To receive any apologies for absence.

The Chair, Councillor Gurch Singh, welcomed everyone to the meeting. Forum members then introduced themselves.

Apologies were received from Councillor Reynolds, who was substituted by Councillor Bermange.

To receive any declarations of interest.

No declarations of interests were received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2023.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2023 were approved as a true and accurate record.

To receive an update from Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager.

Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manager, briefly explained to the new Councillors that her role as Town Manager was to support Maidenhead’s business community as well as its residents to improve Maidenhead as a place to live, work and visit. She then gave the Town Manager update which covered April 2023.

Starting with the High Street footfall, the monthly footfall report showed that the total number of visitors to Maidenhead was 464,000, with Saturday 22 April which coincided with the Maidenhead Waterways Fun Day. She stated this was an example of a community event taking place in the Town Centre and ultimately boosting footfall and the local economy. In comparison to 2019 (pre-Covid), High Street footfall had declined by 2.4% in 2023, which was a good position compared to South East England which experienced a decline in footfall of 11.9% between 2019 and 2023.

The best footfall, Robyn Bunyan explained, was Thursday to Saturday weekly, which coincided with high activity on the High Street, such as the Produce Market, weekend trade, specialist markets (e.g., Vegan Market) and community events.

On car parking usage, the total car parking visits for April 2023 was 49,855, which was a decline compared to 2019. In spite of Broadway car park being closed, there was capacity for parking within the Town Centre, such as Hines Meadow car park, which saw a 25.6% increase in usage in 2023 compared to 2022. In total, parking had declined by only 4.4% across Maidenhead’s car parks, including the Braywick Leisure Centre, Grove Road, Hines Meadow, Stafferton Way, West Street and Vicus Way. A lot of parking had been transferred from the Broadway car park to other car parks. While there was demand for surface-level car parks like Grove Road and West Street, there was active encouragement to use Hines Meadow car park.

Robyn Bunyan informed that resident’s discount through the RingGo parking app was used 1,533 times in April 2023, which had recently been extended to Hines Meadow car park. Resident’s discount had been gradually increasing. Hines Meadow had made up 48% of parking usage in April 2023.

Robyn Bunyan notified that the parking figures did not include permit holders using the car parks as these were not recorded through the parking machines; therefore, she was working to get a clearer picture of this data.

Regarding social media, Robyn Bunyan informed that the Facebook page for the Make Maidenhead social brand, where residents could find news on events in Maidenhead, had 6,686 followers as of April 2023; meanwhile, the Instagram page had 1,700 followers in the same period. In April 2023, the Make Maidenhead Facebook page reach was 5,925 (an organic reach without paid advertising) a 10.6% increase from March 2023.

Robyn Bunyan explained that she continued to host the ‘Where Can I Park?’ Campaign, which sought to highlight car parks across Maidenhead. She stated that the campaign had been well engaged with the community and continued to be engaged with.

The highlights of April 2023 were the Rotary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 212.

With agreement from the Chair, this item has been added as an urgent item to the agenda. It will be a verbal update from Ian Brazier-Dubber, Managing Director of RBWM Property Company.

Ian Brazier-Dubber, Managing Director of RBWM Property Company, started off explaining to the new Councillors that the RBWM Property Company was a wholly-owned company of the Borough which provided property services, asset management for all corporate assets and commercial assets of the Borough, and manage the development partnerships with companies like Cala Homes and Countryside Homes. The Company was also involved in regeneration projects which were mainly focused around Maidenhead.

On the Broadway car park, Ian Brazier-Dubber informed that the Broadway car park would remain close in the foreseeable. In the meantime, further inspections with a technical working team had been established to look at the project management of the car park process. The technical work, the costs around the car park and the appropriate outcome for Broadway would be brought forward in a Cabinet paper around the end of July 2023 to discuss the strategy and then establish a decision for the car park.

Ian Brazier-Dubber explained that the key recommendation at the moment was that Broadway car park was at the end of its economic life for a number of years and the balance of cost in terms of repair were outweighed by the lesser cost of demolition and the replacement of a surface car park or a temporary small level car park. Acknowledging some frustration regarding this, he explained that the site was difficult to deal with as it was surrounded by the Broadway, which had the ongoing Hub construction, to the south; King’s Street to the west; Brock Lane and Queen Street to the east; and the Nixon Centre in the north. Based on this, Ian Brazier-Dubber explained that the plan was to forward a report to Cabinet and then Full Council in July 2023 with the recommendation for demolition.

On shop mobility, Ian Brazier-Dubber explained that the Property Company the Asset Management Team were working on behalf of the Borough and other teams, such as the Parking Management Team and the Highways Team, to relocate shop availability. The identified location was to West Street to re-provide shop mobility. This was because it was the flattest and safest protected zone in which people with a range of disabilities would be able to access the High Street. A short study was taking place regarding any changes which were required for access on the highway and pavement on West Street. Ian Brazier-Dubber expected to have this approved in August to September 2023 and then subsequently implemented.

Regarding development changes in the Borough, there was Countryside joint venture development in which a range of sites owned by the Borough were being developed. These included landscaping works on Library Square and the former Magnet Leisure Centre sites which would include 351 residential units (20 of which would be affordable homes). The building of the affordable homes was expected to be completed by September 2024.

Ian Brazier-Dubber also reported that there were planning applications submitted or being submitted for the Barclays Scheme, Taylor Wimpy and Cala Homes.

Angela Clark, Chair of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 213.

The Forum is invited to make suggestions for future meetings.

The Chair informed that he would like to open up the Forum to increase resident engagement, namely officers attending and answering any questions and concerns from residents.

Citing the Constitution, Councillor Taylor would like to explore expanding the Forum’s responsibilities, namely decision-making and spending money as delegated by Cabinet resolution in unparished areas. She mentioned that the Lead Member for Finance confirmed that the Forum would be able to have a budget providing there was money available. She also suggested to start with a small budget on a specific area. The Chair liked the idea.

ACTION: Maidenhead Town Forum to investigate the Forum’s delegated powers.

Citing the minutes from the previous meeting, Councillor Baskerville suggested an item on the drop-off at Maidenhead Railway Station. He also highlighted that 1^st April 2024 would be the 50^th Anniversary for the establishment of RBWM and suggested some sort of celebration to mark the occasion.

Councillor Bermange suggested to invite the Neighbourhood Forum to a meeting where they could present a progress report as they had recently brought forward a Neighbourhood Plan. He also suggested an item on biodiversity in urban areas, such as tree management in urban areas.

With the 50^th Anniversary of Maidenhead Library approaching, Councillor Shaw suggested an item on the future plans for Maidenhead Library or even other libraries. The Chair suggested to bring officers from the Libraries Team or the Cabinet Member for the libraries.

On inadequate parking at Maidenhead Train Station, Councillor Kashmir Singh suggested an item on disabled parking at the train station. The Chair replied that this could be discussed alongside the Train Station drop-off.

Citing the minutes from the last meeting, Councillor Martin suggested an item on the parking and A4 crossing at Holmanleaze.

Councillor Bermange raised that many residents were frustrated with roadworks, namely the coordination and the way they were carried out. He suggested a discussion on the permit scheme used by Highways, particularly how this worked and leveraging this scheme in the best way possible.

The items suggested for future Forum meetings:

·       Drop-off at Maidenhead Railway Station

·       Neighbourhood Forum

·       50^th Anniversary on the establishment of RBWM

·       Biodiversity in urban areas

·       Future plans of Maidenhead Library

·       Disabled parking at Maidenhead Railway Station

·       A4 crossing

·       Highways permit scheme

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

·       17 July 2023

·       12 September 2023

·       13 November 2023

·       15 January 2024

·       13 March 2024

·       9 May 2024

The Forum noted that the next meeting would be held on 17 July 2023 (6:30pm). The meeting will be in-person in the Council Chamber.

Councillor Taylor asked if the YouTube comments section, which were conventionally turned off, could be turned on to allow residents who were watching the livestream to engage and ask questions. Laurence Ellis, Democratic Services Officer, replied that the likely main reason the YouTube comments were disabled was to prevent “unflattering comments” against Councillors from being posted. He stated he would investigate but it was unlikely.

ACTION: Laurence Ellis to investigate the use of YouTube comments during meeting livestreams.