I'd firstly like to thank the Cabinet Member for his response at the last County Council meeting regarding glyphosate-based weed killers. However, I still have significant concerns about the way this chemical is being used within Kent, particularly on roads and
footpaths where it is being allowed to run-off into the water system. Indeed, the official product guidance for Roundup ProActive which is used by KCC states, 'keep out of drains, sewers, ditches and water ways.' Other manufacturers of similar glyphosate-based weed killers refer to their product as hazardous waste and recommend even more stringent controls.
After a major sinkhole less than a mile away on the adjoining Tonbridge Road caused closures for a period of 5 months last year. Many residents are becoming increasingly concerned that more sinkholes could yet appear in the area. Could the Cabinet Member
for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste confirm whether KCC has access to Lidar technology, or other similar means of identifying potential geological weaknesses and faults on its roads? If so, is this being proactively used to try and detect possible sinkholes before they emerge?
Following the news that Manston Airport is to be imminently sold to a group which plans to reopen it as an airport, could the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste please clarify what implications this will have on the contingency arrangements for the site to be used as a lorry park in the event of a no-deal Brexit?
Around a fifth of working age people live with a disability. For many of these people one of the biggest challenges of getting into work is the journey to work and back home.
Disabled person's bus passes in Kent are operative during off-peak hours, from 9:30am to 11pm on weekdays. The pass is therefore too late for most disabled people needing to take a bus to work. However, in Wales, Scotland and some other parts of England, such restrictions do not apply.
Assuming that sufficient suitably qualified staff could be recruited, will the Leader of the Council please provide an estimate of how much it would cost the County Council to appoint staff to
eliminate the backlog of SEND assessment, provide the support they would require, and keep pace with current applications, and
eliminate the current backlog of Deprivation of Liberty Backlog or applications and keep pace with current applications
Could the Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste please update the County Council on the current position with regard to Thameslink services due to start in Maidstone in December this year, and could he say whether there is any indication that this service, so important to the economy of Kent, may be delayed or cancelled once more?
In recent weeks there has been extensive media coverage regarding the use of glyphosate-based weed killers such as Roundup, following concerns about the potential harm to humans and wildlife. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the World Health Organisation's cancer agency, concluded that glyphosate was "probably carcinogenic to humans" and other more recent studies have demonstrated a detrimental impact on bee populations.
