Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King's Lynn

Contact: Rebecca Parker, Democratic Services, 01553 616632 

Items
No. Item

RD28:

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Long and Mrs Watson.

RD29:

Minutes pdf icon PDF 85 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 Chairman.

RD30:

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.

RD31:

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 none.

RD32:

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:

Councillors Bambridge, Pope and Sampson – all items.

 

RD33:

Chairman's Correspondence

If any.

Minutes:

There was none.

RD34:

Corporate Performance Monitoring - 2017/2018 Full Year pdf icon PDF 148 KB

Minutes:

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report which monitored progress against agreed performance indicators for the full year 2017/2018.  The Panel was informed that twelve indicators were within the remit of the Regeneration and Development Panel and these were included in the report.  The report showed that three targets had not been met, as set out below, and an action plan was in place to address issues.  It was also highlighted that some of the reasons that the targets had not been met were because of factors which were outside of the council’s control:

 

-        CO3: % of rent achievable on industrial estates.

-        CO4: % of rent arrears on industrial estates.

-        CO5: % of rent achievable on industrial units.

 

The Chairman thanked the Senior Policy and Performance Officer for his report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Crofts, the Property Services Manager explained that work was carried out to try and attract tenants such as flexible rent rates and stepped rents etc.

 

Councillor Smith referred to indicator EP3b and asked if some of the applications were historical and had been transferred across from previous reports.  The Senior Policy and Performance Officer explained that he would need to do further analysis on this and would contact Councillor Smith directly.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel reviewed the Performance Monitoring Report and agreed the actions outlined in the Action Report.

RD35:

Exclusion of Press and Public

To consider passing the following resolution:

 

“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 paragraphs 1, 2 or 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

RD36:

EXEMPT - Heritage Action Zone - Unlocking Brownfield Sites

Consultants will be present at the meeting and will provide the Panel with an overview of options for sites.  Members of the Panel will have an opportunity to debate options for each site.

 

Information on sites is attached.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed officers and the Consultants to the meeting.  The Regeneration and Economic Development Manager provided the Panel with background information on the Heritage Action Zone and the work undertaken by the consultants to look at unlocking brownfield sites.

 

The Panel was informed that there were seven options to be looked at and Members needed to take into consideration the financial viability of all options as some would deliver negative land value and have high development costs. 

 

John Neal from Historic England was present at the meeting and provided Members with background information on the Heritage Action Zone and how it could help make the most of the historical assets in King’s Lynn and enhance the social and economic value of the area.  He explained that areas needed to respond positively to their assets and look at ways to improve the townscape and provide for residents and businesses.

 

Amanda Reynolds and her colleagues from AR Urbanism provided information to the Panel on the different options for each site and the Panel was provided with the opportunity to comment on the options for each site.

 

The Panel made comments and observations on the options for each of the sites.  The comments would be considered by the consultants and officers when looking at preferred options.

 

The Panel was provided with information on the next steps, which would include creating more detailed development briefs for each of the sites and doing a study on King’s Lynn Town Centre car parking.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Projects and Assets thanked the Panel for their comments and observations.  He explained that there was still a lot more work to be done and any decisions would need to be considered at the relevant time. 

 

The Chairman felt that the Panel still had some more work to do on looking at preferred options for each site in detail.  He proposed that an Informal Working Group be set up to look at unlocking brownfield sites for development.

 

RESOLVED: (i) That an Informal Working Group be established to look at the Heritage Action Zone – Unlocking Brownfield Sites.

(ii) The following Members be appointed to the Informal Working Group:  Councillors Bambridge, Crofts, Howland, Smith and Whitby.

(iii) The Informal Working Group to conduct their work and report back to the Regeneration and Development Panel in due course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 6.00pm for a comfort break. The meeting reconvened at 6.05pm.

RD37:

EXEMPT - Riverfront/Nelson Quay

The Panel will receive an update on progress and then will participate in a Workshop session to analyse options for sites.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the officers and Consultants to the meeting.  The Panel was reminded that the Riverfront Delivery Plan had been endorsed in 2017 and work had subsequently been carried out to test and develop the scheme further. 

 

Representatives from AECOM provided the Panel with information on the work they had carried out since they had been appointed.  They had been looking at options for the Nar Loop and provided the Panel with three options to consider.

 

The Panel made comments and observations on the three options and indicated their preferred option – Option three.

 

The Panel was informed that the preferred option would be worked up in more detail.  Key Stakeholders would also be consulted and the preferred option would then be put out for public consultation.

 

The Chairman requested that the results of the public consultation on the preferred option be brought back to the Panel at the appropriate time, before any planning application was submitted.

 

RESOLVED: (i) The Panel considered all three options and the favoured option was Option 3.

(ii) The results of the public consultation on the preferred option be presented to the Panel.

RD38:

EXEMPT - Guildhall/Corn Exchange Update (20 minutes)

Minutes:

The Executive Director provided the Panel with an update on the Guildhall and Corn Exchange.  The Executive Director responded to questions from the Panel relating to the facilities and activities which could potentially be provided.

 

RESOLVED: The update was noted.

RD39:

Work Programme and Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The following items were identified for consideration on the Work Programme:

 

·        Encouraging Tourism to King’s Lynn.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

RD40:

Date of the next meeting

To note that the next meeting of the Regeneration & Development Panel is scheduled to take place on11th September 2018 at 6.00pm at Hunstanton Town Hall.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel would be held on Tuesday 11th September 2018 at 6.00pm in the Town Hall, Hunstanton.  The meeting would be preceded by a tour of the Hunstanton Southern Seafront Masterplan area.