Norfolk County Council will provide a short presentation followed by a discussion.

Mr Cumming gave a presentation to the Board.  He explained that Members of the Environmental Development and Transport Committee had agreed to five studies per year, with a budget of £20,000 per study, of which Thetford was one of them.

It was anticipated that the scope of the transport study would be completed by September 2018 and would be in three parts.  Part one would consider the current transport issues, cycle, parking, traffic and access to services and facilities.

Part two would look at the future growth, and part three would cover the implementation plan that would identify appropriate interventions; determine priorities and timescales for delivery.

A workshop was due to take place with stakeholders and neighbouring parishes to gain feedback and discuss current issues.

BK asked how far the market town study would cover, particularly with speeding issues.  Whilst it focussed on the town it would also take into account the planned areas of growth.  Members were also encouraged to feedback if there were concerns of speeding in specific areas.

TJ, a Member of the Environmental Development and Transport Committee was pleased to see the project come to fruition.  He mentioned that he had asked on social media for feedback with regard to the transport issues and received constructive comments and forwarded them to Mr Cumming.  He went onto say that the reason for the study was for the growth of the town and hoped the study would consider the increase usage of public transport.  However it was noted the train station did not have sufficient parking facilities, disabled access and the use of push-chairs was not easy.  In addition there were not adequate facilities at the bus station, such as waiting information and provision of refreshments.  He added the connectivity of the town was important and consideration should be given to improve the traffic flow around the south of the town.

RWh was pleased to see cycling would be included in the study, and informed the Board that the Community Sub-Group had prepared a draft report on cycling and walking routes around the town. 

ACTION – RWh to send a copy of the report to Mr Cumming so it can feed into the study.

TP asked if the study would include the A11 junctions.  The Chairman informed the Board that at a recent Norfolk Leaders meeting it was agreed Norfolk would sign up to be part of a stakeholder group that was considering the A11 be upgraded to an express-way.

TP sought clarification of where the study would be recorded.  The Chairman confirmed that the scoping piece of work formed the first phase and that once Norfolk County Council ratified the scope in Autumn this year, it would then move onto the delivery plan.

RD added there would be short, medium and long term investment priorities that would form the strategy.

A member of the public asked if there had been any consideration for maintenance to the A11, specifically with pot-holes.  In addition if any near misses had been recorded in statistics that had been provided.  He also asked if the Board were aware of the North Sea Commission who provided funding for infrastructure.  Mr Cumming responded by confirming that maintenance would not be covered specifically within the scope unless there were particular issues.  In terms of the casualties, police records did not include near miss details.  He went onto ask if there were funding opportunities available then to forward the details onto Norfolk County Council.

Councillor Robinson asked that the study considers the Croxton Road junction as it can be heavily congested at times. 

It was also asked that consideration was given to those that used motor-scooters as dropped kerbs were an issue.  Mr Cummings welcomed the feedback and said he was keen to hear of particular problem areas.

The Board Members agreed to the recommendation and were asked to provide feedback and information to David Cummings by 9 March 2018.  (david.cumming@norfolk.gov.uk)