To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Targowski, Councillor Hill and Councillor Clark, who was attending the meeting in a virtual capacity. Councillor Stimson was attending the meeting as a substitute for Councillor Clark.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor Baldwin said that he would be mentioning Food Share Maidenhead during the Cost of Living Crisis agenda item, he was a volunteer for the organisation.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th July 2022.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th July 2022 were approved as a true and accurate record.

To receive an update from Jon Adams on the move away from York Road.

Jon Adams, CEO of Maidenhead United Football Club, gave a presentation updating the Forum on the football club and its plans to move from York Road. The ground was held in a trust by the football club and the company was a not for profit organisation. They therefore made the final decision with regard to any relocation and the future of the ground after relocation had taken place. Capital assets were held separately from the club for the benefit of the town, this would be maintained should the move away from York Road take place. Maidenhead United FC Limited was a company formed when the club was in a poor financial situation around 15 years ago, they stepped in and ensured that the commercial arm of the club was able to still function. The Maidenhead United men’s first team was the only part of the club that fell under the Maidenhead United FC Limited organisation. The other part of the club was operated by Maidenhead United FC Community Trust.

Maidenhead United was founded in 1870 and currently played in the National League, which was the fifth tier of English football. The club was one of the highest ranked part-time clubs in the country, while the women’s team played in the FA Women’s Premier League South West League. Considering the club in the community, the club was one of the largest community sports clubs in the Thames Valley. The juniors section currently had 51 teams and over 600 members. A National League accredited programme was run in partnership with the Berkshire College of Agriculture, while over 2,500 children per week participated in community football activities across RBWM.

Magpies in the Community was a partnership run by the club that was focused on the health and wellbeing of the local community. Opportunities were provided for local people of all ages and abilities. Examples of activities included: football coaching, development centres, walking football, seated exercise, autism friendly soccer, lunch time and after school clubs. The Premier League trophy would be coming to the ground on 12^th September. Activities were being delivered in a number of locations across the borough. Magpies Community Care was a programme set up during the pandemic which consisted of a hotline that residents could call if they needed food supplies, a prescription picking up or any other help which could be provided by volunteers, the programme was still ongoing. Wellbeing circles had been formed and the club had its own dedicated wellbeing team which could provide support for individuals. The football club was an important community resource, the community was placed at the heart of what the football club did.

Maidenhead United faced a number of challenges, as the existing facilities were not fit for purpose and required significant capital investment:

·       Ageing facilities close the end of their economic life.

·       Locational challenges in terms of site access.

·       National League and EFL (English Football League) ground grading requirements (capacity, lights etc).

·       Improved spectator facilities and increasing the supporter base  ...  view the full minutes text for item 178.

To consider and discuss the proposals made by Wild Maidenhead.

Angela Alexander from Wild Maidenhead presented a report on Maidenhead becoming a pesticide-free town. Pesticides were used in the borough to control a range of problems including weeds and vermin. Pesticide use could have serious human health impacts, harm biodiversity and contaminate water supplies. There was growing evidence that glyphosate, the most commonly used weedkiller, had a high health risk. Pesticide use had a negative effect on urban wildlife and had been identified as a contributory factor in the decline of hedgehogs. Pesticides sprayed onto the hard surfaces could run off into drains and sewers and could find their way into water supplies, incurring additional cost. Many local authorities had already gone pesticide-free, with a total of 46 town or boroughs having pesticides or glyphosate bans or phase-out commitments around the UK.

Wild Maidenhead requested that RBWM considered going pesticide-free for almost all uses, but to retain very limited use of an injectable systemic pesticide for Japanese Knotweed. This was a highly invasive plant which the council was bound to control effectively by law on any sites where it occurred.

The Chairman said that Environmental Services fell within his Cabinet remit, he received a significant number of complaints from residents about ‘pavement plants’.

Councillor Taylor said it was important to educate the public on the issues of using pesticide.

Councillor Singh underlined that there were some serious health risks caused by using pesticides. He was supportive of the proposals made by Wild Maidenhead in the paper and said this was something that the council needed to look at.

Councillor Davies said that she was currently working on bringing a motion to Full Council on the subject of pesticides. It was great to see the item being discussed at the Maidenhead Town Forum, she had asked the Chairman of the Windsor Town Forum if it could also be discussed there too. Councillor Davies asked if the Town Forum was able to refer the paper to Cabinet for consideration.

Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager, said that she would be happy to speak with Wild Maidenhead about where improvements could be made in the town centre in relation to an increase in planting.

ACTION – Robyn Bunyan to contact Wild Maidenhead to discuss where changes could be made.

The Chairman suggested that he would take the issue up with officers, there was a need to find the right solution which suited all residents.

ACTION – Councillor Coppinger to speak to officers about what could be done to reduce the use of pesticides in the borough.

To hear from Councillor Baldwin and Jeff Pick (Thames Valley Police).

Jeff Pick, Thames Valley Police, outlined the crime stats which had been circulated as part of the agenda pack. He introduced Roger Aisladie, who was the Lead Manager for the Community Safety Team. The original concept was volunteers were used to make the community a safer place, while using social media to inform residents about events and operations. It was important that residents did not leave valuables in their car, as thieves could easily break the window. A number of occurrences had happened where residents had reported their car as stolen, however it was actually due to them parking in a multi-story car park and being unable to locate their car again. There had been a number of bike thefts around the train station, however, a number of residents did not know the model, make or even colour of their bike which had it harder for the police to locate. Jeff Pick advised bike owners to use a UV pen to mark their bike with details which could be used should it be stolen.

Jeff Pick said that Councillor Baldwin had requested to know if there had been an increase in the number of crimes due to the cost of living crisis. There had been a few shoplifting incidents recorded, for skincare products and clothing. A number of incidents were not formally reported to the police, therefore this figure would be much higher.

Robyn Bunyan said that she was aware of an increase in the number of shoplifting incidents across the town centre.

The Chairman asked if shoplifting had always been an issue or if there had been a recent increase.

Robyn Bunyan said that there had always been a level of shoplifting in Maidenhead but this had got significantly worse. Some shops had to now employ security to try and deter thieves, while others like supermarkets were now using things like meat monitors for expensive goods. For big companies, they could afford to take a financial hit but the effect was particularly damaging for smaller and independent traders.

Jeff Pick said that there was a similar situation with petrol, garages only reported incidents to the police which were over a certain value. He concluded his presentation by outlining the various alarms and other products which could be used to improve home security and for protecting things like tools in vans.

Councillor Singh commented on the closure of the upper levels of the Broadway car park due to anti-social behaviour, it would be good to have more patrols in this area to deter any further activity.

Councillor G Jones questioned whether there needed to be more prosecution for those who were involved in shoplifting.

Jeff Pick explained that prosecution was a long drawn-out process and often shops would rather ban the individual from their store. It was not the responsibility of shop assistants to stop shoplifting, it was down to security but a lot of stores could not afford this extra cost.

Councillor Baldwin said that he had received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 180.

To receive an update from Robyn Bunyan.

Robyn Bunyan said that there had been over 582,000 visitors to the town centre in July, with the busiest day being Saturday 16^th July. This was positive compared to the pre-pandemic figures and the figure was now relatively similar. The vacancy rate would be reported as part of the August update while three new businesses had opened in Maidenhead; Chai Cocoa, Pianoz and Coopers Estate Agents. The Countryside York Road development was continuing and Library square was being well used by residents. However, car parking was still significantly below pre-pandemic levels which was mainly attributed to the lack of office workers. A number of festivals had also successfully taken place, including Braywick Nature Festival, Maidenhead Festival and the Summer Vegan Festival. Upcoming events taking place in the town centre included the Norden Farm Kite Festival, Waterways Fun Day and the Gravity Grand Prix. There was a lot happening and Robyn Bunyan felt that there was a real community spirit in Maidenhead.

Councillor Singh asked if the Gravity Grand Prix was definitely going ahead.

He was informed that it was taking place in Cookham rather than Maidenhead, the Maidenhead edition would not be taking place this year.

Councillor Singh asked what the timeline was for the opening of Vicus Way car park.

Robyn Bunyan said that she was not sure, she would check and let Councillor Singh know.

ACTION – Robyn Bunyan to see what the timeline and potential opening date of the Vicus Way car park was and inform Councillor Singh.

A resident, Adam Bermange, noted that footfall was near pre-pandemic levels but parking was still significantly down. He asked if it was fair to make the assumption that residents were using greener forms of transport when visiting Maidenhead town centre.

Robyn Bunyan said that the parking was mainly due to office workers who had not returned to offices in the town centre.

The Forum is invited to make suggestions for future meetings.

The Chairman said that suggestions for future meetings could be sent via email to mark.beeley@rbwm.gov.uk.

All future meetings to be held on the following dates (at 6.30pm):

·         Thursday 10^th November 2022

·         Thursday 12^th January 2023

·         Thursday 16^th March 2023

The next meeting was due to take place on Thursday 10^th November 2022, starting at 6.30pm.