Apologies for absence were received from Margaret and Norman Ward.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2016 were confirmed. 

Highways Roundabouts 

County Councillor Walker spoke of Highways England who had said that they would look at the roundabouts the Harfreys, Gapton and Vauxhall and would arrange for these to be repaired and tidied up.  Highways England had expressed an interest in Great Yarmouth Borough Council maintaining these and would give them a maintenance budget to carry out the work .  County Councillor Plant stated that Highwyas England was looking at changes to the road layout outside of Asda so that vehicles could turn right.

Councillor Wainwright detailed the maps attached to the agenda stating that this item had been raised by Norman Ward and detailed the land that was in the Council's ownership.

(i) Veronica Green Motorbikes

At the last meeting the issue of motorbikes on Veronica Green were raised and it was reported that following the installation of CCTV cameras the problems had stopped. PCSO McGee informed the public of the importance of reporting problems early on so that they can be stopped at the early stages before issues escalate.

(ii) Drug Dealing on the High Street

A resident reported that he lives on Palmer Road and that there had been drug dealing taking place on Farm Foods Car Park, QD Car Park and Iceland Car Park.  

(iii) Bells Marsh Road 

PCSO McGee reported that the issues in Bells Marsh Road had stopped due to a resident being evicted.

County Councillor Walker reported that a single yellow line would be placed on Wadham Road and double yellow lines on part of Emmanuel Avenue with the work being carried out at the same time.  The Kennedy Road work had been agreed on public consultation and the Wadham Road work is out to consultation.

Councillor Wainwright spoke of flooding at the white horse roundabout area and the damage that this was causing to properties.

Councillor Williamson reported that the sewage system in the area has surface water filling into it and when heavy rain or flash flooding occurs it fills up and overflows.  He requested that all residents send photos and any evidence that they have to Anglia Water at the same time so that this can be considered as they have not included this area in the 5 year work plan which is now in place. 

County Councillor Plant informed the public that Anglia Water only have £15,000 for claims across the whole of Norfolk.

The Residents spoke of pumps that they had purchased for their back gardens, however some residents stated that the Fire Brigade had advised them not to purchase pumps as these would not be able to cope with the amount of water.  One Residents stated that an elderly person had not been able to have a carer visit them due to the raw sewage outside the property.  Another resident spoke of a non return valve that they had fitted and paid for themselves.  One resident spoke of having 4,000 gallons of dirty water under their house and now having to cover his air bricks and sandbag his front door before he goes out.

County Councillor Plant stated that Norfolk County Council was also responsible as they were allowing the rain and surface water  to go into the drains.

It was agreed that the drains needed to be cleaned more regularly to remove the silt as this is only carried out once a year due to budget cuts and should get a higher priority.

One resident spoke of their house insurance increasing from £500 to £1,600.

RESOLVED:

It was agreed that Anglian Water, Norfolk County Council Flood Risk and Highways would be invited to the March meeting.

Councillor Wainwright read out a statement from Norfolk County Council:-

An incident occurred in April 2013 when an area of land adjacent to the White Lion Steps collapsed onto the steps themselves.  The steps belong to Norfolk County Council but the land alongside is privately owned and had been subject to recent building work by a local development company.

Unfortunately it became increasingly apparent to the Authority that restoration of the steps was unlikely to be settled without formal action.  Norfolk County Council then began the process of incrementally evaluating address of the issue through the courts.  This was a complex and lengthy process requiring extensive engineering and legal considerations. In the meantime, Norfolk County Council erected a timber hoarding to segregate the collapse and ensure that safe use of the steps was maintained.

The cost of the repairs has been calculated by our specialist consultants following extensive investigations including a ground investigation report and topographical survey. They concluded that there were several problem areas that need to be addressed including the quality of concrete of the original steps and the fact that they are underlain by earlier brickwork believed to be Victorian. Also the flint wall (some of which requires reconstruction) had effectively no foundation.  To further complicate matters they told us that there appears to be a loose area of sand at a depth of between 2 and 6 metres from the top of the steps which could have some ramifications with regard to the design of the retaining wall.  There are also concerns regarding a large water main which was partly exposed at the time of the collapse which would need careful consideration when excavating close by.

Norfolk County Council has now exhausted all realistic possibilities of recovering the sums required from the third party.  Reluctantly, the decision has been taken to no longer actively pursue the development company as this will simply incur further legal costs with little or no prospect of recovery.  This is an extremely disappointing situation for the Authority and the people of Norfolk.  At a time of significant reductions in funding we are unfortunately unable to finance the repair work needed from the public purse.  The steps will be maintained in their current reduced state.  The harsh reality is that our grants from Central Government have been significantly reduced over the past few years and are to be cut even further over the next 3 years and most likely beyond.  The necessary work to the steps is estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, money the council simply cannot afford at this present time. 

(i) Regeneration of Great Yarmouth - The Master Plan 

Councillor Plant stated that £1m had been put aside 3 years ago to look at how to regenerate the Town Centre.  The consultants have put a scheme together which is now out to Public Consultation on 9th January 2017 until 30 January 2017 and the public are asked to comment on this.

(ii) Third River Crossing 

The public were asked to look at the third river crossing consultation. 

(iii) Gapton Retail Park

The public spoke of the Gapton Retail Park and the problems with people going to McDonalds and the traffic backing up.

It was reported that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 7 March 2017.