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COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL Minutes
of a Meeting of the PLANNING COMMITTEE held at the Community Room on Tuesday, 18th March 2008 commencing at 7.30 pm PRESENT: Cllr
H.J. Woodbridge (Chairman), Cllr M. Wellman (Vice Chairman) Cllrs
M. Barnes, P. Brockwell, M. Coker, D. Fry, G. Harris, M. Innes, M-L.
Kellaway, R. Piercey, D. Ricardo, Jean Stretton and John Stretton. Also
present:
Cllr M.J. Saunders, PC Val de Haan, James Nadal (Marlow Free Press)
and
twelve members of the public. _________________________________________________________________________ OPEN FORUM: The Chairman opened the session by formally welcoming a guest of Cllr Fry who was visiting from Zimbabwe. Mr Jonathan Miall then spoke about the signed petition that had been handed to the Parish Council regarding the proposed Sutton Road Car and Coach park mentioned in the Cookham Plan. He said that many home owners in this area were alarmed at this idea and other ideas in the plan such as the back entrance in to Holy Trinity Primary School. Mr Miall attended the Annual Parish Meeting but had not been offered the opportunity to speak. He also commented that when the Parish Council re-visit the Plan, he would like to see a greater representation of residents from this part of Cookham village. Mr Ian Davis of Berries Road spoke to support Mr Miall and to confirm that the Headmaster of Holy Trinity School had not been consulted on this scheme that appears in the Cookham Plan. Mr Mike Taylor-West spoke of his personal efforts to get RBWM to monitor the traffic speeds in Sutton Road. A plan of action was due to take place in the next six-ten weeks. The Chairman of the Council expressed surprise that the Parish Council had not been included in these discussions. Cllr M.J. Saunders spoke to encourage the Parish Council to consider the comments from the Annual Parish Meeting, the Cookham Society and the residents’ surveys when discussing the Traffic and Transport part of the Cookham Plan later that evening. He asked that there should be no abstentions and that the Parish Council should support the motion. Mr Doug Bay spoke about the idea of putting a new car park at the back of the Fire Station and Mr Ian Davis pointed out that this idea was considered and quashed in 2000. He said that there was no more parking available now than then through the efforts of businesses to provide for their customers. 1. APOLOGIES AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Apologies had been received from Cllrs Brar and Hewitt. Cllr Wellman declared a personal interest in Pln Appn 08/00421 and 08/00554. He also declared a prejudicial interest in Pln Appn 08/00526. Cllr John Stretton declared that he was a member of the Maidenhead Borough Planning Committee and reserved the right to change his mind at a later stage. Cllr M. Coker asked to be released from his commitments as a member of the Cookham Plan Steering Committee when the Council discussed item 3 on the agenda. 600 2. PLANS CONSIDERED & DISCUSSED:
3.
TO
CONSIDER THE MOTION TO REJECT THE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT WORKING GROUP
SECTION OF THE COOKHAM PLAN:
This motion was called for by residents at the Annual Parish Meeting on 11th
March 2008 at Pinder Hall. The Councillors were basically in favour of
rejecting this part of the Cookham Plan but felt that it must be
re-visited as soon as possible. The size of the report had been subject to
criticism for being very small and it was noted that no data or research
had been included. There were many good ideas but some could create more
traffic if it was made easier to get through Cookham and over Cookham
Bridge. It was also noted that none of the proposals were suitable for
submission to SEEDA for possible funding and other ideas would need to be put forward. The
Councillors were unsure whether an outright rejection would make any
difference if an early review would take place to identify new ideas. Cllr
John Stretton put forward a proposal to reject the Traffic and Transport
Working Group part of the Cookham Plan. This was seconded by Cllr Kellaway.
However the Councillors pointed out that the motion presented to the
public had been a late change on the slides to replace the word
“reject” with the word “review”. This was the only change that the
Councillors had requested at their emergency meeting in Pinder Hall
immediately prior to the Annual Parish Meeting. (This amendment was
made to the first slide but there was a second slide that was discovered
after this meeting to have not been corrected. This second uncorrected
slide was shown to the audience for most of the Annual Parish Meeting and
has since led to much confusion as to why the Parish Council wished to
review rather than reject.) Certainly the discussion at the Annual
Parish Meeting from the residents was to call for outright rejection. It
was AGREED to correct the motion on the agenda. Cllr John Stretton changed
his proposal to review the Traffic and Transport Working Group part of the
Cookham Plan. This was seconded by Cllr Kellaway and AGREED unanimously. 4.
RESPONSE
TO RBWM CONSULTATION ON THE SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL SCOPING REPORT FOR
THE CORE STRATEGY DPD:
Cllr Wellman had spent the weekend studying this report and felt that it
contained some very important information. Some of the questions were hard
to answer but there were a series of comments that he read through at the
meeting. It was AGREED to accept the findings of Cllr Wellman and the
Clerk was asked to publish these in a report to be sent to RBWM as the
formal response of Cookham Parish Council. Cllr Ricardo added another
issue to the response – that of Cookham Parish Council wishing to
encourage home-owners to opt for porous surfaces for their drives to help
soak up excess rainwater. 5.
RESPONSE
TO THE CONSULTATION ON THE THIRD RUNWAY AT HEATHROW:
Cllr Ricardo read from a press release issued by RBWM and attempted to
bring the Council up-to-date with the changing situation regarding this
consultation. He said that RBWM is seeking a judicial review in the High
Court in May. Cllr Ricardo also suggested that the Parish Council should
reply to questions 1 and 10 in a manner that is similar to the submission
from Old Windsor Parish Council and that we should support the submission
from Terry Gould of RBWM. Cllr John Stretton proposed that Cookham Parish
Council should object to the third runway and support the response from
RBWM. VOTE: IN FAVOUR = 12, ABSTENTION = 1. (The Clerk noted from the work she had done
on this consultation, that she thought the consultation was cleverly
worded to enquire whether the air quality was good enough to sustain a
third runway with an increase in air traffic rather than just focusing on
the third runway element.) 6.
RESPONSE
TO RBWM’S LDF GREEN BELT CONSULTATION:
It was AGREED to answer the first two questions but to refuse to
prioritise the characteristics and activities section because the Parish
Council considered that they were all of equal merit. This would be
reflected in the section left for comments. It was also AGREED that
Cookham Parish Council would request that the Poundfield area is returned
to the Green Belt. 7.
RESPONSE
TO RBWM’S LOCAL VALUATION REQUIREMENT OF PLANNING AND RELATED
APPLICATIONS: Cllr Wellman had also spent considerable time looking through this
consultation. He said that it had been professionally produced and was an
excellent piece of work. He highlighted the Foul Sewage and Utilities
assessment as an important change in planning policy along with the
Ventilation and Extraction statement and Lighting assessment. The idea is
that each area will have its own local statements so that anyone
submitting or reviewing a planning application will have the information
unique to the local area. Cllr Coker proposed that the Council support
this consultation in full. Cllr Barnes wished to ask RBWM how they would
support this process. Cllr Wellman seconded the proposal stating that
reports and planning decisions should be easier with the information
easily available. Cllr Ricardo again wished to add the rider to the
proposal to add a policy for porous drives to help soak up excessive
rainwater. The Council AGREED unanimously to support
the proposal. 8.
CHAIRMAN’S
SUBMISSIONS:
The Clerk highlighted the Youth Forum being organised by Liz Kwantes on
Thursday 8th May 2008 at the Wesley Hall. Any Councillors who
wished to attend should contact Liz direct. The meeting closed at 9.35pm. |
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