To receive petitions and public questions in accordance with Standing Order 9.
Minutes:
Under Standing Order 9 the Mayor invited the following public questioners to pose their questions.
1) Question from Mr Alistair Beales
Mr Mayor - Council is shortly to consider the proposed KLIC External Enquiry - Terms of Reference and Appointment of Chair. Can I ask in relation to paragraphs 4 and 5 of the proposed Terms of Reference, how former elected members and officers of this Council are to be involved or perhaps not involved?
In response, Councillor Long reminded all that the terms of reference of the inquiry would be confirmed later in the meeting. He didn’t think it appropriate for him to determine how the Chair conducted the inquiry. However he considered that the inquiry would benefit from that input, although it had no power to summon those members to participate, it would be down to willingness to participate.
As a supplementary, Mr Beales commented on media reports with comments from some members of the council which did not reflect the reality. He felt that those comments failed to respect the independent inquiry and judgements should be withheld until the results were available. He asked for reassurance that the Council would continue to operate and develop in order to create jobs and development in the area.
In response Councillor Long stated that if the council allowed the media fervour to inhibit its actions it would be a disservice to the people of the Borough. He reminded all that the KLIC building was full and providing a good return, albeit with the capital investment needing to be repaid but the rate of return exceeded that being paid by any bank. Some of those companies would be needing move on space which the Council would try to facilitate. He considered there was an iconic building for King’s Lynn.
2) Question from Dr Pallavi Devulapalli
Ref: Transport Strategy as mentioned in the report by Cllr Peter Gidney.
‘’Important issues for the town include our rail link to Cambridge, road links with Cambridge and Norwich. Improvements and developments for A149 to Hunstanton and the coast. Kings Lynn Transport Strategy. This work is progressing well, there should be some ‘integrated’ proposals for scrutiny to be presented by the Autumn.’’
In view of the climate and ecological emergency we find ourselves in, I hope the council agrees that it is imperative that we reduce emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from transport in West Norfolk. West Norfolk is the area with the third highest increase in emissions nationally and rates are going up rather than down, according to the initial findings of the King’s Lynn Transportation Study, commissioned jointly by the County and Borough Councils in September 2018. The Borough has the third greatest increase in emissions in the UK 2005 to 2013 (Government Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and within Norfolk the Borough has the highest per capita CO2 emissions in Norfolk—29% higher than Norfolk average and 34% higher than the national average. (The Borough’s Local Plan Review, Sustainability, Appraisal Scoping Report Review 2017).
This is an appalling state of affairs and it arises because residents in West Norfolk have no alternative to the road when it comes to travelling. This amount of road travel is taking its toll in citizen’s health, wellbeing and productivity. The most common complaint for people in West Norfolk today is that of traffic congestion, with a huge amount of time lost to traffic jams, resulting in decreased efficiency, as well as vast expense (£1300 per annum per household according to one estimate is lost to slow moving traffic in Kings Lynn) and poorer health.
The only logical solution to this is to reinstate the train lines between Kings Lynn and Norwich, Kings Lynn and Peterborough, and Kings Lynn and Hunstanton.
A modern train line connecting the important towns in West Norfolk with the capital city would go a long way towards boosting the economy and improving people’s lives.
Can the Council assure us that they will pursue these train connections with vigour in their Transport Strategy rather than focussing on roads in the interest of citizen’s and planetary health?
Councillor Devereux, Cabinet Member for Environment responded as follows:
“Thank You Dr Pallavi for your far reaching and comprehensive question. May I apologise for my incorrect organisational attribution of you and your colleague following our meeting a couple of weeks ago, this will be corrected to Extinction Rebellion.
Your question crosses several of our Borough Council Portfolios and after discussion with colleagues we agreed that I should lead our response on this occasion to address some environmental matters and to make best use of the time available.
In the prelude to your question you mention the increase in emissions in our Borough in the period up to 2013. In my response to questions in Council in April this year (and recorded in the minutes), I reported how in 2008, this Council responded to the County-wide imperative to characterise and quantify greenhouse gas emission levels and to put in place measures to reduce them. I also referenced the comprehensive scope of work undertaken and continuing to be undertaken to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint and to improve resilience to the consequences of Climate Change. Further action was initiated to bring traffic pollution, characterised by NO2 levels into compliance with the regulations: Two Air Quality Management Areas were established in King’s Lynn and the results published regularly on the Borough Council website. The 2018 report shows that NO2 levels at Gaywood Clock have reduced from over 45 micrograms per cubic meter in 2009, to 38 in 2018; and in the Town Centre from 55 micrograms per cubic meter in 2007 to 45.5 in 2018. The draft Air Quality report for 2019 shows further reductions at both sites, continuing the solid trend downwards. All of these results demonstrate that we have acted on the evidence before us to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric pollution. Furthermore we have given a commitment that we will continue this vital work by a programme to establish a new baseline carbon footprint to inform Council decisions on further actions to reduce our emissions for the benefit of our communities.
The King’s Lynn Transportation Study is another aspect of the extensive programme of work in hand to improve the ‘quality of life’ and create a sustainable environment, including reductions in traffic emissions, for those visiting, working and living in, and around, the town. As you rightly identify, we are currently dependent on the car. This is due to the nature of our Market Town set within a large rural Borough, where distances travelled by car from highly dispersed sources are considerable, yet the population volumes travelling on any single route are barely sufficient to support a viable Bus network, let alone justify the large capital investment required for an array of new permanent-way solutions. On the other hand, the increasing demand for travel and commuting towards Cambridge and beyond is creating real opportunities to enhance the existing railway facilities and operations. So, we are working proactively with others supporting the upgrading of the rail-service between King’s Lynn and London which includes significant improvements to all of the North West Norfolk stations on this service. However, as a nationally led project with significant timescale and resourcing constraints, this Council has limited freedom of action. Consequently our prime focus is on those projects and facilities that are under our control. Of course, we will also continue to take advantage of work undertaken by others, such as the adoption of evolving automotive technology which is already starting to reduce travel related emissions. Similarly there are opportunities for stimulating changes to individual behaviours to encourage walking and cycling through joined up greenways and off-road routes.
These are some of our current priorities and costed plans for the next few years, but we will remain vigilant to evolving external factors and developing National Policies that will drive our future plans and actions. I have no doubt that we will continue to interact, and hopefully, we will identify projects and activities that will enable us both to deliver solutions and outcomes that benefit the communities we serve.”
By way of supplementary Dr Devulapalli stated her disappointment in the response and reminded members that the 0% emissions would be enshrined in legislation.
Councillor Long responded that further meetings had been offered with the group to discuss the Council’s approach. He referred to the request to re-establish rail lines between Downham and Norwich and what the Council were doing to improve cycling and activity.
Councillor Long explained that the Council was concentrating on lobbying for the half hour timings of trains from London to King’s Lynn which would improve the ability to meet other connections at Ely. Once this was achieved other options could be examined.