Parish
Council News June 2011
By the time this article is
published voting will have taken place to elect members of Wraysbury
Parish Council. For many years the Council has often been undersubscribed
and places have had to be filled by co-option. The last time an election
actually took place was back in 1987 and thus the result of this year's
election is awaited with some interest.
Meanwhile we are continuing to
work hard to bring a surgery back to Wraysbury in line
with the commitment made in 2006 by the Datchet Health Practice (DHP).
Some two years ago a suitable site in
the village on which a surgery could be built was brought
to the attention of the DHP and about six months later Councillor Lenton
informed the DHP of another suitable site.
Unfortunately neither of these options was pursued
by the DHP. The DHP were also offered rental accommodation in Wraysbury
Village Hall which they declined and the PCT
maintained that there were no suitable sites
in Wraysbury for a surgery. Subsequently although members of the PCT and
the Practice Manager of the DHP visited
the two sites, the PCT now tell us that there are no
funds available to build a surgery despite this being a condition of the
contract between the DHP and the PCT.
Nevertheless, with the
assistance of Wraysbury Parochial Charities, we have produced
an outline plan for a modest development, including a surgery, on one of
the identified sites. Preliminary
consultations have been held with the planners of the Royal
Borough and they are supportive. We have also had discussions with a
developer as a result of which we believe the
scheme to be viable. However before we can
make a full public announcement or make a formal offer there are still
some obstacles to be overcome but we
have good reasons to believe these are surmountable.
Following an article in last
year‟s Wraysbury News some 53 parishioners asked for public
access to be granted to Queensmead Lake and we once again researched the
circumstances regarding this matter and sought
legal advice. The latter concluded that there
is no public right of access to the lake and the Parish Council is not in
the position to be able to demand
public access and will have to rely on persuasion and, possibly,
the pressure of local opinion. On the basis of this advice we once again
approached Veolia Water drawing attention to
statements made to the Public Inquiry in
proofs of evidence and remarks made by the Inspector. We urged that some
form of public access be re-considered.
The company secretary promised to reply in early 2011.
As we have yet to hear from them we have written again asking for a
response.
The problem of flooding
continues to be a high priority. We are represented on the Parishes
Flood Liaison Group and the RBWM Flood Forum both of which meet regularly
to consider flooding matters. We have developed a Parish Council Flood
Plan to operate in conjunction with that of
the Royal Borough and using the template devised
by that authority. In March we took part in the final community day of the
week long Exercise Watermark which enabled us
to test our plan against various scenarios.
The whole day was very useful and we came away with a number of ideas
for improving our plan. Of particular interest
was the presence of Richard Benyon, M.P.
who is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DEFRA who told us, in
response to questions on insurance, that he
was due to meet the Association of British Insurers
to discuss the continuance of insurance cover in areas liable to flood.
We have also responded to a
consultation exercise regarding proposed changes to the Grant-in-aid
system for flood prevention projects and sustainability issues. These
changes are especially important as, in the
future, funding for flood prevention projects
will come from three sources - Central Government in the form of
Grant-in-aid, the Regional Flood and
Coastal Committees and local sources. The more funds that
can be raised locally, the more likely it is that an individual project
will be approved. The Lower Thames
Strategy is currently under consideration at a high level in
DEFRA.
Some three months after the
introduction of the traffic calming measures in the centre of
the village, the effect of the scheme was evaluated. This showed a
reduction in speed through the village.
The build out at Hythe End has also slowed traffic down as it
turns into Feathers Lane. There has been some criticism of the speed
cushion outside Bennett's and we have
been in touch highways officers about this. However the
height of the cushion is set at the bottom end of the specified range and
if we were to reduce the height the
cost to the parish would be about £2,500 of which £1,500 would
arise from the legal costs incurred in amending the traffic order. Some
residents of Station Road have complained
about traffic speeding up as it emerges from
the 20mph zone. We asked the Royal Borough to undertake a survey which
supported this view. We have therefore asked
that Station Road is included on the list of
roads where a Speed Indicator Device is placed at regular intervals.
We are represented on the
Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) which covers the three
villages of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury. Three "Have Your Say"
events with the police have already
taken place in the Village Hall and another is scheduled for June.
These events provide an opportunity for you to meet your local police team
on a one to one basis and voice any
concerns that you may have. Please watch notice boards
and our web site for details of future events. Community questionnaires
are being circulated at the end of
May/beginning of June and a public consultation meeting
will be held on 21st June at 7:30pm – venue: Churchmead School, Datchet.
Many of you have no doubt read
about the Big Society. One of the aims is the devolution
of power from the centre and the delivery of services closer to those who
receive them. We have expressed some interest
in taking responsibility for hedge cutting
and maintenance of footpaths. However this would have to be subject to
negotiation with the Royal Borough and we
would need to know exactly what would be
involved, be satisfied that adequate funding was in place and have the
capacity to do it. To date we have only
expressed interest and this does not imply commitment.
We are also examining the
Localism Bill to see what impact this will have on us. Currently
we have a sub-committee looking at the matter which will report in due
course.
We strongly supported the
expansion of the Wraysbury Primary School which will enable
the school to offer single year classes which we believe will be
beneficial to the education of the
pupils and are pleased that this expansion will now go ahead.
We are concerned that access
to the lakes which residents have enjoyed for many years
has been closed off by the owners. The Parish Council is very happy to
provide assistance to those residents
seeking to establish the footpaths used for many years as Public
Rights of Way. We are also concerned at the acts of vandalism taking place
around the lakes and will be seeking an early
meeting with Cemex to ascertain if a system
of bailiffs can be introduced.
The 800th anniversary of the
sealing of the Magna Carta takes place in 2015. There is little
doubt that this historic event took place within the Parish of Wraysbury
whose boundaries extended, at the time,
across the Thames to include Runnymede. We are currently
making plans to celebrate the event.
Roger P. Marlow
Clerk to the Council
June
2011
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