Minutes of Main Council

Held in the Community Room on Tuesday, 6^th November 2007, after the Planning Meeting, at 7.30pm.

In attendance: Frank Smith (Marlow Free Press), Nick Meakin (Maidenhead Advertiser) and PC Val de Haan.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Fry, Hewitt and Harris. Cllrs Wellman, Brar and Coker declared a personal interest in item 11 on the agenda.

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

3. COMMITTEE REPORTS: The Minutes of the Adoptive Acts Committee held on 16^th October 2007 were circulated and approved with no amendments. The Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee held on 23^rd October 2007 were circulated and approved with no amendments.

1. Cllr Innes attended two meetings of the Pinder Hall Management Committee. There was a small loss in the takings which may necessitate increasing the prices of hall hire. A number of essential jobs need doing such as a new gas boiler and the caretakers house also needs up-dating. Pinder Hall had received some money from Kings Hall Trust and Hitachi.

2. Cllr Jean Stretton represented the Parish Council in place of Cllr Fry at the Marsh Meadow Management Committee meeting. She said the main topic of interest was the future flood alleviation plans from the Environment Agency.

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

6. FINANCE:: The list of cheques raised in the month of October as listed on Page 537 were approved on the proposition of Cllr Brockwell and seconded by Cllr Stretton.

7. BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ REPORT: Cllr Stretton mentioned that the RBWM survey recorded over 30 heavy duty vehicles crossing Cookham Bridge every day. The next stage would be to mount a special camera to photograph number plates and give this information to the Police.

8. CONTRACT FOR PRUNING TREES AT COOKHAM CEMETERY: The Clerk received three quotes for these essential works: R. Watts & Sons submitted a price of £750; Landmark Tree Surgery quoted £565 and Beechwood Tree Care quoted £500. It was proposed by Cllr Coker and seconded by Cllr Barnes to award the contract to Beechwood Tree Care on the condition that the quote included taking the rubbish away from the site. (Unfortunately Beechwood could not do the work until mid January 2008, so the Clerk awarded the contract the Landmark Tree Surgery who could do the work in mid December.)

9. TO RATIFY THE FINANCE COMMITTEE’S DECISION TO APPLY FOR A LOAN FOR £30,000 FOR NEW PATHS AT COOKHAM CEMETERY: Cllr Wellman, Chairman of the Finance Committee, said that this amount would be repaid back over a period of ten years which was the estimated life time of the new footpaths. Cllr Innes and Ricardo queried whether it was good value for money but Cllr Coker said that the Council had a responsibility to make the paths as safe as possible. Cllr Wellman said that a specification had been prepared which would be sent out to companies with an invitation to quote. He said a previous quote had come in at £25,000 several years ago. The Parish Council would have to apply for four quotes and one of these would have to be with the Public Works Loans Board (PWBL). It was proposed by Cllr Barnes to apply for the loan of £30,000 to be repaid over ten years. This decision was seconded by Cllr Woodbridge and would be brought before Full Council as soon as the four quotes had been received. VOTE: IN FAVOUR = 9, AGAINST = 2, ABSTENTION = 1.

10. COMMENT ON BERKSHIRE MINERALS AND WASTE LDF CONSULTATION: The Clerk prepared some notes that could be adopted by the Parish Council. The consultation showed the site of the Chartered Institute of Marketing as a potential site for mineral extraction. These notes and verbal comments were approved unanimously to form a response from Cookham Parish Council.

11. NEW PLAY EQUIPMENT FOR PLAY AREA USING 106 DEVELOPERS CONTRIBUTIONS: An initial quote had been received by the Clerk and the plans were shown to the Council. However, options to install alternative items such as the zip wire necessitated a new quote which was still awaited. It was AGREED to defer this project until the next meeting or whenever the new prices were received.

12. CHAIRMAN’S SUBMISSIONS: The Councillors were informed that the Parish Conference would take place on Thursday 15^th November. The Chairman also mentioned the Complaints Policy that had been drafted some time ago and would be re-visited once the Clerk had received permission from BALC to use their template.

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