The Minutes of the meeting held on 8 February, 2011 with regard to Swaffham were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests that they may have in the following items on the Agenda. 

The Members’ Code of Conduct requires that declarations include the nature of the interest, and whether it is a personal or prejudicial interest.

Cllr Bambridge declared a personal interest by virtue of owning a business in Dereham.

Report of the Assistant Director of Democratic Services.

To agree the terms of reference and key milestones for this review.  To consider the comments received from Cllr R Goreham.

The report was presented by Teresa Smith, Committee Officer (Scrutiny & Projects) for agreement by Members, on the Terms of Reference and Project Plan with regard to establishing if any improvements could be made in respect of the car parking provision in Dereham for Breckland residents, businesses and visitors.  It was explained that the same form of investigation would take place with regard to Dereham as it had taken place in Swaffham, Watton and Attleborough, and would be led by Members some of whom had been involved in the previous groups.

A Schedule of the breakdown of parking spaces in Dereham and a map was tabled to the Group.  As the observations in the Schedule were made in August 2009, it was agreed that another site visit would need to take place and cover the car parks under discussion.

Cllrs Bambridge and Duigan raised attention to the privately owned car parks that allow public parking, which were sited behind the Co-Op/Icelands, Morrisons and Dencora, and both felt these should be included in the review and a separate meeting held with relevant stakeholders.  In case issues were raised at the public consultation meeting, they felt that it would be beneficial for the Group to know and understand the legal issues and conditions in place in relation to these sites.

However other Councillors felt that sight should not be lost that the purpose of the review was to look at the car parking service provided by Breckland Council and the elements as listed in the Terms of Reference.

Cllr Robert Richmond complimented the Council over the very good feedback he had received with regard to parking in Dereham.

Councillor Goreham’s comments with regard to the Cherry Tree car park were well received and 3 hour free parking at the front of the car park was felt to be an excellent idea.

The Terms of Reference had been taken from the previous three reviews, and therefore there was nothing that the Members wished to add.  In answer to a question raised about enforcement resourcing, Cllr Duigan explained what happened with regard to Morrisons, Co-op, Dencora and Cowper Road.

The Project Plan had been based on the previous plans.  It was noted that Key Milestone Nos 4 and 5 on page 4 should be swapped, so that the public consultation meeting took place after stakeholders had been met.  If Members thought of anything they wished to be included in the investigation, they were asked to forward them to Teresa Smith.

Stakeholders would be written to at the end of October and their comments sought.

David Green, Corporate Programme & Project Manager would be consulted as he had been involved in the past with the design of the Cowper Road car park.

There had been some civil enforcement changes at Norfolk County Council, therefore Cabinet Member, Mark Kiddle-Morris, would be contacted about those.

The Eastern Daily Press were interested in undertaking press releases as they had done previously, so  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

To agree a date and time for the next meeting.

It was proposed that the next meeting would be held on the same day as the site visit in November, and when the date had been set, Members would be notified.