MINUTES
COASTAL PATHFINDER PROGRAMME
REFERENCE GROUP
13 September 2011
2.30pm - Room 1, NNDC Offices
Present
Reference Group Members
Malcolm Kerby
Dan Corbett
Rob Wise
Rob Goodliffe
Marti Tipper
Sue Willis
NNDC Officers
Rob Young
NNDC Coastal Consultant
Peter Frew
Item
1
Action
Apologies
Tony Nash, Peter Battrick
2
Agree minutes of the last meeting and matters arising.
Minutes of the last meeting were agreed.
Actions
•
Discussions which Rob Wise and Malcolm Kerby completed with Defra
evaluators to be included in the minutes from previous meeting.
3
A quick update on project progress and feedback from the group.
a)
Cromer Marrams Path
Final stage for public objections is 1 October and then the order for the closure of the
Public Right of Way can be issued.
b)
Trimingham Village Hall
A planning application was submitted early in the summer and the due date for a
decision is 14 September which is a significant milestone. A committee in the village
has been set up to gain funding and there is a high level of support in the village.
There had been some conflict with the original members of the PC and they have
since resigned. Some villagers have suggested an alternative suggestion of half the
church being used; however there is a conservation issue with this option. The PC
are sticking with the original proposal but not dismissing alternative options if they get
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stronger support for them.
There is a review period in 3 years’ time if the PC has not moved on with the project.
c)
Business Projects
Business Advice Project – fully subscribed, health checks completed and vouchers
being used to the end of Christmas. Not all of the subscribers will be making use of
the facility to create business plans.
Marketing Project
The Service Level Agreement has been signed off. £10k is out aside to assist in
developments around tourism brown signage. A PR and social media group has
been formed from local key business people.
Grants and Loans Scheme
This is moving forward and sign-off from Cabinet is expected to allow a charity to run
this aspect for NNDC from autumn onwards.
d)
Manor Caravan Site
A verbal confirmation that the owner wishes to continue with his intent to relocate has
been given. Written confirmation is awaited. The offer of support will be reviewed at
the end of the year.
e)
Heritage Project
The final version of the Heritage Project Report has been published and the
Happisburgh Book is due for publication at the end of September.
f)
Cliff top Enhancement and Beach Debris Removal
Car park progressing and contractors on site at the moment. Tender is out for toilet
build which has had very detailed elements to its design. Lots of involvement
regarding the concrete slab base for the building. There would be a contingency fund
of £20K over 2 years for the maintenance of the toilets and car park to allow a ‘buildup’ of income funds from car park fees. Discussions about what becomes of the old
car park and agreed that this needs to be discussed with the PC.
Beach debris removal is almost complete with much debris going for recycling or
reuse. The Group wished to thank and show their appreciation to Brian Farrow and
his team for the superb result that has been achieved. Debris issues discussed and it
was generally agreed that continued clearance of debris as it appears will be
required. Communication with community will be needed to explain that debris will
show itself over time with tides. A contingency fund for beach debris removal is to be
ring-fenced at NNDC. Discussion ensued about the strength and sturdiness of
signage to be placed warning bathers of possible underwater obstructions. Needs to
be orientated to the beach user looking out to sea, unable to be covered with shifting
beach sand and placed behind the protection already in place. Placing of
interpretation boards from the Heritage Project will also take place.
A landscaping scheme is being planned which will include top soil, grassing, hedging
and earth bank creation. A maintenance schedule will also be prepared. The Parish
Council will be offered the opportunity to add this land to the lease and agreement for
the car park. It is hoped that a picnic area with high quality, anchored seating and
benches will be provided. There are ongoing discussions with the community
regarding a play area alongside the picnic area. The community will need to lead on
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this aspect.
Discussions regarding height bar at car park entrance to make it a ‘traveler-proof’.
Currently agreed that there will be no height restrictor and the gate to the car park will
be set back from the road edge to allow fisherman’s vehicles to park for night fishing
from the beach. It is anticipated that the toilets will be closed at night.
g)
Beach Road – Buy to demolish and buy to lease
70 Beach Road
The next purchase to complete will most probably be 70 Beach Road.
Once purchased NNDC intend to fence off access to land at 70 Beach. There are 2
units of land alongside that don’t belong to this owner and are currently accessed via
NNDC’s car park. Access along the track will be required to be maintained as one
owner wishes to retain access to his land (although the easement is currently
blocked). A lockable gate only accessible by NNDC and the current land owner is
under consideration.
The group was conscious that the reputation of Pathfinder is balanced on the success
of tidying and clearing the cliff top. Should the land purchase not go through, it was
ensured that the Council would do everything it could to rectify any type of
contravention in this area. The Reference Group seeks written support from all
departments of NNDC that this issue will be solved.
Arcadia
Still waiting on completion of Arcadia so that the asbestos survey can be actioned.
Pre-Planning Application Public Consultation on EN12
This was a well attended event on 3 August. The break down of comments from the
28 respondees were:
Proposed Site
Alternative Site
NNDC
Proposed
18
0
Supported
3
7
Objected
0
0
These broke down into 6 main issues:
• Character Setting
• Planning Issues
• Traffic & Parking issues
• School related issues
• The relocation of the caravan site
• Miscellaneous and general
The Reference Group suggested that the views of the Parish Council should be
formally sought as a matter of course. The local Member should also be contacted.
It was agreed that each site has its merits and sacrifices and whichever is pursued
will have its issues. The Council is respectful of the setting required and its need to
be attractive and appealing to families with children likely to attend the local school.
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Beach Road House Demolitions and EN12
Rob Young has written to the planning department for some reassurance of retention
of re-location opportunity should the buildings be demolished; however written
confirmation is not likely to be received. The Group considered that there would be a
real possibility and risk of squatters in the empty properties if left standing over winter.
They also appreciated that there is a risk of loss of the EN12 opportunity if they are
demolished. The Group urged for demolition as soon as possible.
There is a Cabinet meeting on 31 October which will make the decision. It was
suggested that the Draft National Planning Policy material may be a consideration for
the planning department to take into account.
Considerations in favour to demolish prior to planning consent:
• Some of the Beach Road homes may be considered unsafe.
• Safety of cliffs nearby
• Destructive weather and storm damage more prevalent during winter months
• Council tax department have accepted that home are uninhabitable
• If homes boarded up it may increase the risk of squatters. If this happened
there would be a time and cost in obtaining a court order to make any
evictions.
Risks to demolish prior to planning consent:
• It may be seen as outside the EN12 policy.
The group suggests that Cabinet should be made aware that there are concerns that
on balance the risk of squatters and associated costs and timescales is greater than
the risk of loosing out on the EN12 right to relocate.
4
Update of the Defra evaluation process
The evaluation took place on 1 and 2 September starting with a trip to Happisburgh
and Trimingham. Questions were answered from Defra and their consultants
Regeneris. It is difficult to quantify our first impressions from the evaluation. NNDC
will receive a draft report in which we will be able to comment upon. NNDC were
generally impressed by Regeneris, however felt that as they had been brough tin at
such a late stage, they hadn’t fully appreciated the background to how Pathfinder
came about and developed. It will be interesting to see how the new Coast &
Communities Fund will fit in with the outcomes of Pathfinder.
Defra were particularly interested in the Buy to demolish and buy to lease projects.
They seemed disappointed that buy to lease was not implemented through
Pathfinder. They were also interested in the Business Projects and how much they
may improve the vibrancy of communities. Defra asked BCKL&WN when they would
be likely to implement the outcome of their Wolferton Project.
Lessons learnt from the other national Pathfinder Projects were discussed. Dorset’s
educational stance was a worthwhile exercise to enable communities understanding
to be developed and there more able to help themselves. It was agreed that
obstacles presented were not necessarily just local ones but national ones. It was
agreed that a national conference to pull together the findings would be beneficial.
The Coastal SIG is to push for a statement from Government for direction of what
happens next. NNDC gained a huge amount of benefit in engaging with the various
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Rob Y
consultants it employed during the Programme.
5
Communications and Press Coverage
Letters of complaint about the surface of the new ramp was discussed along with
circulation of photographs. NNDC response was circulated. It was agreed that
appropriate material had been used and was needed to resolve the ‘soft spots’ in the
ramp for heavy plant to access the beach.
6
Any other business
Copies of the Heritage Report were circulated to the Group for reading in their own
time.
7
Next Meeting
The draft report from Defra’s consultants Regeneris is due to be available to NNDC.
Rob Goodliffe will send this report out once received. The next Reference Group
Meeting will be arranged after this.
The meeting ended at 1700.
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