To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Cannon. Councillor Bowden attended as a substitute. It was noted that both Councillors Knowles & Davey would join the meeting momentarily.

To declare any declarations of interest.

No declarations of interest were made at the beginning of the meeting. However, during the town manager update, the Chairman declared an interest, being that she was a director at the Community Interest Company (CIC) who helped deliver the events at the long walk over the bank holiday weekend in Windsor.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Councillor Price asked if the Windsor Vision and Windsor Yards could be added as an agenda item. The Chairman said that this could be discussed during the work programme section of the meeting.

Ed Wilson, resident, asked for the general state and upkeep of Victoria Street Car Park be added to a future agenda too. The Chairman acknowledged this.

(Councillor Muir and Councillor Knowles joined the meeting)

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 May 2022, be a true and accurate reflection.

To receive the above item.

The forum noted the written report that had been provided by Jeff Pick, Thames Valley Police.

Jeff Pick suggested that an enormous number of catalytic convertors had been stolen in recent times from the Legoland Windsor Resort. The issue that existed was the barriers to the car parks. These opened upon approach, which allowed drivers to drive in and out of the car park with pure ease, allowing them to commit crime whilst going undetected. The resort said that they could not change this due to public transport needing access to the car park such as coaches, buses, and Ubers. He said that it had been Thames Valley Police’s advice that the resort should increase security presence and install additional CCTV cameras.

Councillor Davies asked about policing over the Jubilee weekend and how it went.

Jeff Pick admitted that they had been overwhelmed in terms of attendance, however this was simply due to the fact that everybody wished to be in Windsor for the celebrations as it was the hub. He then stated that it was a calm and family-orientated atmosphere and there were no real issues for the Police to report, admitting that they had enjoyed it as much as the public had.

The Chairman thanked Jeff Pick and the whole of Thames Valley Police for the hard work that they had put in, to make the celebrations a success.

Councillor Price asked Jeff Pick if there was anything he could do in terms of working with Legoland Windsor to address the issues of the catalytic convertor thefts, it would be much appreciated. She added that there had been increased social media posts of car thefts and asked if anything could be done about this.

Jeff Pick had asked Alice, who was a member of his team to contact local Ward Councillors and keep them updated on what was going on, in order to put pressure onto Legoland to aid the Police with the situation. Jeff Pick also issued caution about social media posts, suggesting that some posts may have been untrue, or they may have been true stories, but the incidents had not been reported to the Police. Videos are usually put on social media to inform their neighbours, but they are sometimes not reported to the Police via the 101-telephone number, or more easily via the Thames Valley Police’s website.

Councillor Hilton said that there had been an increased number of car thefts in the south of the borough, with many being keyless entry. He asked if this differed from issues in Windsor.

Jeff Pick said that this varied, with the majority of vehicles that were being stolen being Range Rovers and Land Rover Discoveries for example. In Windsor there were many of these cars, making the issue more prevalent. Many residents had never heard of a faraday cage for keyless fobs. Councillor Hilton asked for some written information on this, to which Jeff Pick agreed too.

ACTION: Jeff Pick to send clerk information on faraday pouches  ...  view the full minutes text for item 271.

To receive the above report.

Paul Roach, Windsor & Eton Town Manager presented the forum with a written report, which provided the forum with a town manager update.

(Councillor Davey joined the meeting)

Paul Roach said that businesses were predominantly doing fairly well, however it was appearing that footfall was beginning to be affected by the current high inflation rate and the cost-of-living crisis. Car parking figures appeared to begin the 1^st financial quarter quite well, however this was beginning to decrease on the 2019 figures. Coach parking was around 80-90% down on previous years, which was expected to stay at this level in the near future.

Paul Roach said that significant increases in footfall were seen during May 2022, however this was beginning to decrease slightly. However, it had generally been positive during the last financial quarter. The busiest day of June 2022 was Thursday 2 June 2022, which saw 41,422 visitors come to the town, with the peak hour of the month being 12pm on this day with a footfall of 4,448 people. Over 600,000 movements had been registered over the bank holiday weekend. This had been the busiest in 4 years since the royal wedding in 2018.

Paul Roach said in terms of vacancy rates, Windsor was still below the national average. He then outlined the venues that had vacated the town, but also the stores that had recently opened and were planning to open soon. The vacancy rates of Clewer, Dedworth and Ascot had remained reasonably stable in comparison.

Paul Roach said in relation to Windsor Yards and the consultations that had occurred, there was still a website that existed for comments that would be taken into account. This website could be accessed at the following, windsor-yard-boards.pdf (windsorconsultation.co.uk) Over 300 comments had been received and it had been quite a positive response. He added that Windsor Yards were aiming to carry out the works, whilst still having a fully operational shopping centre.

Paul Roach then shared some images with the forum members which showed attendance levels at events over the Jubilee weekend. He commented that the ‘Rock the Rec’ event had also been very successful and very popular. These events included the Ox Roast, the Beacon Lighting, the Picnic in the Park, the 115^th Royal Windsor Flower Show and the Gloriana.

Paul Roach said that there were 25 plus street parties that had been registered with the borough within Windsor. He thanked all volunteers who helped deliver on these events. Reported sales over the week of the Jubilee celebrations increased by between 50 and 200%. The media reach was upwards of 64 million people, and this would continue to rise throughout the rest of 2022. There was £1.44 million worth of media coverage.

Before any questions were asked of Paul, the Chairman declared an interest, being that she was a director at the Community Interest Company (CIC) who helped deliver the events at the long walk over the bank holiday weekend. She thanked Paul Roach and Julia White for all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 272.

To receive a presentation on the above.

Steph James, Service Lead for Economic Growth, Saloni Radia, Economic Development Officer and Julia White, Visitor Marketing Manage presented a written report to the forum members which gave an overview of the local economy in Windsor. This was accompanied by a presentation, which forum members noted.

Saloni Radia outlined a global context, which showed a global slowdown of economic growth and a very rapid increase in inflation, largely due to the war in Ukraine. The UK’s GDP growth also slowed, tracking in May 2022 at around 4.8%, which was now lower than that of Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. It was predicted that UK growth was to drop to around 3.9% in 2022 and 1.1% in 2023, which would follow the cost-of-living crisis.

Saloni Radia said that the UK’s annual consumption growth in 2021 was 6.2% and that it was predicted to fall to 4.3% in 2022, and 0.5% in 2023. The inflation rate was currently the highest it had been in 40 years, with there also being a current fall in real wages, which was not expected to increase again util 2025. Consumer confidence also fell to its second lowest level in almost 50 years during April 2022. Employment levels were growing in the borough, however the average salary had dropped in recent months, which reflected the lower pay rates within the areas of job growth.

Steph James shared the KPI’s from Windsor town centre with the forum members but did not elaborate on them due to them having been covered within the earlier town manager update.

Julia White said that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were predicting that international visits and spending would not increase at all during the financial year 2022/23. The UK had received 5.9 million international visits during the first four months of 2022. Inbound visitors spent £4.3 billion from January to April 2022, as with visits, spending went up month by month.

Julia White said that paid attractions were likely to receive less visitors and therefore income due to the effects of covid and also the effects that the current cost-of-living-crisis was having on people. However, visits to free attractions were to instead increase because of this. This included attractions such as Windsor Great Park, which was listed as the most visited outdoor attraction in the country so far this year. She then said that the issues that were being seen with flights and airport travel meant that the borough’s hotels were benefiting quite well.

As Paul Roach had mentioned, coach parking figures were down compared to the pre-pandemic levels. Windsor Castle was now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which in turn would have a negative impact on coach parking figures anyway. The groups business was appearing to return slowly. Staffing issues also appeared to be a key issue in providing all services within the hospitality sector.

Steph James then outlined some key issues that were currently facing the borough.

These were:

·       Recruitment and retention of staff.

·       Cost of Living.

·       Increase in business  ...  view the full minutes text for item 273.

To note the upcoming consultations in Windsor.

The forum noted the consultations including the A308 improvement works.

To consider the Forum’s work programme.

The Chairman asked Oran Norris-Browne, Democratic Services Officer, what was currently on the work programme for the forum. Oran Norris-Browne informed the forum members that he had included an extra column under the items not yet programmed section that was titled ‘Comments from Officers’. This informed members, what officers had said about each suggestion when it was presented to them. It was clear that some items were not deemed suitable for the forum to consider, and perhaps required a more borough-wide focus.

Oran Norris-Browne said that the two items that were currently listed as potential topics for the next meeting were an update on the Windsor Homeless Project and an update on the Solar Together Project.

The Chairman suggested that the standing items that currently existed, which included the town manager update and the police update, were made into alternative items at every other meeting instead. She asked the forum members their thoughts on this proposal.

Councillor Tisi agreed with this proposal. She also endorsed the idea to have an update on the Windsor Homeless Project and encouraged attendance from a member of the project rather than have an update from a Council officer. The Chairman agreed to this.

ACTION: Windsor Homeless Project to be added to the next agenda.

Councillor Price asked what was happening with the air pollution item that had been placed on the work programme. Oran Norris-Browne said that officer comments suggested that this item would be more suitable for an Overview & Scrutiny panel, where a borough-wide focus could be pursued.

Councillor Price then asked about the presentation that had been given to Maidenhead Town Forum on 11 July 2022 about tennis courts and how they would operate going forward. She asked if this would apply to Windsor also. Oran Norris-Browne confirmed that he would speak to Councillor Price offline regarding this.

ACTION: Oran Norris-Browne to contact Councillor Price offline about the tennis courts.

Ed Wilson suggested an update on Victoria Street car park and also the bridge by the railway station. The Chairman said that there was no update to currently give on Victoria Street car park, and therefore it would not be added to the work programme.

In relation to the bridge, the Chairman said that there was £200,000 left in the capital budget and after surveying the bridge, no immediate issues were identified. A time to commence the works was still being looked at, and it would not be over the summer months due to the tourism trade.

Claire Milne asked for a review of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds and how they would be spent. She also asked for a focus on affordable housing.

Councillor Hilton said that the Council needed to work out how to separate different sums of money that related to specific areas. This was a work in progress, and it was a massive piece of work for the Council to undertake.

The Chairman said that affordable housing would be better suited to an Overview & Scrutiny panel, as it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 275.

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

·       14 September 2022

·       15 November 2022 (In-Person at York House, Windsor)

·       16 January 2023

·       20 March 2023

The Chairman then discussed the possibility of hosting the forum in-person going forward, as opposed to having it held virtually online. She explained that Full Council had agreed to have the forum virtually bar one in-person meeting per municipal year. To reverse this, upon Oran Norris-Browne’s advice, it was advised that a named vote should be taken, and the decision would have to be unanimously in favour. Oran Norris-Browne confirmed this.

Councillor Davey asked if the meeting could be held at the Guildhall in Windsor going forward. The Chairman confirmed that this was not possible as the Guildhall was not accessible to persons with disabilities and accessibility issues. Meetings would be held at York House in Windsor if agreed.

Councillor Price said that she was not prepared to make a decision during the meeting due to the rising cases of Covid-19, amongst other factors. The Chairman agreed that the decision could be made offline.

Oran Norris-Browne reminded the forum that he had communicated this to members recently via email and that if the decision was to be taken offline, he implored members to provide him with a simple for or against on the decision.

Councillor Tisi asked if the option existed for the meeting to be sometimes in-person and sometimes virtual. The Chairman confirmed this. Oran Norris-Browne then reminded members that there was currently one meeting per municipal year that was held in-person already and the current plan was to hold this in November. However, the possibility existed that this could be changed.

The forum then noted the dates for the future meetings.