Agenda and draft minutes

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Contact: Kathy Wagg 

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Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Introductions

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  He advised the Committee that the meeting was being broadcast live on You Tube.

 

Click here to view a recording of the meeting.

 

 

2.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence. 

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 280 KB

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

Minutes:

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

4.

Declarations of Interest

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.

 

 

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

Urgent Business

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.

 

 

Minutes:

There was no urgent business to report.

6.

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

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.

 

 

Minutes:

There were no Members present pursuant to Standing Order 34.

7.

Chairman's Correspondence (if any)

Minutes:

There was no Chair’s correspondence to report.

8.

Report of the Informal Working Group - Open Space Review pdf icon PDF 159 KB

Minutes:

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The Chair invited John Greenhalgh to present the report from the Informal Working Group.

 

He explained that the Working Group consisting of Councillors Bone, Kemp and Rust met with officers on two occasions 15 September and 14 October. 

 

At the meeting held on 15 September the Working Group received a report from Nathan Johnson listing and detailing the existing play areas in King’s Lynn.  As a result and prior to making a decision, the Informal Working Group decided to visit the play / recreational areas listed for a visual survey.

 

At the meeting held on 14 October 2020, the Informal Working Group reported back on the visual survey and received example costings for various pieces of equipment and also estimates for repairs and improvements to the Wisbech Road Play area. 

 

The Working Group were also informed that in addition to the £30,000 capital funds held within the 2020/2021 budget, a further £20,000 was estimated to be available as a result of an underspend on Special Expenses following the decision to utilise South Lynn Community Centre for staffing purposes during Covid-19.

 

The Assistant Director drew the Committee’s attention to the recommendations, outlined in the report.

 

The Chair then invited Councillor Rust, a member of the Informal Working Group to outline their recommendations.

 

Councillor Rust commented that in fact King’s Lynn, as a whole, was well provided for and the Council should be proud of what was available for children and young people. 

 

Councillor Rust also thanked Nathan Johnson for the information that he had provided to the Informal Working Group.

 

Councillor Rust reminded the Committee that at the last Special Expenses Meeting, the Committee had voted to allocate £30,000 to South Lynn.  Cabinet then agreed that the £30,000 should be allocated across the whole of King’s Lynn area.

 

She added that Councillor Kemp had put forward a strong case for her area, but the Informal Working Group had identified other areas which required further play equipment.  It was also noted that there was a lack of equipment for those with access needs.

 

Some of the issues that had been raised related to maintenance issues rather than capital, which the budget of £30,000 was for.

 

Councillor Rust felt that the Informal Working Group should continue to review the play equipment in King’s Lynn and develop areas for young people.

 

Councillor Rust urged the Committee to endorse the recommendations set out in the report.

 

Councillor Kemp also endorsed the recommendations and stated that she also considered that the Informal Working Group should continue with an ongoing review of play areas.

 

The Chair then invited questions from the Committee.

 

Following a comment from Councillor Mrs Wilkinson, the Assistant Director stated that it would be important to keep this Informal Working Group going and maintenance issues could also be looked at as part of the review.

 

Councillor Mrs Collop informed the Committee that there had been a lot of anti-social behaviour at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

King's Lynn Special Expenses Report - to follow pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Minutes:

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The Assistant Director, Resources presented a report and reminded the Committee that one of its Terms of Reference was “to act as a consultative forum on the funding raised by, and utilisation of the King’s Lynn Special Expenses, and to offer input on priorities for this expenditure and of appropriate the level of funds to be raised”.

 

The Assistant Director drew the Committee’s attention to the Council Tax base for King’s Lynn for 2022/2022 which stood at 10,660.2 which was a decrease of 11.9 from 2020/2021. 

 

The Committee noted the main movements between the special expenses charge for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, which related to:

 

·       Footway lighting

·       Open Spaces; and

·       Bus Shelters

 

The Assistant Director responded to questions from the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:   That the Committee endorsed the Special Expenses charge for 2021/2022 as set out in 2.2 of the report.

10.

Committee's Work Programme and Cabinet's Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 152 KB

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Click here to view this item on You Tube

 

Cllr Joyce asked for the Local Plan to be added to the work programme.

11.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for Thursday 28 January 2021.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Thursday, 28 January 2020.  The time of the meeting would be advised in due course.