North Lynn: What’s Been Happening. Austen Moore Your Reform Councillor’s Update.

I thought it was high time that I posted an update on some of the things I have been doing as one of your local Borough Councillors for North Lynn. Many Councillors have lots of social media platforms and they post continuous updates. Personally I'm not a big fan of social media and I'm not really someone that feels very comfortable doing all that. Although it has been pointed out to me that if I don't do this then people will assume I haven't been doing anything at all.

Rather than leap into action on everyone social media platform I could think of, I felt it would be better to write a update on our Reform Website to give an overview of some of the things I have been doing at Council and locally in North Lynn.

North Lynn Food Hub

I visited the North Lynn Food Hub early on after I was elected. The North Lynn Food Hub is absolutely amazing, it's operated by some fantastic volunteers. I believe the building that it's operated within is provided by Freebridge Community Housing. When I visited and spoke with staff they mentioned that some of the refrigeration and freezers they had were not functioning and they could do with some additional units.

I looked for a local refrigeration company and found Williams Refrigeration on the North Lynn Industrial Estate. I contacted them and arranged to meet one of their team at The Food Hub to see if they would be willing to supply a unit free of charge. Within a couple of weeks I met with one of their team on site and he agreed to supply a new unit. This is a picture of me and Tina who is one of the fantastic volunteers at The Food Hub North Lynn standing in front of the unit supplied by Williams Refrigeration. I'm really grateful to Williams Refrigeration for supplying this unit. I believe that The Food Hub are now continuing conversations with Williams Refrigeration directly and they may be supplying some more refrigeration units in the future.

Long Ponds

I was contacted by a local resident who was concerned about the water levels of the Long Ponds and the rubbish in them. I met with the resident at the Long Ponds and took some photos which I sent across to the Council. They said they were intending to raise the water levels again once the drainage board agreed. They also said they were intending to send a clean up team to clean the rubbish out, which was carried out. One thing we need to try and address is the rubbish being thrown in the Long Ponds and the discarded fishing line, hooks and tin cans of bait being left around. Some young Swan Cygnets were strangled by the discarded line last year and died. I really don't want the Council to ban fishing in the Long Ponds which may be what happens. So if you are fishing there or you know people and young adults that are, please ask them to clean up all there rubbish and fishing equipment so it can continue to be a place where people can fish and wildlife can remain unharmed.

Youth Boxing Club at The Discovery Centre North Lynn

I visited the Discovery Centre and met with Jodie who works there. The Discovery Centre is owned and managed by Freebridge Community Housing. As Jodie was showing me around I noticed all the Boxing brackets on the walls of the sports hall. An idea immediately sprung to mind. I'm a trustee of a Children's Charity and the young people are always asking for Boxing, plus I used to Box myself and I have a Black Belt in Muay Thai Kickboxing. I asked Jodie the following, "If I can get a Boxing Instructor to come and teach boxing, would Freebridge provide the sports hall for free on one evening so we can provide free boxing sessions for young people in North Lynn"?

I then went and spoke to Mel at Heroes and he offered to provide the instruction with his team. Freebridge said they would provide the sports hall free of charge on a Monday night from 4pm-6pm along with their booking system. I spoke to community champion Ben Griffin and we arranged to go and speak to Active Norfolk to see about funding of equipment. Becky at Active Norfolk agreed to fund the equipment, so we were up and running. The first session took place on Monday the 12th January.

Full Council

As you may be aware from reading our previous blog articles Reform opposed the borrowing of £16 million for the Guildhall project. There were many reasons for this including the fact it's a building we lease from the National Trust, so it's not an asset we own. We couldn't see the scheme would deliver a return on investment and there was no clear commitment or plan on how it would benefit local communities. The total cost of this refurbishment will come to £30 million. If you like to read our full statement on this you can read the article HERE.

I was also invited to join a working group that was overseeing the relocation of St James Pool to Lynnsport and a full development of Lynnsport. After attending a couple of meetings it became apparent that no one on the working group had any experience in this kind of development. I have been involved in the industry of Health Wellness and Fitness for about 25 years. The consultants were saying things that were not being challenged and the development would not have been positive for Lynnsport and the community as it would have reduced the existing square foot of many parts of the existing facility. There was also a lack of engagement with many stakeholders that excluded people who could have provided vital guidance on this from the outset and would be directly affected.

I presented the following motion to Full Council on January the 29th.

Motion: Review of Consultant Expenditure Relating to the Lynnsport Proposal

This Council notes the work undertaken in relation to the proposed redevelopment of the Alive Leisure Lynnsport facility, including plans to relocate the St James Pool as part of a scheme reported to be in the region of £49 million.

This Council further notes that approximately £2 million of public funds were incurred through the use of external consultants in developing this proposal, and that the scheme was later deemed unaffordable by the Section 151 Officer.

This Council is concerned that significant expenditure was incurred before affordability concerns resulted in the project being halted. This raises questions regarding financial oversight, governance, and value for money in the development of major capital projects.

Given the importance of protecting public funds and maintaining public confidence in the Council’s financial management, this matter warrants further scrutiny.

This Council resolves to:

1. Request that the Corporate Performance Panel reviews the decision making and governance processes relating to the use of external consultants in the development of the Lynnsport and St James Pool proposal.

2. Request that the Corporate Performance Panel considers whether appropriate affordability checks and financial controls were applied at an early stage.

3. Require that the findings and any recommendations are reported back to Full Council.

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The leader of the Council Alistair Beales was more than happy to send this to the Corporate Performance Panel for scrutiny. The BBC also published an article on this on the 2nd February which you can read here - BBC Article

Final Message to all the residents of North Lynn

For all of the residents of North Lynn I'd like to say how proud I am to be your Reform Councillor and I thank all of you that voted for me and continue to support me. Despite the challenges, North Lynn has many strengths. It has such an amazing strong sense of community spirit and local pride. Over recent years, there’s been real collaborative effort through partnerships like RISE to improve safety, build resilience, and engage residents. I’ve heard from many locals that their neighbours and community groups are sources of great support, highlighting how people look out for one another.

I think that's probably enough for now. If you're a resident of North Lynn and you'd like to get in touch with me directly to discuss anything then please send an email to me on cllr.austen.moore@west-norfolk.gov.uk

Thanks very much for all your support.

Austen Moore