Agenda and minutes

The Chair opened the meeting and outlined procedural matters of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Fairweather and Hill.

Councillor Morton was not present.

To receive any declarations of interest by members of the Council in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer before the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To note any Visiting Members or members of the public wishing to speak, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18 and 19, and which items they wish to speak on.

There were no members of the public, or visiting Members of the Council registered to speak.

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.

It was noted that Councillor Warne was in attendance and Chaired the previous meeting of the Communities and Economic Development Cabinet Advisory Board on 15 November 2023.

RESOLVED: That subject to the above amendment the minutes of the meeting above dated 15 November 2023 was a true record of the proceeding.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan as at 9 January 2024 be noted.

Councillor Hugo Pound, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning gave an overview and introduced Tobi Phillips, Affordable Housing and Enabling Officer who presented the report as per the agenda.

Questions from Members and Officer clarification included:

                 i.          It was confirmed that there was Local Connection Plan in place, therefore residents with a local connection to Hawkhurst were given priority for the properties.

                ii.          The Local Connection Plan was in place for the first 3 months and once that time period lapsed the properties were released to the residents of Tunbridge Wells for bidding.

               iii.          It was confirmed that the properties in question were housing stock for Tunbridge Wells and not for anywhere else in the Country such as Croydon or other London boroughs.

              iv.          Thanks were given to Officers from Members on behalf of the people of Hawkhurst.

                v.          Members welcomed the proposal and were pleased that they were assured the commuted sums were proposed to be spent in the manner they were intended, especially in rural areas where it was desperately needed.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the recommendations in the report, be supported.

Councillor Ben Chapelard, Leader of the Council gave an overview of the emerging Strategic Plan for Tunbridge Well and introduced Ian Hirst, Head of Digital Services and Communications who presented the report as per the agenda.

Questions from Members and Officer clarification included:

                 i.          It was confirmed that the ward projects were to be decided after May 2024 however, it was to be assessed whether financial considerations should take precedence over what they delivered.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the recommendations in the report, be supported.

Sue Oliver, Private Housing Manager presented the report as per the agenda which included exempt Appendix A.

Members queries and Officer clarification included:

                 i.          A detailed explanation was provided as to why there was no score information in the report related to a second supplier, among the reasons listed was non provision of key documentation and information. It was suggested that the explanation could be provided to Cabinet for clarification.

                ii.          Officers agreed to provide written clarification as to why there was no interview conducted for the potential supplier.

               iii.          It was noted that the exempt information as set out in the agenda was taken as read.

RESOLVED:

2.     The recommendations in the report be supported subject to further information being provided to Cabinet about how the service  provider that did not go through to the next stage, failed that process.

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.

There was no urgent business for consideration.

To note that the date of the next scheduled meeting is Thursday 7 March 2024.

The next meeting was scheduled for 7 March 2024.