May County Councillor Report
Highways
As always, there’s lots of highways and footpaths ‘stuff’ happening. Norfolk County Council (as part of a wider consortium of councils) has entered into a new contract for highways maintenance. I’m hoping this will lead to an improvement in the quality of some of the work we see but I will be asking questions about how performance will be monitored.
We’ve recently had the new speed limits introduced around Knapton and Swafield (and up to Mundesley). The notice for a speed limit reduction at Antingham has been published (the Parish Council did want it to go further along the A149). There’s some movement on yellow lines around Tesco on Cromer Road, Mundesley. The Council has also agreed to paint 20mph signs on Back Street, Mundesley (which will no doubt need a road closure). I’ve also asked about priority signs for the chicanes on Cromer Road after they were added at Swafield Bridge and the new 20 Zone through Southrepps.
We are also finally seeing some plans develop for speed reduction measures in Trimingham on the coast road.
Surface dressing will take place along the coast road in May – please contact me if you have any comments about the work when it is done.
Bus shelter funding
Just a reminder that I forwarded a separate letter about funding for bus shelters. Let me know if I can help with an application if you are making one. The deadline for applications is 30th June and up to £8,000 can be applied for.
Waste disposal and mineral extraction
The County Council has a new policy on Waste disposal sites and mineral extraction. It took nearly 10 years to put together and is 214 pages long!
It doesn’t look as though the new document has been added to the policy page on Norfolk County Council website yet but if you are keen, it is here as Appendix 2: Norfolk County Council – Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Adoption version
The important point is it is the policy defining where minerals can be extracted and where waste disposal sites can be sited (how far they should be from towns, what grade of agricultural land can be used, how environmentally sensitive areas can be affected etc). Both Sheringham and North Walsham recycling centres were planned to be moved so it will effect those decisions. The council officer sent me this update about Sheringham:
I also wanted to let you know that planning permission was granted by Norfolk County Council on 5 June 2024 for a new site for the Sheringham Recycling centre (application reference: FUL/2023/0005). However, the planning decision has been judicially reviewed by an adjacent landowner; the case was heard at the High Court earlier this year and the County Council are currently awaiting a decision on the outcome.
Local Government Reorganisation
The County Council is preparing an updated submission to the Government about changes to the structure of local government in Norfolk. They are running a consultation that closes on 20th May. Please take a look and have your say!
Coffee pod recycling
Mundesley Parish Council asked about coffee pod recycling. I thought you might be interested to see the reply I got from the County Council about this:
As it happens the last time the Norfolk Waste Partnership (that’s the body that brings all the eight Norfolk councils together on waste and recycling) looked at coffee pod recycling with Podback it was actually in the context of the district councils trialling a kerbside collection scheme, ie not via the county council recycling centres. That was in 2022 and I’ve asked for an update from the Norfolk Waste Partnership officers on that and I’ll let you know when I have the latest.
I’ve also raised it with the officer leading the County Council’s recycling centre service, and as we are just about to roll out a vape return service at recycling centres we’ll learn what we can from that roll out and if suitable add in return points for additional items where it make sense (considering things like space required, demand, volume, reliability of partners, lack of alternatives etc). We’ve already done this for books and CD return points and I’ll make sure that coffee pods are considered too and that will include speaking to other County Councils that have this option, to seek their insights and learn from their experiences as well.
In addition I’ve spoken to a colleague about recycling credits, which are payments that the County Council makes to groups (including Parish Councils) that collect materials for recycling (such as paper, glass or textiles). And whilst this item would be eligible for that process (it requires participants to be registered and submit evidence to receive the credit) the payments would probably be relatively small, but only because the scheme is weight based for the payments made and these items are fairly light in weight unless collected in large volumes.
And these items are a problem for recycling, as they are made of a mix of materials. That is why they aren’t collected with other recyclable items and why the producers push hard on the direct return model using a Podback bag, either:
- direct to local stores like Morrisons, Costa or Asda
- or doorstep collection
- drop off at Royal Mail locations
And if you haven’t found it already then you can find more information on local options here: Recycle Checker | Podback as this route and the drop off options may prove the most convenient for many.
Changes at County Hall
Norfolk’s County Council elections were postponed of course but there were four by-elections where members resigned. Labour and the Greens held on to two seats they were defending but Reform UK won two seats too. In addition, Simon Ring, an independent councillor in Kings Lynn area has joined the ‘Independent Group’ which is myself and Jim Moriarty. The Conservatives still have a substantial majority of councillors so continue to run things at County Hall. There will be some changes to committee places, though, which matters because that is where councillors can take a more detailed look at plans and policies and issues. We should know more about the allocations after our AGM on 20th May.