Angela Clark welcomed all to the Forum.

To receive any Apologies for Absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bowden, Carroll, Johnson, Barbara Richardson, Claire Watson, Tim Clare and Dean Yorke.

The Forum to agree the Minutes of the last Forum on 8 July 2019.

RESOLVED Unanimously: that the minutes of the Forum on 8 July 2019 were a true record. This was proposed by Dominic Manley and seconded by Peter Haley.

RESOLVED Unanimously: That the order of the agenda items be changed.

Ben Smith, Head of Commissioning, Communities will give a verbal update to the Forum.

Ben Smith, Head of Commissioning – Communities, went through the changes at the station which included the paved area, avenue of trees, circulatory system for drop/pick up, disabled parking, taxi parking and the more pedestrian-friendly area. The overflow for the taxi rank would be on Shoppenhangers Road. Taxi parking and the forecourt management would be done by GWR and Network Rail.

Ben Smith reported that the idea of the new layout of the station forecourt was to reduce vehicles on the forecourt and this had been funded by RBWM and the local enterprise partnership.

This was being published at the Maidenhead Town Forum and there was information published to the RBWN website. It was also being tweeted on social media. There would be further communication in October. Currently the Communications were about Highways, traffic and change of junction at Queen Street.

The Chairman asked if the station forecourt could be extended, because with the arrival of Crossrrail the flow of people was on the increase and would therefore mean more congestion in order to have room to drop off people with major mobility issues. Ben Smith offered to take this back to the design team.

Councillor Singh highlighted that with excellent public transport and a lot more buses at other stations, the car parking would be less of an issue. Could the new station handle the capacity increase. Ben Smith informed the Forum that a lot of forecasting had taken place and there had been a net increase in 250 additional spaces for cycle parking. The predictions for pedestrians were 4.5 million rail-users in 2016, 5.5 million in 2020 and over 8 million in 2039 when both lines were completed.

The bus services were currently detached from the rail station but these would all be joined up making it more viable for people to use.

Councillor Coppinger encouraged the Forum to think of a new world when thinking of Maidenhead in the future and to consider pedestrians over the next 20-30 years, who would move away from using the car every day. Therefore, there was a need to provide better facilities for cycle-users. The work at Maidenhead station forecourt was planning for that new future.

The Chairman reminded Officers and Members that it was crucial to keep people with disabilities in mind as this was not going to change in the future.

Liz Kelsall informed the Forum that whilst this was an admirable plan to the west of the borough there were only two buses a day, no footpaths and cycle paths so the infrastructure was not there to ensure connectivity with the town centre. Ben Smith informed the Forum that new Maidenhead would be all synced and more bus services and more parking on Stafferton Way, Vicus Way and Braywick. Liz Kelsall suggested having a bus shelter and bus service from one of these car parks especially for vulnerable people.

ACTION: Ben Smith to explore possibility of installing a bus shelter and to take up discussions on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.

Ben Smith, Head of Commissioning, Communities will give a verbal update to the Forum.

Points that were discussed by Ben Smith and the Forum included:

·         There was more space, the crossing was continuous and fully tactile, there were no dropped kerbs.

·         The tree was removed, it had no tree protection order and as a result, other more appropriate trees for that area were being planted.

·         There was flat access all the way to the car park. Councillor Stimson asked if there was a separate path for cyclists, Ben Smith would look into this and respond directly to Councillor Stimson.

ACTION: Ben Smith to confirm whether flat access to the car park.

Ben Smith, Head of Commissioning, Communities will give a verbal update to the Forum.

Councillor Stimson informed the Forum that there was currently a big problem and was advised by Ben Smith that the crossing was being moved.

Queen Street/King Street

Ben Smith presented plans for work on The Landings site. In response to queries, Ben Smith explained that the footpath on the north side was closed during the demolition work and the south side was very narrow. The Forum were concerned about the safety issues around that junction. There was currently a lot of street furniture at the junction.

Ben Smith would take these comments back to the hub and request that it is made safer.

ACTION: Ben Smith to feed the Forum’s comments into the design hub.

Update to Forum to include:

·         Around Maidenhead Town Hall

·         Broadway

·         Timings and Blue Badge space provision at  temporary site at the Landing, Vicus Way car parks

·         Future plans to increase Blue Badge parking in Windsor

The Chairman informed the Forum that two blue badge bays had been lost from outside of the town hall and not replaced anywhere else. The replacement bay needed to be fully accessible and fully flat. Ben Smith informed the Forum that it would be difficult to get two spaces on St. Ives Road. Ben Smith reassured the Forum that Neil Walter would look into this and would be happy to meet with Members to review. Councillor Stimson suggested outside The Bear public house as the pavement's were wider. Ben Smith would take back the suggestion to discuss with Neil Walter. The Forum acknowledged that the Chair and Vice Chair would take up Neil Walter’s invitation to meet separately to discuss disabled parking in the borough. It was agreed that Cllr Stimson would also attend that meeting.

ACTION: Neil Walter to meet with Chair, Vice Chair and Cllr Stimson to discuss disabled parking across the borough.

Ashley Smith, Deputy Head of Planning has provided a written update on the Borough Local Plan.

Broadway Carpark

The Chairman asked Ben Smith about the Broadway Carpark. Ben Smith informed the Forum that Barbara Richardson would be best placed to respond. Councillor Coppinger informed the Forum that the plans were not yet finalised. The Chairman reminded Officers that there needed to be enough disabled spaces, Shopmobility needed to be incorporated, the ceiling height needed to be tall enough for the Shopmobility buses, there needed to be an office and storage for Shopmobility. Councillor Coppinger reassured the Forum that officers were already in touch with Peter Haley of Shopmobility and all necessary aspects would be delivered.

Vicus Way

The Chairman asked Ben Smith about the Vicus Way. Ben Smith informed the Forum that Barbara Richardson would be best placed to respond.

A written update has been provided by Sarika Varma, Senior Commissioning Officer, Structures, Highways and Transport.

Sarika Varma, Senior Commissioning Officer, had provided a written update.

Councillor Singh highlighted that it had been a great improvement with the lowered ramps and were more accessible. Further works were still being completed.

Angela Clark to lead on the discussion about the name change for the Forum.

The Chairman asked all Forum Members to say which name they preferred from the suggested list.

The Forum Unanimously Agreed to change the Forum name to Disability and Inclusion Forum and acknowledged that Terms of Reference, promotional material and the RBWM website would need to be updated. Anna Robinson suggested using social media to remarket the Forum.

ACTION: The Chairman to have a relook at the leaflet.

ACTION: Clerk to create new meeting page on website.

ACTION: Rachel Kinniburgh to refresh ToR and circulate.

Lisa Hughes to lead on discussion on housing for all with disabilities including transition supported and independent living for young disabled adults. Also to cover nursing, care and respite places.

Lisa Hughes, Vice Chairman, gave a presentation to the Forum (Attached). The following points were raised:

·         Disability and Accessibility Home: The National picture

o   One in five people have one or more disabilities.

o   The relevant law and regulations, legislation and building regulations.

o   2015 Part M building regulations for New Homes. Part M was split into two areas, Mandatory and Optional. Mandatory was level 1 which was that the new homes had to be visitable. Optional was either level 2 (Accessible and Adaptable) and level 3 (Wheelchair user dwelling). Seventy two percent of UK homes that lack full visitability could feasibily be adapted.

o   A flowchart showing the differing housing needs of people with disabilities.

·         Disability and Accessible Homes: In RBWM

o   Lisa Hughes informed the Forum of the 2035 forecast of RBWM residents including the figures for residents with moderate or severe disabilities.

o   Lisa Hughes highlighted the flaws in the submitted RBWM Borough Local Plan 2018 and the actual figures required showing that there was just not enough housing projected to be accessible.

The presentation also discussed recommendations from Habinteg for local authorities and Central Authorities and Lisa Hughes suggestions for the Forum.

Liz Kelsall requested if it would be possible to see compared figures with Bracknell and Wokingham borough councils.

Councillor Coppinger commented that it was an excellent presentation and suggested Wokingham borough council would be a good comparison.

ACTION: On next Forum agenda – Invite Councillors Coppinger and Johnson

ACTION: Send presentation to Forum Members.

Councillor Singh reminded the Forum that Barbara Richardson had requested a brief on how much and what kind of housing was required.

ACTION: AfC to inform the Forum at next meeting of the number of children on the Disability Register.

Forum to suggest any items for the next Forum.

The Chairman and Vice Chairman would be happy to hear from Forum Members with any agenda items.

Dominic Manley requested adding an item to the agenda, a register on better facilities and access to restaurants and pubs in RBWM. Dominic Manley felt that with all the development taking place, it was a good opportunity to log all premises giving thought to access and facilities. Robin Pemberton informed the Forum that there was an access guide but he was not aware of what had happened to it.

ACTION: Add to next meeting agenda

The Forum to note dates of future Forums are as follows:

Monday 9 December 2019

Monday 16 March 2020

All Forum will take place in the Grey Room, York House, Sheet Street,

Windsor SL4 1BY at 11.00am.

Forum Members noted the next meeting of the Disability and Inclusion Forum would be on 9 December 2019 at York House, Windsor at 11am.