Minutes of the Dorney Parish VIRTUAL Meeting of the Council
on Tuesday 8th September 2020 at 8 pm
Present:- Councillors K Harris (Chairman), A Foxley, J Dax, R Ormond and C Stoughton.
In Attendance:- Buckinghamshire Council Cllrs Dev Dhillon and D Pepler, Matt Orchard (Balfour Beatty,
Jim Stacey (Highways England), Mr Bowman (Dorney Village Pump), 8 Members of the Public and Sue
Moffat ( Clerk).
54 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Cllr Dev Dhillon reported:- (i) He has asked for the Planning application PL/20/2020/OA, Orchard Herbs
Farm to be decided by the Planning Committee. He is advising strong objections as in breach of Green Belt.
Cllr Dev Dhillon is also asking for the enforcement notices to be complied to and the land reinstated to its
original state that conformed to Green Belt; (ii) The good news is that he has been given the green light for the
installation of a new roundabout at the junction of Village Rd/Lake End Rd/ Court Lane. Bucks Council are
carrying out a road safety audit and design. He has asked TfB for costings and will then ask Highways UK and
Bucks Council for funding. He will make the Beeches Community Board aware of this project.
M$ Smartmotorway – Matt Orchard reported that Marsh Lane bridge should be open to traffic again by the first
week in October. Working later in the evenings to catch up with work and have applied to work up until 10pm
if possible. He will let us know if they do work extended hours. They will be using Oak Stubbs field until the
end of the year. Lake End Road bridge should be commencing 16/17th October with the demolition of the old
bridge taking place when the traffic has been transferred over to the new bridge. There will be a temporary
footpath along Huntercombe Lane South and he will get more details about this.
Questions from the public:- (i) Concern expressed about speeding around the roads by the school. Would
recommend reduced speed limits around Harcourt Road, Oak End Way, Meadow Way. Also, more traffic is
using Harcourt Close. Would urge for the school to apply for a 20 mph flashing sign for school times if
residents are happy.
Cllr Pepler reported:- (i) Burnham PC have objected strongly to the Orchards Herbs planning application; (ii)
Burnham Day Centre will be reviewed in October; (iii) Burnham PC has asked for the Childrens’ services to
start up again as soon as possible. We are fortunate that thee is a low level or coronavirus in Buckinghamshire.
55 Apologies- Apologies were received from Cllr Purdie and Cllr Smith.
56 Disclosure of interest in items on the agenda – Cllr Foxley declared an interest in planning application
PL/20/2230/KA.
57 Resolved to receive and approve the minutes of the previous Council meeting held on the 14th July 2020.
58 Clerk’s Report – Joy Richmond has retired from looking after Harcourt Rd noticeboard which she has done
for many years and Cllr Stoughton has offered to continue to do this. Dorney PC thanked Joy for all her help
over the years.
59 Chairman’s Report – Cllr Harris reported that:-(i) There was a road traffic accident at Dorney cattle grid
and the Dorney PC’s VAS sign was completely destroyed. The Clerk will investigate in order to claim
compensation from the driver; (ii) Eton Rowing Lake is opening again for events. Cllr Dax said it states on
their web site that it will still be closed to the public. Concern was raised regards the H&S now that footpaths
etc are closed but a meeting is planned with the Manager of Eton Rowing lake to discuss any issues; (iii)
Cars are still parking along freeway in Court Lane. Cllr Harris will investigate.
60 Update on the closure of Eton Rowing Lake – Lake to re-open in September.
61 Updates on the M4 Smartmotorway – As discussed during Public Participation.
62 Updates on the proposal to install a roundabout at the junction of Village Rd/Court Lane/ Lake End Rd.-
As discussed during Public Participation, the installation of a roundabout appears to be going ahead and
Bucks Council are carrying out a road safety audit and design..
63 To respond to the Emergency Plan – To consider the proposal circulated by Cllr Smith – Dorney ‘People
Network’ Emergency Plan. Deferred until next meeting for Cllr Smith to provide an update.
64 Consideration of undertaking a Neighbourhood Plan – Deferred until next meeting for Cllr Smith to
provide an update.
65 Website Accessibility – Cllr Foxley presented the following report:- The Government has published a set
of requirements that public sector websites must meet, the international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility
standard. The first steps to meeting these is to test the website. It is agreed that the cost to comply with all
the regulations and complete their own plan should be proportional to the size of a parish council’s precept
and in the case of Dorney PC it would be appropriate to conduct the testing and remedies ourselves. The
tests required have been completed by Cllr Foxley. The following plan has been produced to address the
issues found. The plan will be published on the website and should be tracked bimonthly at the Parish
meetings. The site will be retested throughout the process. In September ’20 – Add accessibility statement
and approved plan. October, November ’20 – Address Links, Images. Complete Android testing (Cllr
Stoughton offered to help with this). December, January ’21 – Address PDF’s, investigate technology
improvements. February, March ’21 – implementation of technology improvements and review. This phase
may continue. Some budget will be required to carry out these works.
66 Debibrillator – Cllr Harris has asked Peter Bowman to publish the code in Dorney Parish News so the
local community has access to the defibrillator which is attached to Dorney Village Hall.
67 Planning
(a) Planning issues, decisions and appeals recently notified by South Bucks District Council were noted.
(b) Planning applications – Agreed .
( c) To note the response from Dorney PC raising strong objections to planning application
PL/20/2020/OA, Orchard Herbs, Lake End Road, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, SL4 6QS, Outline permission
for re-development of existing partial brownfield site into renewable energy park with high capacity battery
storage, 416 bedroom hotel (Use Class C1), two office units (Use Class A2), biogas waste digester energy
unit, advanced educational facility, two-storey car park and associated landscaping
68 Finance
a) Resolved to authorise payment of Accounts for August/September 2020 – Agreed.
b) Resolved to receive list of income for August/September 2020 – Noted.
c) Resolved to receive the budget for 2020/21. Noted.
69 Member’s Reports – Cllr Harris had a meeting with Jill Palmer and Thames Water regards the field by the
pumping station possibly becoming a Nature Reserve. Volunteers will be encouraged to look after this land
and help rewild the 16 acres.
70 Correspondence – (i) Thames Path Challenge – September 2020; (ii) Orchard Herb Farm (enforcement case
ref: EN/18/2279); (iii) Consultation on the Burnham Beeches Special Area of Conservation Supplementary
Planning Document; (iv) Minutes of the meeting of the Beeches Community Board held on Wednesday 8
July 2020 (v) Chiltern Society Impact of Covid-19 on Pubs in Dorney Parish; (vi) Next meeting of Beeches
Community Board is 17th September 2020; (v) M4 Smartmotorway -August Newsletter.
71 Resolve any complaints/comments received from residents – There have been concerns raised from some
residents that Dorney PC does not participate in social media, particularly Nextdoor. Cllr Foxley responded
that she has tried to set up a Dorney PC Nextdoor account but has been informed that Dorney PC does not
qualify. She had escalated this matter and appealed but to no avail. It was pointed out by some councillors
that this method of communication is not used by everyone in Dorney. Also, it is a socialising tool and not a
debating tool. Dorney PC carries out debating and decision making at the parish council meetings as legally
required. These decisions are then publicised on the parish website and published in Dorney Parish News
(DPN). However, Cllr Foxley does put pertinent statements for information on Dorney’s Nextdoor when
required. Dorney PC was sad to see that there have been some derogatory remarks made on Nextdoor and
DPN about the parish council. The question was raised as to who edits DPN and Peter Bowman responded
that it was himself, as editor, and Bill Dax on the production team. Peter Bowman went on to say that there
have been some heated debates lately, such as Eton Rowing Lake disturbances and the M4Smartmotorway
works, and some residents feel alone on these matters as not debated with Dorney PC. In response to this,
Dorney PC would encourage any residents to attend the Public Participation session at the beginning of the
parish council meetings if they wish to raise any local matters. Also, it was added that if any residents feel
strongly about representing their community they are very welcome to stand for election next May 2021.
Lastly, Cllr Foxley said she would continue to look at means of communication for Dorney PC and also look
at a Social Media Policy.
72 Grounds maintenance- Everyone continues to thank the groundsman for keeping Dorney neat and tidy.
