Public Questions
Some local authorities have received up to £500,000 in funding from the Government's Traffic Signals Funding Scheme. Will the Lead Member advise if RBWM has applied for or received funding from this scheme?
b) Ed Wilson of Clewer and Dedworth West ward will ask the following question of Councillor McWilliams, Cabinet Member for Housing, Sport & Leisure, and Community Engagement:
What work has been done to improve sporting opportunities for young people in Windsor during the past year?
c) Sunil Sharma of Furze Platt wardwill ask the following question of Councillor Stimson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Sustainability, Parks and Countryside:
Following COP26, the world is paying more attention than ever to climate change and ways in which we can combat it. What are the next steps that the borough are doing to help tackle global warming?
d) Martyn Cook of Hurley and the Walthams ward will ask the following question of Councillor Cannon, Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Parking:
Does the council take a zero tolerance approach to littering in the borough?
(The Council will set aside a period of 30 minutes to deal with
public questions, which may be extended at the discretion of the
Mayor in exceptional circumstances. The Member who provides the initial response will do
so in writing. The written response will be published as a
supplement to the agenda by 5pm one working day before the
meeting. The questioner shall be allowed up to one minute to
put a supplementary question at the meeting. The
supplementary question must arise directly out of the reply
provided and shall not have the effect of introducing any new
subject matter. A Member responding to a
supplementary question will have two minutes to
respond).
Minutes:
a) Ed Wilson of Clewer and Dedworth West ward asked the following question of Councillor Clark, Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Digital Connectivity: Some local authorities have received up to £500,000 in funding from the Government's Traffic Signals Funding Scheme. Will the Lead Member advise if RBWM has applied for or received funding from this scheme?
Written response: RBWM did submit a bid under the Traffic Signal Funding Scheme to upgrade 10 traffic signal sites. Unfortunately we were not one of the local authorities allocated the grant funding.
This is the link to the published list of successful bids on the DfT website.
By way of a supplementary question, Ed Wilson commented that he hoped the Clewer Hill Road lights were one of the ten put forward for funding. the issue would not be going away, would the Cabinet Member consider a formal 6-month review of these lights?
Councillor Clark responded that the junction was currently under review and he awaited an officer’s report for improvements, Councillor Shelim had raised it with him at an earlier meeting and it had therefore been referred to officers as an important junction to look at. He would welcome the opportunity to discus the issue with Mr Wilson when the report was available.
b) Ed Wilson of Clewer and Dedworth West ward asked the following question of Councillor McWilliams, Cabinet Member for Housing, Sport & Leisure, and Community Engagement:
What work has been done to improve sporting opportunities for young people in Windsor during the past year?
Written response: I am pleased to be able to confirm that in the Windsor area, as across the whole Borough, our built sporting and leisure facilities were successfully re-opened as soon as the restrictions allowed, to enable the community to restart using these venues. This was not the case across the whole country and it has been a really positive opportunity for our communities to re-start their sporting and leisure activities. Huge credit goes to both Leisure Focus, RBWM officers and the passionate army of volunteers from sporting groups that have worked together during the reopening.
There are many great sporting and leisure facilities in Windsor, including three main centres which support the Windsor community area, i.e. the Windsor Leisure Centre, the Dedworth Community pitch and the Thames Valley Athletics Centre. All three are offering a full programme, and have seen a steady return of customers to a wide range of sports and leisure activities.
In addition to the re-openings of all three venues, which includes the restarting of the swimming lesson programmes and a wide range of other classes, I am pleased to be able to report that the replacement staircase to provide access to the water slide at Windsor Leisure Centre is well underway and the leisure pool will re-open again when these works are completed early in January. RBWM invested in this important improvement and repair to help keep the centre as an attractive family destination. We are also looking at the opportunities for further expansion of the current facilities at Windsor Leisure Centre and will have more to say on these exciting plans in due course. The focus will be on expanding provision of popular activities our residents want to see.
Leisure Focus have also overseen a major improvement in facilities and decor at Windsor Leisure Centre, as well as providing a much-improved digital offer, classes and booking system that has improved the experience for local residents. They have listened to what their customers and residents have asked for an responded positively. Leisure Focus is a community interest organisation, which RBWM helped to found, and is run not-for-profit, which means it reinvests its earnings into local facilities and has a greater focus on community engagement, such as working with Windsor Monarchs and other disabled sports groups to provide opportunities to disabled residents, including many young residents.
RBWM has supported Leisure Focus’s outreach work with and for young people in Windsor, which has included:
· Student gym membership discount
· Return of swimming lessons post-COVID
· Time-out sessions for carers in partnership with Achieving for Children
· Return of Gymnastics to Windsor Leisure Centre
· Holidays camps have returned
· Local schools use facilities during term time
· Triathlon for juniors returned
· Hired 39 local young people (with gym discounts) from local area
In further good news, Dedworth Community pitch is proving to be more popular than before Covid and RBWM is looking at options for increasing usage further at the Dedworth Community Pitch, which now also has a new three badminton court sized hall and can be used for increased activity both by the school and the wider community for a range of activities.
Borough Officers have worked with our centre operators to ensure relevant Covid measures are maintained in the centres, so that residents can enjoy first class facilities in a safe and secure manner.
In our parks and open spaces, three play areas have all been reopened, and the Borough has supported clubs with access to pitches in the parks in accordance with the advice from the relevant governing bodies to enable these clubs to re-start their activities for club members. Our sports and leisure clubs offer a rich and wide-ranging mix of sports and leisure opportunities for our residents.
I have met with as many clubs as possible to understand and support their plans to grow and increase their memberships, with a view to being able to include key aspects in the new Sport and Leisure Strategy that we are bringing forward in the new year.
RBWM is committed to supporting more residents exercise more often and becoming more healthy. By expanding our existing estate in Windsor, investing in improved facilities.
By way of a supplementary question, Ed Wilson asked commented that there was a lot going on to improve facilities but he asked if Councillor McWilliams would meet with him at Victoria Park in Windsor to see if there was a chance to establish more five-a-side pitches for Dedworth residents?
Councillor McWilliams highlighted that his written response should have included the final sentence:
‘RBWM is committed to supporting more residents exercise more often and becoming more healthy. By expanding our existing estate in Windsor, investing in improved facilities, and looking at more opportunities to partner with our leisure provider, RBWM is building on its strong offer to local young people.
Councillor McWilliams stated that he would be more than opportunity to visit Victoria Park with Mr Wilson.
c) Sunil Sharma of Furze Platt ward asked the following question of Councillor Stimson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Sustainability, Parks and Countryside:
Following COP26, the world is paying more attention than ever to climate change and ways in which we can combat it. What are the next steps that the borough are doing to help tackle global warming?
Written response: The Council declared an Environment and Climate emergency in June 2019, recognising the climate and biodiversity crisis we are facing as a planet. Following that declaration, the Council developed and has published an Environment and Climate Strategy with four key themes, Circular Economy, Energy, Natural Environment and Transport. Included in the strategy are the science based carbon reduction targets for the Borough and the Council, committing us to reduce emissions by 50% by 2025 and being net zero by 2050.
The Council has been working hard over the last two years to deliver on its commitments, increasing the size of its Sustainability and Climate team significantly to provide additional resources and focus. Over £1 million of funding has been secured externally to support low carbon feasibility, LED lighting upgrades and improvements to the energy efficiency of homes in the Borough.
The Council will continue to deliver its commitments on the climate.
· A Climate Partnership is currently being set up to bring together a broader range of stakeholders to help push forward the work that is required. The Council has committed to providing £250,000/year for 3 years to ensure it can establish itself.
· A sustainability focused supplementary planning document is under development to ensure Planning have the tools they require to ensure new developments are low carbon and deliver for the natural environment.
· 5000 trees will be planted over the winter to create new habitats and absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
·
A Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan
has been consulted on with residents over the Autumn and will be
published shortly.
Internally, 25 senior officers recently undertook Carbon Literacy training, delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University, to ensure we have the skills and knowledge within the organisation. A new Climate Staff Forum has also been set up to best share practice across all services, recognising that all parts of the Council will need to play a part.
Sunil Sharma was not able to attend the meeting therefore the Mayor read out his supplementary question:
‘Going forward what measures can residents take to help battle climate change and is there some guidance for them?’
Councillor Stimson responded that it was ironic that the question had been asked that day when she had just put out a video of some of the activities that residents had been doing for the last several years in tackling climate change. This included opening repair cafes, reducing waste, opening shops and looking at different ways to protect the environment. Within the next month there would be more published but there were also groups that people could be directed to.
d) Martyn Cook of Hurley and the Walthams ward asked the following question of Councillor Cannon, Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Parking: Does the council take a zero tolerance approach to littering in the borough?
Written response: Yes we take a zero tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour and actions which damage our environment including litter.
Martyn Cook was not present to ask a supplementary question.
Supporting documents:
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