Minutes of the Dorney Parish VIRTUAL Meeting of the Council
on Tuesday 14th July 2020 at 8 pm
Present:- Councillors K Harris (Chairman), A Purdie , A Foxley, J Dax, R Ormond, P Smith and
C Stoughton.
In Attendance:- Buckinghamshire Council Cllr Dev Dhillon, Mr Bowman (Dorney Village Pump), 4
Members of the Public and Sue Moffat ( Clerk).
34 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Cllr Dev Dhillon reported:- (i) He attended the first meeting of Beeches Community Board run by
Buckinghamshire Council where he put forward the proposals for a Speed Review of Lake End Rd/Court
Lane/ Marsh Lane and for a roundabout at the junction of Court Lane with Village Road/Lake End Rd.
He suggested getting a petition together in support of a roundabout. Cllr Purdie offered to set this up; (ii)
Cllr Dev Dhillon has taken on board the flooding problem at Ashford Lane. Cllr Harris added that he met
up with the resident concerned and his back garden is badly flooded. Cllr Dev Dhillon has asked the
Environment Officer to investigate if the flooding is caused by any activity at Orchard Herbs Farm and
informed Cllr Nick Naylor, Head of Enforcement. Cllr Dax added that the ditch at Roundmoor Weir is
very overgrown and could be affecting the water levels. Cllr Dev Dhillon will check this as well with the
Environment Agency; (iv) Cllr Dev Dhillon will chase up the resurfacing of Village Rd.
Eton Rowing Lake – Cllrs Harris, Foxley and Dev Dhillon attended the meetings. Eton College have
applied for official closures of the footpath and cycle path. Once the fence has been erected around the
Lake the path closures should be lifted. The Lake will be closed until September. Cllr Dax was unhappy
with the way Eton College had handled the closures of the footpaths and cycleways without lawful
planning permission. The correct paperwork was only submitted after the closures had taken place and the
lawful closure of the paths does not take effect until 17th July 2020. Also, Dorney residents were not kept
informed of these closures. Cllr Dev Dhillon responded that the footpaths had to be closed quickly due to
the exceptional circumstances. Cllr Purdie also agreed that Eton College had to take immediate action due
to the exceptional circumstances of the crowds of people visiting the lake which was an uncontrollable
situation and caused havoc to Dorney residents. This was supported by Cllr Harris who had thanked Eton
College for the swift action they had taken.
Jubilee River Car Park – Cllr Smith reported that it is the Environment Agency that empty the bin. The
amount of rubbish accumulating around the bins is very unsightly. Cllr Dax offered to contact the EA and
find out if more bins would be possible to alleviate the situation.
35 Apologies- Buckinghamshire Council Cllr D Pepler and Buckinghamshire Council Cllr G Sandy.
36 Disclosure of interest in items on the agenda – None.
37 Resolved to receive and approve the minutes of the previous meeting Council held on the 9
th June 2020.
38 Clerk’s Report – None.
39 Chairman’s Report – Cllr Harris reported that:- (i) He had attended the Beeches Community Board meeting
with Cllr Dev Dhillon. It lasted 2 hours and did seem unproductive. However, he did offer to be on the Traffic
Sub-Group to campaign for a Speeding Survey and the proposed roundabout at Dorney. Cllr Foxley asked
for the sign to the School to be added as an agenda item to the Traffic Sub-Group. Cllr Harris explained that
as the Chairman of the Parish Council he attends the Community Board as spokesman for the Council, other
councillors may attend but only as observers. The Community Board is still debating whether parish councils
will have a vote. For traffic projects costing in the region of £26k plus, smaller parish councils like Dorney,
would not be able to afford match funding if it is required. Cllr Harris will circulate the notes from the
meeting; (ii) He attended 2 meetings at Eton Rowing Lake as already discussed above. Cllr Foxley is sorting
out the availability of parking in Court Lane for the Church with the Police and Buckinghamshire Council.
She will circulate the results.
40 Update on M4Smartmotorway works – Matt Orchard has sent a written report:- The bridge deck has been
concreted and the parapet installed. The deck is planned to be waterproofed next week.
The sheet piling to the south is complete and all the pre-cast L-shaped retaining wall sections have been
placed to the north. There are still some in-situ concrete works to be done north of the motorway. The
approach embankments are being built up. Once they are completed the drainage, kerbing and surfacing to
footways and carriageway will be placed. Thames water are due on site by mid-August to divert the water
supply from its temporary route onto the new bridge. This should be completed by early September. It is
all on track for being opened to traffic by the end of September. The site team have been reminded to make
sure that as much site traffic as is practicable arrives and leaves via the motorway but with the increase in
the number of operations taking place and the increase in the number of light vehicles there will be some
increase in light vehicle traffic on the local roads. Heavy vehicles should use the motorway access for as
long as is practicable but as the embankments and new footways and carriageway take shape, the access to
the motorway will eventually be blocked by the new works.
41 To respond to the Emergency Plan – Cllr Smith has circulated a draft Emergency Plan. It is based on the
fact that in the event of a disaster there would be no electricity or internet etc, so a need to set up a ‘People’
network of communication is required whereby the whole community is involved to work positively together.
Cllr Dax suggested that Plumtree PC had a good template for an Emergency Plan. Cllr Smith will review this
template to see if it is suitable for Dorney.
42 Consideration of undertaking a Neighbourhood Plan – Cllr Smith reported that after googling the subject
he found small villages struggle to carry out a Neighbourhood Plan if there are not enough issues to be
considered but this is not to say it can’t be done. He will ask for a Planning Officer to give a presentation at
the next Council meeting so we know what is involved. It was noted that a Village Appraisal was carried out
in 2002.
43 Red Telephone Box -Update on painting. The telephone box has been painted and looks very good.
44 To consider any action required regards the car park at Jubilee River – Some discussion took place
regards increasing the size of the car park. However, it was agreed that this would only increase the amount
of rubbish accumulating and anti-social behaviour so best left as it is.
45 To consider the flooding of Lake End Common which effects boundaries of several properties in
Ashford Lane – Cllr Dev Dhillon is investigating this matter.
46 Planning
(a) Planning issues, decisions and appeals recently notified by South Bucks District Council were noted.
(b) Planning applications – No comments raised.
47 End of Year Accounts
(i)Resolved to approve the Annual Governance Statement for 2019/20 (as circulated)
(ii) Resolved to accept the Annual Internal Audit Report (as circulated).
(iii) Resolved to approve the Accounting Statement for 2019/2020 that it presents fairly the financial
position of Dorney Parish Council (as circulated).
48 Finance
a) Resolved to authorise payment of Accounts for July 2020 – Agreed.
b) Resolved to receive list of income for July 2020 – Noted.
c) Resolved to receive the budget for 2020/21.
d) Purchasing litter pickers to make available to volunteers. Cllr Harris has purchased the litter pickers which
were welcomed by the volunteers. More litter pickers still needed.
49 Resolved to receive the budget for 2020/21.
50 Member’s Reports – None
51 Correspondence – (i) The Buckinghamshire Council (Public Footpaths Nos. 8(F)2 and 17, Dorney)
(Temporary Footpath Closure) Order 2020; (ii) Thames Path Challenge – September 2020 – Hoping to take
place within Government Covid 19 guidelines; (iii) Nextdoor – Cllr Foxley reported that she has posted, on
behalf of Dorney Parish Council, an explanation to residents that Nextdoor is not the correct platform for all
councillors to be using. Cllr Foxley is DPC’s representative for posting any helpful communications to
residents using this hub. The Clerk added that any correspondence to the Council that requires a decision
should be sent to the Clerk to the Council so it can be reviewed in the correct manner as set out by legislation.
52 Resolve any complaints/comments received from residents – (i) 2 complaints regards closure of footpaths
and cycle tracks around Eton Rowing Lake;
53 Grounds maintenance- Everyone thanked the groundsman for keeping Dorney neat and tidy and free from
litter during these difficult times
