the drainage, agriculture, environment and ecology of the marsh
resulting in catastrophic and irreversible damage
for the very fabric which has made Romley Marsh such a unique place.
Thank you.
Thank you. And Councillor Hills is next.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:21:09
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Tony Hills - 0:21:15
I'm very grateful to my councillors here to take these views.
I'd like to say, speaking to local people, which I have been,
they are very concerned about these proposals.
It's a long time coming.
In another two years, we'll get to the end of this process.
So we've got to fight our corner.
But what I would say is that once you lose the marsh, that's it.
There's no going back on this.
It's a major, major catastrophe waiting to happen, like a slow motion car crash.
I think hands off the marsh would be applauding and bringing this to people's attention.
But sadly, many people on the marsh are already blighted,
Once those proposals were exposed, launched, they can't sell a house.
Their house prices have dropped like a stone.
There's people in Old Romley which are really delighted in a serious situation.
So, whatever we do, we should support our residents.
I'm very pleased that Councillor Scurrham recommended go to opening the scrutiny.
I'll be really happy to debate and drill down and get some firm evidence there.
So, thank you.
Thank you.
So, moving on to Councillor Wimble.
Thank you, Chair.
It's very unusual that I actually agree with Councillor Scotland that today we actually
seem to be 100 % on the same page.
Cllr David Wimble - 0:22:40
Most of what I wanted to say has already been said, so I'm not going to go on and on and
on.
Other than my family, so I should declare a couple of interests, our family of farmers
on marsh and also I've been supporting Hands on Fire marsh since meeting number one, so
I've got that to declare.
My grandfather's farm has got mile after mile of clay pipes, drainage pipes.
We've gone along to two of these consultations now and at both times the companies knew nothing
about them.
If you can put footings in, as Amanda said, five metre solar panels, you're going to
big concrete solar footings, which means you're going to go through the very pipes that will
stop the marsh from flooding. So I think it's inevitable. We've always said all along,
we're not against solar, nobody here is against solar, but it should be on every school roof,
every hospital, every barn, everything that you can put it on, but not on farmland. KCC
have got 18 landfill sites. We said why don't you put them on there? We've got one in Kingshill
that's got a very successful small solar farm on it.
That's where you should be putting solar farms, not on Greenfield farmland.
So again, I totally agree with Stephen Scovham.
I might even write this in the newspaper I know of.
And if I could take part in the scrutiny as well,
the more I can do to help, the better.
Thank you. Councillor Lockwood.
Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 0:24:10
Well, I'm going to complete the suite of parties making it a clean suite by saying that as a member of the Labour Party,
we also agree with everything that's been said. Our MP Tony Bourne has written an extensive letter on this,
which is on his website, mirroring those points that Hans Offenmarsch are making here.
I'd like to thank you for bringing this petition.
Thank you to members with expert knowledge
of the marsh and of solar and so forth
for sharing those with us this evening.
We do need clean energy in this country.
I can see the attraction of the marsh.
It's one of the sunniest places in the country
and there is a connexion,
a substantial connexion to the grid there.
So it's a draw for these companies.
And I think that there's probably a way through this
which ends up where we all agree
that there could be some solar there
that this district takes its fair share
of what we need nationally,
but it should just be our fair share at the moment.
This is totally disproportionate.
Thank you.
Thank you, and Councillor Alan Martin.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:25:33
Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Alan Martin - 0:25:38
So like everyone else, I agree with everything that's been said up until now.
I fully support this petition.
I signed it as a resident.
I'm very unhappy about these developments being proposed on farmland.
I'm very unhappy with the scale of the developments and the cumulative impact of these multiple
developments that are being randomly put forward.
I've raised before in our meetings, and the leader kindly offered to write a letter
to the Secretary of State earlier this year asking for a coordinated plan, so at least
we can make some sense of what the region can tolerate, what the right options should
be.
So we've got a framework within which developers can step forward, rather than what everyone
is facing at the moment, which is a tsunami of completely independent
developments being put forward, which makes it very difficult for us to make
sense of what's going to happen and what to fight, what to support and so on.
I think the Secretary of State's letter was somewhat bland and disappointing,
but I'd be interested to see whether we can have another crack at that.
But also, I think it was in the last meeting or the meeting before when we
talking about our corporate plan.
I made the point then that I think the Council can step up a little bit and be more proactive
in proposing what it believes should happen in the local area.
I think that should go in our corporate plan.
I think we should put stuff into our planning strategy so that we actually build that paper
chain of essentially embracing residents' views and adopt that in our formal documents
so that when consultation does come along we're able to clearly represent the needs
and views of our residents and hopefully that will somehow maximise our voices. Like everyone
else I think I'd like to see this topic picked up at Overview and Scrutin.
Thank you.
Councillor Jim Martin.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:27:49
Thank you very much, Chair.
And I similarly, like everyone else, agree with the petition.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:27:58
Everything that is said, very well articulated by Councillor Scoffin.
I have written to the Secretary of State.
I apologise to Councillor Martin if he thinks he was a little on the bland side.
but I am very, very happy to write to the Secretary of State yet again.
I will happily present the petition to the Secretary of State,
the results of the petition to the Secretary of State,
and I would ask the petitioners to give me a bullet point summary
of the points you made during your wonderful presentation.
I will happily pass all that up with a perhaps less bland letter to the Secretary of State
and just really make the views so well made this evening of this Council.
Similarly, Chair, I would think overview and scrutiny is the right way to go, so I know
it's been proposed and accepted, but I will be supporting option B, overview and scrutiny.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:29:07
Thank you. I think we just about have time for Councillor Jenny Huddingsby.
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:29:20
Thank you, Chair. I think my comments just follow on from Councillor Martin. Actually,
let me just first of all say that was a brilliant petition put forward, really well done and
certainly made us all focus on what we need to be focusing on. But I think we also need
to look outside of our district because I'm a North Downs Councillor
and alongside me at Graybourn actually,
there is a factory storage proposal,
well, actually a planning application put into Ashford Borough Council.
So if you want to have a look at that.
I would only ask scrutiny to consider not just the ones in our area
but the fact that this is happening all over.
Sorry, we're out of time.
If you'd like to finish your last sentence.
I'd just like to ask Scrutiny to actually consider applications
outside of the district as well.
I think we should have a policy to cover all of that, our area.
Thank you. That's the end of the debate.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:30:30
Thank you for everybody's contributions.
So we've had option B proposed,
which is to refer the petition to cabinet or overview
and scrutiny, but obviously we would prefer that,
I think, be more useful in overview and scrutiny,
as suggested by Councillor Martin.
This case may be for their observations before deciding
whether to examine the issues raised by the petition.
So do we need a show of hands for that?
Or are we all agreed?
Okay, thank you.
That's passed. Thank you very much and thank you to everybody who came and presented the petition tonight.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:31:12
You are welcome to leave unless you want to stay for the rest of the meeting.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:31:33
So we've got one question from a member of the public this evening.
He was unable to be present, but as we'd already published his question,

6 Questions from the Public

I have agreed to go ahead with the question.
So it's from Mr M Bradbury to Councillor P Blakemore.
Could the Councillor please advise me of the primary purpose of controlled parking zones?
So, Councillor Polly Blakemore.
Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:31:58
Most of you will know this, but I will say it anyway.
The main purpose of a controlled parking zone or CPZ is to manage and regulate parking in
areas with high demand ensuring that priority is given to residents, their visitors and
local businesses.
Some of the improvements that could also be provided by CPZ are better traffic management
by reducing illegal and disruptive parking, improving access for emergency vehicles and
waste collection vehicles and improving safety for all road users including pedestrians and
list to improve visibility. To introduce a CPZ residents can submit an
application to the council via my account. Applications are reviewed annually
at the end of the calendar year and are assessed on matters such as location,
times and causes of congestion, number of streets in the vicinity affected and
parking supply. It is helpful if an application is supported by a petition
showing majority local support. The decision to introduce CPZ controls will
ultimately depend on clear and demonstrated endorsement from residents across the border
area under consideration.
The areas with the highest scores, typically two or three, are then prioritised for a potential
CPZ scheme in the following financial year.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:33:17
OK, so we'll move on to Councillor questions.

7 Questions from Councillors

We have 11 questions this evening, which you should have on your desks in front of you.
Before we start, I would like to remind people not to make statements.
It would be nice if we could have succinct questions this evening.
Our first question is from Councillor Hills to Councillor Martin.
Thank you, Chair.
Councillor Tony Hills - 0:33:47
Following the ongoing challenges on water quality in the district,
Can I ask the leader if he could set up a strategic working group
to engage more closely with the environment agency and other parties
to see how they can best resolve these ongoing issues?
Councillor Jim Martin.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you for your question.
Councillor Hills, which we both know we spend a lot of time talking about this.
I know that you take a special interest in this topic and we both attended many meetings
with Southern Walter and the Environment Agency.
I know we both share enormous frustrations with the lack of progress in delivering a
higher quality of bathing water.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:34:40
As you know this council already engages closely with the Environment Agency and Southern Walter
through the officer level meetings
and the regular community meetings.
We have also arranged member led strategic meetings
with the Environment Agency and Southern Water Management
and are currently setting up a meeting
to review the bathing results for this season just past
and the invitations will be extended
to all board councillors when that date is set.
I have to admit I am hesitant about setting up a further group to engage with the Environment
Agency.
We are already applying pressure at every level and it is not a lack of engagement by
the council that is the barrier.
I am also acutely aware, as I know you are, that the Environment Agency seem to be an
to resource meetings and meaningful discussions.
I think I shared with you before we came in,
they're not prepared to meet me before November
to discuss the bathing water results. This is shocking.
Rather than more meetings, what we need is greater investment
in our local water infrastructure and more resourcing for our out -of -season testing
to resolve problems in advance of the next bathing season,
particularly in relation to bathing waters at Littlestone.
I will be communicating that message very clearly
to both the Environment Agency and Southern Water.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:36:28
Thank you. Do you have a related supplementary question?
Councillor Tony Hills - 0:36:31
Yes, Chair, thank you. I appreciate the answer from the Leader
and I do understand the problems we face,
But could you keep it in mind, Leader, that this won't go away?
You know what's coming from you, Romley, next year.
So will you please bear that in mind,
because I think I could actually help you solve that problem.
Councillor Martin.
Thank you very much.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:36:59
Thank you very much, Councillor Hills.
All solutions gratefully accepted.
I'll make a personal commitment to you every step of the way you will be involved in it
at Councillor Hills.
At the moment we're banging on the door of the Environment Agency and they seem reluctant
to answer it.
So I will keep you up to date.
Thank you.
Now our second question is also from Councillor Hills to Councillor Jim Martin.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:37:26
It might be a bit obsolete, this question, now, since we've had the meeting,
Councillor Tony Hills - 0:37:32
but I'd be interested to hear Councillor Martin's response anyway,
because I'm sure he will agree with me that the industrialisation will be marked.
Did you want to read your question?
I can read it.
That would be helpful, thank you.
It's self -explanatory.
I would like to ask Lida the following.
With so much concern being voiced by my residents
over their third giant solar farm proposed to the Romney Marsh,
will the leaders support residents
and oppose the intensive industrialisation of the Romney Marsh?
Councillor Martin.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:38:08
Thank you very much, Councillor Hills.
A very pertinent question.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:38:16
This is a very complex issue, but I have a very easy answer for you.
Will the leader support residents and oppose the intensive industrialisation of the Romney Marsh?
The answer is emphatically yes.
I have already written to the Secretary of State, I'm sorry to hear that Councillor Martin Felton is a little bland,
but I have already written to the Secretary of State to express our concerns regarding the size of these solar farms,
but I'm very happy, as I said earlier, to accept the petition from the residents
and I will forward the results of the petition to the Secretary of State
and offer a reflection of local residents' opinion.
Additionally, obviously, I will be stating this, Council's opinion,
which has been so eloquently articulated this evening.
Thank you. Do you have a related supplementary question? Sorry.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:39:10
You'll be pleased here, Chair. No.
Councillor Tony Hills - 0:39:15
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:39:16
Our third question is from Councillor Cooper to Councillor Mike Blakemore.
Thank you Chair. Given that Firelight Thugs don't speak for residents of the District
Cllr Tony Cooper - 0:39:25
and Elon Musk advocates a reasonably violent protest in London, the member of the Council
will be removing itself and its communications from its platform, namely X.
Councillor Mike Blakemore.
Cllr Mike Blakemore - 0:39:36
Thank you, Councillor Cooper, for your question. I share your concern about some of those using
X and like the Home Secretary, I was alarmed by the language used by Elon Musk when he
addressed the protest in London last month. My local party stopped posting on X in 2024
because many of us were concerned about how toxic the platform had become. While I think
that was the right decision for us, it's also right that this council remains on social
media platforms that remain widely used and popular so that we can listen to and engage
with as many of the District's residents as possible.
The Council's X account has 8 ,300 followers and provides important information to residents.
It will be used to provide vital updates should an emergency arise within the District.
As a channel, X continues to be used widely by our two local MPs, other local authorities,
the police, health organisations, the UK Prime Minister and central government departments.
The use of all channels is regularly reviewed by the Communications and Engagement team
and next door was added in 2024. New channels are always explored and the benefits weighed
up whilst considering the resource necessary to adequately manage the regular posting necessary
to keep any channel relevant and active. Paid for advertising by the Council's channels
is seldom used and X is not utilised for this purpose.
Thank you and do you have a related supplementary question?
Thank you for the answer.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:41:02
Cllr Tony Cooper - 0:41:03
It's a little bit disappointing but I understand where you're coming from.
Thank you.
Okay so moving on to question 4 from Councillor Walker to Councillor Butcher.
Thank you chair.
The closure of Folsom bus station has now happened and temporary bus stops are in place.
Renewings would have no shelters or seating, but were told the permanent stops, complete
with state of the art shelters and seating, would be in place as soon as possible.
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:41:32
However there has been a delay and this is causing unacceptable difficulty for bus users.
There is nowhere to shelter from the frequent heavy deluges and nowhere to sit down.
Many older passengers and those with disabilities find it difficult to stand for long periods,
so I would urge this council to put on the strongest possible pressure on those supplying
and building the bus shelters to ensure that these are in place as soon as possible for
the sake of the wellbeing of our residents who use the busses.
Can we please have an update on what's happening?
Thank you.
Councillor Butcher.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:42:02
Cllr James Butcher - 0:42:04
Thank you for your question Councillor Walker and also thanks for all the efforts you've
made across a range of issues to be with folks and a variety of teams for bringing issues
to our attention and just as a no -go heading just to reassure you that officers have been
working incredibly hard to get a resolution to this.
Just some detail on that.
So it's Bauer Media Outdoor or BMO, who's been awarded a contract with the supply and
maintenance of bus shelters for the folks in the Brighter Future project.
So unfortunately they've been let down by their overseas supplier which has resulted
in this very, very frustrating delay to delivery.
Officers have been urgently liaising with BMO to find an interim solution knowing the
very significant impact this delay is having on bus users.
The good news is that BMO have agreed to provide new interim bus shelters for the temporary
bus stops while we await the delivery of the permanent shelters.
BMO members of the project team will be meeting on site this week to discuss the implementation
plan with every effort being made for an installation date this month and just to say thanks to
officers they are working very hard to put the pressure on them.
And do you have a related supplementary question?
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:43:15
No, I'd like just to thank Councillor Fletcher and the officers for the answer.
Cllr Belinda Walker - 0:43:18
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:43:20
So moving on to question 5 from Councillor Speakman to Councillor Jim Martin.
Thank you, Chair.
Good evening, Councillor Martin.
Cllr Jeremy Speakman - 0:43:29
Would the leader agree with me that the decision on the part of Kent County Council to rescind
the climate emergency declaration is a most retrograde step?
It ignores international scientific consensus.
instead favours widely -discributed conspiracy theories when the evidence of climate change
is everywhere and threatens our own district, especially Romley Marsh.
Councillor Jim Martin.
Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you very much for your question, Councillor Speakeman.
I do agree with you, Councillor Speakeman. I think it is retrograde and I think it is
move that embraces ignorance. The idea that 97 % of the world's scientific community have
conspired together to hoax the rest of the world's population is beyond stupid. We are
a coastal community and many of the members here in this chamber present can give evidence
of climate change.
Climate change is happening right here and right now.
Thank you.
Thank you and do you have a related supplementary question?
Yes I do, thank you very much.
Thank you Councillor Martin for your very clear answer.
Could I therefore ask you if you would agree to write to the Leader of Kent County Council
expressing the sentiments that you so articulated in your answer and our deep disappointment
in the actions of the council that will only be to the detriment to the future generations
in this county. Thank you.
Councillor Jim Martin.
Thank you, Chair. Councillor Speake, I'm very happy to write that letter.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:45:14
So moving on to question 6 from Councillor Mrs Hollingsby to Councillor Jim Martin.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:45:19
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:45:25
Thank you, Chair. The three -month extension, although I've read Councillor Martin's report
that says it's now six months extension to the collaboration agreement with Holmes England
with Otterpool Park comes to an end shortly. If there is no commitment or funding from
Holmes England at the end of this agreement, what is Plan B?
Councillor Jim Martin.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:45:48
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:45:55
Thank you very much for your well -timed question Councillor Hollingsby. Our initial collaboration
work with Homes England will conclude at the end of October and the output from this will
set the direction and actions required for the delivery of Otterfield Park. The need
for Government support is patently evident and there are many forms which this could
take. It is therefore not a case of having a Plan B, rather we are working on a range
of scenarios and options which will address the key challenge of viability.
I will not preempt the outcome of the collaboration at this stage, but will ensure that all members
are updated when the time is right to do so.
It is planned to report progress and next steps to the overview and scrutiny committee
ahead of the Christmas break.
What I will say, however, is that Otterpool Park remains this council's landmark project
and our joint working with Homes England is extremely positive.
Our chief executive, our corporate leadership team and the Otterpool Park LLP team are working
tirelessly to bring forward a viable and deliverable scheme.
For my part, I am ensuring that stakeholders, government ministers and our two local MPs
are up to date and cited on all of our work.
I believe that government ministers and senior civil servants are very positive about the
future of Otterfall Park.
Thank you, Nick.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:47:38
So have you got a related supplementary question?
Thank you very much indeed for that.
I would just like to say that the time scale again,
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:47:49
you talk about after Christmas,
so how long is this actually going to go on?
And when will we actually get some kind of answer or evidence from Homes England
that they are willing to participate in this scheme?
Councillor Martin.
Thank you very much for that piercing and investigative question,
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:48:13
Councillor Lonsby. A simple answer is, I wish I knew.
Every meeting I go to with Home is England, I am promised.
I am promised that this will happen, that will happen, this discussion is happening, etc.
Do I have a piece of paper from Home's England that says,
we are going to give you X million pounds? No, I don't.
But that is what we're working towards.
Now, all of our team are certainly working earnestly towards it.
The resources that Homes England are pouring in on the other side,
I am convinced that they are working earnestly towards that.
I am also convinced, through lobbying by our two MPs,
that we have ministerial support for Otseville Park.
The bit that I'm missing is the mummy in the middle.
So that's an honest answer.
I don't know when we're going to get it,
but we are trying our utmost to get there.
Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:49:22
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:49:24
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:49:25
We've got another question from Mrs Hollingsby to Councillor Jim Martin.
Question seven.
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:49:37
As the Otterpool Park team has been reduced to five and negotiations with Holmes England
are with the leader and chief executive and obviously other people as I've just heard,
what is the role of the Otterpool Park board?
Councillor Martin.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you for your question, Councillor Hollingsby.
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:49:56
Otteville Park LLP is the council's owned company which leads the development of Otteville
Park.
Currently the LLP is focused on supporting the collaboration work with Homes England,
planning for the initial site infrastructure and progressing the detail required to support
the outline planning consent.
This work is seen as essential to ensure that momentum is maintained.
The key aspects of the overall project, the board therefore has an important continuing
role to play in securing the delivery of Otipool.
The scale of Otipool however does require that our chief executive and I are also at
forefront of the work with Homes England and the engagement with the Government.
I believe it is essential to have the Council's most senior leadership directly involved in
bringing forward Otsefool and that the continued excellent joint working between the Council
and the LLP will be an essential building block in ensuring that this Council's commitment
to deliver our new town comes to fruition.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:51:19
Thank you. Do you have a supplementary related question?
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 0:51:22
Thank you very much indeed for that. I would just reiterate again in terms of the time
scale and the funding.
This is a question. Sorry.
Sorry.
Sorry. Okay. I'll leave it at that.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:51:37
Thank you. Let's move on to question 8 from Councillor Paul Thomas to Councillor Jim Martin.
Cllr Paul Thomas - 0:51:40
Would the leader convene an emergency meeting with the Environment Agency, Southern Water,
Tony Vaughan and the senior government leader on the environmental crisis that has led to
a 30 fold increase in the level of harmful bacteria in the bathing water in Yellowstone?
In the last three weeks these readings of E. coli in the bathing water have been 4700,
1600 and 4200, with intestinal enterococci readings of 1100, 2200 and 1700.
The question that has to be asked is what level of environmental catastrophe has occurred
that has resulted in our bathing waters becoming so polluted.
These are the highest readings of any designated bathing water in England.
The response from southern water is that you can expect higher readings when you have higher
rainfall events.
This is not acceptable.
and the worrying aspect of this is St Mary's Bay, Dimchurch and Sunny Sands have all seen
higher levels of pollution in recent weeks and the EA have issued pollution warnings
for some of these beaches in the same timeframe. Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:52:43
Cllr Jim Martin - 0:52:45
Councillor Jim Rotten. Thank you chair, thank you for your question
Councillor Thomas. As you would expect the council has been closely monitoring the bathing
water results at the designated beaches throughout the season.
We were quite encouraged by the early season results but the dramatic spike in bathing
water quality test results you refer to has ended our hopes of an improvement in classification.
As soon as we were notified of the recent high test results the council immediately
escalated its concerns to the Environment Agency and Southern Water.
As you so rightly point out, Councillor Thomas,
the little stone results are exceptionally high
and the fact that the test results continued at these high levels
in subsequent weeks is both worrying and, in our view,
indicative of an ongoing and active problem.
The test results from last week, thankfully,
showed a much reduced level of E. coli and IE,
but we will not be letting this matter go.
I have already met with Southern Water
to discuss the results and what we might do,
but almost unbelievably, the Environment Agency
are currently saying they will not meet me until November
when the full bathing water results
for the whole season are released.
With reference back to my earlier response to Councillor Hills, the Council will be organising
a meeting with the Environment Agency and Southern Water to discuss this season's test
results at all of our beaches, including Littlestone, will be central to these discussions.
I would like all members to be able to participate in this meeting.
As I have said, we are not able to give a date for this meeting, but I am more than
willing to escalate this matter with the Government and if needed.
I'll leave it at that.
And do you have a related supplementary question?
Thank you for your response to the supplementary, thank you.
Cllr Paul Thomas - 0:55:02
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:55:04
And question nine, from Councillor Keane to Councillor Polly Blakemore.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:55:09
A number of residents have asked me what are two environmental officers who patrol the
Lees.
That's missed out.
I did let Gemma know but she obviously didn't get my email.
What they're responsible for.
Could we please be informed so that we can help residents to understand their roles?
Councillor Polly Blakemore.
Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:55:32
Thank you, Chair, and thanks for the question, Councillor Keene.
I have answered the question on the basis of what the environmental team does but it
does cover up and so what goes on on the lease
and I'm sure there'll be a supplementary
we can put up on that.
So there are four staff in the environmental enforcement
team along with the environmental crime officer.
The team has a wide range of responsibilities
which are in summary investigating and enforcing
environmental offences mainly under the
Environmental Protection Act 1990 for example flight tipping.
Patrolling and enforcement related to the antisocial
behaviour public space protection order, notably on council recreational spaces like the postal
park, patrolling and enforcement related to the dog control public space protection order,
supporting the community safety unit and the environmental protection team in their investigations
and work generally, responding to unauthorised encampments such as caravans, motor vehicles
and tents on council land, visiting and engaging with groups, serving notices and arranging
removal if necessary.
Investigating and enforcing against fly posting,
completing duty of care cheques on commercial premises
to cheque they have commercial waste agreements in place,
and finally engaging in educational campaigns
such as the Love Your Beach over the summer months
and events such as the Radnor Park Horse Report Dog Fair
back in June.
So this is a small team with a pretty difficult job to do
and I'm proud of the work they do
and believe they deserve to be supported by all of us.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:57:04
Thank you and do you have a related supplementary question? Yes I do.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:57:05
This evening saw a lot of dog walkers come to the council because if you live on the
lee side of Folkestone there is nowhere where you can have your dog running free. The dog
parks that we run which I'm going to say they've made mine a very happy place with signs and
We need those dog parks on the Lees.
Do we have a question? Sorry.
Yeah, it's a question.
So that people who live on the Lees, who are quite often elderly,
have somewhere they can let their dogs loose.
Just to run and be dogs.
Those people didn't come here this evening for nothing.
They're just upset and angry.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:57:49
I'm not sure what the question was there.
Councillor Conlon -Boltmore.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:57:58
Cllr Polly Blakemore - 0:58:00
That's certainly something I can talk to officers about.
It's not right to say, however, that there is no way on the Leeds you can let your dog
on three because in the lower Leeds between the former gardens and the play park, that
area is for dogs to be off -lead.
So there is facilities there.
And I would just say as well that the PSPO did go out to public consultation and that
was why we made the changes up at the stadium that we made.
At the time there was very little input for what was happening on the leaves.
And of course the reason those changes were introduced was because we had had questions
in and comments in from public who wanted us to make those changes.
So it's a balance.
we have to balance the needs and wants of all our residents.
But I can put that question to officers
about a dog run on the leaves.
I can't quite see where it would go,
and I'm sure there would be all sorts of issues
and comments around that,
but let me have a conversation and I'll come back to you.
So moving on to question 10
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:59:06
from Councillor Keene to Councillor Shubbe.
Thank you, Councillor Shubbe.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 0:59:12
While tenants in private rents waiting up to six months
from inspection to take place after reporting hazards.
Does this delay leave tenants at risk of eviction?
Councillor Shue.
Cllr Anita Jones - 0:59:24
Cllr Rebecca Shoob - 0:59:27
Thank you for your question, Councillor Keane.
The council operates a waiting list for all complaints received from private sector tenants
regarding disrepair issues in their home.
Cases are triaged and officers firstly respond to the most serious cases.
In emergency situations involving serious risk of imminent harm such as dangerous electrical installations or gas safety concerns,
officers will respond immediately and if necessary take enforcement action against the landlord.
Less serious cases are placed on our waiting list in order of priority.
In response to your further question regarding evictions due to property
disrepair, the council has no direct powers to delay evictions in such cases.
The main purpose of our involvement is to work with both parties to ensure that
any works necessary are completed as soon as possible. Thank you and do you
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:00:30
Cllr Nicola Keen - 1:00:32
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:00:34
have a related supplementary question? No, not with that one. Thank you. So moving on to
Question 11 from Councillor Keane to Councillor Shub.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 1:00:39
I'm not picking on you, sorry.
How many folks in residence are being housed in Folkestone and outside of Folkestone in
Paramount accommodation?
Councillor Shub.
Thank you again, Councillor Keane for the question.
The Council recognises that homelessness is a particularly difficult and stressful time
for the households affected.
As everyone is aware, homelessness and temporary accommodation is a national problem affecting
all councils.
Currently 30 households are placed in temporary accommodation provided by Paramount within
the district and 31 in accommodation provided by them out of the district.
Placements are only made out of district as a last resort if suitable temporary accommodation
is not available in district or if households need to be placed out of the area for personal
safety reasons such as domestic abuse.
The council's housing options team works to move households back to temporary accommodation
within the district wherever possible and as quickly as possible whenever suitable properties
become available.
Thank you.
Do you have a related supplementary question?
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:02:06
Cllr Nicola Keen - 1:02:06
Yes, I do.
When those houses outside of the district have got issues, who do they report those
issues to?
because I had an email from a Maidstone Councillor
who had had one of our tenants turn up at a surgery
because the paramount building that she was housed in
was in such a bad state of repair.
And I was asked and I felt very embarrassed
because why are we putting our residents
outside of the district in substandard housing?
Is that down to our officers
or should that be reported into Maidstone?
Councillor Shue.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:02:48
Cllr Rebecca Shoob - 1:02:51
I would suggest I've not, I don't believe, heard about this particular case,
so if you want to give me the details afterwards,
then I would absolutely look into it with the team,
and I would please always stress,
as soon as any issues become apparent,
then please raise them with me at the time. Thank you.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:03:11
Thank you. So that draws us to the end of the Councillor questions.

8 Announcements of the Leader of the Council

So we will move on to item 8 in our agenda, announcements of the leader of the Council.
So we have 10 minutes for the leader and then 5 minutes for each opposition response and
then you're allowed 5 minutes right of reply.
So Councillor Jim Martin.
Thank you very much, Chair.
Cllr Jim Martin - 1:03:34
Good evening Councillors, I hope you all had a great summer and have returned to this Chamber
Tanned and relaxed, ready to meet forthcoming challenges of which there are many.
To begin with some good news, I completed the Rotary Folkstone Half Marathon on Sunday.
A brilliant event, brilliant weather, attracting many visitors to Folkstone, well organised
and a pleasure to participate in.
My thanks go to the Rotary who have supported the race for many years and to Ray Johnson,
the race director, who worked so hard to stage the event.
In terms of my time, let's just say I didn't win.
As usual, I have been attending parish councils,
other organisations, meeting developers, consultants, individuals and businesses in our district
and will continue to do so.
I want to spend a little time outlining where we are on local government reorganisation.
Firstly, the Minister responsible, Jim McMahon, has been replaced by Alison McGovern.
Very grateful to the leader of the Labour group for correcting me on probably a really
stupid mistake there.
Alison McGovern.
However, we understand that there is no change in the timetable or the delivery.
I have been in regular contact with all of the Kent leaders.
We have appointed KPMG to act as our partners through the process
and they will be crunching the numbers and presenting the data
and offering advice on the evidence,
but they will not, however, be making any recommendations.
KPMG organised an ignition event, which was a full day of workshops attended by almost
all of the Kent leaders and chief executives to help clarify issues.
The Kent leaders met on 3 September to agree a short list of two options for KPMG to work
up detailed business cases on each.
The two selected were 3A, a three unitary arrangement
and 4B, a four unitary arrangement.
Following those discussions KCC decided to prepare a detailed business case on 1A
which is their preferred option, which is a single unitary option.
Medway have also decided to pay KPMG to carry out a business case analysis on their preferred
option for D, which is a four unitary arrangement.
And finally, Dartford and Gravesham are paying KPMG to work up a business case for their
preferred option 5A, which is a five unitary solution.
If you've been keeping track, this means that we have to choose between a single unitary,
a three unitary solution, two four unitary arrangements and a five unitary arrangement.
As I've said many times, this choice will be made by all of us in this chamber.
Our local government reorganisation working group will be meeting on the 17th of October
and I will be presenting the information to you at a Councillor briefing arranged for
the 12th of November. We will decide which option to support at an extraordinary meeting
of the Council to be held on the 19th of November. Once this decision is made by the Council,
the decision will be ratified at a meeting of the Cabinet
who will meet on the rising of the Council.
Councillor McConville and I are arranging to attend
many parish council meetings over the next month
to canvass the thoughts of town and parish councils.
Can I ask all councillors to raise the subject
of local government reorganisation
and the choices we have before us at town and parish councils.
they may attend. I want to hear everyone's view.
Sorry, that's the end of that bit.
I'm just going to update on Otterpool,
but I have covered much of the information I was going to provide
in my answers to Councillor Hollandsby's questions.
The meetings, discussions, communications with Homes England
are intense at the moment, with so many options being discussed.
I am sure the council will understand when I say there are a number
of those discussions that Homes England do not want me to repeat
in public for commercial reasons.
I will say, however, as a reassurance for Councillor Hollingsbury,
I will say, however, based on the resources Homes England are pouring
into the facilitation of our future agreement, I am more confident now than I had been in
the last two and a half years that progress will be made.
Naturally, I was disappointed that Otterpool had not been included on the Government's
new towns task force list. We were becoming increasingly aware that Otterpool was unlikely
to be included.
Homes England have confirmed that our non -inclusion in the list will not impact on our collaboration
agreement and our joint working to deliver the project.
Moving on to our bathing water quality, much of what I was planning to say has been covered
in my answers to Councillor Hills and Councillor Thomas.
but my discussions with Southern Walter continue and we will be arranging more discussions
with councillors and with community groups, Southern Walter and the Environment Agency
regarding the bathing water quality on all of our districts beaches.
Members will no doubt have seen the reports of the quality of our bathing water and while
We started the season very well with consistently good results.
In August the results were disappointingly poor.
As many of you will know, Southern Walter do their own testing.
In my last meeting with Southern Walter earlier this week,
their view is we are on a knife edge.
So it is very, very, very, very important.
The Greens Grants Programme has been significantly oversubscribed this year,
with many diverse and imaginative projects coming forward,
all aimed at saving energy, carbon and money.
All ward councillors have been advised of the provisional assessment
and we welcome feedback and comment.
All of the hard work lies ahead and I am grateful to the officers
for their excellent work thus far.
I am delighted that the sixth Folkstone Triennial entitled
How Lies the Land has received so much critical acclaim.
The Triennial asks a question and the artworks offer the artist's response.
I know our chair, Councillor Jones, is arranging a chair's tour of the Triennial
and if you haven't visited yet, please do take this as the last opportunity
to witness something quite remarkable.
The works supporting folks in the brighter future are causing some traffic disruption
at peak times in folks in the town centre and everything that can be done to reduce
congestion is being done.
KCC are directing the works and their contractors have been very good at notifying works and
helping resolve problems.
Our officers have been very engaged with every aspect of the works and we are looking forward,
like everyone else, to them reaching their conclusion.
I attended the Grow in Kent event
at Ashford International Station,
lobbying Eurostar to reopen
the International Station at Ashford.
The event was attended by the Rail Minister,
local MPs including Tony Bourne and Sojan Joseph,
the leader of KCC and several District Council leaders.
we all stressed the need to reopen
Ashford International Station to improve communication
and opportunities for Kent business.
I've met with many hospitality businesses.
The good news is that the early sunshine this year
has driven footfall with, for example,
visitors to the harbour arm are up by 20 % over last year.
Most attractions and hotels are reporting
increased visitor numbers.
The problem, however, is that their cost base has also risen, squeezing their margins and
restricting their ability to invest.
Many hospitality businesses also report that people are generally more careful about their
spending.
The Council is ready to do whatever we can to promote business in this district.
Our Council is a good friend to business.
Finally, I would like to offer my congratulations to Councillor Paul Thomas, who has been a
appointed as Vice -Chair of Newleaf, the national coordinating body for councils accommodating
nuclear facilities. Councillor Thomas has represented this council at Newleaf very well
and I am delighted that his talent and commitment to communities has been recognised by this
appointment. So very well done Councillor Thomas. Thank you Chair.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:14:07
Thank you. That was very thorough. Sounds like you've been very busy. So, Councillor
Cllr Adrian Lockwood - 1:14:16
Adrian Lockwood. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Jim, for
all the work you do for us, and congratulations on completing your run. And can I join you
in congratulating Councillor Thomas on your appointment? That's an asset for this whole
I'll keep this brief.
There's been a lot of talk this evening about water quality
and I'm grateful for councillors across the board
and particularly our Marsh colleagues
who are keeping the fight going
for clean water in this district.
There is a plan in place of what recently agreed
104 billion pounds of investment in infrastructure.
We all agree infrastructure is the problem.
Hopefully that amount of money will have an effect
over time on the problems that we're having
with the infrastructure.
The problem that we have is that that won't help us
in the next season here.
It's like so many things in this country.
many, many years of underinvestment.
It's like trying to turn round an oil tanker.
You can't do it overnight, you can't do it in a year or two.
It takes much longer.
So it's really important that we keep the pressure
on Southern Water and the Environment Agency
as we are doing, so I thank all Councillors
involved with that.
With respect to local government reorganisation,
I'm amazed that you've summarised the position in half a page of April.
That was a work of genius.
There was an LGN document, guidance document that came out the other day
and that was 135 pages.
and that was just on the bit we're in now, not all of it.
So thanks for that.
And thank you for being a beacon in Kent,
for being open and transparent and sharing
all the information and the load with all of us
and having things like the cabinet working group,
cross party and full council meetings.
There are many other councils in Kent
that are not having full council meetings.
so we appreciate that as well.
Hopefully we'll come to some sort of decision
in from this mass of confusion in which we find ourselves.
So yeah, November 29th we submit
and we'll see what comes from that next year.
I just, I said I'd keep this brief,
I just wanna finish by thanking all cabinet members
and officers that support us as ward councillors
with our case work, because we're out trying to fix problems.
Things around litter and weeds and bins and parking
and ASB and graffiti and all of these things,
they affect people's lives and if we work together,
we can fix some of these things for people.
So I'd just like to thank everyone that's working on those things.
And for me as a local councillor, that gives me the greatest pride
when you can just make one of the corners of your ward
just a little bit better for people. Thank you.
Thank you. And Councillor Mrs Jenny Hollingsby.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:18:04
Yes, thank you, Chair, and thank you, Leader, for your report.
Cllr Jennifer Hollingsbee - 1:18:11
I'm not going to go over so much
because I think we've probably exhausted a number of items this evening.
I do think the work that's gone into the LGR
has been absolutely amazing, and also very costly as well
in terms of officer time and the resources.
It will be interesting to know exactly how much that has cost us
once we come to our agreement
that we put forward to the Kent leaders,
which of course may not go forward to government.
Actually, how much has it cost up until that stage?
I'll have to mention Ottoball.
I'll have to follow up a bit more on Ottoball of course.
Because I never actually got an answer about Plan B.
I know you said there wasn't a Plan B because there was lots of alternatives.
But we all know, and I know particularly well,
Holmes England do take their time and are taking their time.
And actually, at the end of the day, even if a figure is agreed,
it's got to go to the Treasury to be agreed.
So it's not...
You know, there is going to be a long time really
before we even get to that position,
because I think the Treasury tends to support up north
rather than down south.
And maybe that's one of the reasons why we were not included
in the government's...
What ever it is. Strategic towns.
I'm trying to think of that. Thank you.
So maybe that's one of those reasons.
I am still a little bit anxious about how this will proceed
and I do think that perhaps we ought to have a plan B.
International stations absolutely support that.
It was really crazy that they shut it down.
Opening up would open up a lot of business for this area
and I think it's really important.
Hospitality.
I think you said it there that the costs for the hospitality
are provocative really.
And all we can do is support them like we try to do.
But people are struggling and businesses are struggling.
But any support that we can give them is really important.
I suppose finally I ought to say, well done on your half marathon
and congratulations to Paul for his election to meet.
Thank you very much indeed.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:21:06
Thank you. Then Councillor Jim Martin, right of reply.
Nothing more to add except just really to heart the endorsement.
what Councillor Lockwood said,
Cllr Jim Martin - 1:21:16
we rely so much on our officers,
and in my experience they work tirelessly to support us.
They often do get, I think, some unfair criticism,
and I understand that, and unfortunately so do they,
but just really to join with Councillor Lockwood
and everyone else really, I'm sure,
in thanking the fantastic work that our officers do.
Thank you. Let's have a round of applause for our officers.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:21:49
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:21:55
So we need a proposer and a seconder for those announcements.
So Jim to propose and Tim to second. We all agreed?
Thank you.
So item nine on our agenda,

9 Portfolio Holder reports to Council

Support Polio Holder reports.
Again,
some really thorough reports there,
so thank you to all of our cabinet
members for providing those.
It's really good to see what you've
been doing and the impact that you'd
see your positions are making within our
district.
So thanks very much for all your hard
work.
Moving on to item 10,

10 Opposition Business

No Opposition Business.
And item 11,

11 Motions on Notice

there's no motions on notice.

12 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 - Council Policy

So we'll move on to item 12 which is the Ripper which we have a proposal.
Councillor Fuller would you like to talk about it?
Cllr Gary Fuller - 1:22:44
Yeah I can briefly speak on it.
Here we go.
So the purpose of the policy that we've got before us is to set out how we use directed
surveillance and covert human intelligence sources under the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Act, RIPA as it's more commonly known, it ensures we comply with the Human Rights
Act and with the relevant Code of Practise and we have to review it annually as a whole
for Council.
Just to briefly explain, Directed Surveillance is effectively non -intrusive surveillance,
so it's information gathering and that kind of thing.
The last time we used that particular form of surveillance was June 2012.
Covert human intelligence sources is effectively where an individual
befriends the target of the investigation, as it were, in order to gather information.
That's a particular power we've never used and hopefully never will.
We've not used any of the powers since October 2024, as I say,
And our last inspection from the relevant Commissioner's Office was in August 2023
and that confirmed that we were doing everything we need to do.
Also the next officer's training on the policy will be in November 2025.
The policy updates for this year are basically pretty minor, updating names and roles and that kind of thing,
so there are no significant changes to report.
I'm happy to propose.
Thank you.
Councillor Tim Prater to second.
Would you like to speak on this?
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:24:32
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:24:35
This is now open for debate.
So are we all agreed?
Agreed.
Thank you.

13 Gambling Act 2005 - Update to the Statement of Principles

We're going to move on to the final item on our agenda,
which is the gambling statement of principles.
So, Councillor Jim Martin is to propose this.
Would you like to speak on this one?
Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Jim Martin - 1:25:01
Just really to say that the report is very thorough and it is a very helpful guide to
operators.
It sets out our position with regard to gambling in the district and it is something I think
is a concern of all councillors. But I think it's an excellent report. I'm very happy to
move it.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:25:29
Thank you. And Councillor Nicola Keane to second.
Cllr Nicola Keen - 1:25:32
Yes, I'd like to second that and I agree with you. I took it with me and read it.
Cllr Anita Jones - 1:25:38
So this is now open for debate. If anybody would like to speak on this. If we're all
happy, are we all agreed?
We're all agreed.
Thank you. So I hope you all have enjoyed the rest of your evening and that's the
meeting closed.