North Lynn Borough Councillor Austen Moore: August 2026 Update

As one of your North Lynn Borough Councillors, I want to provide residents with a regular update on the issues I have been working on across North Lynn and King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

This month I have been involved in a number of issues affecting local residents, including community grants, supporting small businesses, anti social behaviour involving e bikes and continuing to scrutinise the proposed new swimming pool at Lynnsport.

There are also a couple of things from earlier in the year that I realised I had not properly updated residents about, so I wanted to put that right.

Councillor Community Grants: Supporting North Lynn Residents

Each Borough Councillor in King's Lynn and West Norfolk has access to a Councillor Community Grant Scheme of £1000. Who is eligible to apply? Local constituted groups or organisations whose primary purpose is to benefit the residents of their community. I had two applications last year each was for £500. I completely forgot to let everyone know who received the money. I approved £500 for a book scheme for children at Greenpark Academy and I approved £500 for the Wheelchair Rugby that operates at Lynnsport Mondays, 7pm-8pm (beginners) & 8pm-9pm (elite). I have £1000 available for this year as well, so if you would like to learn more then please visit the following link to the Borough Council Webpage.

Community Projects Fund: Funding for Local Community Organisations

There is also a Community Projects Fund available.

The £500,000 Community Projects Fund provides financial support for locally led initiatives that improve community facilities, promote wellbeing and help build stronger, more resilient communities across the borough.

A key feature of the scheme is the role played by borough councillors, who can support and endorse applications from eligible community organisations in their local areas.

Learn more by visiting the following page at the Borough Council Website.

The Courtyard Micro Business Units on Edward Benefer Way

I was made aware that the Council were due to refuse retrospective planning for the business micro units on Edward Benefer Way in North Lynn. As Borough Councillor of North Lynn my concern was that there were now small business owners that were in these units now and not only would they lose their business if these closed down, it would also remove the opportunity for people to get a foot on the ladder to open a business in future. Plus, some of the business owners may have been residents of North Lynn.

As it was recommended for refusal, I had to call it in to planning so that it could then be discussed at planning committee and I would get 5 mins to speak on this.

I visited the site, and sure enough many of the small business units were being operated by residents of North Lynn. I am a huge fan of people starting their own small business and we should do everything possible to help businesses to be successful in any way that we can.

I spoke in favour of the micro units being given retrospective planning and Councillors voted 11 - 2 to agree the plans despite it being recommended to refuse it.

You can watch my five minute speech at the planning committee.

https://youtu.be/uMMSF5KHBGQ

E Bike Anti Social Behaviour in King's Lynn

On Thursday evening I witnessed firsthand two youths in full black balaclavas racing their E Bikes across town and through the walks park. One tried to ram a police officer.

I know that anti social behaviour involving e bikes is a real concern for many residents, and I have been speaking directly with the police about it. I want to acknowledge that officers are working hard to tackle the problem, including targeted patrols and the seizure of illegally modified bikes. However, their ability to intervene is not always straightforward. Pursuing a rider, particularly at speed or where young people are involved, can create a serious risk to the rider and other members of the public. The police are therefore having to balance enforcement with public safety. I will continue to raise residents' concerns with them and push for effective action.

I have personally spoken to the newly elected Reform Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk about this and described what I witnessed first hand. He has promised to look into this further and see what can be done to help the police locally with this issue. Myself and Reform Councillor Ben Griffin are hoping to meet with the local police shortly to find out more about the issues caused and the solutions.

If you're a parent and your kids have one of these powerful E Bikes then please speak to them about the dangers they pose, it would be devastating for someone to be injured or lose their life in an accident.

Lynnsport Swimming Pool: Scrutinising the £22.9 Million Proposal

I have seen the recent press releases about the new Swimming Pool being relocated next to Kaset at Lynnsport. Those of you that read my blog will have seen me trying to scrutinise this process from the outset. My thoughts on this story in the news are as follows.

I think it is important to put the proposed £845,609 expenditure into context.

I support the principle of securing a long term future for swimming provision in King's Lynn by the Borough Council. My concern has always been about the process by which we get there and whether taxpayers are receiving value for money.

The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk is now proposing a standalone swimming pool at Lynnsport, at an estimated total cost of approximately £22.9m. This is a very different proposition from the £46m to £49m Lynnsport redevelopment which was previously being developed and which ultimately proved unaffordable.

What I find particularly interesting is that the Council's own earlier consultant work identified a standalone pool or pool first phase at Lynnsport as an option. The December 2024 investment options report estimated a pool only first phase at approximately £16.2m and suggested it could be designed to allow wider redevelopment at a later stage.

Despite that, the Council subsequently committed a further £1.4m to take the much larger integrated Lynnsport redevelopment to RIBA Stage 3, before affordability concerns and the impact on existing users resulted in that project being paused.

The Council's latest report now says the standalone pool provides reduced construction risk and significantly reduced disruption to existing leisure services. That raises a legitimate question about whether the standalone option should have been pursued earlier, rather than after substantial additional consultancy expenditure had already been incurred.

I also want to see the new £845,609 expenditure properly scrutinised. The report says the money will be used for detailed design, technical investigations, planning, cost planning and professional services to develop the business case. Before committing further public money, I want Members to have confidence that the Council has learned the lessons from the previous project.

In particular, I would want clear answers on the final cost, the assumptions behind the £22.9m estimate, the procurement and consultant fees, the risks associated with the proposed site, and what happens if the eventual business case demonstrates that the Council cannot afford to build the facility.

I don't believe scrutiny of this expenditure is anti-investment. Quite the opposite. If we are going to spend £23m of taxpayers' money on a new swimming facility, we need to make sure we get the right facility, at the right cost, in the right location, and that we don't repeat the mistakes of the previous process.

The move from a £46 million to £49 million integrated redevelopment to a £22.9 million standalone pool demonstrates why proper scrutiny of major capital projects is so important. In my view, the fact that the Council is now pursuing an option that had previously been identified as a possible approach raises legitimate questions about whether the earlier process received the level of scrutiny it should have.

As always, my aim is to keep North Lynn residents informed about what is happening locally and to make sure that the decisions being taken by the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk are properly scrutinised.

If there is an issue affecting North Lynn that you think I should be looking at, please get in touch. I may not always be able to resolve every problem, but I will always do my best to make sure residents' concerns are heard.