COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

 Minutes of a Meeting of the

 COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

PRESENT:   Cllr D. Fry (Chairman);

Cllrs: M. Brar, P. Brockwell, M. Coker, G. Harris, F. Hewer, M. Innes,

M-L. Kellaway, D. Ricardo, Jean Stretton, H. J. Woodbridge and M.Wellman.

1.                  APOLOGIES AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:

Apologies were received from Cllrs Barnes and Piercey. Cllr John Stretton was at the Town Hall on RBWM business. There were no Declarations of Interest.

2.                  APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Full Council Meeting held on the 5^th May 2009 were circulated and duly signed with one amendment. On Page 808, Cllr Ricardo pointed out a typographical error: Major-making ceremony should have stated Mayor-Making Ceremony. The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting (AGM) held on 12^th May 2009 were circulated and approved with several amendments. On Page 510, Cllr M-L Kellaway sent her apologies for this meeting; Cllr Barnes should have been recorded as Vice Chairman and Cllr Woodbridge was recorded twice.

3.            COMMITTEE REPORTS: The Minutes of the Footpaths and Open Spaces Committee held on 19^th May 2009 were circulated and approved with no amendments.

4.            REPORTS FROM OUTSIDE BODIES:

1.         Cllr Kellaway attended an evening event for the Patients Participation Initiative. 

2.         Cllr Innes attended a meeting of the Pinder Hall Management Committee. The £2,000 grant promised from RBWM has not materialised yet. Cookham Parish Council were thanked for the dishwasher.

3.         Cllr Hewer attended the Mayor-making Ceremony. She congratulated Cllr Jesse Gray and encouraged him to visit Cookham. She also made several announcements concerning the Village Design Statement Working Group’s progress.

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

6.            FINANCE: The list of cheques raised in the month of May as listed on Page 824 were approved on the proposition of Cllr Woodbridge and seconded by Cllr Brockwell. Cllr Hewer queried the cost of replacement taps in the allotments from Joe Stoneman. The Clerk said that the price included plastic taps should the pink ones get stolen – however the agreement was that the price seemed rather high.

7.         BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ REPORT: Cllr Stretton was not able to attend to give a report.

8.            ISSUES CONCERNING THE NALC FINANCIAL REGULATIONS: Cllr Woodbridge had read them through and said that Cookham Parish Council has most of these procedures in place already. It was noted that we need to ensure that the Clerk’s remit to sign up to £250 should be reflected in our Standing Orders. Cllr Coker queried which took precedence – the Finance Regs or the Standing Orders. The Clerk said that the Finance Regs should be an extension of the Standing Orders but not different. Cllr Ricardo felt that the individual Committee Chairman should approve invoices before the cheques are sent. Cllr Wellman said that the Responsible Financial Officer was able to send routine cheques without the Chairman giving prior approval. All cheques raised are listed at every Full Council meeting. The Committee approves the work through the normal course of the Committee Meetings and the Clerk seeks approval for specific completed works. Cllr Hewer felt that there were situations where Cllrs should check that works have been examined and approved before payment is released. Cllr Woodbridge did not agree to complicating the system of issuing cheques. He felt that the present system worked well. Cllr Brockwell also thought that most projects ran smoothly and that the Adoptive Acts Committee had been quite painstaking over the large projects completed in the Cemetery recently. It was AGREED to defer this item to the next meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

9.            CONSULTATION ON THE RE-OPENING OF COOKHAM DEAN POST OFFICE:  The Post Office is looking to re-open the service in Cookham Dean. The proposal is to incorporate the Post Office services in to The Jolly Farmer – Community-owned – Public House. The new service will operate from the dining room of the public house and will provide a range of Post Office products and services each Tuesday and Thursday afternoons – 15.00 – 17.30pm. The Consultation is to gather local views on this service. Cllr Ricardo did not like the idea of children under 18 going into a pub to buy stamps. Cllr Kellaway pointed out that the Post Office was in the dining room rather than the main part of the pub. Cllr Coker questioned whether this reduced service would be adequate for Cookham Dean customers. Cllr Brar and Cllr Wellman were both concerned about the security arrangements. Cllr Woodbridge said that it was important to keep some sort of service in Cookham Dean. Cllr Hewer said that the proposed hours were limited but the new arrangement could be kept under review. It was AGREED that the Clerk would draft a response from the Parish Council.

10.            ADVANCES WITH THE CCTV RESEARCH: A letter was received from Roger Belcher of Digital Security. Roger had carried out a site visit on the Alfred Major and acknowledged that the playground and fitness areas are some distance from convenient camera location points. He suggested the solution of installing the camera on a lightweight mast within the school boundary but against the fence. This would require a light duty mains cable to be buried under the school recreation ground. The video could either use the same cable to return to a Digital Video Recorder or transmitted via wireless to a more convenient location. Roger probably did not realise how close the Parish Office is to the school. The second suggestion of erecting cameras at the entrances to the park where power is more readily available in order to record those entering would not be practical as there are so many different entrances.

            Cllr Coker said that a mast may not be needed but he would favour a mains cable as it cannot be interfered with. He also felt that Cookham Rise School must be consulted on this project. Cllr Hewer was in favour of a radio-controlled system that would not require any digging. It was AGREED to invite Roger Belcher to a meeting of the Parish Council in order to demonstrate his system further. The Clerk was awaiting some visual examples for us to be considering in the mean time. A sub-committee was set up to take this item further: Cllrs Coker; Brar; Innes; Harris and Fry.

11.             RENEWAL OF SUBSCRIPTION TO CCB: The Community Councils of Berkshire are a useful body to belong to as they distribute information on the latest government and charitable grants; help promote affordable housing; support parish plans and other community initiatives. Cookham Parish Council had very good support from Tim Palmer whilst the Parish Plan was in progress. The Clerk said that a new web service was also due to be launched in June which may be of interest to the Council. On the proposal of Cllr Ricardo, seconded by Cllr Coker, it was AGREED to renew the subscription at a cost of £30.

12.            CHAIRMANS SUBSCRIPTIONS: The Chairman informed the Council that a cheque for £100 had been given to the Parish Council towards the cost of a new tree or another piece of equipment. A letter of thanks would be sent through to Berkshire Taxis for their donation. The Clerk ran through the various meetings for June. The session on the Alfred Major with Radio Berkshire and Maggie Philbin was very successful. Cllr Piercey attended with his son Ethan plus Carol and Gary White from Playground Facilities Ltd who installed the Fitness Equipment. The Chairman also thanked Dr Storey and Mrs Martin for remaining through our meeting and expressed a wish to see them again.

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

The Meeting closed at 9.06pm.