Public speaking at council meetings

Questions from Members

Question from Cllr Wing to Cllr Everitt

In chasing concerns over the massive build up of timber at the Port of Ramsgate, we were informed by a TDC Officer that this;

‘temporary use of the land for the storage of the timber is permitted under the general Permitted Development Order. Continuing the use beyond the permitted period would require planning permission, as the activity is not directly linked to port operations’.

Planning permission would have required consideration of all manner of potential issues relating to but not exclusive of, the impact on the environment, residents living close to the site, safe storage, management and transport, including along Military Road when the tunnel is shut, as well as security and fire prevention and risk. Can I therefore ask, when the date for this temporary use for timber storage started and the date at which it ends and planning permission is legally required?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Pressland to Councillor Everitt

The new Biodiversity Strategy is very welcome and we congratulate all involved in its creation.

However, if this is to be more than a paper exercise, please can you inform members how a web of wildlife corridors will be created through Thanet and beyond to genuinely link the fragments of patched habitats still remaining, as our efforts so far have frankly been derisory?

The Government’s ‘Land Use Framework’ calls for multiple pressures on land to be addressed together – so do we have a strategy map, time frame to implementation and a clear commitment to funding?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Garner to Cllr Everitt

With Local Government Reorganisation approaching (though not quite as speedily as expected), councils across the country, including Waverley in Surrey, are considering disposing of assets to parish and town councils, sometimes at less than best consideration, in order to retain them in public ownership.

Where TDC assets are being considered for disposal, will the Leader confirm that Cabinet is actively considering whether transferring an asset to a parish or town council at an undervalue could deliver wider economic, social or environmental benefits under the General Disposal Consent, rather than simply pursuing the highest commercial receipt?

Will he also explain how, where the highest commercial value is pursued instead, he will demonstrate that the potential wider public benefits and the General Disposal Consent have been fully considered?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Dawson to Cllr Whitehead

The council has committed £3.3 million to acquire ten homes. Could the Cabinet Member outline the value‑for‑money assessment behind this decision, including how alternative options: such as modular construction, building conversions, or purchasing lower‑cost properties were considered?

Given the financial pressure from temporary‑accommodation costs, I would welcome reassurance that this approach offers the most effective and sustainable increase in housing supply.

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Yates to Cllr Keen

On 27th August, TDC cabinet passed a tackling poverty strategy. This report has received excellent feedback from a range of sources including Kent social policy academics who are finalising an East Kent Poverty Strategy. What are the next steps for this strategy now it is approved and have we chosen the officers to take the lead on this essential work?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Oxborrow to Cllr Everitt

As the consultation for the New Local Plan gets underway, how is the Cabinet ensuring that crucial, long-term infrastructure assessments, specifically regarding the ongoing air freight development at Manston Airport are fully integrated before any fresh housing allocations are finalised on our remaining greenfield sites?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Austin to Cllr Whitehead

TDC recently held our annual landlord event – a valuable chance for people renting out properties to get together, share knowledge and get advice – and for our teams to reinforce messages about being a good landlord.

Last year a resident suggested a parallel event for private renters, and the Green Group backed this request. Sadly we didn’t get anywhere – so we’re asking again this year.

Over the past year, the ban on Section 21 evictions has improved rights for tenants – but on the other hand, rents in Thanet have risen faster than the average for the South East, pushing more renters into poverty.

We’ve just launched our Poverty Strategy. Isn’t it time we offered an annual day of advice, support and mutual help to private sector tenants, as we do for their landlords?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Munns to Cllr Albon

Beach bonfires violate the PSPO and cause severe harm. Sand-covered embers retain heat for days, which can inflict severe burns on people and pets. Leftover timber leaves dangerous nails and screws in the sand, while intense heat destroys local ecosystems and melts plastic into toxic marine debris.

We had one of the hottest and driest summers this year and experts predict this will be the norm. However, through the summer months bonfires were a regular sight on Thanet beaches. A national emergency was declared on the 14th August, Broadstairs fireworks were cancelled due to the risk of wildfires.

Bonfires were still being lit on beaches and clifftops in Kingsgate. I raised my concerns to officers and asked for evening enforcement patrols. I was told there was no budget. For next season can we budget for evening patrols when there is a high risk of wildfires.

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Pugh to Cllr Scobie

The Government has announced a review and pause of the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process following updated legal advice concerning the process, with decisions in some areas withdrawn and implementation work elsewhere paused. Can the Portfolio Holder outline the financial implications of this delay for TDC.

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Fellows to Cllr Bright

At a time when our local traders are struggling with rising costs due to things like national insurance rises etc, a falling footfall and an increasingly difficult trading environment, I’m sure everyone will agree that this Council should be doing everything within its power to support our high streets rather than making it harder for people to shop locally.

So my question to the cabinet member is..:

In Birchington we have always felt that’s it’s an anomaly that we have to pay to park when in nearby Westgate they don’t. Will the cabinet member therefore commit to urgently investigating the introduction of at least one hour of free on street parking and reducing the charges in our Council car parks in Birchington, or at least some meaningful parking concessions to encourage people to use our village shops and give our local businesses a much-needed boost?

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Bayford to Cllr Whitehead

Can the portfolio holder tell us how the Government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme and the reinvigoration of council housebuilding, published 25 August 2026, will affect this Council’s acquisition and building plans for the next ten years.

Response

To follow

Question from Cllr Huxley to Cllr Duckworth

Since the 2023 election, this Labour council has brought back the Ramsgate market, replaced the broken lifts in the Royal Harbour car park and repaired the Madeira Walk waterfall.

Can the Cabinet member give me an update on the plans for repairing the Eastcliff lift, and providing the Ramsgate Main Sands beach boardwalk, as agreed in the 2026-27 budget? Will these be ready for next summer?

Response

To follow

Questions from Press and public

Question from Miss Helen Heckety to Cllr Keen

The recent enactment of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) at Walpole Bay has negatively impacted the disabled community. I need to park by the tidal pool and have enjoyed doing so all summer. There is a limit to outdoor activities I can do and this was one. Now you have taken that away. You say there’s an exception for disabled people but this is not on the signs, so that’s not an exception, is it? If you think I have time to appeal everytime I am fined, then I assure you I don’t. What about my friends who help me in and out of the pool. Where do they park? I’ve got a progressive disability and enough to worry about. This enactment makes life worse for disabled people.

Response

To follow

Question from Ms Ruth Bailey to Cllr Everitt

Ahead of LGR, many Districts are working constructively with Town and Parish councils to transfer assets, supported by robust Community Asset Transfer policies. Valued assets are being transferred, often at little or no cost, to safeguard them, strengthen local decision-making, improve services and help communities thrive.

TDC’s asset disposal policy seems to differ significantly, with Town and Parish Councils not even consulted. Broadstairs Town Council are the natural, willing successor of the Pierremont Depot having assumed additional responsibilities devolved from TDC, with further responsibilities likely in future.

You recently said, “giving away assets unlawfully is not something we will be doing”. However, the General Disposal Consent of 2003 lawfully permits land to be disposed of for less than best consideration, as demonstrated by other councils.

Now the sale has fallen through, will the Depot be transferred to Broadstairs Town Council as the most appropriate custodian of the site?

Response

To follow

Question from Olivia Schelts-Harris to Cllr Keen

The Council has stated that the Public Spaces Protection Order already prohibited unauthorised parking on Thanet’s promenades, but that in August 2026 it changed its enforcement approach at Walpole Bay because of concerns about emergency access, campervans, litter and the Seaside Award.

Given that the legal prohibition on parking was already in place, what specific decision was made in August 2026 to change the Council’s previous approach, what evidence and equality impact information was presented to the decision-maker before that decision was taken, and will the Council now publish the relevant decision record, equality assessment and evidence of the alternatives considered — including less restrictive measures for longstanding community users and disabled residents — and review the decision if those considerations were not properly undertaken?

Response

To follow

Question from Ms Nicky Browne to Cllr Everitt

Forbidding parking close to Walpole tidal pool, puts swimmers- usually women in danger. Swimmers need friendly constructive support, close warm and discrete changing areas. How can the council justify this at the start of the winter swimming season? It is cruel.

Response

To follow

Question from Mr Richard Barry To Cllr Everitt

Why close the parking facility for Walpole Bay Tidal Pool, a wonderful local amenity? Why put swimmers, including my wife, in possible danger?

Response

To follow

Question from Mrs Kate Maylard-Mason To Cllr Everitt

Re: Walpole bay parking restrictions:

I am a regular cold water swimmer and paddle boarder and the current restrictions are preventing me from using Walpole Bay.

I am 63 and cannot carry all my SUP and safety gear up and down the slope. Additionally , my husband and 86 year old mother have gained great joy from watching my activities from the car with a picnic, something we can no longer do…

Does the council think it is fair to discriminate against the elderly and disabled?

Will cold water swimmers and local people with mobility issues, be granted a parking permit ?

Does the council wish to prevent local people from accessing fresh air and exercise, which have proven physical and mental health benefits ?

Response

To follow

Question from Mrs Grace Rae to Cllr Keen

I appreciate the need for changes to the parking at Walpole Bay re. Emergency access, overnight camping and litter, however this feels like a blunt instrument response. While limited provision has been made for those with blue badges – although no clarity on the signs as to what this means in practice, what of those with limited mobility but no blue badge?

Those with small children, anyone with balance or mobility needs that change. The tidal pool offers safe swimming to a huge range of people, and removing all parking will negatively impact the vast majority of users. What alternative measures have been tried before this full ban was enacted? Most users of this area are responsible and sensible – it feels like we’re being punished for the actions of the minority.

Response

To follow

Question from Ms Pauline Farrance to Cllr Everitt

In 2022, in a Section106 document concerning a 450 unit development in Margate, Gladman Developers agreed to pay the Health Centre Contribution to the Council (£864 per Residential Unit) – 50% on Commencement of the Development; and the balance on first Occupation, towards the cost of ‘creating capacity at Limes Medical Practice or within the Primary Care network.’

Please explain where these monies are now, and the process by which they should be available to The Limes. (The management of the Limes have heard nothing about this funding – and it is in dire need of increased accommodation and staff).

Given the large scale housing developments both completed and in progress throughout Thanet, are you satisfied that all the Section106 commitments have been met? Sadly, I was unable to find any TDC Infrastructure Funding Statement after 2021/2022.

Response

To follow

Question from Ms Alison Allington to Cllr Keen

Why was the decision made to stop parking for everyone at Walpole bay? This is having a detrimental effect on the local community who use the pool. Many of whom are women arriving on their own early morning and evening throughout the year.

The lack of parking creates a safety issue as people need to walk down a path that is hidden from view. It is also an issue for people with mobility issues who will now find the pool more difficult to access. This decision makes it harder for local people to use a great resource.

Response

To follow

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• Your question must not be more than one hundred and fifty words.
• You must give the name of the Cabinet Member your question is for. To find out which Cabinet Member you should ask, please click on cabinet posts.
• Please check the summary of questions asked at past meetings via the link below to make sure your question or a similar question has not been asked within the last 6 months.
• Please view  Speaking at Council meetings – Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

 

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Date of past ordinary meeting of council	Questions asked at council meeting
Thursday 26 February 2026	Summary of questions and responses 26.02.2026
Thursday 11 July 2024	Summary of questions and responses 11.07.24
Thursday 28 March 2024	Summary of questions and responses 28.03.24
Thursday 22 February 2024	Summary of questions and responses 22.02.24
Thursday 23 February 2023	Summary of questions and responses at 23.02.2023
Thursday 8 December 2022	Summary of questions and responses at 08.12.2022
Thursday 8 September and Thursday 13 October 2022	Summary of questions asked 8/9/22 & 13/1o/22
Thursday 14 July 2022	Summary of questions asked – 14/7/22
Thursday 31 March 2022	Summary of questions asked – 31/3/22
Thursday 24 February 2022	Summary of questions asked – 24/2/22
Wednesday 12 January  2022	Summary of questions asked – 12/1/22
Thursday 14 October 2021	Summary of questions asked – 10/10/21
Thursday 9 September 2021	Summary of questions asked at Q&A – 9/9/21
Thursday 15 July 2021	Summary of questions asked – 15/7/21
Thursday 3 June 2021	Summary of questions asked – 3/6/21
Thursday 25 March 2021	Summary of questions asked – 25/3/21
Thursday 25 February 2021	Summary of questions asked – 25/2/21
Thursday 10 December 2020	Summary of questions asked – 10/12/20

Questions from earlier Council meetings can be found in our archive.

 

 

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