Agenda item

Contact Officer, telephone number and email: Duncan Ellis (Director for Resources), 01263 516330 duncan.ellis@north-norfolk.gov.uk

The Portfolio Holder for Assets, Cllr E Seward, introduced this item. He explained that the report updated members in respect of a recent grant award of £300k by the Government to help support the provision of Changing Places facilities and made recommendations regarding further investment at the locations identified and updates to the capital programme to reflect the new funding stream. He drew members’ attention to section 10 of the report which outlined the financial and resource implications and highlighted ongoing discussions with the Museum of the Broads in Stalham around siting a facility there. Cllr Seward concluded by saying that there was a possibility of a second round of funding and the Council may be able to apply again. The Chairman agreed, saying that it was hoped that some funding could be generated for the larger villages in the District. Cllr Fredericks, local member for Mundesley, said that that the village was pushing for a changing places facility due to the large footfall generated by visitors.

Cllr J Toye commented that Cllr E Spagnola had championed the provision of ‘changing places’ facilities across the District and she should be very proud of her achievements. It also demonstrated the value of member champions and how beneficial they were to the Council.

Cllr N Dixon referred to section 5 of the report and asked whether there had been any discussions with Stalham Town Council around their preferred siting of changing places facilities. He then mentioned section 7 and asked whether consideration had been given to having discussions with parish council representatives from Hoveton, Potter Heigham, Horning, Ludham and Mundesley. He said that Hoveton, together with Wroxham, formed the major tourist centre of the Broads and there could be a case for working with Broadland District Council to deliver key public facilities such as this. The Chief Executive replied that the Broads Authority had approached NNDC and confirmed that they had had discussions with the Museum of the Broads and were prepared to make a contribution towards a facility there. He said that, across the county as a whole, there was only a modest number of changing places facilities and the challenge was that they were best located alongside other facilities so that there was support and supervision available nearby. Regarding villages in the Broads area, he said that they had not been looked at yet as the initial focus had been on the 7 principle towns. He said that Norfolk County Council (NCC) had unilaterally decided to provide a changing places facility at Wroxham library and they were considering additional provision at either Morston or Brancaster quay.

Cllr Dixon sought confirmation that there had been no discussions to date with respective parish councils.  The Chief Executive reiterated that the initial focus had been on the 7 major settlements in the District and wider discussions had not been held. The Chairman added that there had been some discussions about toilet provision with Stalham Town Council and he confirmed that Mundesley parish council had also approached NNDC on this matter. Cllr Dixon replied that the main thrust of his point was that this was a good opportunity to engage with the town and parish councils across the District. The primary opportunity for such engagement was at officer level and he would like to see more communication and dialogue in the future. The Chairman thanked him for his comments and said that the NNDC Town & Parish Council Engagement Forum could be a beneficial channel for such discussions. Cllr Fredericks concurred, adding that the next one was taking palce on 4^th July and it could be a good time to raise such matters.

It was proposed by Cllr T Adams, seconded by Cllr J Toye and

RESOLVED to

·                    Agree to the officer proposals for the further Changing Places investments at the locations identified;

·                    Agree to the recommended changes to the capital budget identified within section 10 the report; and

·                    Delegate authority to the Director for Resources to develop and agree governance and reporting arrangements with the Broads Authority and funding providers.

Reasons for the recommendations:

To allocate the grant funding awarded to various schemes across the district to continue with the Council’s investment in Changing Places facilities.