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Click for the Cookham News Front Page
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 Full
Parish Meeting at Pinder
Wednesday
12 March 2008
(click
on photo for larger image)
Link
to Maidenhead Advertiser with video (click here)
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The Pinder Hall probably had never seen so
many people, there must have been over two hundred and fifty people
crammed into the Hall and spilling over into the foyer behind. It was
standing room only for anyone arriving after twenty past seven. It was
the Cookham Annual Parish Meeting which must have had the largest
audience in the history of the Parish Council's one hundred and eight
years.
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A
Packed Pinder Hall
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The reason for the large number of attendees
was that the controversial Cookham Plan was on the agenda. The Parish
Council gave a summary of the activity and achievements during the year,
this was then followed by the main reason for people coming along which
was discussion of the Plan. Trevor Kilner gave a presentation on behalf of
Pat Woodbridge explaining the the main Plan had been withdrawn by the
Parish Council and laying out a suggested timetable to review the various
aspects which included new areas of consideration such as Youth, Policing
and Archeological aspects.
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A
Full Parish Council
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A vote was held on whether to wholly reject
the Traffic and Transport which was carried and then whether to accept the
timetable for revamping the plan, this became a bit convoluted and people
were not quite sure for what they were voting but in the end only one
person voted against. Richard Simmonds who had been chairman of the Plan
had raised a point of order on the vote in that it could not be an
official vote without discussion. It was decided that the vote would not
be official but just a show of hands to see how people felt.
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Richard
Simmonds Answers Questions
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Those who had produced the Plan were well
represented and both Richard Simmonds and Mike Clarke chair of the Traffic
and Transport Committee attempted to answer questions on Poundfield mainly
from people who lived in that area. Feelings ran high and there were some
very heartfelt comments from several people. Georgina Kilner pointed out
that the Traffic and Transport report was only three pages long with no
backup analysis showing the proposals put forward. Mike Clarke said that a
great deal of research had been carried and were available on his laptop
if anyone would like to see them.
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I'm
Here to Keep the Peace
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All three Borough Councillors were there
and both Cllr Richard Kellaway and Cllr Michael-John Saunders spoke
strongly on the importance of having a robust plan which supported the
village for the next twenty years. Barry Weir from Roman Lea said
he had offered to help with the Plan but had never had a reply. Richard
Simmonds said that he had had 600 offers of help and 3,000 e-mails and
apologised that Barry's may have gone astray. He stated that the
Steering Committee had been chosen by the Parish Council. This was then
contested by the Parish Council Clerk who said that the Parish Council
had not chosen the committee. This resulted in Richard Simmonds leaving
the hall.
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Georgina
Kilner talks to Nick Meakin of the 'Tiser
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The meeting was videoed by the Maidenhead
Advertiser and several more questions were asked relating to the Plan
followed by items not relating to the Plan. Liz Kwantes asked about the
involvement of the Parish Council with regard to the proposed third runway
as it could have major impact on Cookham based on the current plans put
forward. Pat Woodbridge said that the Parish Council had missed the date
as the documentation had not arrived, but the Parish Council would be
involved. People were asked to fill in the forms offering to help on
revisiting the Plan. The meeting was then closed.
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Full
Parish Meeting at Pinder
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