Agenda item

Members' Questions

a)   Councillor Larcombewill ask the following question of Councillor Cannon, Lead Member for Public Protection and Parking:

 

The progress towards prompt completion of the £640m River Thames Scheme project is important to the residents and businesses of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury.  There appears to be a significant delay due to lack of partnership funding.  Is there a report detailing the RBWM portion of the partnership funding, the sources of those funds, funding timings and the associated risks?

 

b)   Councillor Brar will ask the following question of Councillor Clark, Lead Member for Transport and Infrastructure:

 

In December 2019 a 13 year old was hit by a car on Switch Back Road, losing their life; the third fatality on this road since I lived in Cookham. The young man’s mother and other residents have been lobbying for a speed camera. Will you assure residents that measures will be put in place for a speed camera?

 

c)    Councillor Jones will ask the following question of Councillor Coppinger, Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead:

 

Could the Lead Member for Planning give us an update on the status of the BLP and the estimated timescales for inspection?

 

 

(A Member responding to a question shall be allowed up to two minutes to reply to the initial question, and up to two minutes to reply to a supplementary question. The questioner shall be allowed up to one minute to put the supplementary question)

 

 

Minutes:

It was agreed that all Member questions would be responded to by way of a written answer.

 

a)    Councillor Larcombe asked the following question of Councillor Cannon, Lead Member for Public Protection and Parking:

 

The progress towards prompt completion of the £640m River Thames Scheme project is important to the residents and businesses of Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury.  There appears to be a significant delay due to lack of partnership funding.  Is there a report detailing the RBWM portion of the partnership funding, the sources of those funds, funding timings and the associated risks?

 

Written response provided after the meeting: The River Thames Scheme will reduce flood risk to people living and working near the Thames. It will enhance the resilience of nationally important infrastructure, contribute to a vibrant local economy and create many recreational opportunities.

 

The project creates a new flood channel alongside the River Thames to reduce flood risk to properties in communities in Datchet, Wraysbury, Egham, Staines, Chertsey, Shepperton, Weybridge, Sunbury, Moseley, Thames Ditton, Kingston and Teddington providing protection to 15,000 homes and 2,400 businesses.

 

Road, rail, power and water networks will be more resilient. 106 hectares of new public open space and 23km of new pathways will be created, as well as improving biodiversity for wildlife through the creation of 250 hectares of new habitat.

 

The Royal Borough remains committed to this project which is essential to protect our residents from flooding. As part of the budget being considered this evening, it is recommended that £10m is approved as part of this commitment.

 

In addition, Council previously resolved in September 2017 to an agreement in principle of paying a flood levy to the Environment Agency as a contribution to the scheme, subject to new legislation being enacted to make provision for this.

 

The project has robust governance in place with representatives from partner organisations attending regular meetings of the Programme Board (officer level) and the Sponsoring Group (Member level). The Royal Borough is represented at each of tis meetings where funding is a regular agenda item which consider costs; partnership funding and risk.

 

b)   Councillor Brar asked the following question of Councillor Clark, Lead Member for Transport and Infrastructure:

 

In December 2019 a 13 year old was hit by a speeding car on Switch Back Road, losing their life; the third fatality on this road since I lived in Cookham. The young man’s mother and other residents have been lobbying for a speed camera. Will you assure residents that measures will be put in place for a speed camera?

Written response provided after the meeting: Firstly, I would wish to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Max Simmons, who was tragically killed whilst crossing Switchback Road North.

 

Whilst colleagues have met with traffic officers from Thames Valley Police to discuss the circumstances surrounding the recent unfortunate crash, we don’t have full details of this crash as yet, as investigations are ongoing.  This case is going to court and we are unlikely to have any further information until after this and the Coroner’s Inquest. It would be unwise for the Council to make any further comment at this stage. We will nevertheless take on board any relevant information and concerns about highway issues that are identified by the Police. 

 

The Council continuously monitors road safety based on injury crashes reported to us by the Police. Whilst I appreciate that concerns have been raised about road safety in the area, our information is that there have been six reported injury crashes on this section of road over the past ten years. None of these identified speeding as being a contributory factor and none involved pedestrians. 

 

Therefore, I will wait until we have further information from the Police before commenting further 

 

c)    Councillor Jones asked the following question of Councillor Coppinger, Lead Member for Planning and Maidenhead:

 

Could the Lead Member for Planning give us an update on the status of the BLP and the estimated timescales for inspection?

 

Written response provided after the meeting: Members will be aware that the Council consulted on proposed changes to the Borough Local Plan at the end of 2019.  I and a number of senior officers attended a range of community meetings, and we were pleased that so many interested parties took the further opportunity to be involved.  Officers of the Planning Department have since been busy reviewing all of the representations received. 

 

They have also maintained an active dialogue with the Planning Inspector and the Programme Officer to secure the reopening of the examination of the BLP as soon as is practical.  We are currently awaiting an update from the Inspector as to a likely timetable, and we will provide updates via the Local Plan section of the Council’s website as soon as we are able.