The Parish Council representatives asked what controls were in place to control whether these cottages would be for holiday let or for residential use. The leader reported that the Council holds a register of use / occupation and the officers could check this register. The Group Manager (Planning) reported that the planning inspector had imposed a condition on these premises for holiday lets only. He asked that if local residents were aware of any misuse then they should report there concerns direct to the Borough Council.

• Lack of Parking Wardens around the village

The Parish Council representatives stated that the Member of Parliament had promised to keep public toilets open. The representative stated that they had increased their precept to keep the toilets open in Caister.

The Director of Customer Services reported that following detailed negotiations with Caister Parish Council the Borough Council had agreed to fund the opening of the High Street toilets but that there was insufficient funding to keep open the toilets at Beach Road and Second Avenue.

The Leader also explained the Borough Councils reasons for reviewing the opening of public toilets and on the detailed negotiations that had taken place with all Parish Councils to keep the toilets open in their areas by agreement with the parishes. The Caister Parish Council representatives felt that there had been insufficent negotiation with them on this matter and the Leader confirmed that the Borough Council would be willing to have further discussions with the Parish Council on this matter.

The Director of Customer Services asked the Parish Council to advise the Borough council if there are any particular hot spots in the Caister area that need to be addressed.

The Parish Council expressed their concern that there were not enough Environmental Rangers especially to control the problem of dog fouling. The Leader reported that the Environmental Rangers did in fact cover the area as far as they were able and that if people report dog fouling then it was the current policy of the Borough Council to prosecute those people who had allowed their dogs to foul.

In relation to the issue of dogs the meeting was advised that Hopton on Sea Parish Council had asked how the Borough Council would take enforcement action against those dog owners who do not micro chip their dogs. The meeting was advised that the Environmental Rangers had advised that there had been no additional funding provided by the Government for enforcement of the new legislation. This is as a result of the Government not envisaging a proactive enforcement of the legislation or where it is done will be at the Councils discretion and as a consequence also its expense. Proactive enforcement would include patrols specifically targeting dog walkers whether their dog is micro chipped. It is currently intended that the main channel for identifying non compliance will be through the stray dog service. Where a dog which is not micro chipped is collected as a stray and the keeper is identified or comes forward to claim the dog then requirements will be highlighted by the Borough Councils stray dog contractor. The contractor does offer a micro chipping which he/she will be able to offer at this point of contact. If this was declined the information about the keeper and dog will be passed onto the Environmental Ranger service for further follow up work to check whether the dog had been subsequently micro chipped elsewhere. If it has not been micro chipped then a notice will be served which if not compilable will be enforced as per the regulations with formal court action. The Leader advised the Parish Council that the Borough Council when considering the budget at its recent meeting did not agree to the cost of employing a contractor for stray dogs.

The Parish Council representatives reported on the current poor state of this car park. The representatives were advised that the pot holes on this car park are filled in but that it would not be possible to resurface the whole area of the car park. The leader confirmed that the Borough council would take as much action as they are able to improve the area of this car park and would also give further consideration to the current charging levels for this car park.

The representatives from Caister Parish Council referred to the issue of funds expended in the villages by the Borough Council. The Leader explained the effect of the current scheme of concurrent function grants on the Parish Councils. Reference was also made to the issue of trade waste at Somerton.