Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Apologies were received from Cllr R Macdonald, Cllr J Punchard and Cllr E Vardy.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 28 March 2023 and 17 May 2023

The Minutes of the meeting held on 28^th March 2023 and 17^th May 2023 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendment:

‘Cllr G Bull’s attendance to be recorded for the meeting held on 17 May 2023’.

Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests that they may have in any of the following items on the agenda.  The Code of Conduct for Members requires that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (see attached guidance and flowchart)

Cllr L Shires declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda item 12: Witton – Renaming of Parish. She said that she had been appointed on a temporary basis in 2019 to help stabilise the parish council. She was also the County Councillor.

To determine any other items of business which the Chairman decides should be considered as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B (4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

None received.

To receive the Chairman’s communications, if any.

The Chairman outlined recent civic events:

·       20^th May – Dambusters 80^th Commemoration event at the Cliftonville Hotel, Cromer. Cllr Dr V Holliday, Vice-Chairman of the Council, attended this on the Council’s behalf and said that it had been a very inspiring and moving tribute.

·       3^rd June – Service of dedication and official naming ceremony of the new Wells RNLI lifeboat. Cllr S Butikofer, Chairman of the Council attended this event and said that it had been very well attended and the RNLI President, HRH the Duke of Kent and Vice-President Vice Admiral Sir Tim Lawrence had been warmly welcomed. The Chairman said that the event had particular personal meaning for her as the boat commemorated 15,000 people on its decals and the name of her mother was included.

·       11 June – Lord Mayor of Norwich, City service.

To receive announcements from the Leader.

The Leader, Cllr T Adams, began by saying that the Member induction sessions had been going very well and he hoped that Members were finding them useful. He said that feedback from officers involved in the sessions had been very positive and they had commented how engaged members had been.

He then spoke about a recent trip to see fishery locations in Wells and Morston, accompanying NNDC’s Sampling Assistant, as he collected testing samples to ensure seafood was safe for consumption. It had been extremely interesting and he encouraged all members to get involved with the Council’s different service areas and their activities when possible.

The Leader concluded by saying that the development of the new Corporate Plan was progressing well, with an initial draft going to the next meeting of Cabinet. He thanked the Corporate Leadership Team for their support.

To consider any questions or statements received from members of the public.

Mr D Russell has requested to make a statement regarding the recent Dambuster commemorations.

Mr N Pearce was in attendance with Mr D Russell. He spoke about the recent series of commemoration events in Cromer for the 80^th anniversary of the Dambuster raid. He explained that the week commenced on 16th May with Cromer Town Council flying the RAF Ensign in tribute. Following this, there was the laying of a wreath at the Northrepps War Memorial to remember Northrepps man Flight Sergeant C W Roberts and the other 52 aircrew who failed return to RAF Scampton.

On 17th May, The District Council did likewise. Councillor John Toye was thanked for arranging this. The on 20th May a special event of commemoration and presentations took place at the Cliftonville Hotel Cromer attended by NNDC Vice Chairman Councillor Victoria Holliday, Pilot Officer Brandon Prophet representing RAF Waddington, Duncan Baker MP and representatives of Sheringham and District RAFA and Cromer RBL and members of the public. A commemorative blue plaque, memorial scroll and pictures were presented to the Hotel Manager, including one donated by Councillor Toye whose father was an armourer at the time of the raid. Special thanks were extended to Cllr Dr V Holliday for attending at such short notice.

Mr D Russell then presented Cllr Dr V Holliday with a commemorative picture depicting all the Lancaster bombers which took part in the raid.

1.    To receive an update from the Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee regarding the appointment of a representative and substitute to the Norfolk Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

2.    To receive any updates from the Group Leaders regarding changes to their appointed representatives to Committees, sub-committees, working parties and panels.

The Chairman asked the Group Leaders if they wished to update members on any appointments.

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that she wished to make the following appointments:

-        Substitute on Planning Policy & Built Heritage Working Party – Cllr A Fitch-Tillett

-        Substitute on North Norfolk Sustainable Communities Grant Fund Panel – Cllr J Punchard

The Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Cllr N Dixon, informed Full Council that the Committee had agreed to appoint Cllr J Boyle as the Council’s representative to the Norfolk Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (NHOSC), with Cllr Dr V Holliday as the substitute.

To receive reports from Cabinet Members on their portfolios.

Members are reminded that they may ask questions of the Cabinet Member on their reports and portfolio areas but should note that it is not a debate.

No member may ask more than one question plus a supplementary question, unless the time taken by members’ questions does not exceed 30 minutes in total, in which case, second questions will be taken in the order that they are received (Constitution, Chapter 2, part 2, section 12.2)

The Chairman asked Cabinet members if they wished to add anything to their written reports. Cllr L Withington, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Community Outreach, said that she wanted to thank the RNLI lifeguards at Sea Palling for saving two people who were carried out by riptides. Cllr Withington proposed a vote of thanks, adding that thanks should also be extended to all the teams along the coast who provided such an essential service under the contract with NNDC to provide lifeguards at beaches along the coastline.  Cllr H Blathwayt, local member for Sea Palling, seconded the vote of thanks and said that the community was very grateful for the quick actions of the two lifeguards. Members supported the vote unanimously.

Cllr M Hankins asked Cllr C Ringer, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services for an update on the ongoing situation in Fulmodeston, where there was a fly infestation due to the nearby poultry farm. Cllr Ringer replied that he was aware of the situation and confirmed that the Council’s Environmental Health team had been out to visit the site and were engaging with the Poultry Farm owners. Further meetings were due to take place in the following days to address the issue.

Cllr A Brown, Portfolio Holder for Planning & Enforcement, said that there were two minor amendments to his written report: Under the section on Planning Policy & Neighbourhood Planning it should read 2023 not 2013. He then clarified that the referendum on Holt’s Neighbourhood Plan would take place on 29^th June.

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that she was not sure which Cabinet member to direct her question to. She said that her concern related to a sign regarding dogs on beaches. At Overstrand beach one set of steps was in poor condition but at the top of the ramp pointing towards these steps, there was a sign stating ‘Dogs this way’. This was misleading and potentially dangerous. Cllr T Adams said that he would look into it and come back to Cllr Fitch-Tillett as soon as possible.

Cllr C Cushing referred to the Welcome Event on 9^th May at the Council Offices when the Chief Executive had said that one of the challenges for the next 4 years was to be more successful in obtaining grant funding from the Government and the County Business Rates Pooled funds. He asked the Leader for his ideas on how the Council could successfully secure external funding so that really substantial projects could be undertaken. The Leader replied that there had been success in securing funding, with NNDC being in the top 10 councils securing funding for Changing Places. He acknowledged that the levelling up fund bids had not been successful but said it was hoped that the ambitions could still be achieved. The feedback received had not been very illuminating but did indicate that areas with small populations were less successful in receiving a grant. He added that there was lots of ongoing work, including sports development in Fakenham but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The following recommendations were made by Cabinet to Full Council:

Agenda item 11 – Purchase of Two Additional Refuse Collection Vehicles

1.    That Cabinet recommend to Full Council an addition to the Capital programme of £385,000 to purchase two new refuse collection vehicles and that the £385,000 be added to the residual £65,000 that is left over from the original budget to purchase refuse vehicles from 2019 to date.

2.    That Cabinet recommend to full Council that the purchase be funded by borrowing of £335,000 and a revenue contribution of £50,000.

At the request of Cabinet, Governance, Risk and Audit Committee (GRAC) were asked to review the risk elements of the proposals at their meeting on 13^th June. As the Full Council agenda was published before the meeting was held, the Chairman will provide a verbal update, outlining any recommendations and comments, at the Full Council meeting on 21 June

Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the recommendations at their meeting on 14^th June. As the Full Council agenda was published before the meeting was held, the Chairman will provide a verbal update, outlining any recommendations and comments, at the Full Council meeting on 21 June.

Cabinet Agenda item 11 – Purchase of Two Additional Refuse Collection Vehicles

Cllr C Ringer, Portfolio Holder for IT, Environmental Services and Waste, introduced this item. He explained that the report set out proposals for the purchase of two new waste collection vehicles, for the collection of garden and trade waste. These would be funded by borrowing £335k, with a revenue contribution of £50k. Cllr Ringer explained that both garden waste and trade waste were services that the Council could charge for and there had been a considerable increase in demand for both services. Garden waste subscriptions had increased by around 1000 per annum since 2016/17 and over the same period trade waste had increased from 88k to 130k – an increase of 50%. Currently 64% of trade waste collections were included as part of the domestic rounds, whilst this could be expedient for holiday lets, it did place additional constraints on the crews as they had to return to the tip more frequently. It was hoped than an additional vehicle would ease the strain and improve the service overall. In line with contract requirements, these vehicles would be owned by NNDC and funded through a combination of a previously agreed, residual budget of £65k, a revenue contribution of £50k from performance failure deductions in the year 2021/ 2022 and newly agreed borrowing of £335k. Subject to final negotiations with Serco, it may be possible to utilise the performance management deductions for 2022/2023 to further offset the cost of one or both vehicles. Cllr Ringer said that the need for two additional vehicles had come about as the result of the Council’s success in attracting new customers. He acknowledged that concerns had been raised about the timing of the report but it was important that the Council took the opportunity to use Serco’s pre-allocated build slot with the vehicle manufacturer rather than wait. A delay could result in the vehicles not being available until 2024/2025, whereas a decision to go ahead now, would result in the vehicles being ready for later this year.

The Chairman invited Members to speak:

Cllr C Cushing said that he had been present for the discussions on this matter at Cabinet, Governance, Risk & Audit Committee (GRAC) and Overview & Scrutiny Committee. He said that the initial Cabinet paper had not included sufficient background information and he would not have supported the recommendations at that time, however, additional information had been provided at subsequent committee meetings and he was now supportive of the proposals. Concerns had been raised by members as to how the Council would pay for the new vehicles as very little detail had been provided in the Cabinet report. He said it was important that members had a good understanding of the financial implications of such decisions and it must be set out much more clearly in the future where funding would come from for any proposals on this scale.

Cllr S Penfold asked Cllr Ringer if he was confident that the Council could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To receive any further recommendations to Full Council, made by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee at the meeting on 14^th June 2023.

The Full Council agenda was published before the Overview & Scrutiny committee was held, so the Chairman will provide an oral update at the meeting, if any recommendations were made.

The Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Cllr N Dixon, confirmed that there were no further recommendations.

The Leader, Cllr T Adams, introduced this item. He said that it was a request from the parish itself and he was supportive of the recommendations.

Cllr P Porter, Local Member, said that she had always known it as Witton and Ridlington, as did everyone. She was therefore supportive of the proposals.

Cllr L Shires reminded members that in 2019, several district councillors were appointed to Witton Parish Council on a temporary basis to support them during a challenging time. She agreed that everyone knew it as Witton and Ridlington Parish Council. She said as the County Council member and a previous parish councillor, she was fully supportive of the proposals.

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr P Porter and

RESOLVED

To approve the renaming of the civil parish of Witton to the civil parish of Witton and Ridlington.

To approve the creation of an Order to formalise the name change.

To approve the delegation of powers to the Chief Executive or Monitoring Officer for the making of Section 75 orders in consultation with the relevant elected District Council and County Council members

Cllr T Adams, Leader of the Council, introduced this item. He explained that he wished to update members on the situation at Salthouse Parish Council. The Chairman then read out the following statement from the Elections Team:

The Electoral Services team has been made aware that there are potentially six interested persons from within the parish who are interested in serving on Salthouse Parish Council. With this in mind, we feel the best course of action is to run a further Notice of Election in the parish to invite nominations for the five vacant seats on the council. This provides for better democracy as should there the reported six nominations received, we can allow the electorate to decide on who represents them.

Is less than six are received, the Parish Council would once again be in a position to operate having reached quorate levels.

However, keeping this in mind, we would still ask that Full Council do approve the request to allow for a temporary appointment to be made to the Parish Council which could then be enacted should they still find themselves inquorate at the close of the nomination period stated within the proposed new Notice of Election.’

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr E Spagnola and

RESOLVED

To approve the temporary appointment of either Cllr Eric Vardy or Cllr Victoria Holliday to Salthouse Parish Council.

To approve the creation of an Order to formalise the appointment, if required.

To install a temporary parish clerk to support the co-option process and other duties until a permanent clerk is appointed.

As set out in the Constitution, Chapter 2, section 12, the following applies to questions asked by Members:

Members of the Council may ask questions of the Chairman of a Committee at Ordinary Meetings of the Council on any matter of Council Business or on issues which affect the Council’s area.

At a meeting no Member may ask more than one question (and a supplementary question) unless the time taken by members' questions does not exceed 30 minutes in total in which case second questions will be taken in the order that they are received.

None received.

None Received.

None received.

The following Notice of Motion has been proposed by Cllr A Varley, seconded by Cllr L Withington:

Motion: Safer Seals - A SEAL of APPROVAL

North Norfolk District Council agrees to support a campaign to increase awareness of the dangers to seals from Flying Rings, encourage businesses to not sell these items in coastal regions and develop the SEAL of APPROVAL Scheme for those businesses supporting SAFER SEALS

Coastal members will be asked to:

·         Support the development, implementation and ongoing focus of the Seal of Approval Scheme.

Coastal businesses will be asked to:

·         Engage with, support and implement the Seal of Approval Scheme

Officers will be asked to:

·         Liaise with relevant partners and create promotional materials for the scheme to operate, raise awareness and add to our online presence.

The following Notice of Motion had been proposed by Cllr A Varley, seconded by Cllr L Withington:

Motion: Safer Seals - A SEAL of APPROVAL

North Norfolk District Council agrees to support a campaign to increase awareness of the dangers to seals from Flying Rings, encourage businesses to not sell these items in coastal regions and develop the SEAL of APPROVAL Scheme for those businesses supporting SAFER SEALS

Coastal members will be asked to:

·       Support the development, implementation and ongoing focus of the Seal of Approval Scheme.

Coastal businesses will be asked to:

·       Engage with, support and implement the Seal of Approval Scheme

Officers will be asked to:

·       Liaise with relevant partners and create promotional materials for the scheme to operate, raise awareness and add to our online presence.

Before the proposer of the motion, Cllr A Varley, opened the debate, Cllr C Cushing said that he wished to propose an amendment. The Chairman said that Cllr Varley would present the motion, then she would ask Cllr Cushing to propose the amendment.

Cllr Varley began by thanking everyone involved in local campaigns to protect seals from the terrible injuries caused by flying rings. The Council had supported this work for several years now with the ‘Safer Seals’ campaign. He said that this was a cross-party, non-political campaign that had been very effective in raising awareness of the issue. He referred to the Opposition’s motion in December 2022, which proposed that flying rings were banned on the district’s beaches and promenades, however the lack of enforcement powers meant that it was not supported. Cllr Varley said that the new motion was aimed at strengthening the previous motion’s ambitions with a new ‘Seal of Approval’ campaign. It was not intended to replace the Safer Seals campaign but to build on it and focussed on trying to prevent the sale of flying rings. He concluded by saying that the Council’s Communications team were supportive of the proposals.

Cllr L Withington, seconder of the motion, confirmed that she wished to reserve her right to speak.

The Chairman then asked Cllr Cushing to introduce the amendment. Cllr Cushing referred to bullet point 3 in the motion and proposed that the following amendment: ‘to develop and deploy signage with a form of wording effectively banning the use and presence of flying rings on the district’s beaches and coastal car parks, stopping short of stating that it was a legally enforceable order.’

Cllr N Dixon seconded the amendment.

Cllr Cushing added that his group would support the substantive motion. He reminded members that the motion brought forward in December was following a motion supported by Kings Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council, which effectively banned flying rings from their beaches. He therefore still believed that this was an effective approach. If people saw a sign essentially stating that flying rings could not be taken onto beaches, then that was likely to be an effective deterrent.

The Chairman invited members to speak on the amendment:

Cllr N Housden said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

To pass the following resolution – if necessary:

“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) _ of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to the Act.”