Agenda and minutes

Venue: Assembly Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King's Lynn PE30 5DQ. View directions

Contact: Rebecca Parker, Democratic Services, 01553 616632 

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Media

Items
No. Item

RD52:

Minutes Silence for Sir David Amess MP

Minutes:

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The Chair opened the meeting and those present observed a minutes silence to commemorate the life and public service of Sir David Amess MP, send a message of love to his family and friends and a message of support to all those in politics that an attack on any of them is an attack on democracy and therefore all of us, and will not win.

RD53:

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Beal, Bower and Morley.

RD54:

Minutes pdf icon PDF 306 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

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

RD55:

Declarations of Interest

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.

Minutes:

There was none.

RD56:

Urgent Business

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

Minutes:

There was none.

RD57:

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.  

 

Minutes:

Councillors Ryves and Rust.

RD58:

Chair's Correspondence

If any.

Minutes:

There was none.

RD59:

Discover King's Lynn Renewal Proposal for a Second Term pdf icon PDF 279 KB

To consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

 

Representatives from the Business Improvement District will also be present at the Meeting and Members will have the opportunity to ask questions on the Business Plan and their priorities.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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The Chief Executive presented the Cabinet report and explained that the Council could place a vote for the continuation of the BID for a second term.  The recommendation was that the Council continued its support of the BID and the Business Plan and the Chief Executive is instructed to vote accordingly on behalf of the Council.

 

Representatives from the Business Improvement District were present at the meeting and provided information on the work carried out during the past five years, plans for the second term if the ballot was successful and the priorities and objectives of the BID as set out in the Business Plan.

 

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

 

Councillor Crofts asked if more could be done to encourage coach trips into the town centre and Vicky Etheridge explained that she had been working with the Tourism Officer at the Borough Council on encouraging visitors to the town centre.  Councillor Crofts commented that the Tuesday Market Place would be ideal for coach parking as it was central and had facilities nearby.

 

Councillor Jones asked about improvements to the appearance of vacant units, especially when the owners could not be tracked down.  He suggested that projections could go on the shop fronts to improve the appearance.  Vicky Etheridge acknowledged that it was difficult when owners could not be tracked down, but efforts were made to overcome obstacles and utilise existing business contacts.

 

Councillor Parish felt that a thriving regular market was important.  Vicky Etheridge provided details of the monthly farmers market which was held on the Saturday Market Place and the Christmas Market which had been held for the past three years.  She explained that this year the Christmas Market would be held in the vacant Argos building, which had the benefit of being indoors, in a central location and would hopefully bring visitors into the town centre.

 

Councillor de Whalley also felt it was important to have a thriving market and it was important to support independent and specialist businesses.  He also asked if the BID could assist with improving the Ferry access to the town centre.  It was explained that the work of the BID was based on the priorities which had been agreed by the levy payers and needed to be spent within the BID area.

 

Councillor Bambridge made reference to the Markets Informal Working Group that she had previously sat on a few years ago.  She felt that this work should be revisited.  She also raised concerns about the location of the Christmas Market and it was explained that work to make it look festive would be carried out and it was a central flexible space.

 

Councillor Bone referred to the market offer of the town and suggested that a flea market or car boot sale type event could be a good way to encourage people into the town centre.  Vicky  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD59:

RD60:

Christmas Market Update

To receive a verbal update from representatives from the Business Improvement District and the relevant Portfolio Holder.

Minutes:

The Panel was advised that this had been covered during consideration of the previous item.

 

RESOLVED: The update was noted.

RD61:

Tree Planting and Development Sites pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Minutes:

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The Assistant Director, Programme and Project Delivery gave a presentation on Tree Planting and Development Sites, as attached.  The presentation included a summary of tree planting and future plans for tree planting across Major Housing Project Development Sites.

 

The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for his presentation and invited questions and comments from those present, as summarised below.

 

The Vice Chair, Councillor Gidney made reference to designated land, death rates and root balls.  He felt that Planning Policies should give consideration to tree planting and staffing and resources should be considered.  The Assistant Director explained that as many trees as possible were replaced and there were only a few sites which could not be accessed because they were in private gardens.  He also provided detail on adoption of areas.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Jones, it was clarified that the type of trees planted was given consideration and more information was available in the Council’s Tree and Woodland Strategy which was available on the website and had previously been considered by the Environment and Community Panel.

 

Councillor de Whalley asked if biodiversity was considered and made reference to the maintenance of sites and antisocial behaviour.  The Assistant Director explained that a range of measures were considered in deciding which type of trees were planted in each location.  He also explained that opportunities to engage the local community and look at ways to tackle antisocial behaviour were also looked at.

 

Councillor Parish felt that resources needed to be looked at.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Development, Councillor Blunt informed the Panel that a report was being prepared on Enforcement resources to ensure that they were adequate and balanced.

 

Councillor Ryves addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34 and felt that the scheme was not good in terms of value for money or for reducing the carbon footprint.  The Assistant Director acknowledged that tree planting alone would not meet carbon net zero targets, but it all contributed and was part of the wider plan.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel noted the work being carried out.

RD62:

CIL Cabinet Report pdf icon PDF 442 KB

To consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

Minutes:

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Councillor Blunt presented the Cabinet Report which presented a number of changes to the present processes following the first round of grant applications for CIL funding.  The proposed changes were outlined to the Panel by the Planning Policy Manager and it was explained that the changes had been agreed by the CIL Spending Panel and would simplify the process.

 

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

 

Councillor Parish commented that he supported the recommendations to make the process simpler.

 

Councillor Bambridge asked if consideration could be given to making the pages easier to find on the website.

 

RESOLVED: That the Regeneration and Development Panel support the recommendations to Cabinet as follows:

 

Cabinet is recommended to make changes to the CIL Spending-Application process as set out in Section 3 of this report.

RD63:

To consider how the Panel can assist to develop policy/strategy on the Long Term Visions for Town Centres

To discuss the way forward and how the Panel can assist to develop Policy.

Minutes:

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The Chair explained that she would like the Panel to give consideration on how they could assist to develop policy and strategy on the long term visions for the Town Centres in the Borough.

 

It was suggested that Members of the Panel meet informally to come up with ideas for this and they could be presented to a future meeting possibly as part of a workshop session.

 

Members of the Panel agreed to split into groups to give each area consideration and report back to the next Panel meeting their ideas.

 

RESOLVED: That The Panel consider ways to assist developing policy and strategy for King’s Lynn, Hunstanton and Downham Market and proposals be presented to a future meeting,

RD64:

Proposals from Councillor Bubb - Two proposals for the Waterfront

The Chair has invited Councillor Bubb to the meeting to present his ideas for the Waterfront.

Minutes:

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The Chair invited Councillor Bubb to present his proposals.

 

His first idea was a touring caravan site at the Somerfield and Thomas Site in King’s Lynn which would encourage people into the town centre.  He explained that the existing building could be utilised to provide facilities for the site and would have the added benefit of providing facilities for the users of the Pontoons.

 

The Chair invited questions and comments on the proposal. 

 

Councillor Bone liked the idea, but felt that a different location, other than in the historic core of King’s Lynn should be considered.  He suggested Boal Quay.

 

Councillor Bambridge commented that any development would need to be low level and agreed that Boal Quay would be a better site.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Development, Councillor Bunt explained that there were plans for the future of the Waterfront and suggested that Councillor Bubb provide additional information on costings so that it could be looked at in more detail.

 

Councillor Crofts supported the idea, but felt that a different location should be considered.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Business, Culture and Heritage explained that there was a need for this in the camping community, but the location needed careful consideration.  He also explained that the relevant planning permissions and licences would need to be obtained, but it was worth exploring the idea further.

 

The Assistant Director commented that from the visitor economy and night time economy perspective the concept had potential.

 

Councillor Bubb then presented his second proposal which was to replace the Ferry with a transporter bridge.

 

The Vice Chair raised concerns about shipping and the expense of the project and the impact the height of the bridge would have on King’s Lynn.  He also suggested an alternative of an underpass.

 

RESOLVED: The information was noted and could be considered in the future as appropriate.

RD65:

Portfolio Holder Question and Answer Session pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Questions should be submitted to the Democratic Services Officer in advance of the meeting.

 

Attached is a response from Councillor Blunt to a question asked by Councillor Gidney at the previous meeting.

Minutes:

No questions had been submitted in advance of the meeting.

RD66:

Work Programme and Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 234 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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Councillor Bambridge referred to a recent event she had attended hosted by Historic England which covered Master planning and getting communities involved in architecture and design and she felt that it would be good for the Panel to receive similar information

 

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

RD67:

Date of the next meeting

To note that the next meeting of the Regeneration & Development Panel is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 7th December 2021 at 4.30pm in the Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel was scheduled to take place on 7th December 2021 at 4.30pm in the Town Hall.

RD68:

Towns Fund - Verbal Update

To receive a verbal update from officers.  If required, responses to questions may require the Panel to exclude the Press and Public.  The below resolution to be considered if appropriate:

 

“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”.

Minutes:

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The Assistant Director, Regeneration, Housing and Place provided the Panel with an update on the Towns Fund.  He provided information on the Local Assurance Framework and the Council’s involvement in the Town Deal Board.

 

He reminded the Panel that anything that required a Council decision would come through the normal decision making process and the Regeneration and Development Panel would have the opportunity to be involved.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Business, Culture and Heritage confirmed he had responded to Councillor Morley on questions raised at the previous meeting relating to Governance. 

 

RESOLVED: The update was noted.