Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:   That Councillor Mrs S Collop be appointed as Vice-Chair for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor J Rust (Chair), F Bone, J Lowe, C Joyce, D Sayers and Mrs M Wilkinson.

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

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 June 2023 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 to report.

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.

There were no Members present pursuant to Standing Order 34.

There was no Chair’s correspondence.

There were no schemes to put forward for Parish Partnership funding.

Councillor Colwell informed the Committee that he was working on a scheme for improvements to the Walks area as County Councillor and would provide the Committee with further information as soon as possible.

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The Assistant Director provided an update on the provision of accessible play areas in the Walks, King’s Lynn.  He explained that the Informal Working Group had met on 10 August 2023, and he was currently in the phase of building the proposal together with a draft questionnaire for Members to complete on-line and to provide hard copies for people to complete at the Walks and other locations within the next couple of weeks. 

He was also in the process of checking with the Civic Society and Fields in Trust that they were happy with the proposals.  A response had been received from the Civic Society, but he was waiting for a response from Fields in Trust.  He had also clarified that no planning consents would be required. 

The deadline for submitting the bid was in December and he could see no reason why that timescale could not be met.  He added that he was grateful to those Members who had submitted letters of support from organisations, which was helpful.

In response to a comment from Councillor Jones, the Assistant Director undertook to resend the proposed plans and location for the equipment with the minutes.

Councillor Colwell referred to the last meeting of the Informal Working Group, where it had been suggested that Members could reach out to other organisations and asked if there had been a positive response.  The Assistant Director advised that he had received a number of letters of support from other organisations.  He offered to share the responses with the Informal Working Group to consider if there was anyone else that would be useful in terms of supporting the application.

Councillor Kemp added that it was important that all play areas contained accessible play equipment.

The Assistant Director explained that the bid he was preparing was for the Walks only, the funding that was available would only be for one play area.  The report that went to Cabinet referred to a scheme at the Walks and anything else would require additional funding.  This was an aspiration to provide play accessible play equipment in all play areas and Members and Cabinet would have to look at that as necessary when play areas came up for renewal. 

Councillor Kemp added that the West Norfolk Youth Advisory Board ultimately wanted to ensure that all plays areas had accessible equipment, and this needed to be taken into account when designing new play areas.

The Committee noted the Cabinet’s Forward Decision list and Committee Work Programme.

Councillor Mrs Collop stated that at the last meeting the Committee considered a report regarding the installation of a bus shelter at Tesco’s Gaywood and asked what the current situation was in relation to it.

The Assistant Director advised that he would consult with Property Services and his response would be sent to the whole Committee.

Councillor Ware advised that she had a photograph of the design of the new bus shelter and handed it round to the Committee to view.

Gaywood River and the Middleton Stop Drain

The Chair explained that communication had been received from the Environment Agency in relation to the Middleton Stop Drain and Gaywood River. 

Councillor Colwell referred to the information provided from the Environment Agency and commented that the state of the local rivers should be one of the key issues which the Council was considering so that commitment and concerns could be placed on record and those responsible agencies could do more to help.  He hoped that the Council could bring the necessary agencies together so that a positive future plan could be achieved.  He added that Gaywood River ran through the town centre and should be one of the highlights of the town / Walks, instead he received comments / letters from concerned residents about the state of the water.

Councillor Kemp stated that the wildlife was not in the river as it should be which also ran at the end of Sydney Street and the Southgates Park, and was green and full of algae. She added that it should be a live running stream again.

Councillor Heneghan added that it appeared that everyone was in agreement that something needed to be done.  The Chair suggested that it should be passed to the E&C Panel for consideration with the Committee also invited to attend.

Councillor Colwell stated that he had the names of two people who would like to talk to the Committee / E&C Panel:

·        Andy Millar - was the newly appointed Nature Recovery Partnership Manager for Norfolk & Suffolk County Council.

·        Dr Sarah Taigel – was a GIS and fluvial specialist and helping develop citizen science projects on the Gaywood river. 

AGREED:       That the item be placed on the E&C Work Programme.

The following items were identified to be added to the work programme:

·        Litter / Dog Poo Bins – how to obtain them / how much was spent in the area.

Councillor Colwell requested a map which showed litter / dog poo bins for the area.

Councillor Colwell also requested that Changing Place toilets be added to the work programme, as he was concerned that the Borough had fallen behind other areas. The only place which he was aware of was Tesco at Gaywood and there were none in the town centre.   He understood that the Changing place planned for Lynnsport was not now going ahead. 

Councillor Jones stated that there was some budget for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on Thursday 16 November 2023.

The next meeting of the Committee was scheduled for Thursday 16 November 2023 at 6pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall to consider the Special Expenses.