Parish Council News June 2010

There appears to be some misunderstanding regarding the respective roles of the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council. The Parish Meeting must assemble annually between 1^st March and 1^st June. Members of the public including the press may be present but only registered electors of the parish may speak or vote. Although chaired by the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council the parish meeting is not a meeting of the Parish Council. Any resolutions passed at the Annual Parish Meeting are persuasive only and although taken forward for consideration, are not binding on the Parish Council.

^{The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council is always held in May except in election years when it must take place on the fourth day after the election or within fourteen days thereafter. The first business on the agenda must be the election of chairman followed by election of Vice-Chairman. This election takes place between Councillors present at that particular meeting. Once this formal business has been completed other matters can then be discussed. This year’s annual meeting was held on Monday 10th May 2010.}

The Annual Parish Meeting took place in the Village Hall on Tuesday 20th April. There was a better attendance than in the past few years which was good to see. There was much interest which gave rise to comments and discussion on a range of issues. Some of these such as the registration of the Eight Yards, the re-establishment of a doctor’s surgery in Wraysbury and the opening hours of the container library are already under active discussion by the Parish Council. A number of other matters considered such as Queensmead Lake, communications, CCTV at Hythe End, and public liability insurance will be placed before the Parish Council for their consideration at future meetings.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Eight Yards, please take the time to read an article written by Mr. John Sleep which appears further on in this publication. You will almost certainly find it interesting and informative. In the past the Parish Council has applied to register the land under the Commons Registration Act and later have attempted the registration of ownership with the Land Registry, but both without success. Blenheim Angling Society has recently applied for and subsequently registered the bed of the Colne Brook and is now contemplating such an application for the Eight Yards. The Parish Council has taken legal advice and has made it clear that objections will be raised if such an application is made. We are of the opinion that the Council may not own the land but the inhabitants of Wraysbury most certainly do. We have invited the Blenheim Angling Society to meet with Councillors as we feel that this could be advantageous to both parties.

We have continued to work hard to assist the Datchet Health Practice in finding suitable premises for a site in the village for a surgery. We must thank Mr. Mike Smith particularly for his efforts in this respect. In the summer of last year premises became available in the Village Hall where there was a surgery many years ago. This was offered as such once again, but after six months of negotiations and an offer via the Parochial Charities of a grant to assist with the cost of conversion, the Datchet Health Practice decided that the premises did not comply with clinical governance guidelines and thus declined the offer. Unfortunately it has become increasingly clear that there is no support for a surgery in Wraysbury on the part of the PCT or Datchet Health Practice. Meanwhile we continue to support our Borough Councillors who recently submitted a resolution to the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead for the formal establishment of a taxi service to Datchet which could be used by patients in need of assistance in travelling to and from the surgery. A questionnaire will shortly be sent to all former Wraysbury patients giving them the opportunity to comment on the present level of service.

As advised in the last edition of Wraysbury News, the hours of opening of the container library are being reviewed by the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. We are informed that public consultation will take place and will take the form of a questionnaire which will be available both in hard copy and on line. However following suggestions made at past meetings, if the revised schedule is implemented we are seeking a later closure time of 8.00 pm.

Plans for work on the traffic strategy were approved at the meeting of the Parish Council held in October last year. At the time of writing the work is largely complete although there were some delays as a result of changes made to the scheme at Hythe End.

Proposals for a new flood relief channel as part of the Lower Thames Flood Strategy have been considered following a display held in the Village Hall on 27th October last year. A sub-committee was formed to discuss and a submission made to the Royal Borough in November. Overall the project was considered to be excellent and the Council was pleased with the proposals to protect the village from flooding. However there were some areas of concern including practicality and effects on the environment. A letter was also sent to Mr. Adam Afriyie, M.P. urging that dredging of the River Thames be resumed as an interim measure until any work on the new flood channel is completed. A meeting was subsequently sought with the Project Manager and although this has proved somewhat difficult to arrange it is anticipated that it will take place during May.

At the meeting of the Council held in February the recommendations of the Finance Committee were accepted whereby a precept of £56,315 was set for this financial year. This represents £26.57 per band ‘D’ equivalent property being an increase of 1.8% over last year. This low level of increase was achieved through careful and conservative budgeting.

We have recently erected signs on the Village Green warning motorists of the dangers of parking their vehicles on The Green (road) whilst a cricket match is in progress. Hanging baskets have also been ordered once again and will shortly be in place.

We have been fortunate is achieving funding for the development of a play area primarily targeting children aged from 8 to 13 years. This will be a move away from traditional play equipment and offer natural play elements to maximise the play value for children and young people. The existing play equipment has not been forgotten and will be refurbished. Our thanks go to Mr. Peter Knott for his assistance in the latter.

The Parish Council is a supporting partner in the Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) which includes Thames Valley Police and the Royal Borough Community Safety Team. We have assisted in the circulation of questionnaires in which residents were requested to identify their three highest levels of concern. These will become the three community priorities for the coming year. When the priorities have been collated they will be published on the Parish Council website. Should anyone wish to contact NAG please ring one of the numbers below:

Chairman: Mrs. Betty Marlow Tel. 01753 682482;

Email: dhw_nag@yahoo.co.uk

Thames Valley Police Neighbourhood Team Tel. 0845 8 505 505; Email:DatchetHortonNHPT@thames valley.pnn.police.uk

Community Safety Team (RBWM)

Tel. 01628 796126; Email: Communitysafety@rbwm.gov.uk

Neighbourhood Action Group

March 2010

Police Surgeries are held every Wednesday from 2.00pm to 3.00pm at Datchet Library and the mobile surgery will be available on: 

Just look for the Police Van at Horton: Outside Champney Hall and/or Village Green and at Wraysbury: by the High Street Shops. So that we reach all members of the community the venue/times will be changed in the next round of dates.

As part of the Policing Pledge we will also be holding ‘Have Your Say’ events prior to the Annual Parish Meeting of the Parish Councils in Horton and Wraysbury. This is your opportunity to meet with your Neighbourhood Policing Team. The dates are as follows: 

Champney Hall, Stanwell Road, Horton: 9th April 2010
from 6:30PM to 7:15PM.

Wraysbury Village Hall: 20th April 2010
from 6:30pm to 7:15pm.

We are also charged with holding an annual Public Consultation Priority Setting Meeting. This will be held in: 
Champney Hall, Stanwell Road, Horton on 29th April 2010 at 7:30pm

AND IS OPEN TO ALL RESIDENTS OF DATCHET, HORTON AND WRAYSBURY.

Come and hear what has been achieved during 2009/2010, help set new priorities or just meet members of the partnership.
One of the tools being used to identify residents’ concerns or issues is a community questionnaire which will be distributed over the next few weeks via the Parish Councils, PCSOs, Community Wardens, through direct mail drops, village shops, community organisations, beat surgeries and ‘have your say’ events or email the Chairman.

March 2010

Parish Council News 

December 2009

At the meeting of the Parish Council held in May of this year Councillor Andrew Davies was re-elected as Chairman with Councillor Jackson as Vice-Chairman. Councillor Mrs. Hughes continues to Chair the Planning Committee, Councillor Martin is Chairman of the Properties Committee with Councillor Rooks being Chairman of the Greens Committee.

Earlier this year a decision was made to discontinue the separate meetings of the Planning Committee this being due to a large reduction in the number of planning applications being received. However the full Parish Council continues to meet on the third Monday of each month.

If you visit our web site www.wraysburyparishcouncil.gov.uk you will find details of Councillors, dates of forthcoming meetings, agendas of meetings and minutes of past meetings. The web site also gives news items, information and links to other useful web sites. The next Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 21^st April 2010.

During 2008 the Parish Council formulated a traffic strategy the object of which is to improve road safety in the village for both drivers and pedestrians. For the past few months the Parish Council has been in discussions with Officers of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead considering and costing a number of possible schemes and options. One was the construction of a continuous walkway over Wraysbury Station Bridge and another the establishment of a cycle way between the village and Hythe End. 

Unfortunately the cost of both these projects are beyond the funds available to the Parish Council but we continue to lobby the Borough Council for these works to receive priority. We have asked that they be put forward for inclusion in the projects of the Royal Borough.

However we do have plans for the extension of the present 20 mph speed limit in Windsor Road to include the High Street and part of Staines Road. This would entail the construction of new speed cushions between the Perseverance Public House and Oast House Close and additional cushions in Windsor Road. It is also our aim to carry out improvements to improve safety at the junction of Wraysbury Road and Feathers Lane in Hythe End.

Unfortunately the container library recently suffered damage as a result of vandalism whilst parked in the Village Hall Car Park. This would seem an apt time to remind residents of the opening hours of the library and encourage its use.

Wednesdays:             2.00 pm to 7.00 pm     

Saturdays:                  10.00 am to 1.00 pm

In the past six months the Parish Council have considered and responded to an unusually large number of consultation documents. Two were related to Heathrow Airport, one being Heathrow Airtrack which proposes a new rail link from Terminal 5 to Staines via a junction with the Windsor line. Whilst it was agreed that it is an excellent scheme which would provide a much needed link to the south and west, there were concerns on the effect that the increase in rail traffic to the west of Staines could have on local road traffic as a result of delays on level crossings particularly in Egham. 

The other document relating to Heathrow was the Draft Noise Action Plan 2010-2015. It was felt that although the plan described very well the noise mitigation measures that are currently in place it did little to put forward concrete proposals for significant future noise reduction. A number of suggested specific measures were put forward to reduce noise rather than just relying on quieter aircraft.

Two documents on planning issues were considered, one being the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment which appears to have little impact on Wraysbury as it contained details of only 7 hectares being proposed for development.   

The other was the Local Development Framework and in our response we endeavoured to protect the environment of Wraysbury, preserve the Green Belt and control development in the area liable to flood where local policies allow. We wish to ensure that future generations are not disadvantaged by continual and cumulative building in the flood plain and the loss of Green Belt land.    

In July we responded to the Draft Flood & Water Management Bill. We felt that in general the bill was drafted in clear language and was well set out. However we considered that there needs to be some mechanism whereby the Environment Agency can consult local communities when drawing up plans and can explain why it has taken particular management decisions particularly when these decisions may have an adverse impact on the local community.

Over 250 residents attended the presentation by the Environment Agency on the Lower Thames Flood Relief Strategy which was held in the Village Hall on 27^th October. At the time of writing the Parish Council were still considering their comments.

All the responses to the foregoing consultation documents are too large for inclusion here However it is our intention to place such responses on our web site in the future so that residents are able to view.

Roger P. Marlow

Clerk to the Council 

December 2009