Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King's Lynn PE30 5DQ. View directions

Contact: Rebecca Parker 01553 616632  Please note that Agenda Item 10 - Tree Planting - has been withdrawn from the Agenda and will be considered at a future meeting.

Items
No. Item

EC63:

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There was none.

EC64:

Minutes pdf icon PDF 96 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: The Minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

EC65:

Declarations of interest

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.

 

Those 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.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

EC66:

Urgent Business

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chair proposed to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

Minutes:

There was none.

EC67:

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chair of their intention to do so and what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.  

 

Minutes:

Councillor Parish – EC70

Councillor Rose – EC73

Councillor Ryves – all items

 

EC68:

Chair's Correspondence

If any.

Minutes:

The Chair informed the Panel that he had received correspondence from Councillor Beal regarding EC70.  The correspondence would be read out to the Panel during consideration of the item.

EC69:

Police and Crime Commissioner attending to provide Members with the opportunity to discuss strategic and operational matters

All Councillors have been invited to attend the meeting for this item of business.

 

Police and Crime Commissioner Lorne Greene will talk through the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the work the office undertakes on his behalf around the Police and Crime Plan.

 

The Local Commander for King’s Lynn and district will also be in attendance.

 

 

Minutes:

The Police and Crime Commissioner Lorne Greene and Superintendent Dave Buckley were present at the meeting.  Lorne Greene explained that this was an opportunity for Councillors to express their views and ask questions.

 

Lorne Greene provided the Panel with an overview of the Police and Crime Commissioner role and the priorities that had been set within the Police and Crime Plan.

 

Superintendent Dave Buckley informed the Panel that he was responsible for local policing.  He provided an overview of recent activity within the force, including increasing the amount of police officers, creation of a proactive drug squad, increasing response strength and County Lines.

 

He explained that crime was reducing in most areas, but there was a rise in domestic violence and sexual offences.  Antisocial behaviour was being managed, but it was recognised that there was still some significant issues.

 

The Chair thanked Lorne Greene and Superintendent Dave Buckley for the information and invited questions and comments from the Members present, as summarised below.

 

Councillor Bambridge asked if statistics were kept on the cost of the night time economy in King’s Lynn.  Superintendent Dave Buckley explained that indicative costs were available and most of the resource focussed on Friday and Saturday nights, between 10pm and 5am, in the Norfolk Street area of King’s Lynn and Downham Market.

 

Superintendent Dave Buckley explained that usually on a Saturday night in King’s Lynn there would be a Sergeant and ten officers available to cover the town centre.  He explained that having a presence in King’s Lynn town centre, rather than just being responsive had helped reduce the amount of incidents and was a preventative measure. 

 

Councillor Wilkinson commented that after the loss of PCSO’s she did not feel that there was much of a Police presence on the Estates in King’s Lynn.  She explained that there was often groups of young people who were dangerous on bikes and could be intimidating.  Superintendent Dave Buckley explained that there was dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Teams in King’s Lynn and they covered the Estates on foot and by bicycle.  He explained that over Christmas more resources had been diverted to the town centre, so there may have been a decreased presence, but they should now be getting back out into the community.

 

Lorne Greene made reference to the importance of a visible police presence, but asked Members to be mindful of the important issues which needed dealing with and were desk based, such as online fraud and child exploitation investigations.

 

Lorne Greene explained that antisocial behaviour and substance abuse was a concern within a lot of communities.  Therefore he had undertaken to convene round table discussions, which would include representatives from the Borough Council, County Council, Child Services and the Police to look at the situations which got young people engaged in antisocial behaviour.

 

Superintendent Dave Buckley also encouraged Councillors to get in touch with him or their Local Beat Manager if they had any queries.

 

Councillor Kemp commented that local consultation was important and asked if the  ...  view the full minutes text for item EC69:

EC70:

Environment Agency and Anglian Water attending regarding bathing water quality

All Councillors have been invited to attend the meeting for this item of business.  Members will receive a presentation from Anglian Water and the Environment Agency.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Assistant Director, Operations and Commercial explained that Resort Services worked closely with Anglian Water and the Environment Agency regarding bathing water quality.

 

The Chair welcomed Adam Worley from Anglian Water and John Daniels from the Environment Agency to the meeting.  Members received a presentation from both organisations on bathing water quality.  Copies of the presentations are attached.

 

The Vice Chair read out correspondence received from Councillor Beal as set out below:

 

“As you are not doubt aware all the drainage from Hunstanton promenade goes directly onto the beach.  This includes all the waste water from every trader on the promenade.  I am constantly told from the Portfolio Holder and Officers of the Council that I’m overplaying the matter and the waste and hazard materials have little or no effect on sea life or bathing water.

 

This I find hard to believe as I have ice cream machines and I know when we clean the machine every week there are four cycles of cleaning with different types of waste going into the system including in the last cleaning cycle five gallons of steriliser and all this from the multiple of ice cream sellers must have effect on the quality of the sea water.  Also all the chemicals that are used to keep the kiosks clean are all going down the promenade drains pictures supplied.  Every trader in the town has to pay water rates so how come seafront traders don’t but if it’s claimed they do then why are they allowed to dump it into the sea.

 

It is felt by lots of the public that a water collection should be made from the seafront traders (by bowser) and pay water rates like other traders do.

 

So what I need to know is that you can assure me, the residents and tourists that contaminated water that is being dumped on our beach has no effect on wildlife, bathing water or the blue flag water quality as said by officers and including seafront officers. 

 

Thank you for your attention and look forward to an answer.”

 

The Assistant Director explained that Resort Services had operational responsibility for the Promenade and did not have any evidence that all traders were doing this.  He explained that he was aware of isolated incidents, all of which had been followed up by a visit to the premises by the Community Safety and Neighbourhood Nuisance Team or Environmental Health.  He concluded that on occasion it had happened but not every trader could be considered irresponsible in this respect. 

 

John Daniels explained that if there was evidence of waste water being disposed onto the beach then this could be investigated.  He also explained the prosecution powers available to the Environment Agency.  Adam Worley explained that there was no direct evidence of poor bathing water quality as a result of the issues raised by Councillor Beal. 

 

John Daniels explained that if it was clean water, which included diluted disinfectant etc. this should not have an impact on water quality,  ...  view the full minutes text for item EC70:

EC71:

Quarter 2 2019/2020 Performance Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 152 KB

The Repairs and Adaptations Manager will be present at the meeting to provide the Panel with additional information regarding the performance indicators HS11, HS12 and HS13 relating to the Care and Repair Service.

Minutes:

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented the report which contained information on the corporate performance monitoring undertaken during quarter 2 2019-2020.

 

He explained that there were six indicators that had not met target:

 

-        HS1: % of HMO’s inspected in accordance with the programmed inspection regime.

-        HS10: % of Careline alarms installed within 10 days from date of enquiry.

-        HS19: No. of days to process changes to circumstances.

-        HS11: Time taken (in weeks) from first contact to completion of work on Disabled Facilities Grant

-        HS12: Time taken (in weeks) from first contact to completion of work on Adapt passported cases with a value under £6,000

-        HS13: Time take (in weeks) from first contact to completion of work on Adapt grant means-tested cases with a value under £12,000.

 

The Senior Policy and Performance Officer advised the Panel that the Care and Repair, Repairs and Adaptations Manager would be present at a future meeting of the Panel to provide case studies and information on the indicators relating to Care and Repair. 

 

With regards to the other indicators which had not met target it was explained that HS1 was only 2% under target and HS10 had improved during quarter 3 and was likely to be reported as meeting its target in the next monitoring report.

 

The Chair thanked the Senior Policy and Performance Officer for his report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

Councillor Bambridge asked if there had been an increase in HMO applications and the Senior Policy and Performance Officer explained that it could be because of a recent change in regulations.

 

Councillor Bubb asked if actual figures could be included in the report rather than just percentages and the Senior Policy and Performance Officer agreed to provide this information.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel reviewed the performance monitoring report and agreed the actions outlined in the action report.

EC72:

Tree Planting

Officers will provide the Panel with information on the future of Tree Planting in the Borough.

Minutes:

This item had been withdrawn from the Agenda and would be considered by the Panel at a future date.

EC73:

Hunstanton Coastal Management Plan pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The Panel are requested to consider the information presented to them and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Environmental Health Manager presented the Hunstanton Coastal Management Plan to the Panel.  A copy of his presentation is attached.

 

The Chair thanked the Environmental Health Manager for his presentation and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

 

Members asked questions relating to the public realm and type of materials to be used along the promenade, including art installations and specific colours.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that this was not part of the Coastal Management Plan and instead would be taken into consideration during Hunstanton Regeneration and public realm work, but it would be linked to the Plan with regards to timescales for works.

 

Councillor Rose addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.  He informed the Panel that he was the Borough Council’s representative on Hunstanton Sailing Club.  He stated that he was pleased to see repairs to groynes included in the plan.  He also stated that the area around the Sailing Club needed more sand as it was currently very rocky.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that repairs to the groynes would be prioritised and repairs would hopefully mean that more sand would remain on the beach.

 

Councillor de Whalley asked when the modelling was carried out and how often it would be reviewed.  The Environmental Health Manager explained that modelling data would be included in the forthcoming report to Cabinet and erosion rates would be monitored.  He also explained that the flood risk would stay the same.

 

RESOLVED: In accordance with Standing Order 33 at 9.00pm the Panel resolved to continue to sit beyond three hours.

 

RESOLVED: That the Panel recommend to Cabinet that the Hunstanton Coastal Management Plan be adopted.

 

 

EC74:

Work Programme and Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 72 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Squire raised concern that some of the issues she had raised for addition to the Work Programme had still not been scheduled.  The Chair agreed to review the unscheduled items at the next sifting meeting.

 

Councillor Collop asked when an update from Alive West Norfolk would be brought to the Panel and the Chair would discuss this with relevant officers at the next sifting meeting.

 

RESOLVED: The Panel’s Work Programme was noted.

EC75:

Date of the next meeting

To note that the next meeting of the Environment and Community Panel is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 3rd March 2020 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Environment and Community Panel would be held on Tuesday 3rd March 2020 at 6.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.