Meetings

2nd Meeting Thursday 25th June 2009:

Present

Tim Howard – Head of Regeneration & Environment – GYBC

Jools Tinsley – Environmental Services Support Officer – GYBC

Chris Skinner – Head of Legal Services – GYBC (did not attend)

Barry & Janet Tough

Martin & Pauline Dodd

1. River Defence Works

There has been some progress. The Environment Agency is still considering its preferred engineering solution, but seems unlikely to opt for a retired line. Therefore, land will not be lost. Their preference might be to advance one metre into the river, but the Port Authority and Harbourmaster are adamant they will not give up 1” of the river. Should not affect the beach.

2. The Road

Bernie Harris (Great Yarmouth Borough Services) had a meeting with a representative from Norfolk County Council, who are preparing a condition survey on the road where it is particularly crumbling and will prepare a works plan. They will then consider a longer term solution. Norfolk County Council seems prepared to pick up the cost of any immediate works, but a longer term solution might require GYBC to contribute. NCC will be happy to attend future meetings.

Traffic Calming/Weight restrictions.

This has been looked at previously and was decided against. However, NCC is prepared to reconsider if asked. There is a 7.5 tonne weight limit at present but service/delivery vehicles are exempt. NCC will also be asked to consider a wider Gorleston traffic flow scheme when they have resources available. There is a Joint GYBC/NCC Transprt Member Panel into which this will be fed.

3. Repairs and Routine Maintenance

Copies of the repairs and routine maintenance schedules were requested as it was felt that road sweeping, litter picking etc was not carried out regularly. Action:JT

Jetty Damage

It is expected that GYBC will receive £2k for the dolphins from their insurers, but timing is uncertain. There are different options for using this money:

Spent directly by GYBC on the jetty

Used as “float” for a Riverside residents group to undertake repairs and possibly raise more money.

The first option would enable minimal works to be carried out, but bearing in mind that there is no other funding for the jetties at present, full restoration will not be possible at present. However, the Council would continue to carry responsibility.

If the jetties were passed, by way of lease for the residents group to be responsible for the jetty, this would give greater freedom and scope, particularly in terms of fund raising, but the group would then carry the liability.

If GYBC retains direct control of the dolphins, but allowed the residents group to carry out repairs, permission to carry out works would need to be granted. This would involve agreeing a works programme and satisfying a Health & Safety Risk assessment.

One possible source of external funding is the Community Asset Transfer fund with a bidding round due in November. This provides funding for local assets that can make a genuine contribution to community life, on the basis that the asset is transferred to the ownership of a community group.The bid would need

Fully up to date costed scheme;

Who will carry out the work;

Rationale developed. The rationale would need to show that the asset would need funding for the community to benefit. This could be along the lines of leisure-fishing,boats,education element on environment and heritage; amenity value to lift the surrounding environment; training for local people.

The transfer of an asset must be for a minimum of 25 years and the group would need to be established and committed.

Conservation area designation

Riverside is now officially part of the Gorleston Conservation area. It was requested that a copy of the study be e-mailed to the group.

Legal Issues

Chris Skinner, Head of Legal Services at GYBC, joined the meeting at this point and confirmed that there is value in formalising as a group as grants would be easier to access. He gave a run-down of the possibilities.

We decided on a “Friends Group”:

A Friends group is not area specific and could include people who have interest in the area but do not specifically reside in the area. Friends groups will vary according to the interests of the people involved and the nature of the area which has been befriended. A group will normally consist of neighbours and users of an area together with groups and representatives of other organisations which have a interest in the area. Meetings will take place according to the needs of the group themselves; it can be once a month or as little as once a year. The benefits of a Friends Group are:-

To ensure that the views of local people and users of the area are taken into account by the council when decisions are made about its management.

Many grant giving bodies insist on community involvement; some funding is only available to community groups themselves.

Making improvements to a space that meets the needs of the community, together with communities getting involved as volunteers leads to an increased sense of “ownership”.

Any Other Business

The old lifeboat shed is an eyesore. The Planning department will be asked to have a look at it.