Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J Collop and I Gourlay.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 October 2016 (attached) and the Special Meeting held on 15 December 2016 (to follow).

The Minutes of the Meetings held on 5 October and 15 December 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.

The Committee will receive a presentation from Vicki Howling, Project Manager for Volunteering Matters on how their work in supporting people with disabilities to play an active role in their local community through volunteering.

The Committee received a presentation from Vicki Howling, Project Manager for Volunteering Matters on their work in supporting people with disabilities to play an active role in their local community through volunteering.

Vicki Howling responded to questions relating to:

·        The age of the volunteers;

·        The funding of Volunteering Matters;

·        Marketing and promotion.

The Chairman thanked Vicki for an interesting and informative presentation.

Representatives from Stagecoach have been invited to attend, as requested by the Committee.

There were no representatives from Stagecoach present at the meeting.

Sue Payne, the Council’s Neighbourhood Officer will update the Committee on proposed arrangements for the King’s Lynn SNAP Meetings.

Sue Payne, the Council’s Neighbourhood Officers updated the Committee on proposed arrangements for the King’s Lynn SNAP meetings.  She explained that in the past there had been 9 separate SNAP meetings however this had proved difficult to maintain.  There were now 3 SNAP meetings.  At the last review meeting held with SNAP Chairs, it was agreed that the King’s Lynn SNAP meeting would be in the form of a drop in surgery held on the first Tuesday of each month between 11am and 1pm in the King’s Court customer waiting area.

It was explained that numbers attending the drop-in sessions had not been as good as was hoped for and the same people who attended under the old system were attending now.  The issues raised had not been suitable to adopt as priorities.

Recently, Borough Council Officers had met with Police colleagues to agree how attendance could be improved and also inform members of the public what SNAPs were for and how they should raise issues if they could not attend.

The Council’s Neighbourhood Officer then outlined the proposal as follows:

1.         That a 30 minute drop-in session takes place immediately prior to the KLACC meetings.  At 6pm members of the public will have to leave or stay to observe the meeting.  If people still wished to talk to officers they will have to move to the Foyer.

2.         Between, KLACC meetings, the drop-in surgeries will continue as at present.  Once the building work starts on the ground floor, the arrangements will be reviewed.

3.         There will not be a need for a Chairman, although Borough Councillors are welcome to attend.

4.         Issues reported will be taken on by an officer (Borough or Police), or Councillor and the outcomes fed back directly to the complainant.

5.         The Police will decide if a Police Volunteer needs to attend.

The proposals would be subject to approval at the Annual SNAP Review meeting taking place on 18 January 2017.

The Committee then discussed the proposals in detail and it was:

AGREED:       (1)        That the proposal outlined above be agreed subject to the drop-in time being amended to 5pm – 6pm.

(2)        That further consideration be given to the advertising of the SNAP meetings.

(3)        That the Chief Inspector be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee.

Details of any relevant schemes will follow.

The Assistant Director explained that the County Council’s Partnership Programme allowed Parish Councils to bid for matched funding for small scale highway improvement schemes in their areas.  In the unparished area of King’s Lynn and West Lynn, this Committee would now consider any scheme put forward. 

The Assistant Director further explained that if the Committee decided to support a particular scheme, the recommendation would be passed to Cabinet for their consideration. 

One scheme had been put forward for 20/1718.  This was an enhanced pedestrian refuge island crossing, close to the housing estate known as Poppyfields in West Lynn.  A feasibility report had also been produced and was attached to the report, which set out the background to the request as well as details of the proposal.

The Committee noted that the total cost of the scheme would be £20,000.  It was also stated that if the actual costs came in below £20,000 there would be a pro-rata refund.  If the costs exceeded £20,000, Norfolk County Council would accept the risk and the Borough Council contribution would therefore be capped at £10,000.

The Chairman then invited Paul Donnachie to outline the scheme.

Mr Donnachie explained that the intention of the enhanced island refuge was to make it easier for pedestrians to cross the road safely.  Although there was no accident record to warrant the County Council providing a crossing improvement, it could be delivered through the jointly funded parish partnership programme.  He considered that the proposal delivered value for money.

He explained that the different types of pedestrian crossings were determined nationally by traffic flow and pedestrian numbers.  A signalled crossing would not meet the required standard requirement and would be too expensive at £100k+, given that the upper limit on any individual Norfolk County Council Parish Partnership contribution was £25,000.

In relation to the provision of a zebra crossing, Mr Donnachie explained that a zebra crossing on a raised table at the current bus stop location may be viable but would require a detailed pedestrian/traffic survey to confirm that and it was the view of Norfolk County Council that pedestrian numbers were unlikely to reach those required for a zebra crossing.  A zebra crossing would also be expensive at £60k+ which would include improving the surfaces of the approaches to achieve the required skid resistance.

Another key issue which had been raised was visibility – this had also been raised by the West Lynn Forum.   It was explained that detailed adjustments to the siting of the island would be needed at detailed design stage to ensure acceptable visibility was available, which had been noted in the Safety Audit, which was an absolute minimum requirement.  This would require measurement of traffic speeds and a topographical survey.  However the minimum sight distance for pedestrians based on a site measurement was around 50m and likely to be acceptable.

In relation to whether the island could have a barrier to make the crossing safer, Mr Donnachie explained that any surrounding barrier would need to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Committee is asked to consider the attached report and to agree to the removal of all or some of the phone boxes within King’s Lynn and West Lynn.

The Assistant Director introduced the report and explained that BT was currently consulting with the Borough Council, through the Local Planning Authority, for the proposed removal of 97 telephone boxes across the Borough.  They had been deemed to be no longer required and there was no longer deemed to be a ‘social need’ for them.  Within the parished areas the Parish Council had been consulted as to whether they wished the phone boxes to remain or if they agreed to their removal. 

It was explained that the consultation was a formal process, and the Planning Committee in January would recommend whether or not to agree or object to the proposed removals.  The views of the Parish Councils would be reported to Planning Committee and it was considered that KLACC also needed to consider whether to agree to the proposed removals, or to object.

The Assistant Director also explained that attached to the report was a leaflet prepared by BT which provided some background information to the proposed removals, and also explained how BT determined if there was a ‘social need’ for a payphone.

Attention was drawn to 2.0 of the report which was a list of the BT phone boxes proposed to be removed in King’s Lynn and West Lynn.

The Chairman referred to the statement that BT would not remove a payphone where there was a reasonable need.  The Assistant Director advised that on the back page of the leaflet where there was an explanation of social need, ie:

·        In a suicide hotspot

·        In an accident blackspot

·        In an area without any mobile coverage;

·        Within 400 metres of the coast.

The Assistant Director explained that there should not be any payphones on the list at 2.0 which met the criteria.

The Committee then discussed the report and it was:

AGREED:       (1)        That the 5 BT payphones on the list with 30 calls and more should be retained, together with the payphone at Ferry Square, West Lynn as this connected to a travel hub (6 in total).

(2)        That the Committee agrees to the proposal to remove the remaining 4 phone boxes within King’s Lynn and West Lynn.

The Committee is asked to consider items for a future Work Programme for 2015/2016 (to follow).

As agreed at the meeting held on 15 December 2016, the Committee is asked to consider items to be added to the work programme, which will ultimately lead to recommendations to Cabinet to be included in King’s Lynn Special Expenses for future years.

The Committee was reminded that at the Special Meeting held on 15 December 2016 it agreed to consider items to be added to the Work Programme, which would ultimately lead to recommendations to Cabinet to be included in King’s Lynn Special Expenses for future years.  A draft Work Programme had been circulated to the Committee separately.

Councillor Joyce suggested that the Committee should set up an Informal Working Group to go through the Special Expenses which could then report back to the main Committee to help to inform it when considering Special Expenses.  It was agreed that footway lighting could be looked at in the first instance.  Councillors Joyce and J Collop were nominated to be on the Informal Working Group.  There were no other volunteers.

AGREED:       (1)        That the draft Work Programme be agreed.

(2)        That an Informal Working Group be set up to look at footway lighting in the first instance.  The Informal Working Group would consist of Councillors Joyce and J Collop and would report back to the main Committee at a future date.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for Monday 27 March 2016 at 6.00 pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Monday 27 March 2017 at 6pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn.