Venue: Committee Room A, Town Hall, Royal Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1RS
Contact: Mark O'Callaghan Democratic Services Officer
Note: Please note that the public proceedings of the meeting will be recorded and made available for playback on the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council website
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Apologies To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ms Palmer.
The Chairman noted that Karen Pengelly, Town Centre Manager of Royal Tunbridge Wells Together, had been expected but was unable to attend due to illness. |
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Declarations of Interests To receive any declarations of interest by Members in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer before the meeting. Minutes: Councillor Ellis advised that, whilst not a pecuniary interest, he was a representative of the Federation of Small Businesses whose members may be affected by the proposals at COM24/18. The Chairman confirmed this did not exclude him from the meeting.
There were no disclosable pecuniary interests or significant other interests declared at the meeting. |
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Notification of Visiting Members Wishing to Speak To note any members of the Council wishing to speak, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18, and which items they wish to speak on. Minutes: Councillor Moore was registered to speak at COM24/18. |
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Minutes of the meeting dated 11 July 2018 PDF 202 KB To approve the minutes of a previous meeting as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy. Minutes: Members reviewed the minutes. No amendments were proposed.
RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting dated 11 July 2018 be approved as a correct record. |
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Work Programme as at 14 August 2018 PDF 200 KB Minutes: Members reviewed the work programme. No queries were raised.
RESOLVED – That the Work Programme as at 14 August 2018 be noted. |
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Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Centre Business Improvement District PDF 180 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: David Candlin, Head of Economic Development and Property, introduced the report which included the following comments: · Royal Tunbridge Wells Together (RTWT) had been formed in 2016 as a business led organisation supported by the Council to promote commercial activity in the town. · Appendix A to the report set out some of the achievements of RTWT. · It had always been the intention to work towards creating a Business Improvement District (BID) in order to build a long-term sustainable organisation. · There were over 300 successful BIDs nationwide and most recently in Maidstone. · RTWT would complete its business plan for the BID in September 2018 and a ballot would be held before the end of the year. The ballot would have to pass by both a majority of individual votes and a majority by the rateable value of those that vote. · The Council had a key role in implementing the ballot, collecting the levy and supporting the organisation as a levy-paying member.
Councillor Moore, member for Park ward and Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Communication, had registered to speak and encouraged members to support the recommendations. There were several threats and opportunities for town centres and the rise of online retailing could be countered by more experiential opportunities including leisure and culture in the town. Tunbridge Wells was competing with Maidstone and Canterbury which both had BIDs. The objectives of the BID would be business led and enhance the trading environment for all businesses. Important to note that the BID’s activities were in addition to the core services provided by the Council. BIDs were becoming increasingly popular in the UK and were already widely used internationally.
The discussion included consideration of the following additional matters: · A recent article in the Telegraph had raised concerns about the loss of town centre premises to warehouse type operations for online retailers. Whilst employment was welcome traffic generated by such businesses would be detrimental. · The nature of retail premises was likely to change but the challenge for the BID would be in making the town centre a desirable place for these businesses to operate. Larger retails premises would be liable for Business Rates and the BID Levy. · The Council’s own liability for the BID Levy was set out in the Exempt Appendix. The Council had agreed to confidentiality as the BID was a commercial operation which would set out its own business plan. · An online business’ activities to reduce its Corporation Tax burdens were not replicable on a local level and Business Rates were unavoidable. The Council was successful in collecting 99 per cent of due Business Rates. · The BID was expected to commence in early 2019. Whilst there were ongoing discussions on Business Rates, no significant changes were expected in the immediate future. No impacts on the Business Rate retention pilot were anticipated. · The BID in Canterbury had been proven to be very successful but it was for a much smaller area that in Tunbridge Wells which lead to concerns that efforts may be spread ... view the full minutes text for item COM24/18 |
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Household Recycling, Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Contract Procurement PDF 339 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Gary Stevenson, Head of Housing, Health and Environment, introduced the report which included the following comments: · The process of procuring the new contract started with a report by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet in November 2017 had agreed the outline for a new service. · The new service included doorstep glass collection, weekly food waste collection and an opt-in chargeable garden waste collection. · The report referred to the proposed services as the Nominal Optimum Method (NOM) which meant a balance of services which was the most cost effective possible. · Tunbridge Wells was responsible for collection and Kent County Council (KCC) paid for disposal. Both were working together to recycle more and there was an agreement with KCC to share the savings from reduced waste disposal. · A comprehensive procurement process had been undertaken, cost and quality had been weighted 50/50 in recognition of the contract being a high-profile front line service. · The overall tender scoring was set out in the report which detailed figures included in Exempt Appendix A. Five tenders had been received with four being progressed to stage 2. · Bidder A had scored highest for quality and second for cost. · The contract would be joint with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, this was popular with contractors as it allowed sharing of services, consistency and a single management structure. These efficiencies reduced costs and were accounted for in the tenders. · The initial cost for the opt-in garden waste services was £52 and included the cost of the new bin. Colours of bins was to be determined. · A majority of Councils now charged for garden waste collection and the average cost in East Sussex was in the mid-£50 range. · A summary of the client costs was set out in the report with more details in Exempt Appendix A. · The changes expected as part of such a large project would require significant public communication and it was proposed to set aside a £100k budget for this purpose. · The Civic Amenity Vehicle was included as a discretionary service. The precise nature of the service may need to be reconfigured to avoid it being used for trade or garden waste. This would be subject of ongoing discussion with Parish Councils and would continue in its current form until the replacement was agreed. · The contract was expected to commence on 1 March 2019 with the new operator taking over collections from 30 March 2019 and all routes switched to the new service no later than 30 November 2019. · The proposals would be a significant change to the service and some disruption was inevitable. There would be a reconfiguring of some collection routes and bin collection days were likely to change to generate efficiencies and savings. Officers were working hard to minimise disruption and this would be supported by a strong communications campaign.
The discussion included consideration of the following additional matters: · The number of glass deposit banks would be reduced as demand was expected to fall. However, some would remain as not all residents ... view the full minutes text for item COM25/18 |
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Urgent Business To consider any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent, for the reasons to be stated, in accordance with Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: There was no urgent business. |
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Date of the Next Meeting and Scheduled Items To note that the next scheduled meeting will be held on Wednesday 3 October 2018 at 6.30pm in Committee Room A, Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells.
The following items are scheduled on the Forward Plan (which is subject to change) to be discussed: · Cultural Hub – Update and Fundraising · CCTV Tender · Civil Penalties as an Alternative to Prosecution Minutes: It was noted that the date of the next scheduled meeting was Wednesday 3 October 2018 at 6.30pm in Committee Room A, Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells.
The following items were scheduled on the Forward Plan (which was subject to change) to be discussed: · Cultural Hub – Update and Fundraising · CCTV Tender · Civil Penalties as an Alternative to Prosecution |