Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.  Councillor Morley was absent for the start of the meeting and was substituted by Councillor Ryves.

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 Chair.

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 Chair 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 Chair of their intention to do so and what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.  

Councillor Howland – all items.

Councillor Joyce – RD78.

Councillor Kemp – all items.

Councillor Morley – all items.

Councillor Rose – RD80.

If any.

There was none.

Members are requested to consider the report (to follow) and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

The Chair reminded the Panel that they had previously considered the draft Strategy, the consultation responses and the long list of options.  They were now being presented with the Implementation Plan prior to it being presented to Cabinet.

Officers explained that the consultants had now produced the report which had reviewed all the proposals and took into consideration comments made following the consultation exercise.  There were now 33 schemes contained within the Implementation plan, which were prioritised into short, medium and long term. 

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Middleton to the meeting for this item.

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

Councillor Morley addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He explained that the Strategy should be based on how King’s Lynn and West Norfolk would look up to the year 2036.  He explained that movement, transport and the geographical area could change considerably over time and this should be accounted for.  He commented that he did not feel the Strategy went far enough in this respect as the implementation plan was just a list of schemes and deeper thought was required on the aspirations for the future.

The Portfolio Holder for Development, Councillor Blunt acknowledged that a lot of factors could change over the time of the implementation plan, however, he felt that the short and medium term schemes addressed issues which were apparent now whilst also allowing for future growth.  He explained that all schemes would be considered in further detail and could be reviewed if required.

The Environmental Health Manager explained that the scheme did not just focus on traffic and roads.  It also looked at improvements to cycling networks, trains and pedestrians. 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Long commented that it was important to have this strategy in place.  He explained that he had raised concerns previously that there was not a strategy for King’s Lynn and so the Council had worked jointly with Norfolk County Council to bring it forward.  He acknowledged that things could change in the future and if required the Strategy and Implementation Plan could be reviewed.

The Chair acknowledged that this was the first version of the Implementation Plan and was pleased to hear that there may be the opportunity to review in the future.

Councillor de Whalley asked how the Council’s carbon reduction aspirations and the Environmental Policy would be dovetailed into the Strategy.  The LDF Manager explained that Norfolk County Council was planning a review of their Local Transport Plan and the results of this may provide information which could inform the King’s Lynn Transport Strategy.  Other Council Policies and priorities could be taken into consideration when progressing schemes.

Councillor de Whalley asked how schemes would be prioritised and the LDF Manager explained that schemes would be monitored and further detailed work could be carried out as required.  He also referred to the Strategy document which included the objectives to improve the economic prospects of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD78:

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report which contained information on the corporate performance monitoring undertaken during quarter 2 2019-2020.

He explained that there were two indicators that had not met target:

-        BD1 - % of rent achievable on industrial estates.

-        BD3 - % of rent achievable on rent/general units.

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer reported that the two indicators mentioned above were now on target for quarter 3.

There were also seven indicators that were for monitoring purposes only.

The Chair thanked the Senior Policy and Performance Officer for his report and congratulated all those involved in ensuring that performance was meeting target.

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

Members will receive an update from officers.

Members will then breakout into groups to create a SWOT analysis of Car parking, before feeding back their ideas to the Panel.

The Assistant Director, Operations and Commercial provided the Panel with an update on Car Parking Operations.  A copy of his presentation is attached.

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

The Portfolio Holder for Commercial Services, Councillor Kunes responded to a question regarding fees and charges and explained that they were currently being discussed and would be finalised soon.

In response to a question it was confirmed that it was currently more cost effective to process coin payments over card payments.

Councillor Rose addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He asked for clarification on yellow zig zags outside of schools.  The Assistant Director explained that there were often issues with parking outside of schools and parking operations would respond with appropriate and proportional action.  He explained that action could be taken if people parked on zig zags which were backed up by a Traffic Regulation Order.  The Assistant Director also explained that the team received a lot of information and intelligence and would use this to plan their workload.

Councillor Howland addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He referred to parking on pavements.  The Assistant Director explained that if a vehicle was parked alongside a yellow line then action could be taken.  If there was no yellow line this would become a Police issue and action would only be taken if the vehicle was causing an obstruction to wheelchair users and push chairs.

Councillor Morley addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He asked if there was spare capacity in Council owned car parks.  The Assistant Director explained that there were many factors that affected car park usage and capacity.  He explained that if it was icy or snowed, the top level of some car parks would be closed which would reduce capacity, but in general there were always parking spaces available, usually at St James Multi Storey, and there was also a healthy turnover.

Councillor de Whalley asked about paying by phone and it was explained that this was included in the card payment figures and was a popular way to pay for parking.  Councillor de Whalley also asked about income from overpayments as machines did not give change and it was explained that there was a procedure for dealing with coin payments and overpayments varied.

Councillor Ryves asked if car parking income figures were available and the Assistant Director advised that these would be included in the Budget Papers which would be considered by Cabinet on 4^th February 2020.  If Members of the Panel had any questions relating to car parking income once the budget papers had been released, they were advised to contact the Assistant Director.

In response to a question from Councillor Manning it was explained that parking was decriminalised in this area in 2011.

Councillor Morley addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34 and asked if free parking would ever be an option for King’s Lynn.  The Assistant Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item RD80:

The Vice Chair reported that an update on the work of the CIL Governance Task Group would be presented to the Panel in March.

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme and the addition of a meeting on 15^th April 2020 was noted.

To note that the next meeting of the Regeneration & Development Panel is scheduled to take place onTuesday 10^th March 2020 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place.

The next meeting of the Regeneration and Development Panel would be held on Tuesday 10^th March 2020 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.