Well, what can you say about September 2024 apart from IT WAS WET!
WILDING VERGES
Helen met with the RBWM Natural Environment Manager to consider the two wilding verges, one on Dedworth Road betwixt Wolf Lane and Clewer Hill Road, the other on the corner of Sheepcote Lane and Clewer Hill Road. The Natural Environment Manager will organise an event in the Spring aimed at children to “net” the various hidden “bugs and bees” for children to appreciate how much diversity of wildlife is there even though its not immediately apparent.
TVP NEIGHBOURHOOD INSPECTOR MEETING
We had the regular bi monthly meeting with the new local Neighbourhood Inspector, which Helen arranged and invites the Windsor councillors. The big breakthrough came when we were told the Parking Police will attend hotspots nominated by ourselves, and issue fines for any vehicle fully parked on the pavement. For a full report see Helen’s facebook post of 24 September.
DISABILITY AND INCLUSION FORUM
Helen is a member and attended earlier in the month. The Panel heard about Padel run at Braywick and how wheelchair friendly the venue was It was acknowledged that there was too much “incorrect” use of blue badges but currently we just don’t have the capacity to check up on this. We were updated on the new consultation process which has been designed to be customer friendly .
AUDIT AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Helen attended this meeting as she was shocked at what the newly appointed auditors, Grant Thornton, had revealed. She gave a very strong response to their letter, she was concerned about process, clarification and on PropCo , https://youtu.be/lXJlB2LOdAE?t=4815 Helen has posted in detail elsewhere about this but was shocked at the lack of processes and systems and raised the issue that both the Chief Financial Officer (no longer working for the Borough) and the then auditors had repeatedly refused to investigate what was happing. refused to accept
Later on she strongly expressed her concern about RBWM working in silos. https://youtu.be/lXJlB2LOdAE?t=11229 She has since made proposals to ensure more cohesive workings.
CORPORATE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY PANEL
Helen is Vice Chair of this Panel. Helen expressed her disappointment at receiving information just hours before a meeting which made if difficult for Members to give a considered response. A new process was agreed to encourage officers to respond more in advance.
PLACE OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY PANEL
Alison attended this via Zoom due to having Covid but spoke out about the CIL presentation – reports are supposed to be sent out 5 days prior to the meeting and Alison chased this and when it didn’t arrive suggested the item was removed from the agenda. It wasn’t and Alison spoke out about this during the meeting as councillors didn’t have enough time to prepare. Also a further Place O&S meeting has been scheduled for 21st October to discuss Thames Water issues, as a result of Alison’s motion in June. However, unfortunately neither Alison or Helen can attend. We are trying to set up a separate meeting with them to discuss the issues in our ward, after Jack Rankin MP And Simon Werner, leader of the council wrote to them. Watch this space – we won’t let it lie!
COUNCIL
Helen asked two questions at Council, one re the Windsor Town Council and the other on reducing our carbon footprint. You can find the written questions and responses here. https://bit.ly/4gJwCd7 On the night Helen asked supplementary questions https://youtu.be/ji2UAYRHHkk?t=2494 . Disappointingly it is unlikely that the Windsor Town Council will be progressed in time for the 2027 local elections. Alison joined via Zoom as she had Covid!
ABRI WALKABOUT
Helen attended the Abri walkabout at Luff Close, was alerted to serious potholes, reported them to RBWM and they have been filled.
ABRI MEETING
Helen attended the quarterly imeeting with the Regional Director and his team. Helen has asked what training Abri staff have in understanding the issues and challenges faced by many Abri customers. Abri’s feedback indicates a higher level of customer satisfaction in the Windsor area.
The Sawyers Close development is proceeding, various blockages appear to have been removed. The Community Centre is due to reopen shortly. Alison & Helen have regular meetings with Abri about Sawyers Close.
WINDSOR TEAM
Helen attended a launch event held by the Windsor Town Team. They are hoping to run a volunteering initiative. This requires quite a bit of co-ordination as we already have GoodGym, Helen’s work with companies (see Corporate Social Responsibility below). The Town Team has been successfully launched in Maidenhead Town Centre. It will cover the whole of Windsor (not exclusively the town centre). We will update when we hear more about how this could be developed.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Helen is the Champion for Corporate Social Responsibility. When she took on the role she met with officers and indicated she wanted to work with our major contractors. She was asked to wait a bit until new contracts had been negotiated. That’s now been completed with the delivery of social value built into the contract. Helen has now met with three of them and is tailoring activities, added social value on what suits them. As activities start to happen she’ll update residents. She is now turning to existing contractors and hopes to meet with two a month to keep the momentum going. She has made it clear she intends to concentrate activities in the unparished areas who don’t have access to funding, ie the two towns of Windsor and Maidenhead and within these large areas concentrate on the most deprived residents.
The Royal Windsor Racecourse encourages Helen to allocate comp tickets to Windsor schools and community organisations to help them raise funds (see photo above). During the month she made contact with and delivered comp tickets to 15 local organisations.
Helen continues to engage with Centrica re their numerous community activities including litter picking.
PLANTER
Helen put out a call for a volunteer to step forward to “adopt” the planter in Dedworth Road outside the Food Mall. Within 24 hours a volunteer stepped forward. Thank you Lisa.
WINDSOR & ETON FC
Alison has continued to go to as many matches as she can and went to a couple of away matches in September too – they remain at the top of the table, which is great news for the local community. It’s always good to see so many residents there too. Keep up the good work Windsor & Eton FC!
ASCOT BY-ELECTION
Helen & Alison have spent a couple of mornings each over in Ascot during September to help Matt Newman who is the Borough first Independent candidate for Ascot & Sunninghill. It was great to have other tBfI members help out throughout the last few weeks. The election is 17th October. We turned out in our traditional teal colour, of course!
RESIDENTS ISSUES
Applying for driving license, homelessness, Abri concerns, planning matters, neighbour issues, anti-social behaviour issues.
MEETINGS
Independent Group, Disability and Access Forum, Audit and Governance, Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel, Place Overview & Scrutiny Panel, Natural Environment Manager, Strategic Lead for Communities – health partnership, Community Development and Community Officer, Council. Planning refresher training, Windsor Team launch.