Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: Councillor Whitby was appointed Vice Chairman for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs Collingham, Gidney, Manning, Lawrence and A Tyler.

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.

There was none.

If any.

There was none.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the Corporate Performance Monitoring Report for Quarter 2 2018-2019. He explained that there was no action report included and this was because none of the indicators were failing to meet their target, which was good news.  He explained that indicators relating to planning and housing had been performing well, but it was crucial to keep these monitored as Quarter 3 was traditionally a quieter period for house sales and development generally. 

There were no questions from the Panel.

RESOLVED: The Panel reviewed the performance monitoring report.

To receive an update from officers.

The Panel was reminded that they had previously received an update on the South East King’s Lynn Strategic Growth Area and Relief Road, most recently the Panel had considered the Cabinet Report from 13^th November 2018 and the Panel had endorsed the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP).

The LDF Manager explained that the IDP included an understanding of the infrastructure required to deliver housing in the area, including viability assessments.  It was noted that because of the eighteen year delivery period some assumptions had to be made.

The IDP had been endorsed by Cabinet and would be used for discussions with land owners and to provide an understanding of the Section 106 agreements.  The Panel was informed that the council were taking an active approach to delivery in the growth area and it was acknowledged that there would be a lot of work involved because of the multi ownership of the area. 

The LDF Manager explained that it was anticipated that the council would put forward an outline planning permission for the whole of the site which would provide detail for landowners on what could be expected in terms of the type of development and section 106 agreements which were likely to be required.

The Panel was informed that the council had applied for government grant funding, but this had been unsuccessful.  However, the Council had been awarded some funding from the Norfolk Business Rates Pool, which would be used to take forward the planning application.

‘Buy in’ from land owners was crucial and officers would work with land owners to promote the benefits of working together to deliver development in the growth area.  Officers were in the process of creating a timeline and work streams and work was also ongoing regarding the design of the West Winch Relief Road, working with developers, land owners, Highways England and Norfolk County Council.  The design of the road was underway and specialist studies were ongoing.  It was anticipated that a design of the road would be available in April. 

The Panel was informed that meetings had been arranged with landowners and the local community to ensure that they were kept up to date and involved in the process.

The Chairman thanked officers for their presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

In response to a question from Councillor Crofts it was explained that allocated site F was part of the growth area and no specific progress had been made on this site, other than that it had been included in the IDP.  The Panel was also informed that extra capacity in the highways network would be required before some of the development could come forward and development would need to be phased as necessary.

In response to a question from Councillor Mrs Watson, it was clarified that the amount of housing had not been exactly specified, but it was anticipated that up to 4,000 homes could be delivered.  It was explained that allocations had been made in  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD81:

At the Panel Meeting on 30^th October 2018 the Panel received a summary of the Custom Build Action plan and resolved that the action plan be created and submitted to Cabinet at the appropriate time.  The action plan will be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 5^th February 2019.

The Panel are requested to consider the action plan and the report to Cabinet and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

The Housing Strategy Officer presented the report and reminded the Panel that in October 2018 the Panel had considered the draft summary of the action plan, supported creation of the action plan and agreed for it to be presented to Cabinet.

The Housing Strategy Officer reminded the Panel that in 2015 the Panel had established the Custom and Self Build Policy Development Task Group to take forward the duties placed on the Local Authority through the introduction of the Custom and Self Build Act, which included the requirement to create a register of individuals who were interested in custom and self-build opportunities and meet the demand through the availability of serviceable plots.

The Panel was provided with an overview of the work carried out by the Task Group and it was explained that the council had had the opportunity to work with Mario Wolf who was the lead on the National Custom Build Task Force.  The challenge session with Mario Wolf had resulted in the creation of the action plan which set out what the council planned to do to fulfil their statutory obligations and wider opportunities.

The Panel was informed that the Task Group would monitor progress against the action plan and updates could be presented to the Regeneration and Development Panel as required.

The Chairman thanked officers for their report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Projects and Assets, Councillor Beales, congratulated officers on a very detailed and easy to read report.  He explained that he had personal experience with developing a site and there were a lot of things that needed to be considered, for instance affordable housing and CIL requirements.  He referred to action 12 which set out how the council would provide guidance and assistance to those interested in custom and self-build opportunities.  He stated that this was key to encouraging land owners and individuals to take opportunities forward.  Councillor Smith asked that any guidance produced be made easy to understand.

The Portfolio Holder for Development, Councillor Blunt explained that officers and the Task Group had a lot of work to do and he hoped that the result of this would be to provide opportunities for housing to be delivered.  It was noted that custom and self-build planning applications were now coming forward as the potential was realised. 

RESOLVED: The Panel supported the recommendations to Cabinet as set out below.

It is recommended that the Action Plan be approved.

The document attached to the agenda outlines the request from Councillor Bird for the item to be considered.

Members may be interested in referring to the Business Premises Needs Assessment which was published in April 2018 and is available at https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/5162/business_premises_needs_assessment.pdf

Depending on the nature of Members discussion it may be necessary to go into closed session for part of the item.  In this case the following resolution will need to be passed:

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

The Panel was informed that this item had been added to the agenda at the request of Councillor Bird.  Councillor Bird was present at the meeting and introduced Mike Ruston, Vice Chairman of the Hunstanton Coastal Community Team who had accompanied him to the meeting.

Councillor Bird felt that there was a need for more commercial premises in Hunstanton.  He referred to the Business Premises Needs Assessment which had been commissioned by the Borough Council, a link to the survey had been included in the Agenda.

Councillor Bird felt that the results of the survey backed up his suggestion in that there was a need for commercial premises in the North Western corner of Norfolk.  He referred to land allocated for employment in the local plan, which was allocated for a care home complex and open market housing.  He explained that the creation of houses with care could provide full and part time jobs in the area, which would be a benefit to Hunstanton.  Councillor Bird also commented that the creation of workshop space would also provide employment opportunities.

Councillor Bird highlighted that there was an imbalance of current working options for locals, that there was an overwhelming need to redress this by offering employment on a year round basis rather than depend so completely on seasonal work.  He also commented that Hunstanton was a separate offer to King’s Lynn and the provision of employment and how the area was promoted and marketed needed to be adjusted accordingly.

Councillor Bird suggested that there could be an Enterprise Zone or Service Centre established in Hunstanton, but with separate marketing and promotion to facilities in King’s Lynn.

Councillor Bird made reference to the following sites in Hunstanton, which he considered to have potential to provide commercial premises and employment opportunities:

·        Site allocated for employment in the local plan.

·        Valentine Road Building

·        Hunstanton Bus Station

·        Southend Road Car Park Frontage

·        Coach Park

·        Smithdon School Playing field

·        Redundant Infant School, Valentine Road

·        Amalgamation of the Ambulance, Police and Fire Station

·        Keith Brown Autos and redundant empty bike shop.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Bird for his presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

The Chairman enquired if some of the sites and aspirations mentioned by Councillor Bird were already being addressed as part of the Hemingway Masterplan work.  Councillor Bird did not think that they were because the Hemingway work was all about developing the leisure and tourism offer, whereas his aspiration was to provide commercial and employment opportunities all year round.

The Portfolio for Corporate Projects and Assets, Councillor Beales, thanked Councillor Bird for his presentation and for highlighting specific issues, many of which the Council were already aware of and looking at opportunities through One Public Estate and the Hemingway Masterplan work.  He acknowledged that progress was slow, which could be frustrating, but he assured Councillor Bird, that these sites were being considered and opportunities were being looked at.

Councillor Smith acknowledged that it was important to try  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD83:

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.

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 12^th March 2019 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

Members are requested to note that they have been invited to the Corporate Performance Panel Meeting on 30^th January at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall to consider the Budget.

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel would be held on Tuesday 12^th March 2019 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

Members were also reminded that they had been invited to the Corporate Performance Panel Meeting on 30^th January at 6.00pm in the Town Hall to consider the budget.