Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: Councillor Mrs Wright was appointed Vice Chairman for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Beales, Buck and Collingham.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of 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.

Those 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 was none.

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 none.

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.

Councillor Bambridge – RD128, 129 and 130.

If any.

There was none.

Ian Parkes from Norfolk County Council will be attending the meeting and will provide a short update followed by a question and answer session.

Ian Parkes from Norfolk County Council was present at the meeting and provided information on previous work and current issues in King’s Lynn.  He explained that various surveys and models had been carried out as part of the King’s Lynn Area Transport Study (KLATS) to determine the impact of future development and growth on the road infrastructure.  Key ideas and measures from KLATS included:

-       Gyratory of King’s Lynn

-       Parking

-       Sand line Corridor – using the quarry Railway line to support public transport was something that could be looked at in the future.

-       Hospital Access – some improvements had been made to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital roundabout and onsite parking.

-       South East Hardwick – this would be a key growth area and included the West Winch relief road.

-       A149

-       Cycle ways

The Panel was informed that issues were categorised into strategic, operational and tactical issues.  He explained that strategic issues included the redevelopment of the Riverfront area, Boal Quay car park and the Hardings Way bus route.  It was likely that issues would arise and need consideration as the Riverfront Masterplan was taken forward.  Car parking was also a strategic issue and would need to be looked at alongside the growth of the town.

Operational issues included minor changes to the operation of the road network to make improvements, for example lane re-marking of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital roundabout, changes to the synchronisation of traffic lights and trials to turn off sets of traffic lights to try and improve the flow of traffic.

Ian Parkes explained that the King’s Lynn traffic light controllers were up to date and used the latest technology.  Traffic lights adjusted themselves automatically, however if there was a major issue it could be manually overridden remotely.  The County Hall highways control room was manned from 7.30am to 9.30am Monday to Friday.  The Business Manager explained that there was a need for more joined up working between the Police, the Borough Council and Norfolk County Council and discussions were ongoing on how all partners could work together to respond to incidents and issues in the town centre.

The Chairman thanked Ian Parkes and the Business Manager for their presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

Councillor Bambridge addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  She felt that Railway Road was dangerous and it was getting worse.  She requested that traffic calming measures be looked at in this area.  She also felt that the Friars area and Valingers Road was busy, especially around school drop off times and one option could be to make the road one way.  She explained that parking had a knock on effect on the traffic flow, especially now that the adjacent areas were resident parking only, meaning that other cars were parking elsewhere in the area.  Councillor Bambridge also commented that there were a lot of heavy vehicles and Lorries using the town centre and asked that the weight restrictions be enforced  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD128:

Members will receive background information from officers before having the opportunity to participate in workshop sessions.

Members of the King’s Lynn Area Consultative Committee have been invited to attend the meeting for this item of business.

The Chairman has suggested that it may be beneficial, for any members unfamiliar with the area to walk round the Southgates, London Road, Railway Road and Friars area in King’s Lynn.

The Chairman invited the Panel to take part in a workshop exercise to look at options for a potential second Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) bid.

The Panel were provided with information on the current THI project in the St Margaret’s with St Nicholas area and the potential conservation areas which could be considered for another THI project.

A copy of the presentation provided to the Panel is attached.

Members broke into separate groups and gave consideration to the following questions:

-       Should the Council proceed with an application for THI2?

-       What conservation area is in most need of a Townscape Heritage Programme?

-       Why is this conservation area in need of Townscape Heritage investment?

The Panel then shared their suggestions and ideas and the general consensus was that the Friars, London Road, Norfolk Street and Railway Road should be included in the Townscape Heritage 2 scheme.

The Chairman thanked officers and the Panel for their contribution.

The THI Project Officer explained that officers would consider the contributions from the Panel and return to the Panel in due course with more details on the potential scheme.

RESOLVED: Officers to consider the comments and suggestions made by the Panel and would bring back detail of the scheme at the appropriate time.

The Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and Health, Councillor Mrs Nockolds informed the Panel that the Borough Council had not been successful with the application for grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for St George’s Guildhall. 

She explained that the building was very important and other options would be explored as it was important for the building to be accessible and brought back into use.  Meetings would take place with the relevant organisations to look at the next steps and it was anticipated that future work would be carried out on a phased basis.

Councillor Mrs Nockolds explained that the bid was a national bid and very competitive with only 28% of bids being successful.  By breaking the project down into phases, regional funding could be applied for.

The Chairman thanked the Portfolio Holder for the update and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

Councillor Bambridge addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  She asked if the Heritage Lottery Fund had provided any feedback as to why the bid was unsuccessful.  Councillor Mrs Nockolds explained that the Heritage Lottery Fund were very complementary towards the scheme and suggested that the way forward would be to bid for the work in phases.

Members of the Panel reiterated the importance of the Guildhall and supported that work should be carried out to bring the buildings back into use.

Councillor Mrs Nockolds explained that there was a contingency budget available for roof repairs when required and the roof was inspected on a regular basis.

In response to a question from Councillor A Tyler, Councillor Mrs Nockolds explained that the proposals for the Guildhall had included a partially flat floor.  This would enable the Guildhall to be used for a variety of activities which could include weddings and conferences etc.  Councillor Mrs Nockolds explained that the White Barn was now being considered for office suites.

RESOLVED: That the Panel be kept updated on progress.

Members of the Panel were reminded that an eform was available on the Intranet which could be completed and submitted if Members had items which they would like to be considered for addition to the Work Programme.

Councillor Kunes asked if there was any information available on the floating restaurant proposed on the Purfleet and the Chief Executive agreed to seek a written update from the Property Services section.

Councillor Kunes also asked if any information was available on the Nar Loop development and the Panel was informed that this would be covered as part of the Riverfront Delivery Plan item which was scheduled for the next meeting.

The Chairman explained that he felt that they were a lot of interesting buildings, certain features of our rural landscape and other places worthy of note within the Borough which were outside conservation areas and thought it would be a good idea to compile a register perhaps via Parish Councils.  The Chairman asked that this be added to the work programme for a future meeting.

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

To note that the next meeting of the Regeneration & Development Panel is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 6^th June 2017 at 6.00pm in the Education Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel would be held on 28^th June 2017 at 6.00pm in the Education Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.