COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

 Minutes of a Meeting of the

 COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

PRESENT: Cllr D. Fry (Chairman); Cllr M. Barnes (Vice Chairman)

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

D. Ricardo, H. J. Woodbridge and M.Wellman.

1.                  APOLOGIES AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Apologies were received from Cllrs M-L Kellaway. Cllr Piercey was unable to get to the meeting due to the snow.

2.                  APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Full Council Meeting held on the 1^st December 2009 were circulated and duly signed with no amendments.

3.            COMMITTEE REPORTS: The Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee held on 8^th December 2009 were circulated and approved with no amendments.

4.            REPORTS FROM OUTSIDE BODIES:

1.         Cllr Coker reported from the Flood Risk Meeting. Cllr Rayner was present along with eight parishes, Thames Water and the Environment Agency. It was now agreed that the other parishes such as Bray and Bisham could send representatives to the meeting if they wished. Notes or minutes were due to come from RBWM. It was AGREED to invite Ewan Larcombe to give a presentation on flood risk at our Annual Meeting.

5.             QUESTIONS UNDER STANDING ORDERS 24/26:  There were no questions for this meeting.

6.            FINANCE: The list of cheques raised in the month of December as listed on Page 922 was approved on the proposition of Cllr H. Woodbridge and seconded by Cllr Mike Barnes.

7.         BOROUGH COUNCILLORS’ REPORT: There was no Borough Report due to the absence of Cllr John Stretton.

8.            APPROVAL OF UNCHANGED PRECEPT REQUEST OF £92,000 - RECOMMENDED BY THE FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE: The latest figures were circulated to every Councillor. On the proposal of Cllr Barnes, seconded by Cllr Woodbridge, it was AGREED to leave this year’s precept request unchanged at £92,000. The vote was UNANIMOUS.

9.            APPROVAL OF PURCHASE OF COMPUTER EQUIPMENT WORTH A TOTAL OF £2,363 IN PREPARATION FOR “E-PLANNING”:  The Finance & General Purposes Committee had spent some time in reaching a final shopping list to present to the Full Council. Cllr Coker cautioned that installation costs were not included in this quotation. On the proposal of Cllr Barnes, seconded by Cllr Innes, it was AGREED to purchase the equipment on the circulated list. The vote was UNANIMOUS.

10.            ENFORCEMENT OF TRAFFIC SPEEDS ON THE A4094 SUTTON ROAD AND B4447 HIGH STREET COOKHAM:  Cookham Councillors were a little confused by this email from the Borough’s engineer, Phil Jacob. On the one hand, RBWM were in favour of reducing street clutter by taking signs away – on the other hand Phil Jacob stated that more speed signs would be needed to enable the police to enforce the traffic restriction. Some of the Councillors were concerned over the urbanising effect of more speed signs. The only other option was an increase in street lights which most residents would be opposed to. Cllr Ricardo called for a 30 mph limit in School Lane. It was AGREED to ask Phil Jacob to take option 2 and increase repeaters for the speed limit rather than installing more street lights.

11.            PURCHASE AND SITING OF ADDITIONAL GRITTING BINS: Cllr Wellman said that it was a matter of land ownership. He felt that the bins looked unsightly in the summer and he would like to see them utilised as flower planters. It was felt that in principle the Parish Council should not have to pay for extra bins. RBWM should be responsible for replacement, insurance and re-fills. On the proposal of Cllr Fry, seconded by Cllr Brockwell, it was AGREED that Cllr Harris would give the Clerk a list of locations for additional gritting bins.

12.            RENEWAL OF THE SUBSCRIPTION TO THE RIVER THAMES ALLIANCE PARTNERSHIP: Although the organisation does a good job with publicising the activities and attractions of the River Thames in Cookham, it was considered that there were few other benefits to justify the cost of the subscription. On the proposal of Cllr Ricardo, seconded by Cllr Hewer, it was AGREED not to renew this subscriptions. 

13.            CHAIRMAN'S SUBMISSIONS: The Chairman spoke of the new planning application at the Stiefel Laboratories. Although the Parish Council had been invited to comment on the first application in April, we had not been included second time around. There had been no secret meetings – as alleged by Cllr Ricardo and – because this application is out of our parish, we had no statutory right to be consulted. It was recommended for approval with £397,000 of 106 monies due. The sum of £50,000 was allocated to the Millennium Link for the Thames Path. Because the application is outside our Parish, it is beyond the remit of Cookham Parish Council to dictate where the 106 monies should be used. Cllr Hewer stated that, according to the planning application, if the £50,000 could not be used for the footpath, it would be used for footpath repairs. She queried the use of 106 monies for repairs rather than for a new project. It was AGREED that Cllr Fry and Cllr Hewer would both speak at the MDC meeting to bring this to the attention of RBWM Councillors.  

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

The Meeting closed at 9.45pm.