Minutes of Main Council

Held in the Community Room on Tuesday, 5^th December 2006, after the Planning Meeting, at 7.30pm.

In attendance: Laura Enfield (Maidenhead Advertiser), Dominic Bareham (Maidenhead Express), Lucinda Adam (Bucks Free Press).

Mr Richard Simmonds and Mr Roger Davies gave a short presentation on the progress of the Parish Plan before the Planning Meeting. Item 8 on the agenda was then discussed immediately after this presentation. Messrs Simmonds and Davies said that work on the Parish Plan was already well advanced with five working groups preparing material for the preparation of the final questionnaire. The questionnaire would be ready by the end of December and distributed to every home in Cookham by Royal Mail. Mr Simmonds noted that many parish plans were too “nice” and failed to confront controversial issues – this was not the case here in Cookham! Mr Simmonds also emphasised that this Plan would be a non-political document which would be delayed if its impartiality was compromised in the run-up to the local elections. The target was to finish collating the results of the questionnaire by the end of March. Mr Davies went through rough costings for this project so far: £500 spent on the launch; £600 on liability insurance; production of the questionnaire £1800 with a contingency of a further £1000. Other costs would be found in the collating of questionnaires, analysis of results and printing of final plan. It was envisaged that only a limited number of printed copies would be available but the Plan would make use of the internet and would be available to download by computer.

8. TO DISCUSS THE PRESENTATION ON THE PARISH PLAN AND AGREE A DONATION: Cllrs Barnes, Coker and Fisher declared a prejudicial interest in this item. Cllr Wellman took the Chair. Cllr Woodbridge suggested that the monies put aside in Reserves for the cemetery paths project should be shelved in favour of supporting the Parish Plan. Cllr Wellman said this would not be necessary as the finances of the Parish Council could sustain a donation of £2,500 immediately with a further £2,500 later in the financial year. This was a proposal, seconded by Cllr Fry. VOTE: IN FAVOUR – UNANIMOUS.

Apologies were received from Cllr Prichard and Fairlie. Cllr Brar announced that Cllr Cubley sends her apologies. The Clerk then advised Cllr Brar, Barnes, Innes and Ricardo that the Berkshire Association of Local Councils advised that a prejudicial interest should be declared for item 10. Cllrs Barnes, Innes and Ricardo agreed to declare a prejudicial interest and left the room for this part of the meeting. Cllr Brar declared a personal interest only. Cllr Woodbridge reminded Cllr Brar that other Councillors were duty bound to report this action to the Standards Board.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Council Meeting held on the 7^th November 2006 were circulated and duly signed with no amendments.

3. COMMITTEE REPORTS: The Minutes of the Footpaths and Open Spaces Committee held on 14^th November 2006 were circulated and approved with no amendments. The Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee held on 21^st November 2006 were circulated and approved with no amendments. Cllr Wellman commented that a meeting was due to be set up with Dave Perkins to discuss risk on the Causeway. This meeting would be attended by Cllrs Ricardo, Innes and Wellman.

5. TO RECEIVE QUESTIONS UNDER STANDING ORDERS 24/26: No questions were received.

6. FINANCE:: The list of cheques raised in the months of November as listed on Page 377 were circulated to Councillors. Cllr Wellman asked the Clerk to check if both the precept instalments had been included. On the proposal of Cllr Fisher, seconded by Cllr Stretton it was AGREED to approve these payments.

7. BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ REPORT: Cllr Ricardo reported that the Floodline number was working to homes at risk in Cookham. He said that the sills had been taken out at Cookham Weir and the water was high on Widbrook Common. A planning application was also imminent from the Environment Agency for a new flood relief scheme for Cookham. The Parish Council had not be consulted so far in this scheme. Cllr Brar reported that Christopher Wheeler from RBWM had confirmed that the Station Hill project would be ready to start by the end of February or beginning of March pending legal issues.

8. TO DISCUSS THE PRESENTATION ON THE PARISH PLAN AND AGREE A DONATION: item dealt with at start of meeting.

9. TO FORMALLY APPROVE THE RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY FOR COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL: This Policy had been reviewed by the Finance and General Purposes Committee and was recommended for approval. Cllr Ricardo asked for an amendment on Page 4 where responsibility should be delegated to certified contractors. This was AGREED. It was proposed to adopt this Policy by Cllr Woodbridge, seconded by Cllr Fisher. VOTE: UNANIMOUS. To be reviewed in twelve months.

11. CHAIRMAN’S SUBMISSIONS: A Sub-Committee meeting of Cllrs Barnes, Harris and Woodbridge to investigate the traffic and parking on High Road in Cookham Rise had been held and a report would be made to the Full Council. A letter had been received from RBWM regarding the naming of the new road at the Colin Hatch Builders Yard. “Winfield View” had been suggested and it was AGREED to ask the Clerk to find out the significance of this name. The Clerk also reminded Cllrs that a meeting had been set up with a company called AssetID who are marketing portable CCTV cameras.

12. CORRESPONDENCE: A list of correspondence and periodicals received during the months of November was circulated with the agenda. These were available in the Parish Office for Councillors’ perusal.

10. TO DISCUSS THE CHAIRMAN’S REPLY TO THE COMPLAINT FROM MR IAN KEAY: Cllr Fisher asked the Clerk why she felt that the letter was an inappropriate response from the Chairman. The Clerk replied that she had acted on advice from BALC. She was advised that the letter was really a personal response from the Chairman to Mr Keay and as such should not have been on headed Council paper. Furthermore the letter had not been approved at Full Council and was not on the computer system in the Parish Office. The Clerk had quickly read the letter when Cllr Barnes came in for the headed paper and she had advised the Chairman not to send the letter to Mr Keay. She felt that the letter implied that Mr Keay’s version of the events was untrue and that Mr Keay would not be happy with this reply. Cllr Barnes disagreed and sent the letter. Mr Keay had been in touch with the Clerk and was composing his reply but it was confirmed that he was unhappy with Cllr Barnes’ response. The Clerk also said that the whole situation had done little to enhance the reputation of the Parish Council and the question of impartiality must be addressed as soon as possible. After some discussion it was AGREED (8 votes in favour , 1 abstention) to send every piece of correspondence between Cookham Parish Council and Mr Keay to both the Berkshire Association of Local Councils and the National Association of Local Council’s and ask for their legal team to help draft a legal reply to Mr Keay. There would then follow a statement to the press stating the legal position of Cookham Parish Council on this topic. It was also AGREED to review the Council’s complaints procedure once legal advice had been received.