Minutes of the Dorney Parish VIRTUAL Meeting of the Council
on Tuesday 8
th December 2020 at 8 pm
Present:- Councillors K Harris (Chairman), A Purdie, A Foxley, J Dax, R Ormond and
C Stoughton.
In Attendance:- Buckinghamshire Council Cllrs Dev Dhillon, D Pepler and G Sandy,
Matt Orchard (Balfour Beatty), Mr Bowman (Dorney Village Pump), 17 Members of the Public and Sue
Moffat (Clerk).
109PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Cllr Dev Dhillon reported:- (i) Regards Item 12 on the agenda, good news, thank to Highways England
(HE) the new roundabout is going ahead and HE have offered to pay for heritage columns. Hope to start the
work in February and the Local Co-ordinator will keep us updated. Cllr Dhillon will arrange for the
Highways officer to send the design of the roundabout so it can be put on the web site; (ii) Cllr Dev Dhillon
is chairing the Youth sub-group of Beeches Community Board this coming Thursday and would encourage
anyone interested to attend; (iii) Cllr Dev Dhillon is attending a meeting with the head of Police, the local
MP and local traders to discuss concerns about harassment from anti-social Behaviour. If anyone from
Dorney PC wish to attend they would be welcomed; (iv) If anyone knows of any families struggling over
Christmas, please let him know and he can arrange food parcels. Cllr Dax will contact Revd La Stacey about
this; (v) Orchard Herb Farm planning application for a hotel – Cllr Dev Dhillon is strongly objecting to this.
Cllr Sandy added that the planning officers have refused it but there is a codicil that the applicant is at liberty
to go for pre-application advice. He has also asked that no planning decision can be made until the
enforcement notices on this site have been rectified.
Cllr Sandy reported:- (i) Challons Chicken Farm off Marsh Lane, which is in Green Belt, has recently had
the planning application refused for more chicken sheds and this has now gone to appeal. There is another
application for a 3-bedroom house, the more people who object the better; (ii) On the road to Dorney, the
Firework Firm Ltd applied for a licence for a week-long display of fireworks for Diwali and Guy Fawkes
night for up to 1500-2000 people. Cllr Pepler and himself strongly objected and the licence was refused.
Cllr Pepler reported:- (i) Together with Cllr Sandy, he will be attending a Town and Parish Council
Surgery with Bucks Council officers which is planned to take place on a monthly basis. If there are any
problems at Dorney you wish to bring to this meeting, please let him know. This can include any hot spots
for flooding; (ii) It is budget setting time at Bucks Council and there might be a referendum this year. Cllr
Foxley asked about the savings made when all the councils combined to a unitary council? Cllr Dhillon
responded that there has been extra expenditure this year caused by Corvid 19. Cllr Sandy said the budget
will be reported in the quarterly newsletter from Beeches Community Board.
M4 Smartmotorway – Matt Orchard – (i) He apologised to the Village Hall committee as the ramps have
not yet been installed but will chase this up; (ii) Big news is the installation of the new roundabout; (iii)
Access to the M4 from Marsh Lane Marsh lane, as mentioned last month, will be removed when all works
are finished in this area and will then the field will be tidied up and construction works withdrawn by
summer time; (iii) Big reduction in works over the Christmas holidays from 18th December to 4th January;
(iv) Cllr Harris asked that Lake End Road, up to Sainsburys, has a good clear up including the gulleys. Matt
will look into this; (v) Cllr Ormond complained that there was no notice that junction 7 on the M4 was shut
for 2 weeks plus roadworks on junction 5 meant no one could come through Datchet. Matt apologised and
said it was a mistake on their part but wasn’t expecting the works to last 2 weeks; (vi) Regards potholes in
Marsh Lane, Matt will repair any defects caused by the construction work but not those caused by normal
wear and tear; (vii) Cllr Purdie enquired why there are temporary traffic lights on Marsh Lane bridge for
resurfacing works but no resurfacing has been done. Matt believes this could be due to lack of resources but
will find out; (vii) Cllr Harris asked about the timescale for installing the sound barriers. Matt responded that
these cannot be erected until the work is completed but on the schedule of work to do.
8.31pm Matt Orchard and Cllr Sandy and Cllr Dev Dhillon left the meeting.
110Apologies- Apologies were received from Cllr P Smith.
111Disclosure of interests – Cllr Foxley declared an interest in Dorney Village Hall being a member of the
Committee.
112Clerks Report – None.
113Chairman’s Report – None.
114 Resolved the budget for 2021/2022 as recommended by the Finance Committee on 10th November 2020.
Cllr Ormond had re-issued the amended budget agreed at the Finance meeting. Cllr Foxley reported that an
additional £1000 has been included in the budget for IT support. Cllr Foxley has discussed with the Web
Site Designer, Vatu, the changes required to Dorney PC’s web site due to the new accessibility rules that
need to be made. Vatu achieved this for GX Town Council by writing a programme using WordPress as the
basis, which is a popular, easy to use web site programme, and then migrating the new version across. It
would cost about £2k and a support package is available at a cost of approximately £100 per month. It was
agreed for Cllr Foxley to continue managing Dorney PC’s web site for another few months and apply for
the additional works to be installed in the new financial year. It would cost at least £5k if looking at
alternative ways of achieving this. Cllr Dax thanked Cllr Foxley for her excellent work which was agreed by
all councillors.
115To Resolve to set the precept Cllr Ormond was recommending a precept of £25,000 which would be a
7.6% increase, and this included £933 for election expenses which would not be used if the election in May
2021 was uncontested. A £25k precept was agreed.
116To receive the report from the External Auditor- The External Auditor had no matters to bring to the
attention of the Council.
117To appoint an Internal Auditor for 2020-21 who can carry out the duties independently of the affairs of
Dorney Parish Council. The Clerk will investigate.
118To agree the meeting dates for 2021 Noted and will continue with Zoom meetings until told otherwise and
then will have to seek suitable accommodation.
119Updates on the new Roundabout at Lake End Road – The cost will be £33,600 with £5k being funded by
Dorney PC. The £5k is community money received from Eton College who are happy for it to be spent on
the roundabout. The Design and Safety audit for the roundabout has been completed and Highways England
have confirmed they will pay for the heritage columns for the lighting.
120Update on Roundmoor Ditch from Cllr Dax. Cllr Dax has been advised by the Environment Agency that
there is some scoping currently taking place around an investigation into the causes of the elevated water
levels in the area. The scoping is expected to be completed relatively quickly and then a decision can be
made on funding it.
121Updates on the Emergency Plan – Deferred until Cllr Smith is in attendance.
122To respond to the Refurbishment work by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) –
Planned power cut at Dorney PC. A representative from SSEN was unable to attend this meeting but will
hopefully be at the next Council meeting.
123Planning
(i) To note planning issues, decisions and appeals recently notified by South Bucks District Council)- (as
circulated).
(ii) To consider and comment upon applications – (as circulated).
124Finance
a) Resolved to authorise payment of Accounts for December 2020 (as circulated).
b) Receive list of income for December 2020 (as circulated).
c) Received recent bank statements and Chairman to sign reconciliations.
d) Received the budget for 2020/21. Cllr Ormond pointed out that recently Dorney Parish Council has been
being compared to Burnham and Taplow, Burnham has 6,000 residents and Taplow has 1,500 compared to
Dorney which has only 600, so the income from the precept is much higher and consequently so is the
expenditure on parish council’s works. Cllr Ormond went on to report that still waiting to hear from Dorney
Village Hall Committee to claim back their costs. He believes it is ridiculous that the Village Hall is not for the
benefit of all the residents of Dorney but just those that hire out the hall. Cllr Foxley, declared an interest being
a member of Dorney Village Hall committee, and did add that there is a different pricing for residents. After
much discussion about the management of the Village Hall, it was noted out that at the time Dorney PC
increased the precept to provide funding for the refurbishment of the Village Hall, Dorney PC did not want to
take ownership of the building and Cllr Harris pointed out, there was a gentleman’s agreement with the late
Graham Easton, that the Village Hall Committee would contribute towards the grounds maintenance but this has
now been defaulted on.
125 Member’s Reports
126 Correspondence:- (i) Agenda of the Beeches Community Board meeting 18th November 2992; (ii) Black
Potts weir on the Jubilee River; (iii) Director of Summer School Administration Summer School &
Facilities Lettings, Eton College asking when the Court Road / Village Road junction will revert back to
normal; (iv) BALC AGM on 20th November 2020; (v) M4 J3 to 12 Motorway Upgrade – November 2020
project news bulletin.
127 Resolve any complaints/comments received from residents :- (i) Kids Club taking over the use of the Muga
during October half term; (ii) Cllr Harris had received an email from Jill and James Palmer who were
objecting t the new roundabout but unfortunately it was too late as a decision had been made. However there
has been an overwhelming response from the Community in favour of a roundabout; (iii) 30 mph signs are
needed along lake End Road – one by bridge by Jubilee River and a second one by the Pineapple PH. Cllr
Harris will pursue this once the bridge works have been completed.
128Grounds Maintenance and Highway employee/work.
Date of next meeting – Council meeting at 8pm on Tuesday 12th January, 2021 to be conducted remotely.
