COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

 Minutes of a Meeting of the

MEETING OF THE ADOPTIVE ACTS COMMITTEE

PRESENT:            Cllrs: M. Barnes, M. Brar, P. Brockwell, G. Harris and M-L. Kellaway.

1.            APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:

Apologies were received from Cllrs M. Coker, M. Innes and H.J. Woodbridge. There were no Declarations of Interest.

2.            APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN: Cllr Harris proposed Cllr Pat Brockwell to continue as Chairman of the Adoptive Acts Committee. This was seconded by Cllr Barnes and AGREED unanimously.

3.              CEMETERY:

a)                  New Footpaths Quote – Philip Holdford had submitted a quote to replace the paths with a mixture of scalpings and shingle. The quote also included concrete path edgings at a cost of £13,000. This would cover the existing cemetery only. The Councillors were not keen on putting down any more shingle and it was agreed to ask Philip to re-quote using just the scalpings for a path surface.

b)                  Progress report on other quotes – To renovate the entrance to the skip area, a price of £2,900 plus vat had been submitted. Plus a price of £1050 plus vat had been quoted for re-building the gates on the mortuary; painting the other external doors and woodwork on the mortuary; painting the big doors to the chapel; painting the inside bench seats at the back of the chapel porch; painting the rear of the chapel porch; replacing the rotten wood on the door frame of the store and painting. These prices had also been submitted by Philip Holdford. The Councillors were divided as to whether this represented good value for money. It was agreed to get some other quotes before making a final decision.

c)            Review of burial fees – The Clerk had some prices for Marlow Town Council and RBWM but it was decided to defer this item until the prices of Bray Parish Council could also be compared.

d)            Current maintenance of burial and cremation area – Following the complaints of several people regarding the upkeep of the cemetery at this time of the year, it was agreed that the Clerk would have a word with the contractor to ensure that the men did not stray on to the private parts of the individual graves. The Clerk would also see if a guard could be put on the strimmers to try to stop the grass flying over the stones. It was agreed that it was difficult to clean off the stones because the graves were very close together. To use a sucking tool on one grave could result in the next grave getting covered in cuttings. The Clerk would keep a closer review of the cemetery at this time of the year.

e)                  Garden of Remembrance – It was agreed that, although a Garden of Remembrance would be a nice idea for the cremation plot holders, the Council did not have the resources to create one at the moment.

4.          CEMETERY EXTENSION: 

a)         Update on the archaeological dig – The Parish Office had today received confirmation that the second phase of the dig could now take place. This would involve a JCB and the dig would take place for two-three weeks in July.

5.          STREETLIGHTING:

a)            Review of the lighting project in High Road, Cookham Rise – Letters had been sent out to the affected properties and replies had been received from some homes. There were more in favour of having the new lighting however further “no’s” were received after the meeting which made it about 50/50. It was AGREED to go ahead with four out of the five new lights. The Chairman of the Adoptive Acts Committee spoke to the Clerk after the meeting and was unhappy at how this item had been discussed. She requested that the decision to go ahead be deferred until her next Committee Meeting.

6.         WAR MEMORIALS:

a)            Refurbishment of the Tarrystone Seat and repair of sign: The Clerk had been in contact with Neil Johnson who had advised going for grey type on the black surface. However he did not state when he would get the sign finished. The Clerk would continue to gently progress! 

b)         Two war memorials: The Clerk had also spoken to Neil about the outstanding work on the war memorials. Neil mentioned that he had a colleague in mind to carry out the work on the Cookham Dean memorial.

c)         Up-date on the bollards at Cookham Village memorial: The bollard had been delivered and was currently cluttering up the Clerk’s drive! Andrew Dean from RBWM said that the team had been tasked with a job that would take up most of June but he would try to get them to carry out the replacement whenever they were next available.

The meeting closed at 9.50pm