MINUTES
COASTAL PATHFINDER PROGRAMME
REFERENCE GROUP
24 September 2010
4.15pm Committee Room, NNDC Offices
Present
Reference Group Members
Malcolm Kerby
Dan Corbett
Tony Nash
Rob Wise
Rob Goodliffe
Marti Tipper
Peter Battrick
Sue Willis
NNDC Officers
Peter Frew
Item
1
Action
Apologies
Apologies were received from Janice Howell
2
Agree minutes of the last meeting (July) & emergency meeting (31
August) and matters arising
Minutes of the last meeting were agreed.
3
Update on progress
Happisburgh cliff top enhancement
Work is progressing with the Parish Council and the Liaison Group
regarding the provision of lavatories, beach slope and car park.
Meetings have also taken place with the Parish Council and the RNLI
regarding the future management of the newly relocated car park and
the use of funds from it. The future management is presently being
explored with the Parish Council.
Discussions with the present owners of the proposed site are underway.
We are looking to purchase the land and ‘roll-back’ the new beach slope
as and when needed. Options of leasing some of the land could also be
considered.
The group were conscious of wanting the car park to be run for the
benefit of the community.
Beach Road – Purchase and Demolish
It was agreed that the meeting of interested parties taken place to
update people on what has been happening on this project, had been
beneficial and should have happened before the cabinet meeting. It
was agreed that everyone needs to be kept on board through each
stage and that the comments made at the last cabinet meeting weren’t
personal but needed to be made. The Reference Group was probably
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24 September 2010
side-stepped this time in order to get the work moving with the residents
of Beach Road, which was seen as a priority, an apology was offered by
Peter Frew.
Lease -back Project
Tight deadlines are going to have to be set to get this work done. A
market appraisal of property prices in and around Happisburgh during
the last 10 years, is to be carried out by Bruton Knowles once the
specification has finished being written and discussed with them. It is
important to make sure this work is accurate and actual sale prices are
used.
Bruton
Knowles/RG
The Options appraisal for the buy and lease scheme will also be initiated
early in October.
Beach Debris Removal
It was explained that the Beach Road property purchases needed to be
established prior to physical work starting on the beach debris material.
An erosion assessment is presently being undertaken, to consider the
impacts on the cliff once the debris is removed. Discussions with the
Parish Council and Liaison Group have taken place and will continue
following the assessment which will be made public.
Coastal
Team
Coastal Heritage Report
The latest report has been produced. A group (of 12 people) has been
established to form a Happisburgh Heritage Group. Assistance has
been offered to Mary Trett to assist in publication of an interpretation of
her extensive archives of the village. There will soon be displays along
the coast highlighting the Heritage work. Archaeologist, Nick Ashton
from the British Museum, will give a talk at the Wenn Evans Centre on 3
November. There is also a public tour of St Mary’s House on the 13th
November. Details are available from issue 4 of the Coastal Heritage
Newsletter on the Coastal Heritage section of the Pathfinder website.
Manor Caravan Site
This is awaiting final approval from Full Council. A mechanism for the
caravan site to apply for funding stage by stage is being finalised. It was
agreed that they need to be contacted and kept up to speed with the
progress of the project after their busy summer season.
Business Advice Project
Fifty businesses have now signed up. Initially there has not been a
good uptake for the business plans; however this may be due to the
busy summer season. Businesses will be targeted again now this busy
summer period is over. Some businesses have given us reasons why
they’re not interested. It was noted that some businesses felt that there
was excessive pressure used to encourage to sign them up.
Business Support
This project links to the Business Advice Project and the plans
completed through it. The Project Board in October will look at different
grant/loan options possible and at other options such as the skills base.
A report is to go to the Project Board.
East Norfolk Tourism Marketing Project
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24 September 2010
Coastal
Team
North
Norfolk
Business
Forum
(NNBF)
NNBF
There have been three workshops completed locally. The initial turnout
was low; however this improved considerably on the subsequent two.
Positive and negative feedback has come back and this will be feed into
the draft action plan.
A stakeholder group (consisting of bodies such as Norfolk Coast
Partnership, North Norfolk Tourism, landowners and the National Trust,
rather than businesses) is looking at the outcomes of the workshops and
a way forward with the outputs. They would like to invite a Reference
Group member to this. The next stakeholder meeting will be on 12
October at 1pm at the Dairy Barns in Hickling. Tony Nash agreed to
attend. Rob Goodliffe to arrange an invitation.
RG & TN
The Reference Group aired that, other than the higher quantity of bed
availability, they haven’t really learnt much more from Blue Sail’s interim
report than was already known about the area. The report did however
evidence what was already believed. A similar report had been
commissioned a few years ago and no report will be of any benefit if the
highlighted issues from them were not acted upon. There was concern
about Blue Sail’s lack of knowledge that the attractiveness of the area
was partly due to its lack of over-commercial attractions, its remoteness
and its natural environment. There were also more events taking place
than reported. The area’s attraction is this, and the report seemed to
miss this. The Group were also disappointed with the spelling mistakes
of local place names that could create a negative impact from an
outsider perspective. It was considered useful as an internal document
but incomplete for outside submission. The spelling errors had been
picked up by NNDC and some of the figures queried.
Brown signing of the coastal route is being considered. Norfolk County
Council would probably assist in giving approval although they would
wish to have significant influence on the content. The local press would
need to be informed if progress is made on this.
Trimingham Village Hall
This project is awaiting a council resolution to approve the signing of a
contract to allow a grant to the Parish Council for the funds.
Marrams Footpath
This has gone to planning and awaiting consent. There were no
objections, so work will start to implement the project as soon as we
hear back from planning.
Beeston Regis – Beach Debris Removal
This project was completed in May 2010 before the summer season
started. Signage will be placed imminently, detailing the project.
Salthouse Car Park
This most probably won’t be progressed with unless some of the other
projects fail to materialise.
Wolferton Private Contribution for Flood Defence Project
BCKL&WN has appointed RPA as consultants to work on this project.
4
Cabinet meeting Sept 6th - discussion
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Comms
Dept
5
General Discussion
6
Any Other Business
None.
Post Meeting Comment: Sue Willis telephoned Rob Goodliffe on 27
September to air her concerns about the temporary nature of the
replacement Happisburgh Car Park. She would prefer it to be of
permanent construction rather that being created with the intention of
‘rolling-back’ over time. The issue with the other alternatives were
discussed and the positive feedback from the local community with the
current suggestion.
7
Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting was discussed. It was agreed that Rob
Goodliffe would send out a time availability table to all members and
inform them of the next meeting’s time/date once all had returned their
availability. This would probably be the beginning of November.
The next coastal management board meeting is on 19 October.
The meeting ended at 5pm.
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RG/GROUP