Minutes of Main Council

Held in the Community Room on Tuesday, 10^th April 2007, after the Planning Meeting, at 7.30pm.

In attendance: Lucinda Adam (Bucks Free Press), Dominic Bareham (Maidenhead Express), two members of the public. PC de Haan attended for part of the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Brockwell, Innes and Fairlie. Cllr Brar also gave apologies from Cllr Cubley. There were no Declarations of Interest.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Council Meeting held on the 6^th March 2007 were circulated and duly signed with no amendments.

3. COMMITTEE REPORTS: The Footpaths and Open Spaces Committee meeting due on 13^th March had been cancelled due to a change of date for the Annual Parish Meeting.

1. Cllr Fry attended the Marsh Meadow Management Committee meeting and gave the Council more details of the Scouts Centenary Camping event due to take place on Marsh Meadow at the end of May. Cllr Fry also reported that the EA had removed the cills from Cookham weir; there were concerns that the river bank was eroding in places; and the schools were not using the conservation area due to difficulties with health and safety legislation.

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

6. FINANCE:: The list of cheques raised in the months of March as listed on Page 436 were circulated to Councillors. On the proposal of Cllr Woodbridge, seconded by Cllr Fisher, it was AGREED to approve these payments.

7. BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ REPORT: Cllr Ricardo reported on Little Marlow Sewage Works. Thames Water have promised to do more work to relieve the smells by the end of September but health officials have said this is unacceptable and will write to the company. RBWM have taken over the land and slipway at the side of The Ferry public house. This land was not recorded in the records of Land Registry.

8. REPLY TO THE “FIRE & RESCUE SERVICE FIVE YEAR INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN: The Royal Berkshire Fire Authority have proposals to replace the current single fire engine with two off-road vehicles (one of which will be a light-weight fire engine) that can also provide specialist support elsewhere in Berkshire when needed. Cllr Stretton said that the smaller vehicle would be more neighbourly and it was a good plan. The Chairman agreed that these light vehicles would be better suited to the properties in the parish that were difficult to reach such as the residents of Spade Oak Reach. He also said that this would safeguard the future of the Fire Station at Cookham. Some Councillors expressed concerns that the vehicles would carry limited water and have less power to their pumps. Cllr Woodbridge proposed that the Parish Council “strongly agrees” with the proposals for Cookham. This was seconded by Cllr Brar. VOTE: IN FAVOUR = 10, AGAINST = 1.

9. APPLICATION FROM RBWM FOR DECRIMINALISED PARKING ENFORCEMENT POWERS: Cllr Stretton proposed deferring this item until the meeting on 24^th April to give Councillors time to read the document. This was seconded by Cllr Woodbridge and the vote was unanimous.

10. CHAIRMANS SUBMISSIONS: The Clerk gave details of the DALC Meeting on 12^th April and a meeting organised by the Police to launch the Neighbourhood Policing initiative on 25^th April at the Berkshire College of Agriculture. The Clerk also read out a letter from Martin Tilbury complaining about the graffiti on businesses around the station. Cllr Brar said that she had spoken to Royal Dry Cleaners and not received a firm answer. There was also a debate about whether the polling stations needed to be publicised to encourage residents to vote. It was AGREED that the elections would be covered fully in the local press but the Parish Council would put up information on our noticeboards.

13. CORRESPONDENCE: A list of correspondence and periodicals received during the month of March was circulated with the agenda.