INTRODUCTION
Despite this month containing half term it has been busy. There have been numerous meetings. Hopefully next month will be quieter!
THAMES WATER
In July, Alison brought a motion to council asking for a letter to be written to the CEO of Thames Water inviting him to the Place Overview & Scrutiny meeting to discuss the issues we are constantly having with water leaks in Clewer Hill Road. Eventually, our MP Jack Rankin’s office wrote a joint letter with leader of the council, Cllr Simon Werner. This resulted in an initial online meeting where Thames Water vowed to spend £750m on a major rework of the water pipes in Clewer Hill Road. Alison & Helen were present at the meeting, as were MPs for Windsor and Maidenhead and Cllr Werner. This is anticipated to be in the first half of 2025. It will mean major inconvenience for about 6 weeks but should finally fix the problem. You may well receive a letter from our MP about this if you live on Clewer Hill Road but if you have any concerns before then please do not hesitate to contact us.
VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTOR PARTNERSHIP
Helen attended the bi-monthly meeting held at the Royal Windsor Racecourse. Around 50 people attended. We had presentations on the Household Support Fund, Equaity Diversity and Inclusion and looked at the creation of an Equality Forum, the Berkshire Community Foundation. This is a successful Forum for networking and ensuring organisations are aware of what everyone is doing.
Smiths Lane Cherry Tree
Poppies
Alison put up a striking display of poppies at the Imperial Road/St Leoneords Road, Clewer Hill Road, Winkfield Road junction. This is one of the heaviest used junctions so will be seen by thousands of passers by. Helen, with the help of local resident, James Tapping, put up poppies across the Ward so there is a good display. She ensured they were near Hill Top School so that pupils, if unaware of what poppies mean, will ask their parents.
Sawyers Close update
Alison & Helen had the pleasure of officially cutting the ribbons to open the Sawyers Close community centre and the play park this morning with representatives from Abri and the builders, Hill. It’s great to see the new facilities open for the local community.
We fed back to Abri that holding it mid morning during the week during term time meanst no residents and their families could attend, and this was a shame.
Helen attended a consultation meeting on parking at Sawyers Close,. Following the parking meeting Helen proposed to RBWM that they sell the highways land they own withing the Sawyers Close estate so that Abri could manage all parking within the Estate and that would be far more effective. Her proposal was immediately rejected as RBWM have a policy of never selling Highways land.
Helen also attended a residents meeting, a Sawyers Close Project Team meeting and a Streets Art workshop. For up to date information on this redevelopment see sawyersclose.com
Corporate Social Responsibility
In her role as RBWM Champion for Corporate Social Responsibility Helen met with Urbaser and, having understood what they would like to do and had the capacity to do, made suggestions of how they could help the local community. Once these have been done she will publicise this added social value. Meanwhile Volker Highways has already benefitted from our meeting as we invited them to attend the careers fair at Maidenhead Library, as a result of which they have two residents who wish to join their apprenticeship scheme. Helen will continue working with RBWM contractors and suppliers and has indicated to Abri she wishes to be involved with the main contractor in building Sawyers Close in terms of the social value they will deliver.
Helen met with Beaumont Hotels, Old Windsor, and has linked them with local community organisations including Old Windsor Parish Council.. They also indicated they would offer raffle prizes and Helen has signposted charities. She has also been passing on free Royal Windsor Racecourse tickets to local charities/schools to help raise funds at their Christmas events.
LEGOLAND
Cllr Suzanne Cross, Bray and Helen met with the new LEGOLAND Director, Helen Bull having recently left for pastures new. LEGOLAND now sits in two Wards, Bray and Clewer and Dedworth East although its only entrance is in CDE. The new Director is very keen on community involvement, so Helen is ensuring he is aware of all existing initiatives as well as suggesting new one. She ensured that nothing has fallen betwixt the cracks with the departure of Helen and the appointment of Ramesh. She fed back residents issues re the noise from the new rides and the repetitive music from the Pirate area, and the difficulty in accessing the comp tickets for nearby residents. Helen asked LEGOLAND to clear the public dual use footpath along Winkfield Road from St Leonards Hill to LEGOLAND . This they agreed to do. Helen has tried on numerous occasions to get this done by RBWM but has failed.
Keeler
Helen attended a meeting held by Keeler to explain to local residents their plans for upgrading facilities. They confirmed their intention to stay on the site and their commitment to the local community. They have been in existence since 1935 and are the only manufacture in West Windsor. They are tucked away down Ellison Close. Helen is in regular contact with them.
Halloween
Helen was invited by Budgens, Longmead, to their Halloween party, which comprised lots of treats for children. This store does lots of good things for the local community, which Helen circulates.
Thames Valley Police
Helen attended the most recent Have Your Say held in Osgood Park. The PCSO’s were well aware of the scooter issues and balaclava clad youths and how vulnerable this made residents feel. They are aware of the issues in Stuart Way. They can’t comment on live cases but are working on it.
Both Alison and Helen continue to report the hotspots with pavement parking. TVP are putting warning notices on windscreens, and if no improvement issuing fines. The hotspots in our ward are Duncroft, outside Hill Top and Maidenhead Road. We are liaising with the Windsor Cycle Hub over the issue of Maidenhead Road as the pavement (skirting the Racecourse) is a cycle path , and is often blocked by parked cars. Helen is opening discussions again with the racecourse to see if they could help with residents parking. As elsewhere it is the situation of too many cars, insufficient parking capacity.
RBWM Cabinet
Helen regularly attends Cabinet and asks questions. Unusually in October there were two Cabinet meetings. Whilst you can choose to listen on YouYube to both meetings, below I have listed the questions I’ve asked and the link to the YouTube so you can hear the answers I received.
In the earlier meeting Helen asked when the CIPFA reports on the Property Company and financial systems would be discussed https://youtu.be/Dl7ttn2vRhs?t=489 Re the budget monitoring statement she asked how the backlog of costs would be accounted for in the accounts and the risk register https://youtu.be/Dl7ttn2vRhs?t=3017
She expressed concern that the Property Company (of RBWM) had apparently failed to notify officers of the potential early payment and consequent cost of borrowing and the loss on Cedar Tree House, which she understood had been purchased at auction at top price with no survey. She asked if the Youth Engagement Pledge had been shared with the Equalities Officer and was the easy-to-read version of the Council Plan available https://youtu.be/Dl7ttn2vRhs?t=4358 She asked about updating the Electric Charging Points Implementation Plan as technology was moving ahead at a fast rate https://youtu.be/Dl7ttn2vRhs?t=5611 She asked why the Equality Impact Assessment form for the supported bus services had failed to consider the impact on our socially-deprived residents https://youtu.be/Dl7ttn2vRhs?t=6064. Helen challenged actions agreed at the previous meeting https://youtu.be/_Qos3bxMU6c?t=198, sought clarification and asked direct questions re the financial situation https://youtu.be/_Qos3bxMU6c?t=3614 she asked questions the Property Company in relation to contracts, https://youtu.be/_Qos3bxMU6c?t=5611, asked for further information the partnership with the private sector re temporary housing and the negative consequences of having a high number of high quality private residential homes https://youtu.be/_Qos3bxMU6c?t=7304 the Permitted Development Rights and suggested that, as Ward Councillors have local knowledge, they be consulted https://youtu.be/_Qos3bxMU6c?t=8369, and finally she pointed out the failure for the EQIA be correctly completed https://youtu.be/_Qos3bxMU6c?t=9293
Windsor Foodshare
Helen is a member of the Windsor Foodshare Management Committee and attends, (when she can!) their meetings. She has the brief of circulating their social media posts widely, and rather than circulate each one individually clusters them into themes.
Ascot & Sunninghill by-election
We all supported the Borough first Independents candidate, Matt Newman for the by-election on October 17th. Congratulations to our new Conservative councillor, Sally Coneran who won but well done to Matt who came third and ran a fair and admirable campaign.
Age Concern
Helen attended their recent AGM in her capacity as the RBWM Councillor representative. She has posted on this separately on social media.
Go2Gate bus service to London Heathrow Airport
Clewer Hill Road (Hatch Lane to Dedworth Road) Hatch Lane Kenton Lane Sheepcote Road St Andrews Avenue (Dedworth Road to St Andrews Crescent) St Andrews Crescent
New Terminal 5 timing! Last journey now extended from 23:45 to 00:05 but the early morning times have changed so it’s best to check the app to book the time you require.Parking Restrictions
On Dedworth Road, outside the shopping parade which includes Scotts Fish and Chip Shop, there are parking restrictions during the day. If observed this means shoppers can park their cars to pop into the shops. However these restrictions stop late afternoon meaning that those shops operating in the evening find their customers have nowhere to park and go away. Helen held a meeting with the RBWM Parking Manager and the owner of Scotts and it was agreed to extend the parking restriction times into the evening. The owner of Scotts pointed out that the seven car parking places, just as you turn into Greenacre were built for the residents who live above the shops but as they are not restricted they are unavailable. Helen is working with the RBWM Parking Officer to get this righted.
Windsor Repair Cafe
Alison attended the one year anniversary of the Windsor Repair Cafe that operates on the third Saturday of the month (Except August & December). To mark the anniversary our MP turned up to meet the team.
Resident Issues
Abri issues, career choices, homelessness, anti-social behaviour, complaints procedure.
Consultations
Stag Meadows. St L:eonards Road closing date 17 November https://rbwmtogether.rbwm.gov.uk/stagmeadow
Housing Allocations Scheme 16 January https://rbwmtogether.rbwm.gov.uk/housing-allocations-scheme
Meetings
Windsor Foodshare, Cabinet x 2, Urbaser, LEGOLAND, Beaumont Hotels, Sawyers Close x 3, Thames Water with our MP, Ellison House x 2, Windsor Cycle Hub, Voluntary and Community Sector Partnership, Keeler, RBWM Assistant Director Performance communities, Housing Allocations Briefing, Age Concern, Budgens Halloween event, RBWM Windsor Ascot and Maidenhead Development Management Committee.