Cookham Parish Council



COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL

 Minutes of a Meeting of the

 COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL 

Held in the Community Room on Tuesday, 2nd March 2010, after the Planning Meeting, at 7.30pm.

 

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

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

R. Piercey, D. Ricardo, Jean Stretton, John Stretton, H. J. Woodbridge and M.Wellman.

 

 

1.                  APOLOGIES AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Apologies were received from Cllr M-L. Kellaway. There were no Declarations of Interest.

                                               

2.                  APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the Full Council Meeting held on the 2nd February 2010 Parts 1 and 2 were circulated and duly signed with no amendments. The Minutes of the Extra-Ordinary Meeting held on 9th February 2010 were circulated and approved with one amendment. On page 935, line 12, Cllr Wellman want to insert “internal auditor” rather than “external auditor”. The Minutes of the Extra-Ordinary Meeting held on 16th February 2010 were approved with no amendments.

 

3.            COMMITTEE REPORTS: There were no Committee Reports this month.

                                               

4.            REPORTS FROM OUTSIDE BODIES:

1.         Cllr Ricardo attended a meeting of the Little Marlow Sewage Works Committee where he is a representative for the Cookham Society and RBWM. Cookham Dean residents were still complaining about the smell and it now seems to be the case that this problem will never be fully solved. Cllr Ricardo mentioned a display in the Parish Church in Little Marlow.

2.         Cllrs Brar and Hewer attended the Parish Conference and mentioned good presentations from Arlene Kersley; Harjit Hunjan on RBWM’s Adopt-A-Street scheme; and Sustainable Sunningdale where a low carbon heating system was used to heat the Parish Office.

 

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 February as listed on Page 000 was approved on the proposition of Cllr M. Wellman and seconded by Cllr Woodbridge.

                                                                                                                       

7.         BOROUGH COUNCILLOR’S REPORT: Cllr John Stretton said the High Street in Cookham Village was due to be re-surfaced the w/c Monday 22nd March. There was a query on who owned the triangular piece of road used for parking near the war memorial. The Licence had been granted for the “Rock the Moor” concert despite opposition from many Cookham residents. There was a list of conditions that the organisers would have to adhere to along with regular sound level checks throughout the concert. A further meeting was due to take place to discuss the potential obstruction of FP 36, 39 and 41. Cllr Brar complained that she had emailed Streetcare several times about the pot holes near her shop but nothing had been done.

                                                           

8.         TO RECONSIDER THE DECISION TO APPOINT MR JOHN LEE AS THE IT SUPPORT CONSULTANT FOR THE PARISH OFFICE: Cllr Coker started by querying the amount of public liability insurance that would be needed by Mr Lee. He felt that the sum of five million pounds was rather high. Cllr Woodbridge stated that it was Council Policy for all contractors to have this form of insurance and that if Mr Lee was not interested, the Parish Council could no longer entertain his appointment. Cllr Wellman asked as to the status of the Service Level Agreement. The Clerk replied that one had been drawn up as far as possible using the current version from RBWM as a template. The Clerk and her Assistant could not go any further as they did not have the training to complete this legal document. Cllr Fry had asked the IT department at RBWM how often Cookham Parish Council had used the Computer Support service over the past 18 months. Apparently, we had only used the service for one incident and this had cost the Parish Council the sum of £900. The Clerk then pointed out that there were certain times when the service was used more than others. Cllr Barnes agreed that the Parish Council would not expect to necessarily use the IT service on a regular basis once the computer system was stable. Cllr Coker stated that the computer would come with a three year warranty and a one year warranty on other equipment. Cllr Coker also mentioned a piece of software entitled “Team Viewer”. This would allow remote access for Cllr Coker and John Lee. The Clerk expressed concern that a Parish Councillor and a member of public would have this access. She was told that this would be password protected so that the Clerk would control who had access. The Clerk stated that she still had reservations. Cllr Wellman still wanted to talk to the company that the School used for their IT systems. Cllr Hewer reinstated her support for John Lee. The need for back-ups was mentioned several times. The Clerk already keeps copies of files remotely but this will be deleted once she is no longer with this Council.

 

9.         UP-DATED RISK REGISTER:  It was AGREED to defer this item to the next meeting to give the Councillors a chance to consider the contents.

 

10.            CONFIRMATION OF THE SPEAKERS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING:  It was AGREED that speakers for the Annual Meeting would be Arlene Kersley to speak on “Local Housing for Local People” and Ewan Larcombe to speak on “The Rise and Fail of the Jubilee River”. The Clerk offered an alternative to Mr Larcombe. Mr Richard Booth wished to promote a Berkshire section of The Chilterns Way. The Chairman

dismissed this possibility by stating the speakers were already invited. The Clerk pointed out that many Councillors had emailed to state that they were unsure whether Mr Larcombe would be an appropriate choice to give a platform at such a prominent meeting for the Parish Council. Cllr Fry dismissed this fact and moved on to the Chairman’s Submissions.

 

11.            CHAIRMAN’S SUBMISSIONS: The Chairman had re-arranged the E-planning training session with Mr Paul Blissett until Monday 22nd March at the Parish Office at 11.00am.  There was a public meeting at Cookham Dean Village Hall on Wednesday 3rd March to discuss the plans for a Village Shop. There were meetings coming up for the Maidenhead and Marlow Rail Passengers Association and District Association of Local Councils. 

 

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

 

The Meeting closed at 9.00pm.
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