Resolved: That the Minute of the Council meeting held on 19 November 2024, and the Extraordinary Council meeting held on 17 December 2024, subject to Cllr. Robinson’s votes being recorded, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

In the interest of transparency, a number of councillors declared that they were Members of the Leisure Centres in the District.

The Chairman announced that he had attended a range of events with Cllr. Hudson including school shows, Forget Me Not Cafes, Silver Sunday events and of course the District Council’s own carol service. He was grateful for all the invites that he received and to have the opportunity to watch the Children perform their Christmas shows which they had clearly worked so hard towards. The Forget me Not Cafes provided a festive experience for the attendees, and it was lovely to see the joy it brought to them. He was delighted with the opportunity to interact with representatives from our many partnership organisations who had joined to celebrate Christmas at St Luke’s Church.

He further spoke on the reusable recycling bags which had been rolled out across the district and looked forward for the positive impact this will have on recycling.

In March the Council would be running some more “Let’s get Cooking Classes” for residents with a learning disability who wants to learn how to cook and improve their health. Finally, he advised that he would be hosting an afternoon tea on 8 April 2025, at the Rowhill Grange, which he welcomed everyone to attend. He advised that sadly his Valentines’ Day Ball, had to be cancelled due to illness, but expressed his thanks for the huge support from colleagues at the Council, and the well wishes he had been sent. He wished to single out Cllr. Hudson, his consort who had been a fantastic level of support whilst he had been unwell.

There were none.

There were none.

The Chairman, with the Council’s agreement, brought forward consideration of agenda item 6d (Leisure Operator Contract final award) and agenda item 11 (report from the Leader of the Council on the work of Cabinet since the last council meeting.)

The Leader presented his report and took the opportunity to make a brief statement to bring to Members attention the increased focus of Kent Leaders’ meetings in light of the proposals for Local Government reform. Following Kent County Councils’ bid for the priority programme of Devolution, it had subsequently been decided by Government that they had received too many applications, and Kent was therefore not included. Shortly after that decision a letter was received from the Minster which detailed what was required from Councils who were not part of the priority programme. As a group across Kent, an agreed geography had not yet been agreed on the number of unitary authorities. West Kent was leading the way on how this should be approached and despite being led by different political groups, there was largely an agreement as to how to approach. The first step would be to gather data and in a reliable format so that fact-based decisions could begin to be formulated.   A response to the Minister would be required by 21 March. 

The Leader stated that he was keen to lead on it as much as we could, because Sevenoaks District had always stood as a leading and innovative council. He stated that this was a real opportunity for us to show what that meant, and so as a council would be taking actions, involving members to ensure that the richest talent pool would be applying their skills, experience and intellect to the challenges that would be factored in terms of reaching a settled unitary status as managed by Government.

He believed that any other route would put Members at the risk of not serving the best interests they were elected to do so by residents and it was important to keep this at the forefront of their minds. He was looking forward to the journey ahead.

a)     Property Investment Strategy Update

Cllr. Maskell moved and Cllr. Hogarth seconded the recommendation from Cabinet that the Property Investment Strategy be agreed.

Cllr. Maskell spoke to the motion advising that the document looked at the future direction of the strategy. It helped to support self sufficiency as central government funding had reduced over the years. The report had also been considered by the Finance & Investment Advisory Committee who had been advised of the limitations now in place as well as noting the success of the strategy.  The report advised on the acquisitions previously made.

During the debate, performance to date was raised and the future of the developments at Bevan Place and 96 High Street, Sevenoaks.

Some concern was expressed that when Local Government Reorganisation was agreed that there was a danger of assets being sold off to pay debts elsewhere. His thoughts centred on the property investment strategy, a disposals policy and the local plan and considered the need to broaden it out and be part of a wider set of opportunities.

It was questioned in debate why lower lot sizes were not being considered and whether the 4.5% yield coming out of the Quercus investments and return might be expected from other forms of investment that were not property, and so questioned whether it was still the right strategy given the financial landscape.

Further in debate concern was raised in regards to the External Audit opinion on how the council managed its property investment strategy and a need for an update on projects. Although she was happy that there was a reliable revenue, but she believed that an overall coherent property plan for the district was required.

In his right of reply to the debate, Cllr. Maskell advised that some of the comments raised in the debate, had previously been raised at various committees. Bevan Place was in the progress of being brought forward, following planning permission not being granted. The linking of documents, and integration of plans were all in hand and an update on how assets would be proceeding would be coming forward. In responding to points raised in relation to the External Audit Report, he reassured Members that there were no problems or difficulties with the funding for Bevan Place and that a revised plan would be coming forward. Discussion on Bevan Place had been openly discussed, again at a number of committee meetings. He advised that he would provide a written response to the question raised in debate regarding lot sizes.

Resolved: That the Property Investment Strategy be adopted.

b)     Treasury Management Strategy

Cllr. Maskell moved and Cllr. Hogarth seconded the recommendation from Cabinet for the Treasury Management Strategy to be approved.

Cllr. Maskell spoke to the motion stating that the report formed part of the budget strategy for 2025/26 and proposed the treasury strategy for the forthcoming year as required by the Local Government Act 2003. The strategy set out details of borrowing and managing its investments and for giving priority to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

a)     Monitoring Officer Report

Cllr. Bulford moved and Cllr. Hogarth seconded the recommendation from the Standards Committee to note the Monitoring Officer report and to adopt the LGA model Code of Conduct from Annual Council.

Cllr. Bulford spoke to the motion advising that the report was thoroughly discussed and a unanimous decision for the adoption of the new code of conduct. She expressed her thanks to Martin Goodman, the Monitoring Officer for his continued support and guidance and this was echoed by other Members.

Resolved: That

a)     the report be noted; and

b)     the LGA model code of conduct be adopted from Annual Council, 15 May 2025.

b)       Gambling Act 2005: Review of the Council's Statement of Gambling Principles

Cllr. Clack moved and Cllr. Abraham seconded the recommendation from the Licensing Committee for the Council’s statement of Gambling Principles to be adopted.

Resolved: That the Statement of Gambling Principles be adopted.

c)           Business and Planning Act 2020 (as amended) Scheme of Delegation

Cllr. Clack moved and Cllr. Abraham seconded the recommendation from the Licensing Committee for delegated authority to be granted to the Chief Officer Planning & Regulatory Services to carry out the statutory functions of pavement licensing.

Resolved: That delegated authority be granted to the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Officer Planning and Regulatory Service to carry out the statutory functions of pavement licensing under the Business and Planning Act 2020 (as amended).

a)               FawkhamNeigbourhood Plan

It was moved by Cllr. Thornton and duly seconded by Cllr. Hogarth that the recommendation for Fawkham Neighbourhood plan to be ‘made’ (adopted) and the decision statement be published.

Cllr. Thornton spoke to the motion advising that the referendum had taken place on Thursday 13 February 2025, and there was an 84.7% voted in favour of adopting the Neighbourhood Plan with a positive 34.98% turn out and she expressed her congratulations to Fawkham Parish Council. She thanked Members of the local community for their extensive involvement, local Members and the Parish Council and the Planning Policy Team with a particular thanks to Emma Coffin, Senior Planning Officer. The Plan would now be used to inform decision-making on planning applications in the Fawkham parish area and was the third Neighbourhood Plan in the District.

Members echoed their thanks for the work that had been undertaken.

Resolved:

a)   That the Fawkham Neighbourhood Plan (FNP) incorporating the Examiner’s modifications, as presented to local referendum, be ‘made’ (adopted) with immediate effect and form part of the Council’s Development Plan to help determine planning applications in the Neighbhourhood Area; and

b)   The FNP Decision statement (post-referendum) shown at Appendix A of the report, be published.

b)    Pay Policy Statement

It was moved by Cllr. Hogarth and duly seconded by Cllr. Perry Cole that the recommendation to adopt the Pay Policy Statement be agreed.

Resolved: That the Pay Policy Statement, be adopted by the Council and be published on the Council’s website.

c)     Appointments to Other Organisations

It was moved by Cllr. Perry Cole and duly seconded by Cllr. Clayton that the appointments to outside organisations be approved.

Cllr. Clayton expressed his support to Cllr. Hogarth for being the Council’s representative, especially with the ever evolving plans for Local Government Reform.

Resolved: That Cllr. Hogarth be appointed the Council’s representative to the Sevenoaks Business Improvement District (BID) Steering Committee.

Question: “Please can the leader clarify why he did not go ahead with the letter outlining our concerns and registering our objections.”

Response: Leader of the Council

The Leader responded advising that he had written to Group Leaders on 8 January 2025 explaining the situation. He further explained that he had written to Government on 7 January 2025, wholly regarding housing numbers. A question had also been raised at Cabinet and he confirmed that he had declared an intention to protect the character of the rural district without relent. He further explained that the districts and boroughs were not invited to participate in devolution programmes and therefore any Councillor who also had a position as a County Councillor were making that decision at County level.

Supplementary Question: “I would like to ask how our residents can be assured that we as district Councillors really truly value democracy and we’ll fully respect that process in this district.”

Response: Leader of the Council

The Leader responded to the question, stating that in his opinion it was evident that in the Chamber, democracy was respected as a democratically elected group, with open debates and open discussion. It was fully available to all members of the district and worldwide, on YouTube and as such, accountability was well established. Democratic deficit was discussed as part of devolution conversations and what was faced was an interesting scenario where a democratically elected national government dictated to a democratically elected local authorities how they should do things. The consequence of that which the democratically elected national government did not take into account was that there would be a shortfall in the democratic process at a local level and he found that disappointing, but it was a matter for national government.