Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor 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.

Councillors Bird, Pope and Wing-Pentelow were present for all items.

If any.

The Chairman reported that he had received two items of correspondence from Councillors relating to the South East King’s Lynn Strategic Growth Area/ West Winch Relief Road and would forward the correspondence to the relevant officers and Portfolio Holder.

The Panel will receive an update on the above.  The Consultant involved in production of the Infrastructure Delivery Plan will also be present at the meeting.

The Panel are requested to consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

Members received a presentation from the LDF Manager, Strategic Housing Officer and Principal Planner (as attached).  The Panels attention was drawn to the Cabinet Report and the recommendations to proceed with the work involved to bring forward the Strategic Growth Area.

The Panel welcomed James Brierley from Gerald Eve Consultants to the meeting.  James Brierley explained that he had been working on the Infrastructure Delivery Plan which was aimed to support the viable commercial aspects of the plan and took into consideration the National Planning Policy Framework and the Local Plan.  He explained that it also set out how development could be delivered and relevant timescales.  Members noted that it was an eighteen year plan and estimated costs had to be taken into consideration due to the extensive time period.

The Panel was informed that meetings had been held with key stakeholders and land owners to inform them of the proposals.

The Principal Planner provided the Panel with information on the Hopkins Homes Planning Application which had been submitted and would deliver development on a portion of the site.  It was explained that an outline application with reserved matters had been submitted and Hopkins Homes would be required to contribute towards infrastructure in terms of the Infrastructure Delivery Plan.

The LDF Manager drew attention to the recommendations as set out in the report which would allow officers to prepare the necessary Section 106 agreement and submit an outline planning application for the rest of the site, working with land owners.

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

Councillor Pope addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He asked for detail on how much the borough council would be required to contribute financially.  The Chief Executive explained that the borough council had contributed to phase one which included the design of the road.  Norfolk County Council funding and business rate pool funding had also been used.  Another application had been submitted to the business rates pool for the next stage of the work, which would be match funded by the borough council.  Land owners would also be required to contribute and it was noted that Norfolk County Council owned some land in the area so would be asked to contribute in the same way as other land owners.  It could also be possible that the borough council would have to fund some work up front and then reclaim it from the developers once development had started and they had funds available.

The Chief Executive explained that this was a strategic site and development was important in order to achieve the five year land supply, therefore it was crucial that the borough council supported land owners and encouraged development to come forward on the site.

Councillor Pope referred to the eighteen year plan and commented that costs could increase by then.  The Chief Executive explained that the borough council would continue to look for funding opportunities to deliver  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD56:

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report which contained information on the corporate performance monitoring undertaken during quarter one, 2018-2019.  It was explained that there were fourteen targets which fell within the remit of the Regeneration and Development Panel, ten of which had met their targets.  Four of the indicators did not yet have targets.

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

Councillor Smith congratulated those involved in working to ensure that targets were met.

Councillor Mrs Collingham commented that the report was very well written and very easy to understand.

RESOLVED: The Panel reviewed the performance monitoring report and agreed the actions outlined in the report.

To consider the attached summary report and note that the action plan will be presented to Cabinet in due course.

The LDF Manager presented the report and explained that an action plan would be created and submitted to Cabinet which would set out the intentions of the Council in relation to custom and self-build opportunities.  He explained that the action plan was a result of the work of the Custom and Self-Build Policy Development Task Group and joint working with Mario Wolf who was a leading expert in the area.  The Panel was provided with a brief overview of the work of the Task Group, how they had worked with Mario Wolf and the public event which had been held.

The purpose of the action plan was to co-ordinate the activities of a number of departments and promote awareness to Members on the importance of custom and self-build.  The action plan incorporated promotion, facilitation and enabling of opportunities and actions were prioritised into short, medium and long term. 

The Chairman thanked the LDF Manager for his report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

Councillor Crofts referred to the action relating to providing guidance and advice to those interested in custom and self-build opportunities.  He asked if advice would be chargeable in a similar way to planning pre-application advice.  The Strategic Housing Officer explained that this would depend on the extent of the advice and more work would be carried out to determine the offers which would be made available.

Councillor Bird addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He informed those present that he was a Member of the Task Group and he was pleased to see that things were now moving forward.  He hoped to see some of the actions progressed before the next Borough Election and he also referred to the varying demographics within the borough and hoped that opportunities would be brought forward which would be attractive to different areas and different types of people.  Councillor Bird commented that he supported the action plan.

The Portfolio Holder for Development, Councillor Blunt, informed those present that he was Chairman of the Task Group and he was also pleased to see the action plan coming into fruition.  He also referred to the event which was held and commented that this had gone really well and had resulted in a lot of follow up work and interest.  Councillor Blunt commented that it was now important to focus on delivery and his aim was to bring forward a council owned site for custom and self-build development. 

In response to a question from Councillor Smith, it was explained that short term actions were within one to two years, medium was two to five years and long term was five years plus.

In response to a question from the Chairman, Councillor Gidney, it was explained that Neighbourhood Plan Parishes had the opportunity to define sites for custom and self-build opportunities if they so wished and officers would raise awareness of these opportunities to Parishes as required.

Councillor Blunt, the Portfolio Holder for Development, commented that one of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD58:

The Panel is asked to consider excluding the public from the meeting under section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 for consideration of the appendices for the item on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act

The Executive Director presented the proposals (as attached).  He explained that the Guildhall Informal Working Group had originally come up with the idea for a cinema at the White Barn to generate footfall, however the future of the Guildhall was now going in a different direction and there was the opportunity to pursue this idea for the underused upstairs bar area at the Corn Exchange.

The Executive Director provided the Panel with statistics on cinema usage, costs to develop the space and information which had been provided in the consultant’s report.  He commented that the offer would support the leisure offer in the town centre and the evening economy.

The Executive Director explained that he had met with the owner of the Majestic Cinema, who was supportive of the proposals for the Corn Exchange, with his reason being that the offers could complement each other and this would also mean that an out of town cinema offer would be more unlikely, which could have a severe detrimental effect on the Majestic Cinema and the night time economy in the town centre.

The Executive Director explained that there was the option to create one larger, or two smaller screens in the bar area, with the preferred option being two smaller screens with approximately sixty seats each.  Members’ attention was drawn to the revenue projections and timescales as set out in the presentation.

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

In response to a question from Councillor Baron Chenery of Horsbrugh, the Executive Director explained that the back row of seats would be removable to provide space for wheelchair users.

In response to a question from Councillor Crofts, it was confirmed that refreshments would be permitted in the cinema.

Councillor Mrs Collingham commented that village cinema clubs were growing in popularity and could be competition for King’s Lynn.  She explained that King’s Lynn Cinema Club currently used the Guildhall and commented that there may be an opportunity for them to use the Corn Exchange.  She also asked for information on the types of films which would be shown.  The Executive Director explained that a variety of films would be shown including Blockbusters which would hopefully be shown when they were first released.  He also explained that he had met with representatives from King’s Lynn Cinema Club who were supportive of the proposals and would potentially be interested in using the facilities.

The Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and Health, Councillor Mrs Nockolds explained that other options for the cinema could include specialist clubs, Saturday morning clubs, parent and toddler, under 5’s, and film festivals.  There also may be opportunities to work with organisations such as Creative Arts East.

Councillor Mrs Collingham commented that it was important to improve the evening offer in King’s Lynn and the cinema offer could also benefit food and beverage businesses in the town centre.

Councillor Smith commented that he preferred the option for two  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD59:

The following were identified for possible future consideration by the Panel:

·        An update on the Hunstanton Southern Seafront Masterplan would be presented in March 2019.

·        Street Lighting – possible item for the Environment and Community Panel to consider.

·        It was noted that Grounds Maintenance would be considered by the Environment and Community Panel at its meeting in December 2018.

·        Councillor Smith reported that the Heritage Action Zone Informal Working Group would present their report to the panel in April.

·        At the request of Councillor Mrs Collingham an update on the Guildhall was provided by the Executive Director.

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 11^th December 2018 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel would be held on Tuesday 11^th December 2018 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.