Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman for the Municipal Year 2016/17.

RESOLVED:   That Councillor Mrs S Collop be appointed as Chairman for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the Municipal Year 2016/17.

RESOLVED:   That Councillor A Tyler be appointed Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 March 2016.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 March 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

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.

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 from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

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 no urgent business.

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.

There were no Members present pursuant to Standing Order 34.

There was no Chairman’s correspondence to report.

Representatives of the Forum have been invited to the Committee to give an overview of the Forum and any relevant issues.

There were no members of the Disability Forum present at the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed Richard Tucker from First Eastern Counties Buses Limitedand Julian Patterson from Lynx. Richard Tucker explained that the X1 service operated 6 days a week half hourly and an hourly service on a Sunday.

In response to a query from Councillor Mrs Buck regarding the X1 timetable being confusing, Richard Tucker agreed to report this to the Commercial Department.

Julian Patterson explained that Lynx Buses had started up around 18 months ago, and the primary route was King’s Lynn to Hunstanton.  He stated that 25 years ago there were only two buses an hour to Hunstanton, now there were 7 buses an hour.

The Committee then asked questions which were answered by Richard Tucker and Julian Patterson in relation to:

·        The route used by Lynx Buses and whether this could include Fairstead to the Hospital;

·        How old the vehicles were and when they were changed.

·        Would there be any benefit in a park and ride scheme.

·        How reliable were the half hourly X1 buses.

·        How did the operators find the changes at the bus station.

·        Were new routes looked at.

·        Would there be more up to date real time information at bus stops.

Julian Patterson raised the issue of the number of traffic lights along London Road and that roadworks could often cause delays and effect reliability, and cited the works at Edward Benefer Way.

It was explained that Norfolk County Council were aware of the concerns.

The Chairman thanked both Richard Tucker and Julian Patterson for attending the meeting.

Sarah Moore will give an update to the Committee on Volunteering Arrangements.

Sarah Moore, Operations Manager explained the background and existing arrangements for the volunteers for the Red Mount Chapel and Southgates.  The buildings were open to the members of the public from May to September on a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 – 4 pm.

Currently she was responsible for coordinating the volunteers and it was proving difficult to find enough volunteers to cover all the opening times, as the buildings had to be manned by two people.  There were 68 vacant slots from now until the end of the season, therefore, on occasions, a building had to be closed to the public.

The Operations Manager further explained that she had produced a flyer to try to encourage more people to become volunteers.

In answer to a question from the Chairman the Operations Manager explained that volunteers did not currently receive time credits, this had been looked at a while ago but that was something that could be looked at again.

The Operations Manager advised the Committee that she was currently re-writing the section of the website relating to volunteers.  In addition to the flyers, there would also be a press release.

The Operations Manager also explained that John Loveless had volunteered to help chase up the volunteers however consent was required from the volunteers to use their information and without that consent contact could not be made with them.

Councillor J Collop stated that the volunteers did give up a lot of their time and must be congratulated for that.  He added that a lot of effort was put into making King’s Lynn a place to visit and he would not want to see the buildings closed.  He acknowledged that the Operations Manager was trying to find a way forward but it was important to keep the buildings open.

The Operations Manager explained that discussions had been held and it was very likely that the co-ordination of the volunteers would be the responsibility of Bob Price who was based at the Town Hall.  Volunteers would be able to contact him easier and he already co-ordinated other volunteers.

In response to a comment, the Operations Manager explained that the volunteers were invited to a Mayor’s reception between the end of September and May to thank them for their work.

The Chairman thanked the Operations Manager for the update.

Oliver Bone will give an update to the Committee on the HLF Bid for the Southgates.

Oliver Bone, Curator at Lynn Museum stated that 23,000 cars travelled through the Southgates but not many people actually visited it.  He added that the building was impressive and an important gateway into the town.  The building had received investment in the past and was now in need of further investment.  Mr Bone explained that King’s Lynn had been successful in HLF bids in the past and a total of £43 million had been invested in King’s Lynn & West Norfolk and named some examples.

Mr Bone then informed the Committee of the elements of the proposal.

Discussion took place about whether the outside of the South Gates could be enhanced, however it was explained that there were physical constraints with the building itself.

Mr Bone explained that if the bid was successful then work would start very soon after the decision.

The Chairman thanked Mr Bone for attending and the interesting update to the Committee.

The Committee is asked to consider priorities for King’s Lynn.

The Assistant Director reminded the Committee that at the previous meeting, it was suggested that the Committee consider Priorities for King’s Lynn to present at this meeting.  He also reminded the Committee that at the next meeting in September, the Committee would be looking at Special Expenses.

Councillor Joyce suggested that the town’s street lights should be switched back on, particularly in the High Street which was very intimidating to walk along in the dark.  Councillor Smith disagreed and felt they were acceptable.

Councillor J Collop explained that he would like to see a breakdown of cost for the various events which were held in the town centre and the Walks.  The Assistant Director explained that there was an events budget and plan which was overseen by the Executive Director for Commercial Services and he could be invited to the next meeting.

The Vice-Chairman suggested facilities for people with disabilities, as to whether more could be done to assist them. The Assistant Director pointed out that

representatives from the Disability Forum had been invited to attend the meeting but did not attend.

Grass cutting was also suggested, and the Assistant Director explained that some Parish Councils had made the decision to pay for more cuts.

Councillor Mrs Buck also suggested the overall provision of youth facilities.

Councillor Smith suggested that more sites should be identified for green spaces.  The Assistant Director advised that this could be difficult as it was down to ownership and it was difficult to secure a large piece of open space in King’s Lynn for green space, especially given the need for land for housing.  He added that looking into future allocations for open space was a long term planning policy issue.

AGREED:       That this item be looked at again at the next meeting of the Committee.

The Committee is asked to consider items for the Work Programme for 2016/17.

The Committee noted the Work Programme.  It was confirmed that the Leader had accepted an invitation to attend the next meeting of the Committee.

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 at 6.00pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court.

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday 27 September 2016 at 6pm.