An apology for absence was received from Councillor Stenhouse.

Councillor Waters-Bunn declared a non-pecuniary interest in her capacity as the Chairman of PoNY.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2016 were confirmed subject to the amendment that Jane Langley had tendered her apologies.

Councillor Robinson-Payne asked that Roman Place be added as an agenda item for the next meeting.

The Council's Conservation Officer reported that an application had been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the Waterways and Boating Lake. The project would give training in restoration work and use volunteers and it was hoped that there would be a legacy for the site to continue into the future.

A Stage 1 Heritage Lottery pass had been received along with Stage 2 and £1.7m had been awarded and work was now underway with architects. Predicted costs had risen which meant that there would be funding gap but the Council has two years to fill it. Discussions had already taken place with funders.

Tender documents for the construction of the boating lake and Island Café would be sent out in the near future with work commencing in late Autumn and completing in December 2019.  Over the two years there would be a hosts of work being carried out  with training and courses being given.  It was reported that there had been a positive article in the Royal Horticulture Magazine about the project and the unique nature of the site.

Peter Fitzgerald stated that two meetings ago the committee were informed that fish had been removed due to a lack of oxygen in the water and asked if this had been addressed and if the committee could see the business plan for the ongoing maintenance of the site.

The Conservation Officer stated that the Heritage Lottery Fund are very robust with looking at business plans and that these are open to the public so he would forward this to the committee and would speak to the architects about the issue of oxygen in the water.

Mrs Langley asked if a management committee would still be set up to run the site and Darren confirmed that it would.

Councillor Jeal stated that in the past the Council had included a section in the lease of the site to state that the tenant had to take the water away every three years or if the site is over populated or the water quality deteriorates.

The Model Boat Club chairman asked if the flower beds would be reinstalled while the lake is being repaired. Darren stated that this was the case and that the work would take place in tandem and that he could forward them a copy of the work schedule. Great Yarmouth Borough Council would carry on with the maintenance of the park for some time until the work is formally handed over.

The tenant of the waterways café asked if the council would be restoring the boats and putting these back on the waterways with the original heads on.  The Conservation Officer stated that there were no plans to put boats into the waterways itself but that the salvaged heads would be used again in the design of the flowerbeds or at the ends of the benches as part of the design.

The Committee received a powerpoint presentation from the Environment Agency Officers.

It was reported that during the 2013 tidal surge 20 properties had been flooded. In January 2017 5 out of 7 warning areas forecast over he severe flood warning threshold with gale force 7-9.

Flood Warning Service - 7 warning areas.  Two thirds of properties registered to receive warnings totalling 66% registered.

Currently there are 13km of Riverside Flood defences which are mainly concrete walls on the quay edge.  There are 8 flood compartments (parts of the town that if water breaches the wall it will reach first).  There are 5,000 properties protected.  Standard of flood protection is generally between 1.3% and 0.1% 'Annual Exceedance Probability'

Potential Flood Defence Problems - Corrosion of the steel quay piles.  Loss of material from behind the piles and rising sea levels.

Framework for action - produced in 2011. Largely sustain the existing standard of protection for the next 100 years. 5 'Epochs' of work through to 2061.

Stage 1 'Epoch 1' 2011-2016

650m of piling replaced. 90m of piling repaired with a total cost of £28m.

Stage 2 'Epoch 2' 2016-2021

Framework for action recommended 216km of flood defences improved (mainly Runham, Tar Works Road and Bollard Quay areas) with an estimated cost of £76m for piling replacement.

To secure approval to spend money:-

- Need to reconfirm the framework for action recommendations

-Check the condition of the defences

-Review the flood risk using computer models

-Update the benefits and costs of options

-Incorporate lessons learnt from Epoch 1, greater potential for piling repair

-Where required secure third party funding

Timescales:-

-Early Autumn 2017  preferred options confirmed.

-Late Autumn/Winter 2017  obtain prices for design and construction work

-Early 2018 secure approval to proceed

-Construction 2018-2021

It was reported that the water heights in 1953 was 3.28m and in 2013 it was 3.31m.

Funding comes from DEFRA which is distributed across the Country. If there is a shortfall then other agencies/businesses ae asked for a contribution.

It was reported that Tesco had donated £7,500 towards a roundabout for the Beaconsfield play area and that Councillors Hammond and Bird had donated some of their ward budgets to purchase more equipment. Councillors Jones and Davis had also offered some money.

The Committee discussed the Board Walk which had appeared and an email was read out from the Director of Customer Services and from the Environmental Services Group Manager. It was agreed that the Chairman would speak to the Chief Executive about this to find out who had put the boardwalk down and that the Environmental Services Group Manager would be requested to write a letter of apology to PoNY. The Chairman suggested writing to Natural England to ask if they could provide funding for a second boardwalk.

RESOLVED:

That the Chairman:-

(i)  Writes to the Council Chief Executive Officer on behalf of the Yarmouth Area Committee to ask them to ascertain who had installed the Board Walk along with a written apology being sent to PoNY.

(ii)  Also write to Natural England to ask them if they would provide funding for a second Board Walk. 

There were no public questions received.

(i) Pc 1537 Hannah Gardiner asked for any volunteers for the Community Speed Watch or Neighbourhood Watch.

(ii) Coach Park

The Chairman reported that he had received an email from the Council's Car Parking Manager stating that the unused part of the car park would be marked out for reserved parking bays which would be allocated on a first come first served basis at a cost of £600 per year and could be used by the local Bed and Breakfasts.  Councillor Jeal asked if this area was included in the Zone A parking area and it was reported that it wasn't.