Agenda and minutes

The notes of the meeting held on 12 April 2017 were approved as a correct record. 

In response to a question from Councillor Moriarty regarding the fact that not all the names can be read on the maps, it was explained that there was a lot of information contained within the maps, but it had been important to make them available quickly. Consultees had been given electronic files so they could see the area. Ultimately new mapping would be produced for the next stage of the Sustainability Appraisal.

In response to the points raised on page 7 it was confirmed that this had been taken into account.  With regard to p8 comment, this had not been taken on board by the Assistant Director S Ashworth.

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 Members should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These 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.

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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.

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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.

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Jemma Curtis, Regeneration Programmes Manager gave a presentation on the Hunstanton Master Plan, its background and its future from a regeneration and economic perspective.

A summary of the presentation was that in 2008 the initial Master Plan was agreed addressing town centre and seafront issues to take the town forward as a year round destination offer.  The documentary framework spanned 20 years, of which it was 9 years in.

Seven key sites in the town had been identified, the Council had a strong role to help shape those sites.

What had been done:

External funding had been attracted from RDP, HLF, NCC, Sport England.

Public Realm Schemes of the Spinney and the High Street had been completed and the Sailing Club and Heritage Gardens renovations were still in progress.

What Next:

The current evidence base and the Masterplan needed updating.

In 2015 DCLG launched the Coastal Community Team (CCT) initiative.   Hunstanton was given CCT designation with £10,000 funding which was used to complete an Economic Plan and commission a visitor survey to update the Plan.  The survey results were available on the website. 

The masterplan update, titled “The Prospectus”  had been produced by the CCT which brought the policies up to date and set out the priorities for the next 10 years.

Hunstanton CCT – was made up from representatives from the Borough, Town Council, Chamber of Trade/businesses, Tourism Forum.  They had set out the priority themes as follows:

·        Tourism, Leisure and Events

·        Heritage and Environment

·        Employment and Services

·        Transport and Movement

·        Development Sites

The Future showed the One Public Estate working together to co-ordinate public sector services in the town in order to release sites for redevelopment.   It was also planned to try to encourage the visitors to the area to stay overnight or beyond 3pm.

The Task Group discussed the presentation and the MasterPlan.  The following issues were raised:

·        The disappearance of the sand on the beach.

·        The closure of all shops etc at 5pm and the number which were closed after October, compared with the example of places which were open on unexpected days and had large visitor numbers.

·        The increase in the resident numbers which would require servicing by the town.

·        The changing perception towards the McCarthy and Stone development.

·        The access to the town via the A149

·        The parking available in the town – there should be no reduction in parking availability

·        The fact that the caravan parks were totally self contained so visitors didn’t need to leave the site.

·        The survey showed that visitors wanted more family based attractions.

·        More linkage with other resorts along the coast

·        The need for further medical facilities

The Local Plan Manager explained that the item would be considered in the next Core Strategy to ensure it was incorporated into Planning Policy.

The Task Group received a table showing each of the different Policies within the Core Strategy and what the progress was on its review. 

In discussing CS03 and the inclusion of the Heritage Action Zone within the document, it was agreed that officers be invited to give an explanation on the HAZ and how it would feed into the process to a future meeting.

CS06 – it was confirmed that the policy would take precedence over the Local Plan allocations if there were no allocations for a settlement.

CS09 – Dialogue was continuing with Norfolk County Council on the provision of housing for the elderly in order to accommodate the elderly population.

CS12 – the Authority was being seen as a trailblazer for this element with £40,000 in funding raised for the environmental issues.

CS14 – CIL had now taken over this element.

SADMP Policy

DM3 – In response to whether a linear approach included back gardens it was noted that in smaller villages and hamlets some boundaries and limits would have to be drawn up, but the housing white paper meant that there could be more.

DM21 – The flood risk plans would be updated, the SFRA would be a reference point.  Discussions were being held with the Environment Agency.

New Policies

The list of new policies to be included was discussed

New Policy or considerations for further thought

A list of those for consideration and further thought were included with the papers. 

A discussion was held on the Brownfield Register, the contents of which were in the hands of the authority, but further information was awaited on the subject matter.  With regard to Planning Permission in Principle, Members felt it gave carte blanche to a planning permission.

Studies

The list of studies, who they would be carried out by, and the progress on the reviews was set out in the papers.

The Task Group noted that the documentation would be kept under review and progress reported upon.

Peter Jermany presented a Retail Overview of King’s Lynn Town Centre which was required to be reviewed under CS10.  In previous years the work had been undertaken by consultants, but the review, by way of a refresh had been carried out by Felix Beck, Graduate Planner, by looking at the retail floor space available, the vacancies etc.  The report looked to see if the existing policy approach to the town centre extension was still valid.  The outcome of the work showed that there was still a need for an additional 20,000 m2 of retail floorspace in the town centre.  The provision should be supported by a raft of other policy measures which would support the King’s Lynn Town Centre Partnership and BID; aiming for qualitative improvement of the town centre and fighting current deficiencies.  It recommended that the redevelopment of vacant units  and sites to house new development along with the re-use of smaller units with strategies for (unused) upper floors should be the focus.

A discussion ensued on out of town and town centre shopping provision, and it was acknowledged that it was still necessary to look at the employment land element, including Enterprise Zones.  There were still unimplemented permissions on the out of town area still in force along with the Post Office site  still to progress.   It was acknowledged that the Government had indicated that councils should not spend too long on such updates and refreshes.

Alex Fradley, Planner,  gave an update on the Neighbourhood Planning element as follows:

North Runcton and West Winch – the Examiner had started work and was asking a number of questions, the answers which were provided by officers were published on the web site.  It was noted that the Examiner was the same as had carried out the Examination at St Ives, the Plan  had undergone many amendments.

Walpole Cross Keys – the examination was due to start this week

16 Further parishes had expressed an interest including: Heacham, the Burnhams, Gayton, Castle Acre and Tilney All Saints.

It was confirmed that the Government had committed to the funding of the process at the present time, although concern was expressed at the amount of officer time having to be spent on the process.

The next meeting of the Task Group will take place on Wednesday 14 June 2017 at 10 am in the Miles Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.