Kent County Council Local Boards

Kent County Council wants to work more closely with all the communities of Kent. Local Boards provide a two-way dialogue to look at local needs and priorities and to fund locally needed projects. Some of the local issues discussed at Local Boards last year were -

Disorder / Community Safety,

Local Highways and Transport Issues,

Climate change and environmental pollution,

Education & Schools,

2012 Olympics,

Combined Health / Adult Social Services,

Consultation on 'Towards 2010'

There is a network of 12 Local Boards in Kent. Each one covers a Borough /City or District Council area - Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale, Thanet, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells. All of the county councillors whose electoral division is within that area are members of the Local Board.

The 12 County Councillor Local Board Chairmen are:

• ASHFORD- Mike Angell

• CANTERBURY - David Hirst

• DARTFORD - Bertie Bassam

• DOVER (Neighbourhood Forums) - Bryan Cope

• GRAVESHAM - Mike Snelling

• MAIDSTONE - Paulina Stockell

• SEVENOAKS - David Brazier

• SHEPWAY - Chris Capon

• SWALE - Tom Gates

• THANET - Bill Hayton

• TONBRIDGE & MALLING - Valerie Dagger

• TUNBRIDGE WELLS - John Davies

Each Local Board will meet at least four times a year. The Boards are accountable to KCC's Cabinet, and have the following key objectives:

• To work more closely with local communities throughout the County, by providing a forum for effective two-way dialogue.

• To enable local KCC service profiles to be examined and local need established.

• To provide a forum for consultation on strategic issues and to advise Cabinet on outcomes or matters of concern in relation to services.

• To provide via Member Community Grants and Small Community Capital Grants, resources for projects and initiatives which would benefit the community in each Local Board Area.

Meetings

Members and officers are available for half an hour before each Local Board meeting for an informal discussion. Each meeting will have time set aside for members of the public to ask questions. This is YOUR opportunity to get involved about the things that matter to you in your local area.

To find out more about your local board, you can either contact your Community Liaison Manager (contact details at the bottom of this page) or click on

KCC Local Boards.

Funding For Local Projects - Member Community Grants

Every County Councillor can recommend approval for financial support for local projects, up to the total value of £10,000 a year per County Councillor.

The County Councillor financial support last year (April 2007- March 2008) provided a total of 760 grants, totalling £822,198 (97.9% of available grant committed). The average amount of an individual grant was £1,082, with an average allocation of 9 grants per Member.

The Lib Dem Group think it is important to let you know what recommendations Councillors had suggested for financial support. Details of the Lib Dem Groups financial support are therefore posted on this website:

• County Councillor Financial Support.

Small Community Capital Projects Fund

The Cabinet Member decides annually on the recommendations made by each Board regarding the applications they have received. Last year there were 183 applications totalling £958,750 (in the year 2006/07 were 147 applications totalling £1,241,256) so once again demand exceeded supply! Awards were made to 156 agreed bids, and the whole of the £500,000 available was committed.

• Members of Kent County Council.

Funding For Local Projects - Grants

Details of Kent grants available in 2008/09, who to contact for up to date details of the application processes or additional details of the schemes and a link for further information on government funding, trust funding and lottery funding are available on the following Lib Dem webpage. Click on

Looking For Funds? KCC Can Help.

Contacts

KCC has appointed a Community Liaison Manager to work with each Local Board.

They:

1. Manage Local Boards and co-ordinate agendas

2. Are the links between Local Boards, local communities & KCC services

3. Provide advise on the grants.

4. Provide details of forthcoming meetings.

You can contact the Community Liaison Managers as follows:

• Dartford and Gravesham Local Boards - Will Farmer, telephone 01622 696911, mobile: 07841 315596 or email at: will.farmer@kent.gov.uk

• Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells Local Boards - Tom Phillips telephone: 01622 696897 or mobile: 07795 495713 or email at: tom.phillips@kent.gov.uk

• Maidstone and Tonbridge & Malling Local Boards - Loic Flory telephone 01622 694217 or mobile 07710 339889 or email at: loic.flory@kent.gov.uk

• Swale and Canterbury Local Boards - Bill Ronan, telephone 01622 696889 or mobile 07786 191694 or email at: bill.ronan@kent.gov.uk

• Ashford and Shepway Local Boards - David Geoghegan, telephone 01622 696297 or mobile 07786 191667 or email at: david.geoghegan@kent.gov.uk

• Thanet and Dover Local Boards - Emma Carey, telephone 01622 696067 or email emma.carey@kent.gov.uk