Minutes of the Dorney Parish VIRTUAL Meeting of the Council
on Tuesday 9
th February 2021 at 8 pm
Present: – Councillors K Harris (Chairman), A Purdie, A Foxley, P Smith, J Dax, R Ormond and
C Stoughton.
In Attendance: – Buckinghamshire Council Cllrs Dev Dhillon, D Pepler and G Sandy,
Matt Orchard (Balfour Beatty), Jim Stacey (Highways England), Mr Bowman (Dorney Village Pump), 13
Members of the Public and Sue Moffat (Clerk).
148PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Cllr Dev Dhillon reported: – (i) Still pressing for an outcome regards the Certificate of Lawfulness at
Orchard Herbs Farm; (ii) Still pressing for the Community Boards to recommend that that parish councils
play a bigger part of their operations; (iii) Elections will take place on 6th May, so Cllr Dev ~Dhillon will be
in purdah at Dorney Council’s meeting in March. After the elections, Cllr Dev Dhillon will no longer
represent Dorney PC but having been the representative for Dorney for 20 years he will still help in any way
he can. He will pursue the Capital funding to resurface roads in Dorney and support the objections to
planning at Orchard Herbs Farm. After the elections, there will be 3 Bucks Councillors representing
Dorney’s ward of Burnham, Lent Rise and Taplow, so there will be more strength to make things happen.
Cllr Pepler reported: – (i) Parking issues in Lake End Rd – He is asking the authorities to extend the car
park. However, it was pointed out to Cllr Pepler that he should ask the Environment Agency and Dorney PC
first. (ii) Highways England have organised the sweeping of roads but what about pavements? Jim Stacey
responded that he would ask his engineer to inspect the pavements.
MoP, Lucy Feagon Earl, – Illegal parking along Lake End Road is a danger to life. She has phoned the
police but no response. Cllr Harris said he has spoken to Eton Lake about this. Cllr Dev Dhillon responded
that there is a serious review of parking at Taplow and Burnham so Dorney PC could ask the review to
include Marsh Lane. It is not too expensive to install double yellow lines so could be extended along Court
Lane and Old Marsh Lane. Cllr Dev Dhillon is very happy to take on these concerns so perhaps they should
be voiced at Dorney PC’s AGM. Lucy Feagon Earl asked what will happen this summer? Cllr Harris replied
that a lot of people did object to the double yellow lines e.g. The Church when they have services, weddings
and funerals. It is a complex situation with a knock- on effects on Marsh Lane and Harcourt Rd. Lucy
Feagon Earl replied that double yellow lines should be extended along the whole length of Court Lane and
Harcourt Rd. Cllr Harris asked would we want to vote to close the Lake to which Lucy Feagon Earl said
‘yes’. James Palmer suggested the reintroduction of the Clearway. Also, he would be happy to provide a
field for Church parking if grass creting was laid in it which could then be manned by the Church. It was
agreed in principal that earmarked Church parking would help users of the Church if the parking was able to
be managed. Regards having a Clearway and double yellow lines, these are only meaningful if enforced by
the Police.
M4 Smartmotorway – Matt Orchard reported that work is suffering a bit mainly due to Covid 19 so Marsh
Lane will probably not be completed by the end of March but he will provide a date once confirmed. Cllr
Harris reported that there had been a road closure but no notification. Thea Pine asked if the east side of the
footpath could be opened at Marsh Lane bridge to help pedestrians. Matt will look into both of these. Jim
Stacey reported that he will receive the full drawings for Court Lane roundabout at the end of this week. He
will then be able to get a price for the work. The lighting is being dealt with by TfB. Also, Marsh Lane will
be closed for 2 days to complete the resurfacing work. Matt Orchard will send out a letter to inform
residents.
Court Lane/Lake End/Village road new roundabout – James Palmer cannot see the need for a roundabout
and there are better priorities that could be addressed with Council’s resources. He has carried out a straw
poll with residents close by and no one wants the roundabout. It would create light and noise pollution. He
asked Dorney PC to pause this work in order to first see the complete design of it and then have a
consultation. Residents only found out about the roundabout via Nextdoor. Cllr Purdie responded that the
installation of a roundabout has been discussed for many years, even in the time of Dorney Traffic WG and
there was a lot of support for a roundabout. Now we have the opportunity to improve the roundabout and
funds are available. Cllr Sandy agreed that discussion on this has gone through the democratic process by
Dorney PC and he believes it would be the best thing for Dorney. Cllr Dev Dhillon recalls the roundabout
being discussed when the late Ken Richmond was Chairman of Dorney PC so there has been many
opportunities for members of the public to speak about this. Lucy Feagon Earl cannot remember being
consulted and would appreciate having some say as the junction is a death trap at the moment but should
write to residents. Cllr Dax believes a roundabout would not be a problem but now recognises that residents
want their voice to be heard. Thea Pine thanked Cllr Dax on this and believes there has not been any
consultation with residents that do not want it. Cllr Foxley pointed out that a number of times she has posted
on Nextdoor the links to Minutes on Dorney PC’s web site that described the roundabout and the letter to
TfB. It was recognised that speeding was a problem at this junction and traffic calming measures could be
installed instead of a roundabout. Cllr Harris responded that the only traffic calming measures available
would be speed bumps and these required lighting.
Cllr Sandy, Jim Stacey and Matt Orchard let the meeting.
149Apologies- None.
150Disclosure of interests – None.
151Resolved to receive and approve the minutes of the previous Council meeting held on the 12th January, 2021.
152Clerks Report – None.
153Chairman’s Report – None as all included in the agenda.
154Eton Lake car park – Cllr Harris did speak to the Manager of Eton Lake and they are aware of the problem
in Court Lane but do not have the answer. If the public complain too much Eton Lake is likely to be closed
so need to keep working with Eton College who have spent £300,000 erecting the fence around the Lake.
Enlarging the car park may not be the solution as do we want more hard surfacing in a flood plain? Also
what will happen when the Lake is closed for a competition? Cllr Stoughton said that, although the problem
at Boveney car park has been resolved (as no access to Lake from there), by increasing Eton Lake car park
will just result in more cars filling up the car park. Cllr Harris will be having a meeting with Eton College
who have got to drive this but no quick solution. James Palmer believes there is no complete solution but
discussion and compromise would be needed.
155Updates on the new Roundabout at Lake End Road – Cllr Dax reported that there has been no meeting
since last month as the Environment Agency have been busy with the recent flood problems. Cllr Smith
asked if the footpath could be built up to make it safer for walkers. James Palmer responded that there was
no public footpath across the Common and it was not a simple solution to fill up the banks. Cllr Smith
explained that the Common is sacrificial land to be flooded before others in times of emergency.
156Update on the Emergency Plan from Cllr Smith. It was agreed to rename it ‘Community Plan’ so not to
confuse it with Bucks Council ‘s Emergency Plan. The purpose of the Community Plan is to create a network
such as a combination of Dorney PC, the Church, local people and other authorities, to work together in order
to quickly to react to those in the community that need support. Work still in progress to create this. Cllr Smith
will discuss with Peter Bowman how to publicise support for the Community Plan in Dorney News in order
to ask people to sign up to the network.
157To comment on the Draft Town and Parish Charter BALCMK have developed in collaboration with
Buckinghamshire’s town and parish councils- It was agreed that it was a well-meaning document. The
Clerk will complete the survey and circulate it to councillors for agreement.
158Cllr Foxley to report on Web Support or Outsourcing – Cllr Foxley has spoken to Vatu and she believes
it is very reasonable that Vatu can make the web site accessible for £2500 as a one off payment and provide
support for £100 per month. This will relieve Cllr Foxley of carrying out this work voluntarily as she does
not have the time to do so. Cllr Stoughton agreed that this is a reasonable price. The Clerk will check with
other parish councils what they have done, and the costs involved.
159Dorney Parish Council’s procedure for recording Council meetings – Cllr Harris said that Dorney PC
needs to investigate the media format and the cost involved of adding the recording to the web site. The
Clerk will check out any legalities involved.
160Planning
(i) Resolved to note planning issues, decisions and appeals recently notified by South Bucks Planning.
(ii) Resolved to make comments upon applications – (as circulated).
161Finance
a) Resolved to authorise payment of Accounts for February 2021 (as circulated).
b) Received the list of income for February 2021 (as circulated). Cllr Ormond reported that £250 has been
received from our Insurance Company for the bollards that needed replacing after the road traffic accident in
Lake End Road last year.
c) Received recent bank statements.
d) Cllr Ormond reported that there would be spare capacity in the budget to allow for the web site to be
upgraded.
e) Cllr Ormond reported that there was no problem with the work of the retiring Internal Auditor, Euan
|MacLellan, had carried out over the years which was much appreciated. However, there is now a conflict of
interests as Euan MacLellan is a member of the Dorney Village Hall Committee. Euan MacLellen asked for
Dorney PC to rescind the appointment of the new internal auditor, Barrie Dancer, as it was reported
in Taplow PC’s minutes that the The AGAR was not accurately completed and there was a discrepancy of
£241. Dorney PC’s Clerk explained that she had confirmation from the Clerk at Taplow that it was caused by
a simple mistake made by the Clerk at Taplow who submitted an invoice that was dated 1/4/20.
Unfortunately, this was not spotted by the Internal Auditor due to Covid not allowing the Clerk and Internal
Auditor going through the paperwork together. The External Auditor apologised to Barrie Dancer.
Dorney Parish Council accepted this explanation and agreed to invite the services of Barrie Dancer to be the
new internal auditor.
162 Member’s Reports – (i) Cllr Foxley reported that the fridge magnets have been printed and will be
distributed around Dorney Reach area as soon as it is safe to do so with regards to Covid 19 ; (ii) Cllr Harris
attended the Parish Liaison meeting which was interesting.
163 Correspondence: – (i) Here is the latest information on the M25 Junction 10; (ii) Parish Liaison Meeting
27th March; (iii) Cliveden Highways Mtg. with LAT; (iv) Disruptions to waste collections in the South
Bucks area this week; (v) M4 junctions 3 to 12 motorway upgrade – Junction 7 (Huntercombe Spur) slip
road closures; (vi) Dorney PC: Lake End Road, Dorney. Bulk bin in car park is full; (v) Agenda for meeting
of the Beeches board, 2pm on 17th February; (vi) Letter from James and Jill Palmer; (vii) Election Pack.
164Resolve any complaints/comments received from residents:- (i) Cllr Dev Dhillon reported the state of the
footpath across the Common..
165Grounds Maintenance and Highway employee/work. Unfortunately, the groundsman is still off sick at the
present time. All councillors wish him a speedy recovery.
Date of next meeting – Council meeting at 8pm on Tuesday 9th March 2021 to be conducted remotely.
