Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED:   That Councillor J Rust be appointed as Chair for the Municipal Year 2023/24.

RESOLVED:   That Councillor S Everett be appointed as Vice-Chair for the Municipal Year 2023 / 24.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bartrum, Kemp and Mrs Wilkinson.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

There was no urgent business.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

None.

There was no Chair’s correspondence.

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The Assistant Director gave an overview of the Committee and its Terms of Reference.

In relation to the Parish Partnership Scheme, the Chair encouraged the Committee to use this scheme to deliver small-scale highway works.  She had managed to get a flashing sign, and a bus shelter outside the hospital which had been well received.

In response to a comment from Councillor Colwell regarding the Committee’s Terms of Reference, it was explained that Cabinet had agreed the Committee’s continuation and the Terms of Reference would be amended to reflect this and brought back to the Committee.

Councillor Jones asked whether going forward would there be an option of having funding that the Committee could use as there was no Parish Council for King’s Lynn.

The Chair added that it was her understanding that this was being considered by Cabinet as it had been recognised that there was a lack of democracy and accountability in King’s Lynn.   She added that this might be something that the Leader, Councillor Parish would pick up later in the meeting.

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The Chair welcomed Councillor Parish, the new Leader of the Council to the meeting.

Councillor Parish stated that he personally would like to see King’s Lynn have a town council.  If King’s Lynn did have a town council, then it would have some money and teeth.  He explained that it would take several years to implement, and a referendum would need to take place to establish whether residents actually wanted a town council.  He added that it would be interesting to see how the Committee felt and after show of hands, the Committee voted in favour of having steps taken towards establishing a town council (9 votes for, 0 against).

The Leader therefore stated that he would raise the matter with Cabinet and determine with officers how to proceed but reiterated that it would not happen quickly.

Councillor Parish stated that he was pleased to be the leader of the new administration and was meeting groups and organisations, and he was becoming more aware of the work being carried out within the Borough, and the problems that people were experiencing.   He hoped that his and his Group would move forward and help those groups/organisations and people of West Norfolk.

Councillor Parish explained the Cabinet was in the process of creating a corporate plan, and the overarching aim of each aspect would be to help the people of West Norfolk the best way they could, and part of that would be through better communication and to listen more proactively to Parish Councils and KLACC.

In relation to funding, he advised that the Cabinet had to pick up what was going through the system now.  He gave an update on their position with regards to the Town Deal Board and explained that he had met with the Chair of the Board.  He also stated that he had asked for a Labour representative on the Town Deal Board.

The Chair added that the majority of Councillors on KLACC were Labour, and many had felt that there should be a town centre representative/Councillor on the Board.  She hoped that this would provide some reassurance that there would be some influence on the way in which money / projects which impacted on the area were identified.

Discussion also took place regarding the Levelling-up Funding and proposed works to the Southgates.  Councillor Bone outlined his concerns.

The Chair added that there were 3 County Councillors on KLACC who could make representations on the Committee’s behalf.

The Chair thanked the Leader for attending the meeting.

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The Property Services Manager presented the report which explained that the Borough Council had been approached by Norfolk County Council for permission to install two bus shelters on Lynn Road, Gaywood (adjacent /opposite Tesco) and an agreement in principle for another location to be considered.  NCC advised that in March 2022, the Department for Transport notified NCC of an indicative offer of £49.6 million funding for Norfolk.  The Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) proposed a series if actions to improve the quality and consistency of bus stops in Norfolk ensuring that a decent standard of service was given to more passengers.

The Property Services Manager also explained that as part of the delivery, NCC would fully fund the bus shelters at each stop however it would be conditional that the Borough Council adopted these assets and be responsible for any on-going maintenance which would be charged to Special Expenses.  It was explained that the in the Gaywood Tesco proposal the Real Time Information Boards (RTI) would be solar-powered and therefore off-grid.  However, the bus shelter would require cleaning, insuring and general maintenance.  This had been estimated to be approximately £200.00 per annum.  If the bus shelters were damaged or vandalised, then further costs may be incurred.

Councillor Colwell explained that in March 2023 both himself and Councillor Ware had a meeting with Norfolk County Council’s Public Transport Development Officer about the proposals and saw examples of the proposals and was quite impressed.  The Real Time Updates were useful, and he considered that anything that the Council could do to encourage people onto public transport, to make it as easy, safe and friendly as possible should be done.  However, he did not want a repeat of when the maintenance contract came to an end and made reference to the sorry state of the bus shelters in the King’s Lynn area, many of which had been removed because they were dangerous.  He suggested that careful consideration should be given to the on-going maintenance.  Hopefully this would set a good example as to what could be achieved for the residents of King’s Lynn.

The Property Services Manager advised that Norfolk County Council had confirmed that there would not be any advertising on the bus shelters.

In response to a comment from Councillor Mrs Collop, the Property Services Manager explained the costs of installation of the shelters and in terms of how much vandalism repairs would cost depended on the extent of it.  She advised that the estimate of maintenance for the shelters, if no vandalism was £200.00 per annum per bus shelter.

Councillor Everett queried the location of the new shelters and with regards to the RTI in the shelters, who would be paying for the on-going subscription.  He also commented that when changes were made to timetables this could take months for it to be updated.

The Property Services Manager clarified the location of the shelters and explained that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

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The Assistant Director provided an update on the provision of accessible play equipment in the Walks. 

Examples of the proposals were displayed on screen; together with the area where the equipment was proposed to be located.

He also advised that there was a grant available that could be applied for with 4 rounds of funding each year.  Applications could be made for up to £100,000 and the proposals were coming in at approximately £80,000.  He needed to check whether any planning permission was required.

If the Committee was happy with the proposals, he would start to complete the bid which would close in September.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for the work he had undertaken on this project and was excited that accessible play equipment could be provided.  She asked if there was anything that Councillors could do to help.

The Assistant Director advised that evidence would be required to demonstrate that this was wanted by the community.  He had the presentation given by the Norfolk Youth Advisory Board.  He added that he would also pass on thanks to Nathan Johnson-Hales and his team for the work they had carried out.

Councillor Mrs Collop added that moving forward other areas also had to have accessible equipment provided and whether CIL money could be looked at.

The Chair advised that KLACC could not apply for CIL funding but a suitable group who could apply needed to be located and could be supported by KLACC.

Councillor Bone added that this was an exciting project and former Councillor Hudson was going to work with Forward and he would liaise with them.  The Assistant Director advised that he would check if there was any match funding requirement for the grant and would support applications up to £100,000. 

Councillor Colwell added his support to the project.  He made reference to the need for accessible toilets or changing places in the Walks.

Councillor Bone added that an adult changing room in the town centre would be welcomed.

The Chair added that this issue had been discussed at R&D and would help to promote King’s Lynn as accessible and inclusive.

RESOLVED:   That the update be noted.

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The Assistant Director provided an overview to the Committee on the Parish Partnership Scheme and responded to queries from the Committee,

RESOLVED:   That the report be noted.

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The Committee was invited to appoint Members the KLACC Planning Sub-Group and Play Areas Informal Working Group:

RESOLVED:   That the following Councillors were appointed to:

KLACC Planning Sub-Group:  Mrs S Collop, B Jones, D Henegan

Play Areas Informal Working Group:  Bone, Rust, Colwell (following consultation with Councillor Kemp)

The Committee is asked to consider items for a future Work Programme for

The Committee is also asked to consider the Cabinet’s Forward Decision List.

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The Cabinet’s Forward Decision list was noted.

With regards to the Work Programme the following items were identified:

·        Middleton drain, waterways in town

·        Gaywood river

The date of the next meeting is Thursday 21 September 2023, time to be confirmed.

The Committee agreed that future meetings of the Committee should start at 6 pm.

The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday 21 September 2023 at 6pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall.