COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a Meeting of the

FOOTPATHS & OPEN SPACES COMMITTEE

PRESENT:            Cllr G. Harris (Chairman)

Cllrs D. Fry, M. Innes, M. Wellman and H. J. Woodbridge.

1.                  APOLOGIES AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Apologies were received from Cllrs Barnes, Prichard and Piercey.  Cllrs Harris and Fry declared a personal interest in 4a, 4b, and 4c. Cllrs Wellman and Woodbridge declared a personal interest in item 3a.

2.            ALFRED MAJOR GROUND:

a):        Up-date on 106 funds for the Alfred Major: The Clerk confirmed her telephone conversation with Kate Dagnall at RBWM – at present there is approx. 8k of 106 monies in the Play Area pot and £16,156 for pitch improvements. The work that we have had done by Polaris may be refunded from 106 monies. Kate also said that we could make the play area bigger using these monies. The Councillors then had a brief discussion on 106 monies and other projects that could be added to the list.

b)         Recent demonstration of the Squirrel Portable CCTV system from Asset ID: The general view was that the presentation did not do justice to the system compared to a one-to-one meeting and a site visit. The Council needed to give it careful consideration and to look around at other systems that may be on the market. It was noted that we would need to allow between £5-7K for any CCTV system on the Alfred Major.

3.            FOOTPATHS:

a):        Up-date on the footpath renewal on the Alfred Major: The Clerk had spent a great deal of time working on the new documentation for this footpath as advised by an email from Nick Clark in October. When the documents were sent over for his comment and approval, he said that the former six year renewal period for statutory declarations has now been increased to ten years under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (which came into effect on February 13^th 2004). So the path will not need to be renewed until February 2011.

b):        Public Rights of Way: Milestones Statement 2007/2008: The Committee queried the hold-up on 2.15: To create a path from Lower Cookham Road at Widbrook Common to the Thames Path. The Chairman felt that permission was needed from the farmer but the path had been cleared for the annual Rotation Walk last October.  It was proposed by Cllr Wellman that this path been prioritised at RBWM. This was seconded by Cllr Woodbridge and it was AGREED to add this to our comments. It was also noted that 2.14: Upgrade of Kennel Lane (Cookham FP22) to a bridleway had been held up due to RBWM staff maternity leave.

4.            ALLOTMENTS:

a)                  Review of vacant plots on all three allotments: The Chairman and the Clerk reported that there were four 10 pole plots and two 5 pole plots vacant at Sutton. The waiting list had six names of people who were interested. Cookham Dean had two 10 pole plots and two 5 pole plots vacant with four people interested. Cookham Rise still had plenty of spaces and some people interested.

b)                  Preparation of allotments for new season: The Chairman had a rolling programme of trying to spray and prepare a plot before the tenant begins. He would see the Clerk with a programme of spraying to be carried out by Peter Taylor.

c)                  Validity and effectiveness of Conditions of Tenancy booklet: This booklet, which allotment holders sign, has a code of conduct at the allotment printed for the benefit of all tenants. The booklet also details renewal instructions and puts a date on the end of the allotment year which is now the end of October. Cllr Fry wished to understand why the booklet was printed and was there a procedure or policy the Council would follow should any of these conditions, or rules, be breached. The Clerk replied, on behalf of the Chairman, that there was no official procedure or policy because any cases would be dealt with on an individual basis. It was noted that there were very few problems reported to the Parish Office from allotment holders. However, Cllr Woodbridge proposed that the Committee should review the conditions booklet to include some risk assessment statements. This was seconded by Cllr Wellman and AGREED.

5.            FINANCE:

a)         To discuss joining the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group: Cllr Wellman proposed that this group was not relevant to the work of Cookham Parish Council and that we should not join. This was seconded by Cllr Woodbridge. VOTE: IN FAVOUR = 4 ABSTENTION = 1.

The Meeting closed at 9.10pm