Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall - Maidenhead

Contact: shilpa manek 

Items
No. Item

74.

Apologies For Absence

To receive any apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Tim Clare. Barbara Richardson was unable to attend but Pankaj Vara had attended in her place. Greg Nelson had sent apologies and had prepared a written update which had been included in the Agenda Pack.

75.

Chairman's Introduction

The Chairman welcomes all to Forum

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all to the Forum.

 

Pankaj Vara, Karen Shepherd, Kevin Mist and Sarika Varma were all presenting items to the Forum.

 

The Chairman also welcomed the residents that had attended.

76.

Minutes Of The Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 91 KB

To agree the minutes of the last Forum

Minutes:

The minutes of the last Forum on 26 November 2018 were approved to be a true and accurate record of the meeting. This was proposed by Dominic Manley and seconded by Councillor Charles Hollingsworth.

 

RESOLVED Unanimously: that the minutes of the Forum on 26 November were a true and accurate record

77.

Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 202 KB

4.1

Maidenhead Town Centre Regeneration

Barbara Richardson

4.2

St Marks/Courthouse Road Junction Update

Sarika Varma

4.3

Planning Applications

Lisa Hughes

4.4

Raising the Profile of the AAF

Angela Clark

4.5

Borough Local Plan: Future Consultations

Angela Clark

4.6

Taxi Licensing Update

Written Update

4.7

The Oaks Leisure Centre

Kevin Mist  - presentation (after 12pm)

4.8

Changes to the Council Constitution

Karen Shepherd

 

Minutes:

4.1 Maidenhead Town Centre Regeneration

 

Pankaj Vara, Head of Land and Acquisition, updated the Forum on behalf of Barbara Richardson. Pankaj Vara gave the following updates:

 

·         York Road – Phase 1, Countryside had the planning permission to build 141 homes of which 61 would be affordable. Ten percent of all the parking would be disabled parking. Discussions were taking place with Maidenhead Community Centre and the Heritage Centre.

 

·         Site 2, St Clouds Way – a second public consultation would take place later in the year. Discussions were taking place with the medical surgery. The Magnet Leisure Centre would only be demolished when the new Braywick Leisure Centre had been constructed. The target date for this was summer 2020. A temporary car park was in place at the Tenpin bowling site for staff and residents.

 

·         The parking strategy for Vicus Way was being re-looked at.

 

·         The new owners of the Nicholsons Centre held a Public Exhibition to understand from the public what their aspirations were for the town centre and Nicholson Centre so this could be considered by them. Until the new owners had reviewed their future plans for the Centre, the new Broadway car park would be delayed.  Overall, the parking would not be reduced from what was available to the public.

 

·         The overall blue badge provision was currently 81 spaces and after the redevelopment, this would increase to 146. In the temporary arrangements for the parking, five blue badge spaces were on the Landings site and Neil Walter, Parking Principal, was looking in to street parking provision.

 

·         The proposed temporary Shopmobililty move to West Street was discussed. Peter Haley updated the forum about a meeting in December between Barbara Richardson, Peter Haley, Angela Clark and Lisa Hughes. Blue badge parking during the regeneration was discussed, including the storage, access, utility and admin space needed by Shopmobility at any temporary location while Broadway car park was being redeveloped.

 

·         Other points raised by the Forum included:

 

o   Dominic Manley raised that there was no close by parking for him to now attend the Access Advisory Forum meeting . He parked at Nicholsons car park and was able to attend as his wheelchair had an electric function.

o   Lisa Hughes highlighted that blue badge spaces required adequate space around them to get out of the car. Lisa Hughes asked what were the plans for the three spaces that were in the Town Hall car park? There was a need for Blue Badge spaces with access zones near to the Town Hall and Library.

o    Peter Haley had asked for an update on the ShopMobility arrangements. Peter Haley had been advised that ShopMobility were no longer going to be able to enter the new Broadway car park with the minibuses because of the height restrictions. He had been advised that the minibuses could use the layby across the road. Peter Haley informed Officers and the Forum that this would not work as it was on the wrong side of the road and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

78.

Items pdf icon PDF 27 KB

5.1

AAF Terms of Reference

Angela Clark

5.2

Chair and Vice-Chair Nominations

Angela Clark

5.3

GWR Focus Group: Disability Issues

Lisa Hughes

5.4

Housing

Forum discussion

 

Minutes:

5.1 Terms of Reference (ToR)

 

The Forum were content for the ToR to remain as they were. Rachel Kinniburgh informed the Forum that there would be an addition of the equality policy update.

5.2  Chair and Vice Chair Nominations


The Forum acknowledged that nominations could be made from this point and that formal appointments would be made at the July meeting agenda.

ACTION: Clerk to place the item on July 2019 Agenda


5.3  GWR Focus Group


Lisa Hughes, Vice Chairman, attended the GWR focus group in Reading which provided input to new Disability Awareness training for their staff. Lisa Hughes thanked the Forum for providing their experiences of travelling on GWR as or with a disabled person. The GWR Focus Group feedback had been attached for information.


Points that Lisa Hughes reported to the Forum included:-

 

·         GWR would refund the full cost of the train journey if assistance had been booked but not provided.

·         There were going to be improvements to the booking assistance, the notice period would be reduced later in the year to 10pm the night before travel.

·         A passenger assist app was currently being trialled by other train companies and this would be adopted by GWR in time. The app would hold all your details and only the journey details would need to be added each time.

 

ACTION: Clerk to share Lisa Hughes' GWR Focus Group feedback with Forum members.

5.4 Housing Forum Discussion


The Forum had a discussion on housing for now and in the future. The discussion focused on housing for young adults coming through the system. Not all disabled people had a physical disability, some could have a mental health concern which was not being considered. Social housing was required with a small number of living units and a full time care worker present, allowing young adults with needs to live independently but with assistance if and when required.

 

The Forum felt that it was vital for the council to hold a register of children with special needs now in order to assist them in the future as they became young adults. Liz Kelsall pointed out that no one was taking ownership of this from the Council and taking this forward. It was agreed that in the first instance it would be beneficial to understand more of the current provisions made by RBWM and its partners in Achieving for Children and Optalis, and so it was agreed that efforts would be made to dedicate a significant portion of the next meeting to this issue and to invite key officers to attend to provide a full overview of existing provisions.


ACTION: Rachel Kinniburgh and Clerk to arrange part of the next Forum as a small informal conference to discuss Housing. Meeting to invite all involved, officers, housing associations, new members and users to discuss the matter and develop solutions.

 

79.

Date Of The Next Meeting

Forum Members to note the date of the next Forum: 8 July 2019

Minutes:

ACTION: Clerk to circulate dates of future meetings