Councillor Hayden Brawn took the chair for this meeting and would be referred to as Chair for the remainder of these minutes.

Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)      The fire alarm is a continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)      Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)      In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)      Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.

The Chair outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 September 2025 (Minute Nos. 312 – 315) as a correct record.

Update added 18 December 2025:

To approve the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting held on 4 November 2025 (Minute Nos. 420 – 425) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 September 2025 (Minute Nos. 312 – 315) and the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting held on 4 November 2025 (Minute Nos. 420 – 425) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as correct records.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Principal Heritage Officer introduced the report which set out the proposed public consultation for designating a targeted Area of Special Control of Advertisements (ASCA) within Conservation Areas (CA).  ASCAs were proposed for eight CAs within the borough with a commercial centre.  She referred to paragraph 2.5 on page 4 of the report which set out eight types of advertisements where ASCAs provided greater control.  The first three points would be added onto the CAs.  Points 4 to 8 were already applicable in a CA.  The Principal Heritage Officer said maps were included within the consultation document, with purple shading identifying the commercial centre of the CA. The intention was to consult on whether residents were happy for ASCAs to be designated to solely the commercial centre, or the entire CA.  She drew attention to page 29 of the report where a text box on the map, which should have been on page 28, had slipped over to page 29.

The Chair invited Members to ask questions and make comments, and these included:

·         Happy with the document;

·         clarification sought on how properties which already had advertisement signs would be dealt with and whether any action would be taken retrospectively against them;

·         considered the wording within paragraph 1.1 of the Planning Policy Consultation (What is an advertisement?) under the Key Questions section towards the end of the document was an important piece of information and should be included in the main body of the text, earlier in the document;

·         aware of a site where there were illuminated signs within a CA and sought clarification as to whether enforcement action could be taken;

·         suggested the purple shading indicating the boundary of the proposed ASCA be extended to the corner of Station Road, Teynham on the Cellar Hill and Greenstreet CA map;

·         referring to paragraph 5.1 in the report and considered the consultation should commence before the summer of 2026 as leaving it that long could result in advertisement signs going up in the meantime;

·         considered the purple shading should be extended along the High Street on the Queenborough map;

·         suggested the list of advertisement types set out on page 13 of the report be numbered, rather than have bullet points;

·         suggested it was easier to administer and simpler to understand if the whole of a CA be designated an ASCA;

·         considered it was confusing as to what was permitted with a CA; and

·         on page 22 of the report, the area shaded purple in Faversham town centre did not represent the whole area described within the report, and should include properties further along in East Street.

The Principal Heritage Officer gave the following responses:  ASCAs could not impose restrictions retrospectively; illuminated signs within a CA were enforceable; happy to move the definition text to the beginning of the document; the report would be considered by the Policy & Resources Committee in February 2026 and it was hoped the consultation would ‘go live’ soon after that, the summer deadline was the absolute  ...  view the full minutes text for item 595.