a)    Thomas Wigley of Clewer East ward will ask the following question of Councillor K Davies: Lead member for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Windsor Town Council

I understand that air pollution data is being gathered by a specialist company to help inform RBWM's choice of location for the three new atmospheric particulates monitoring stations.

Can the air pollution data which is currently being collected be made available to the public please?

b)    Shay Bottomley of Oldfield ward will ask the following question of Councillor Jones, Deputy Leader of Council and Lead member for Finance

The nature of floodlit artificial pitches offer an opportunity for residents to enjoy sporting and leisure facilities throughout the year, and in all sorts of weather conditions. As such, when was the last time the council conducted maintenance for its AstroTurf pitches in Maidenhead, and how much money is allocated to maintenance as part of the current budget?

c)    Shay Bottomley of Oldfield ward will ask the following question of Councillor Reynolds, Lead member for Communities and Leisure

Recently, Maidenhead Golf Club emailed its members to confirm it will be required to vacate the site by December 31, 2025. Naturally, the new inhabitants will need sport and leisure facilities for the benefit of their wellbeing. What provisions is RBWM making to ensure there will be adequate such facilities in time for the influx of thousands of new residents?

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 Councillor 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 Councillor responding to a supplementary question will have two minutes to respond.

a)    Thomas Wigley of Clewer East ward asked the following question of Councillor K Davies: Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Windsor Town Council

I understand that air pollution data is being gathered by a specialist company to help inform RBWM's choice of location for the three new atmospheric particulates monitoring stations.

Can the air pollution data which is currently being collected be made available to the public please?

Written response: I am very pleased to advise that the additional sensors to monitor PM10 and PM2.5 are scheduled to be installed in the first week of December 2023. Subject to data collection and validation processes, we will disseminate the provisional hourly datasets online as and when they are provided during 2024.  In the meantime, our Annual Status Report (which will contain 2022 data) is available online at: https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/environment-and-waste/environmental-health/air-quality-annual-status-report-asr. The council is currently exploring whether the independent air monitoring data gathered to inform the choice of sites for the additional sensors can be provided and shared publicly and I will provide you with an update on that once available.

Through the Mayor, Thomas Wigley stated that his interest was in the public availability of the data being collected. He sought clarification on whether three new monitors were being installed in December, as indicated in the written response.

Councillor Karen Davies explained that the additional sensors being installed in December were five additional low-resolution monitors which monitor PM10 and PM2.5 and also NO2. In addition to monitor that was monitoring particulates PM10 in the borough on Frascati Way. The idea was that these five additional low-resolution monitors would be in place for a year to inform the appropriate location for the three additional high-resolution monitors. These low-resolution monitors could potentially be relocated depending on where coverage was needed. The data from the new low-resolution monitors can be shared regularly and discussions were ongoing with officers to agree the most appropriate place e.g the Council’s website or RBWM Together. The previously collected data was held by a third party and officers were exploring whether it was feasible for this to be shared. Councillor Karen Davies committed to updating Thomas Wigley directly once she was advised of the outcome. 

b)    Shay Bottomley of Oldfield ward asked the following question of Councillor Jones, Deputy Leader of Council and Cabinet Member for Finance

The nature of floodlit artificial pitches offer an opportunity for residents to enjoy sporting and leisure facilities throughout the year, and in all sorts of weather conditions. As such, when was the last time the council conducted maintenance for its AstroTurf pitches in Maidenhead, and how much money is allocated to maintenance as part of the current budget?

Written response: The council agrees that floodlit artificial pitches are important as they provide residents with an increased opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity. Council owned AstroTurf pitches in Maidenhead (at Cox Green, Furze Platt, and Braywick Park/Leisure Centre) are included as part of the leisure contract so we do not pay for or maintain them directly, just for their replacement. 

Repairs are financed from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funded Leisure Centre annual maintenance budget or from separate capital bids depending on the specifics.  Spend to date since April 2023, has been at Furze Platt which required a complete seam repair to extend the life of the pitch equating to £6,240 (excluding VAT). The pitches within the leisure contract are subject to specialist maintenance work on a quarterly basis in addition to regular tasks undertaken by leisure centre staff.

What’s in the budget for maintenance of Astro Turf pitches?

·       We directly manage one Astro pitch, this is at Dedworth School. We collect £3.5k of income each year which we use to cover reactive maintenance at the site, an example of which is the floodlight maintenance.

·       Floodlight maintenance varies depending on bulbs and ballasts needing replacement, annual maintenance paid in 2022/23 was £1,870.28. 2023/24 will probably be more, 3 bulbs and ballasts need replacing at present.

·       Capital of approximately 450k annually (it can vary) is used for everything required under the Leisure contract terms which is basically anything which breaks and wouldn’t fall out if you turned the asset upside-down. As this is for reactive maintenance rather than future planning it is hard to predict what it will be spent on. We have requested conditions surveys for all our Astro pitches to get an up-to-date picture of lifespans and expected costs.

Shay Bottomley thanked Councillor Jones for her detailed response but requested further clarification. He understood that astro turf pitches required a complete carpet replacement every 10 years on average. The cost of replacement can be substantial and multiple pitches may require carpet replacement at the same time in the event of unfortunate timing. As such does the council collect and hold an annual sinking fund to cover the costs of carpet replacements for each of these pitches.

Councillor Jones confirmed that the Council did hold reserves and they were built up each year. She would have to ask Councillor Reynolds as portfolio holder for Leisure Services exactly how that was administered.

c)    Shay Bottomley of Oldfield ward asked the following question of Councillor Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure

Recently, Maidenhead Golf Club emailed its members to confirm it will be required to vacate the site by December 31, 2025. Naturally, the new inhabitants will need sport and leisure facilities for the benefit of their wellbeing. What provisions is RBWM making to ensure there will be adequate such facilities in time for the influx of thousands of new residents?

Written response: The Council’s Sport and Leisure Strategy, Playing Pitch Strategy, and Indoor Built Facilities Strategy are aimed towards identifying requirements across the borough to support sport and physical activity participation.  They are produced following consultation with national governing bodies, sports clubs and other organisations and council departments with similar or shared objectives, and include population growth projections and the associated expected demand for facilities.  These documents assist the council in working with clubs and other organisations to obtain funding to access, protect and develop existing facilities, whilst looking at opportunities to increase provision in the most efficient and effective manner within legal, financial and other resource limitations.  

Shay Bottomley thanked Councillor Reynolds for his response and reassurances but stated that he continued to have some concerns particularly over the council's Sports and Leisure Strategy and indoor built facility strategy which appeared to be out of date or yet to be

Adopted. He stated that the last update was provided at the April cabinet meeting although no formal adoption of the strategy had taken place. He added that the Indoor Sport and Leisure Facility Strategy ran from 2016 to 2021 and an updated version had not yet been published. He asked by way of a supplementary that without the adoption or renewal of these strategies how could the council confidently plan for the required sporting facilities in preparation for the town's projected population growth over the coming years.

Councillor Werner, in Councillor Reynolds’ absence, replied that the Council was ready to fix the mess that had been left by the previous administration and so they would be bringing forward those policies soon. He advised that Councillor Reynolds would be able to provide a more detailed reply in writing.