Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs S Buck, P Rochford and T Wing-Pentelow.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 January 2017.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 5 January 2017 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 was no members present pursuant to Standing Order 34.

The Chairman reported that she had received an email from Councillor Joyce in relation to an application which had been considered by the Planning Sub-Group.  Councillor Joyce was concerned that there did not appear to be recognition of the objections raised by Sub-Group in the report to be considered by Norfolk County Council’s Planning Committee.

The Assistant Director explained that the comments from the Sub-Group were reported to the Council’s Planning Committee as an objection, however the comments had not been fed separately to Norfolk County Council. 

The Assistant Director advised that Norfolk County Council’s Planning Committee were due to meet on  Friday to discuss the item and he had been in contact with the case officer dealing with the application who had undertaken to report the Sub-Group’s comments to the Committee.

The Assistant Director suggested that going forward, any comments made by the Sub-Group, as well as being reported to the Planning Committee, should also be reported separately to Norfolk County Council.

AGREED:       That, when considering applications made by Norfolk County Council where the Borough Council is a consultee, any comments made by the KLACC Planning Sub-Group will be reported separately to Norfolk County Council, as well as the Borough Council’s Planning Committee.

The Chief Executive and Democratic Services Manager have been invited to attend for this item.

The Chief Executive gave a presentation to Committee on Influencing Decisions.

He reminded the Committee of their Terms of Reference, which included:

·        Discuss cross Lynn issues of mutual interest;

·        Respond to consultation requests on issues impacting on all or most of King’s Lynn;

·        King’s Lynn Special Expenses – respond;

·        Encourage community engagement.

In order to maximise impact, the Committee needed to:

·        Set out a clear work programme timed to influence Cabinet and Council decisions;

·        Request clear evidence and information from officers on agenda items;

·        Respond clearly to consultation requests;

·        Seek cross-party consensus to strengthen the Committee’s case.

The Chief Executive presented a case study on King’s Lynn Special Expenses, as follows:

·        Build into work programme at least 3 months before Cabinet will consider the issue;

·        Request a written report on current spend profile;

·        Debate and seek to agree on one of 3 options;

-      Keep to current financial envelope;

-      Reduce current financial envelope;

-      Increase current financial envelope;

·        Identify potential areas of new spend and request cost estimates for new areas from officers.

·        Prioritise new and existing spend areas and agree a proposed budget and spend schedule.

·        Formulate an agreed proposal and request Cabinet to consider at least a month prior to Cabinet’s consideration of the budget;

·        Agree which Member/Members will speak under Standing Order 34 to advocate the Committee’s proposals.

Councillor J Collop, whilst supporting the format suggested, asked how the Committee could work within the terms of reference and felt that at times it might come up against barriers.  He suggested that the Committee should review its terms of reference.

Councillor Tyler supported the idea of reviewing the Committee’s terms of reference and suggested that this should be carried out at a separate meeting.

Councillor Miss Bambridge suggested that the Cabinet’s Forward Decision List could be included on future agendas as a separate agenda item.

AGREED:       (1)        That, the Committee supported the format suggested as a way forward when considering future items, including special expenses.

(2)        That a separate meeting of the Committee be arranged to enable the Committee’s Terms of Reference to be reviewed.

(3)        That the Cabinet’s Forward Decision List be a separate agenda item for future meetings.

Inspector W Hornigold has been invited to attend to give an update to the Committee on Policing in King’s Lynn.

The Chairman welcomed Inspector Wes Hornigold to the meeting to talk about Policing in King’s Lynn.

Inspector Hornigold provided the Committee with crime figures for the area.  He hoped that the Committee were starting to receive the Parish Newsletters on a monthly basis.   He asked that if there was any feedback then to let him know.

Inspector Hornigold then outlined the Police Operations which had taken place within the town centre, one of which centred upon retail theft and the other related to antisocial behaviour at the bus station.

In addition to the above, the Police was trying to engage with the community using different methods, eg Special Constables on horseback and local media.

In relation to the anti-social behaviour in the town centre, Inspector Hornigold explained that the measures to combat this was being carried out within the existing Police teams and by the use of special constables and cadets.  He explained that 86 interventions had been made at the bus station. 

Inspector Hornigold further explained that the Police had been working with the Operational Partnership Team (OPT) at the Council and people who worked within the bus station and had seen an up lift in calls to the Police.

There had also been another successful operation carried out at Fairstead. 

Inspector Hornigold concluded that overall it had been a good six months and would continue to work in partnership with the OPT and other organisations.

The Chairman thanked Inspector Hornigold for his update and invited questions/comments summarised below:

·        Speedwatch programme at Fairstead – could anything be done to speed that up? 

·        Was there any sort of customer feedback regarding the service people had received from the Police?  In response, Inspector Hornigold explained that there used to be something that the Police carried out but not anymore.  He further explained that one of the challenges facing the Police was crime prevention and gaining the public trust and confidence.

·        When did the anti-social behaviour happen at the bus station?  In response it was explained that this happened at all times during the day.  The peak times for antisocial behaviour had been analysed and PCSO’s and Cadets were used to visit the bus station.  In addition, Council staff were also gathering information at the bus station.

In relation to whether there was anything that the Council could do to help the situation, Inspector Hornigold explained that the loss of the discovery centre had not helped the situation, and a meeting had been held with stakeholders in relation to where to divert these people to.

Inspector Hornigold explained that playing classical music and turning off the free wi-fi had been looked at.  He explained that there were a lot of good ideas out there and work had been done without the need to call the Police.

·        Inspector Hornigold outlined the other areas of work which the Police had been involved in King’s Lynn.

·        Councillor Joyce referred to the collection of syringes which was carried out by Council officers and whether the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Representatives from Stagecoach have been invited to attend for this item.

The Chairman welcomed Andy Campbell and Simon Tramalloni from Stagecoach to the meeting.

Mr Campbell gave the background to the Stagecoach Company and responded to questions from the Committee, outlined below:

·        Concerns were expressed that residents from Fairstead, wishing to travel to the hospital, would have to take a bus into King’s Lynn to catch a bus to the hospital.

Mr Campbell explained that on 2^nd April, the Route 10 would serve the hospital again. 

·        Issues regarding reliability were raised.

Mr Campbell explained that congestion in the town centre was getting worse.  Adjustments were made to the timings and people made aware wherever possible.

·        Overcrowding on buses;

Mr Campbell was not aware of any overcrowding issues.  Drivers would not allow a vehicle to be overcrowded as it was illegal to do so.

·        Drivers not certain of routes.

Mr Campbell explained that there had been a period of drivers not knowing routes but this should have been rectified.

Mr Campbell informed the Committee that if passengers had brought a return ticket and then the service was cancelled, they should contact Stagecoach for a refund.

In relation to the electronic timetables not being up to date, it was explained that Stagecoach did not manage this.

Councillor Joyce referred back to the hospital journey and asked whether consideration had been given to a bus priority lane.

Mr Campbell offered to meet with the relevant people to advise where the congestion was being experienced and how the situation could be improved.

In response to a query from Councillor Smith, Mr Campbell explained to the Committee that Stagecoach regularly reviewed routes to see if they were still cost effective. He added that they were not allowed to subsidise one route against another.

In response to a query from Councillor J Collop regarding whether the company experienced problems at the bus station, Simon Tramalloni explained that he worked at the bus station and from 6.30 am onwards people were drinking in the bus station.  He explained that there were 3 groups who congregated - a group in their middle 40s, one in their late 20s and teenagers after 3pm.  He considered that it was due to the fact that there was nowhere else for them to go.

Councillor J Collop stated that the bus operators should not be suffering because of the anti-social behaviour.

Simon Tramalloni explained that the bus operators had a good working relationship with the Council’s Bus Station Officer but he was limited in what he could do.  He added that he had seen an improvement at the bus station, but people tended to deal with issues without reporting it to the Police.

The Chairman thanked the representatives from Stagecoach for attending the meeting.

AGREED:       That a meeting be arranged with Stagecoach, Councillors Smith and Mrs Wilkinson and representatives from the hospital regarding whether improvements could be made to the route to the hospital.

To receive an update in relation to footway lights.

The Assistant Director reminded the Committee that a Sub-Group had been set up to look at footway lighting.  The Sub-Group met on 8 February 2017.

However the Council had, under the Mayor of London’s ‘Re:fit’ framework asked for a no obligations look at the Council’s buildings and estate, including street lights, to assess the scope for a reduction in running costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions.  As part of the remit was to look specifically at the Council’s stock of street lights, and the potential for savings and efficiencies there, it seemed that this was exactly what the KLACC informal group were seeking to do.

The Assistant Director suggested that the officer dealing with the Re:fit programme could be invited to the next meeting to give an update to the Committee.

AGREED:     (1)      That Neil Grommet be invited to attend the next meeting to give an update to the Committee on the Re:fit programme.

(2)      That the details of the Re:fit programme be circulated to the Committee.

The Committee is asked to note the updated Terms of Reference for SNAP meetings.

The Committee considered the updated Terms of Reference for the Safer Neighbourhood Action Panels (SNAPs). 

The Committee referred to the Terms of Reference and asked for clarification in relation to points vi, vii and viii.

AGREED:       That the Neighbourhood Officer be asked to contact the Chairman, with a view to clarifying the points raised above.

The Committee is asked to consider items for a future Work Programme for 2017/2018.

The Committee considered the proposed Work Programme.

AGREED:       That an Informal Working Group be set up to look at Pavilions and Community Centres and report back to the Committee.  The Informal Working Group would consist of Councillors Joyce, Shorting and Mrs Wilkinson.

The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 13 June 2017 at 6pm in the Education Room, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 13 June 2017 at 6pm in the Education Room, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.