Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bird, Dwyer-McCluskey, Rundle and Sharp.

Councillor Flaxman-Taylor declared a personal interest in Item 10 in her capacity as a Director of GYN.

Councillor Wells declared a personal interest in Item 8 in his capacity as a Director of GYS.

Her Worship the Mayor informed Council that the Annual General Meeting for Council would take place on Thursday 22 May 2025 at 6.30pm.

Her Worship the Mayor reminded Council that her last fundraising event, The Mayor's Civic Ball, would take place on Saturday May 10th 2025.

The Leader advised that the Council Leader's had met earlier that day to discuss Local Government Reorganisation and the way forward, he advised that they were now hoping to work with Inner Circle over the next 19 weeks, to ensure a strong business case was ready for submission. The Leader advised that the Local Government Reorganisation Member Working Group set up by the Council was due to meet Friday and would look at the work programme moving forward. The Leader advised that he would continue to keep Council updated when more information was available.

The Leader passed on his thanks and appreciation to Her Worship the Mayor for her term in office which was coming to an end and that he looked forward to attending the Civic Ball in May.

Councillor Wainwright also passed on his thanks and appreciation to Her Worship the Mayor for her term in office and commented that he felt Her Worship had undertaken her role extremely well with, at times, little support.

Proposer : Councillor Smith

Seconder : Councillor Candon 

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 20 February 2025 are approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

CARRIED

Proposer : Councillor Smith

Seconder : Councillor Plant

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 20 March 2025 are approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

CARRIED

Council received and considered the Strategic Planning Manager's report.

Councillor Candon, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Growth, presented the report and advised Council that the Belton with Browston, Burgh Castle and Fritton with St Olaves Neighbourhood Plan was prepared and submitted by the respective Parish Council’s within the Lothingland Ward. The plan contained planning policies to be used in determining planning applications within the parishes. Following the Full Council decision to approve the Neighbourhood Plan for referendum, the referendum had taken place in four local village halls on the Thursday 27th March 2025. The plan successfully passed the referendum with a 79% majority of the votes cast.

In accordance with the Regulations, the Borough Council must now adopt the plan unless it would breach any retained European Union obligation or Convention rights. It is considered that the plan does not breach such obligations or rights and therefore, the recommendation is for Full Council to adopt the Neighbourhood Plan.

Councillor Candon advised that upon adoption, the Neighbourhood Plan would become part of the Borough Council’s Development Plan.

Councillor Candon commented that, in his opinion, the plan was a good, clear example of how a Neighbourhood Plan can shape a neighbourhood and encourages community engagement.

Proposer : Councillor Candon

Seconder : Councillor G Carpenter

That Council adopt the Belton with Browston, Burgh Castle and Fritton with St Olaves Neighbourhood Plan.

CARRIED

Council received and considered the Head of Environment and Sustainability's report.

Councillor Wells, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Sustainability, Licensing and Waste presented the item and advised that the Government had rolled out legislation under its simpler recycling initiative, to ensure there is greater consistency in the material that Council's collect for recycling, to reduce confusion to the general public and to increase the amount of material collected for recycling.

It was advised that the Council does collect most of the current recycling material that the Government is asking for already, however, there are several impacts on the Council, its residents and businesses. These included the introduction of a weekly food waste collection for all residential properties by 1st April 2026 and businesses with over 10FTE staff by 1st April 2025 and the collection of soft plastics by 1st April 2027.

Councillor Wells reported that the Council would not meet the deadline for the April 2026 start date for food waste collection service due to the protracted discussions with DEFRA to try and obtain more capital funding and uncertainty around other funding for transition and revenue, some of which is still unknown. Other Councils may be further progressed, but this is due to the fact they were allocated adequate funding to deliver the scheme.

It was advised that this was a significant project and the roll-out of a Borough wide scheme of this nature was complex and would be managed by a specific project manager supported by the Officer Working Group, this would be funded by the transition funding that has been allocated by Government.

Information from vehicle suppliers had identified that vehicle delivery would not be expected until October/November 2026 and therefore the scheme could not be delivered before this date. The Council had also been informed of upgrades due to take place at the Caister Transfer Station to allow for food waste to be deposited at the site would not be completed until late 2026, or potentially, early 2027.

In conclusion, Councillor Wells advised that the Council should progress with the roll-out of the weekly waste scheme in line with legislation, but only when it has the vehicles and the facility to dispose of the waste in place to allow a Borough wide roll-out in one go and not a phased implementation.

Councillor Wells commented, that in his opinion, the policy introduced by the Government had some unintended consequences for authorities, so he was hopeful that as part of the discussions with the Government that a more uniform approach would be considered.

Councillor Plant raised some concern with regard to local businesses who are producing considerable amounts of food waste and how much this would cost. He further raised concern as to where the food waste would be taken whilst facilities were still being developed. The Head of Environment and Sustainability advised that food businesses would have private contractors collecting food waste and would therefore have private disposal facilities already in place. He advised it was only the Council's aim to use the facilities at the Caister site once these had been developed.

Councillor Candon commented on the need to ensure that there was adequate funding in place to ensure this scheme would be successful and to not impact the residents of the Borough.

Councillor Williamson asked if consideration had been given to the double use of existing refuse vehicles, which would see the existing vehicles used for a double shift to save on funding. The Head of Environment and Sustainability advised that this has not currently been looked at as an option, although this could be considered, however, there would be a need to look at turnover times of emptying vehicles in-between shifts and the possibility of later opening times for transfer stations. Councillor Williamson advised that he was aware this method was undertaken at other authorities so he felt that this could be considered.

Councillor Bensly commented that he fully supported the steps that the Council were taking in the rolling out of the scheme, and advised that the transfer station at the Caister site was currently undergoing a multi-million pound investment to implement changes and modernisation to ensure that this scheme could take place with the correct facilities. 

Councillor Bensly hereby took the opportunity to pass on his thanks and appreciation to Her Worship the Mayor for her year in office.

Councillor Wainwright advised that he was dissappointed that there had been a shortfall in funding. Councillor Wainwright commented that he was glad to see that the Local MP would be contacted to see how he could help lobby for Great Yarmouth on this matter.

Councillor Cordiner-Achenbach asked whether the Council had been faced with delays and funding issues as a result of being late in the commencement of the roll out. The Head of Environment and Sustainability advised that some authorities had completed the roll-out of the scheme prior to the Government led scheme. He advised that delays had now become apparent as the Government had imposed a deadline for the scheme, which had seen many authorities all trying to source sufficient vehicles and food waste bins at the same time prompting a further challenge with supply chains causing delays in delivery.

The Leader advised that he was due to have a meeting with the Local MP so would raise this matter at that meeting.

Councillor Wells here summed up the report and referred to the questions and comments that had been made during debate. Councillor Wells advised that he had also had conversations with the Local MP's Office regarding this matter.

Proposer : Councillor Wells 

Seconder : Councillor Bensly

That Council :-

1. Note the changes to recycling as part of the governments simpler recycling Agenda.

    

2. Approve the progression of the weekly food waste collection delivery in line with the simpler recycling legislation and the timeline of late 2026 early 2027 and write to DEFRA to advise them of this delay and the reasons why.

    

3. Approve the additional capital spend of £423,265 To cover the shortfall from central government new burdens funding.

    

4. Delegate authority to Section 151 officer to approve any additional budget decision within 10% of the above figure.

    

5. The Council writes to Norfolk County Council to request assurance around the timeline for completion around the upgrades and improvements to the Caister Transfer Station.

    

6. The Council writes to DEFRA and the MP in relation to the shortfall of funding for the food waste and the impact this will have on the Councils capital and revenue budgets.

CARRIED.

Council received and considered the Chief Executive Officer's report.

The Leader presented the report and advised that a new Corporate Plan (2025-2030) had been created to give a strategic vision, context and priorities for the Borough as well as for the organisation over the next five years running to 2030. It will ensure the Council remains focused on those issues which are most important to the residents particularly at a time of ever increasing financial uncertainty and resilience.

The Leader advised that the Council had continued with the same four key priorities and outcomes, these being:

• A strong and growing economy
• Improved housing and strong communities
• A quality and sustainable environment
• An efficient and effective council

Following approval of the draft Plan at Cabinet, key stakeholders including the Town Board were consulted and any feedback has been considered by both the Scrutiny Committee and the same cross-party working group of members. These changes are included within the final version as attached at Appendix A.

Council were advised that on adoption of the Corporate Plan, the Council will produce an Annual Action Plan describing the work that the Council will undertake during the year. The Annual Action Plan would be submitted to the Cabinet for approval in May/June 2025.

Councillor Candon commented on the positive elements that he felt The Plan recognised and he felt that this gave out a strong economic, strategic vision. Councillor Candon made reference to some of the economic growth projects that had already been completed within the Borough, such as the Third River Crossing, the ongoing restoration of the Wintergardens and the recent redevelopment of the former Palmers store, which he felt enhanced The Plan for the Borough.

Councillor Plant commented that he felt The Plan evidenced the Council's ambitions for the future for the residents of the Borough and the growth of the town. Councillor Plant further commented that he was disappointed to see negative views posted on social media platforms when there is such ambition for the town. He hoped that Government funding continued to be made available in order to deliver on major projects to ensure the town continued to grow. He commented that he fully supported The Plan and was pleased to see that this had been completed cross-party.

Councillor T Wright, advised that the Council had always been forward-looking and ambitious when developing Plans for the town which he fully supported, and that he was also glad that this had been developed cross-party. Councillor Wright commented on the need to ensure that street cleansing is maintained within the Borough and that he looked forward to seeing significant improvements in this matter. Councillor Wells advised that there had been some recent issues with capacity relating to street cleansing, however, this had now been resolved and with the Council having more direct management of the service now, it was hoped that improvements would continue to be seen. 

Councillor Jeal commented that he was unsure of the need for street cleansing to be undertaken on the seafront during the winter months when the area was particularly quiet.

Proposer : Councillor Smith

Seconder : Councillor Candon

That Council approve the Corporate Plan 2025-2030

CARRIED

Council received and considered the Chief Executive Officer's report.

The Leader presented the report and advised that the Joint Venture company (JV) Great Yarmouth Norse Ltd (GYN) continues to exist following the transfer of the business of the company to a GYBC in-house service. GYN will continue to exist whilst final administrative and accounting matters are settled, and an over-arching transfer agreement is signed.

The Council appointed Nicola Turner as a Company Director of GYN at their meeting on the 27 July 2023. Nicola Turner is due to depart from her role within the Council in May 2025 and has accordingly resigned from her Directorship of GYN. A replacement is now required for this role.

Proposer : Councillor Smith

Seconder : Councillor Plant

That Council :-

 Agree to the appointment of the Head of Legal and Governance as a Company Director of Great Yarmouth Norse.

CARRIED

Council received and considered the Monitoring Officer's report.

The Leader presented the report and advised that the Chief Executive had decided to introduce two posts at ‘Director’ level – a Council Homes Director and a Major Projects Director. As Director is a tier of management which does not currently exist in the Council’s Senior Management Structure, this means that the Constitution needs to be amended to provide the requisite delegated powers for these posts, these amendments are highlighted bold throughout the report. Additionally, it was advised that the Management Structure Chart would be replaced to reflect the changes to the organisational structure.

Proposer : Councillor Smith

Seconder : Councillor Plant

That Council : 

Agree to the amendments to the Constitution as set out in this report and its Appendix.

CARRIED.