Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllr N Lloyd.

2.

Minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2022.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Working Party for Projects held on 23rd March 2022, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

3.

Declarations of Interest

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 requries that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (see attached guidance and flowchart).

Minutes:

None received.

4.

Items of Urgent Business

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.

Minutes:

None received.

5.

Project Update reports

To receive updates on ongoing major projects and to make recommendations to Cabinet, if required.

 

1.     North Walsham Heritage Action Zone

2.     Fakenham Roundabout

 

A verbal update will be provided for the following projects:

 

1.     Local Plan

2.     Tree Planting Project

3.     Net Zero Strategy & Action Plan

4.     The Reef, Sheringham

Minutes:

Updates were provided on each project in turn:

 

1.    North Walsham Heritage Action Zone

 

The Project Manager said that work was progressing well on Cedar House. The interior had been stripped out and the roof repaired. Heating options were now being considered. She confirmed that it would be an electric system. The Assistant Director for Sustainable Growth added that this would incur an additional cost as it was an upgrade on the existing to make it more carbon efficient. The Chairman thanked the officers for the recent tour of the project. He had found it really useful and was impressed by what had been achieved so far.

 

Cllr R Kershaw said that cultural events were really enhancing the overall project.  The recent food fair had been very busy and there was a lot of interest in the upcoming craft market too. Confidence in the town was gathering momentum and it was positive to see.

 

Cllr E Seward agreed that the project was progressing well but said that he remained nervous. Regarding the Cedars, he said that there were two potential risks which needed to be monitored. There was currently a pause on works and it was imperative that costs and required funding for the replacement electrical system were resolved as soon as possible. The second risk was lack of use of the building once it was finished. It was vital that it was used. The Town Council had agreed heads of terms but no response had been received from the County Registrar, despite the heads of terms being sent to them in February. There had been some private interest too but it needed to be flagged up as a concern as the building needed to be occupied as soon as it was refurbished and available. Cllr Seward agreed that the Street Feast event had been a major boost to the project and he hoped that the popularity of the craft fair would add to the momentum. He welcomed progress on the bus interchange which seemed to be on schedule. Work on the Shambles was a bit behind but the work completed so far looked very impressive. In terms of future planning, he said that consideration would need to be given as to how to manage the car parking situation as the next phase of the project began in June / July.

 

Cllr V Gay said, that as a resident of the town, she found the progress on the project to be very cheering. It was really good to see the change in emotions as residents noticed the progress being made.  Cllr Gay then asked whether there was any indication that the County Registrar was reluctant to agree to signing a lease or whether it was just a delay at their end. The Assistant Director for Sustainable Growth replied that the Council’s surveyor was liaising closely with all potential tenants of the Cedars and discussions had taken place regarding layout, lighting etc. He added that he believed that the County Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Medium Projects

A list of current medium-size projects is included for Members to review. The Working Party is requested to indicate which projects they would like to receive an update on at future meetings.

Minutes:

Cllr V Gay asked if there was an established review process in place for medium-sized projects. The Project Manager replied that the Medium Project Boards were managed by the Directors and they met bi-monthly and all of the projects were reviewed. The Cabinet Working Group could request to review any project at any time. She went onto explain that once a project was finished, two documents needed to be completed – a sign off document and a ‘lessons learned’ document. It had not yet been agreed where the ‘lessons learned’ documents would be reported to. One suggestion was that they came through to the Working Party for review.

 

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that Coastal Partnership East (CPE) was using SCAPE and meeting on a monthly basis to review and monitor all of the relevant projects. It provided a firm structure and control mechanisms all the way through the process.

 

The Assistant Director for Sustainable Growth said that he supported Cllr Gay’s comments regarding feedback on completed projects. This information was crucial and should be included as part of the process for all projects. However, it was important that any lessons were learnt and that resources were put in place to support this.

 

Cllr E Seward referred to the enabling land adjacent to the Reef. It was worth approximately £1m and it was important that it was included and reported on regularly as it was key to the financing of the overall scheme.

 

Cllr Seward asked about the solar car port project at the Reef and whether it was progressing. He asked for an update at the next meeting. He then referred to the public conveniences at Vicarage Street in North Walsham and queried the listing of ‘no status’ for this project as he understood it was progressing. The Project Manager replied that this indicated that no paperwork had been submitted yet for this project.

 

 

 

7.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To pass the following resolution:

 

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