Clewer East Catch-up: June

June was jam-packed with lots of different types of council business and meetings. Here's a flavour of some of them:

We met our hard-working Community Wardens, Clive and Ben and learnt more about the work they do in our ward. We were quite amazed to hear what a role they play in supporting vulnerable people. Watch this space for some useful developments in our area.

Amy sat on her first 'Corporate Parenting Forum' and was hugely impressed by the teenage speaker, who described the activities of 'Kickback', a social group for young people in care. It was also very useful to hear from foster carers, who shared their experiences of the support they receive.

Karen and Amy both attended their first Windsor Development Management Panel. This meets monthly to discuss planning applications that have been 'called-in' by members.

After studying planning documents in detail and clarifying technical questions with officers, each case is debated, before members vote on whether to accept officer recommendations.

At this first meeting we rejected retrospective planning permission for a listed building in the town centre and then gave the go-ahead for the redevelopment of a caravan site to provide a good mixture of housing- including some affordable to rent or buy.

Members of this panel must approach the planning applications before them with an open mind and this can sometimes cause issues when ward residents ask us to give our opinion on local developments- which may then come to panel. While we can't discuss these in detail with you, please know that we do appreciate you writing to us and that we are simply being careful not to jeopardise our voting rights.

Full Council

Of course, the biggest meeting was Full council where Karen made her maiden speech by proposing an amendment to the climate emergency motion. The Lib Dems feel that 2050 is not an ambitious enough target and wanted 2030 but this was unfortunately voted down by the Conservatives. It was certainly an interesting night, which has generated some press coverage. Remember, you can watch council meetings on periscope live via twitter or download from the RBWM website.

Ward Work

This month we enjoyed handing out Gardens in Bloom certificates to half the ward- the other half will be completed shortly. The range of gardens on offer was outstanding and we were keen to note plenty of flowers for pollinators! 🐝🌼

We have received lots of correspondence on the Hatch Lane Roundabout Trial, which is due to be made permanent. We continue to voice their and our concerns over the proposed zebra crossings and were disappointed that MOVA smart lights were not properly considered at the consultation stage. It was also disappointing that ward members, who know the area, were not included a little more before a decision was taken by the Lead Member.

We've supported residents in how to appeal a decision over tree pruning; helped another with adding a driveway to assist a disabled lady access her house; noticed a pattern in complaints over parking tickets in a couple of streets and planned a way forward to help everyone be heard.

Ooh, and we drank tasty beer and ate burgers at the Swan Pub sneaky-peak 2! 🍻

As ever, you can contact us via our Facebook page or email: cllr.tisi@rbwm.gov.uk or cllr.davies@rbwm.gov.uk

Best Wishes,

Amy and Karen