Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Hopkins, Lawrence, Long and Mrs Mellish.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: The minutes from the meeting held on 6^th July 2016 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 an 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 proposed 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.

Councillor Bird – EC33.

Councillor Crofts – EC33.

Councillor Pope – EC31, EC23 and EC33.

If any.

The Chairman reported that he had received correspondence from Downham Market Town Council regarding the Public Toilets Review and would read out their correspondence during consideration of the relevant item.

The Chairman explained that Members of the Panel had requested that this item be added onto the Environment and Community Panel Work Programme.  Councillor Bubb explained that he had asked for the item to be considered as he had concerns over the use of A Boards, which could cause a hazard to people with disabilities.  He also felt that consideration should be given to the amount of public seating available in popular areas, improving signage and making maps available at car park exits.

The Panel discussed street furniture and signage and made the following suggestions:

·         King’s Lynn Area Consultative Committee could look at improvements in King’s Lynn area.

·         Sponsorship of signage maps and street furniture could be investigated.

·         Dedicated and memorial seating could be used.

The Executive Director reminded the Panel that dealing with A Boards was not a Borough Council function.  It was the responsibility of Norfolk County Council Highways.  He explained that previously investigations had taken place on delegating this power to the Borough Council, however if the Borough Council took on the policing of A Boards, all businesses wishing to display an A Board would require planning consent.  The Executive Director explained that the planning fees would be in excess of £300 per A Board.  The Borough Council had therefore made the decision not to take on the controlling of A Boards due to the additional costs which would have to be paid by the Businesses wishing to display A Boards.

The Executive Director reminded those present of the Business Improvement District ballot which was due to take place later in the year.  He explained that if a Business Improvement District was established, they would have a budget available to spend for the benefit of the town centre.  He suggested that discussions take place between the Panel and the Business Improvement District once it was up and running, if the ballot was successful.

RESOLVED: (i) Urban facilities, enhancements and street furniture be added onto the Panels work programme for January 2017, so that their ideas and suggestions can then be discussed with the relevant bodies including, King’s Lynn Area Consultative Committee and the Business Improvement District.

The Waste and Recycling Manager presented the report which provided an update on waste related issues and provided information on the current work of the Norfolk Waste Partnership, Waste and Recycling Behaviour Change Programme and waste related issues.

The Panel were provided with detail on the four work streams which the Council was investigating.  Research would then be formulated into proposals, which would be brought back to the Council for consideration at the appropriate time.

The Waste and Recycling Manager referred to the Waste and Recycling Behavioural Change Programme which was being provided through Local Green Points.  The Panel were reminded that the scheme had been funded through a DCLG grant of £256,000.  More detail on the scheme was included within the report and attention was drawn to the cost on contamination within recycling.  It was explained that the cost of reject material in the MRF was up to £200,000.  The Panel was informed that some contaminates also presented a financial risk to the contract, for example the paper bales.  Inspections were carried out on the bales and if they were contaminated they would not be accepted.  The Waste and Recycling Manager explained that nappies in recycling was a huge problem, with approximately 300,000 being collected with recycling each year and paper bales would not be collected if they included any nappies.

The Waste and Recycling Manager explained that the Behavioural Change Programme would be promoted further during national recycling week and work would be carried out to promote good quality recycling.

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

In response to questions, the Waste and Recycling Manager explained that the behavioural change programme was designed to accommodate all, from those who did not feel confident and did not recycle, to those who did recycle, but could do more.

The Waste and Recycling Manager explained that to minimise contamination the team could inspect bins routinely where householders were found to contaminate bins and if they continually found contaminates they would replace the householders green bin with clear sacks, so that contaminants could easily be spotted.

The Chief Executive commented that the last thing the Council wanted to do was to be heavy handed, however contaminated waste was a cost to the tax payer.  Focus would be on education and encouragement, but if people were irresponsible, intervention would be required.

Concerns were raised regarding the food waste caddies and the Waste and Recycling Manager explained that all new residents of the Borough should receive a food waste caddy and instructions on how to use it.  He agreed to check that information was still being provided.  The Assistant Director explained that all new residents also received a Welcome Pack, which provided information on waste and recycling collections.  She agreed to check that the information was still provided.  It was suggested that information on how to dispose of nappies correctly could be provided to hospitals and given out  ...  view the full minutes text for item EC32:

The Chairman read out correspondence from Downham Market Town Council as attached.  This was noted by the officers present.

Councillor Crofts addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He commented that he would strongly support the introduction of pay to use loos.  He referred to other Local Authorities who charged for the service and felt that Hunstanton was a prime area for a trial for a paid facility.  He also supported handing over certain facilities to the relevant Parishes.  In response to a question from Councillor Crofts, it was confirmed that the costs to install pay to use loos would include equipment, but the biggest cost would be installing a power supply.

Councillor Pope addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He felt that public toilets which were associated with a car park, or which were well used should remain and those unconnected with a specific activity or underused should be reviewed.

Councillor Bird addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He referred to the public toilets in Hunstanton and explained that they were very busy during the peak season and often people were dissatisfied by the state of the toilets.  He commended the authors of the report for a full and comprehensive report.  Councillor Bird suggested that Hunstanton would be an ideal location to trial pay to use loos to see if they would be successful.  He suggested that an Informal Working Group be established to look at all of the public conveniences in the Borough.  The Public Open Space Manager explained that it was difficult to keep the public conveniences in Hunstanton refreshed during the peak season and sometimes the cleaners got verbal abuse when trying to clean during busy periods.  

The following comments were made by Members of the Panel which would be taken into consideration during the review:

·         Community toilet schemes were in place in other areas.  Businesses and Cafes etc. could be paid a fee to make their services available to the Public.

·         An independent review of public toilets in Hunstanton was carried out in 2014 and 60% of respondents had indicated that they did not want pay to use facilities in the Town.

·         The toilets in Gaywood had been closed for a number of months due to vandalism.  They were not associated with a paid car park and were underused.

·         The toilets in the Walks were well used and it was felt that these should be retained.

·         The provision of public toilets was important for encouraging tourists into the town centre.

·         Concierge services could be considered.

·         Sponsorship and advertising opportunities could be investigated.

·         Considering the amount of public toilets in the Borough there was a low level of vandalism.  Facilities subject to vandalism had either been closed, such as Gaywood, or repaired.

The Executive Director explained that his view was that the current arrangements for provision of toilets on car parks and amenities should be retained.  Other facilities should be looked at on a case by case basis and options could be considered such  ...  view the full minutes text for item EC33:

Members of the Panel were reminded that there was an eform 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.

The following additions/amendments were suggested to the Work Programme:

·         Leisure Trust update – an update had been received in July, so the update scheduled for November could be slipped.

·         Report of the Informal Working Group – Public Toilets – to be received on 23^rd November.

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted, with the above amendments.

To note that the next meeting of the Environment and Community Panel is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 12 October 2016 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn, PE30 1EX.

The next meeting of the Environment and Community Panel would be held on Wednesday 12 October 2016 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1EX.