Sonning Parish Council Autumn Newsletter 2013 INTRODUCTION by Pat Doyle, have a similar destructive inclination. A new hard Council Chairman standing roadway edged with timber boarding, built from Having had the pleasure of being a twenty two tons of compacted stone skelpings to cope regular Sonning Parish Councillor for a with heavy vehicles, has eliminated the unsightly muddy good few years, I cannot recall a time path. when your Council was as strong and competent. An obvious vibrant atmosphere that seems to drive us along Further works include additional works to the ancient has enabled us to initiate and complete a number of willow and a turfed extension to the grassed area projects that have been long delayed. Even our beneath the tree following clearance and levelling. fantastically diligent and hard working Clerk, Lesley Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Dave Collier, these Bates, has finally been computer ‘upgraded’ from an works have been undertaken with the minimum of almost steam powered set-up. We have fixed things and inconvenience to everyone who enjoys The Wharf. built things and installed things for the lasting benefit of our community. Yes, we still regularly attend those And a plea, please take your picnic boxes, bags, cans, Planning Committees at Wokingham. We attend training wrappers, bottles etc. home if the rubbish bins are full. sessions and ask questions of officers and other Thank you. Councillors in nearby Wards. We also pester our tireless Borough Councillor, Mike Haines, who never seems short Sonning Brick Bridge Closure 2013 DATES SUPPLIED on energy. Major Projects monthly meetings at Shute End BY WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL. see us finding out exactly what is going on in the Borough Sonning’s brick bridge will close on *October 28th until and what will impact upon us here. We maintain, to the November 8th inclusive for engineering and traffic light best of our ability, that important contact with both works by Wokingham Borough Council. Weekday closure planners and highway officials, as without that ongoing will be from 9.30 am until 4.00pm and remain open at the contact we can never hope to be remotely aware of weekend with temporary traffic lights. As yet ‘undated’, matters that directly effect this community. the closure will include a four day period when the bridge Your Parish Council is very alive and well. Come and see us will shut for twenty four hours. Pedestrian access will be sometime. unaffected. *Closure dates and times supplied by Wokingham Borough Council. The Wharf. During the Spring and Summer of 2013, Sonning Parish Sonning Bridge Pathway Lighting Safety Works. Council initiated a programme of works involving grass, In order to take advantage of the Sonning (brick) Bridge th foliage and tree restoration to improve the appearance of closure (October 28 to approximately November th th this valuable and much used leisure area overlooking the 14 /15 ), we are proceeding with the Bridge lighting river, adjacent to Sonning’s brick bridge. project. While this is considerably earlier than anticipated, March 2014, we considered that leveraging Of necessity, Thames Water Utilities need vehicle access the existing bridge closure, the approach of shorter days to the sewage pumping station, further along the towing with winter, trying to obtain another bridge closure, in path, that transfers waste to the treatment works in March, with its inherent significant financial cost and Wargrave, hence the gated access, now restored by traffic issues were worth making the decision to proceed Councillor Sid Liddiard. now. To that end, our street lighting contractors, Scottish and To prevent further unauthorised vehicle entry and Southern Energy, will install a system of sixteen LED damage to the grassed area, the gate needs to be locked. (light emitting diode) light units into the tarmac pathway Unfortunately, in spite of our efforts an over the entire length of the bridge. Works will commence concurrently with the temporary traffic order expensive security chain was cut through, resulting in its so as not only to avoid a separate bridge closure, but also loss along with its equally costly security lock. We have the massive expense that such a measure entails. We now invested in a Boron steel 16mm security chain with its have already undertaken a combined 1 & 2 Road Safety sophisticated lock to, hopefully, foil anyone who might Audit and will now proceed with the ground-works (excavations and making good) and the electrical installation. Although generously supported, our original ‘local funding’ the applicants, having withheld payment, demanded an plan has not yet achieved the level required to cover the independent assessment, resulting in your local authority project cost. Your Parish Council has taken the ‘fall back’ accepting £0 outcome, yes £0, with the vital supply of position of funding the shortfall, of approximately Affordable Housing funding losing out. Councillor Tim £8,000, while local and corporate funding efforts Holton did attempt to question the £0 figure at the continue. The originally scheduled closure date of Mid- August 21st committee meeting, but was over-ruled by the March 2014 would have provided additional time for Chairman. funding efforts. Unfortunately, the earlier October Dealing with proposed re-development of Sonnings’ closure has lost us that time while providing an former Fire Station site has demanded a great deal of opportunity not to be missed. time and effort from your Parish Council. In later stages, particularly when dealing with Wokingham Borough This Bridge Lighting project is a vital element of your Council’s Highways Department, when farcically Parish Council’s consistent response to inaccurate road layout plans were being accepted by them pedestrian/highways health and safety – additional street (and still are) and both National and WBC’s own Highway lighting in Pound Lane and Charvil Lane (at just under Guidance bypassed on the basis that as nobody has been £2,000 per light), preventative parking bollards adjacent actually injured or killed in Pound Lane in recent years, we to the primary school, works to unsafe trees, even were told that a “worst case scenario is acceptable”. arguing with WBC Highways Department over incorrect driveway sightlines used for planning permission are all August Field, Charvil Lane, Sonning – Proposed Re- initiatives that can so easily save a life. Aligned with development F/2013/0140 this theme are the projects for the defibrillator in the Following a similar lengthy process, re-development of listed telephone box outside Pearson Hall and the the ‘August Field’ site was unanimously approved by exercise equipment in St Georges field are focussed on Wokingham Borough Council’s Planning Committee on July the health and wellbeing of our community 24th ‘13 against a comprehensive submission for refusal by your Parish Council. We highlighted numerous Pound Lane Closure 2013 undesirable elements of the application, not least its Wokingham Borough Council’s engineers will close Pound thoroughly Urbanising character, being out of keeping in Lane for essential sewer works from November 25th until an Rural environment and naturally the unquenchable December 6th inclusive for twenty four hours of each day. precedent created in the event of planning approval. Wokingham Borough Council and those utilities serving Unfortunately, the fear of an appeal with costs against our area, Southern Gas Networks, Network Rail, Thames the Local Authority soon found its way into the Water, South East Water, BT Openreach, Scottish and Committees’ Southern Energy, participate in a comprehensive somewhat implausible deliberations via the Chairman. The programme of essential renewal, repair and upgrade additional spectre of costs seemed to bring the process works. None are undertaken lightly, and all are for our swiftly to a close in favour of the applicant. benefit. An S106 Infrastructure Requirement of £108,000-00 for the four dwelling development, including £40,000-00 Planning. towards off-site affordable housing was accepted by the Former Fire Station, Pound Lane, Sonning - Proposed applicant. A figure that raises questions over that initially Development F/2013/0149 sought from and subsequently levied upon the Fire Following a strong case for refusal put by Sonning Parish Station developer. Council at a meeting with Wokingham Borough Councils’ As pointed out to Wokingham Borough Council, approval of Planning Committee on August 21st ’13, permission was ‘August Field’ must raise the prospect of precedent for granted unanimously for conversion and extension of the such development in Sonning, particularly our existing fire station plus a new house with its own Conservation Area, even more so on the adjoining site of vehicular access from Pound Lane. ‘Acre Field’. If both these prominent sites are developed Unfortunately, it has been miss-reported in another as per plans submitted and approved, truly inappropriate publication that redevelopment of the fire station was development will, sadly, impose itself on our community approved, with the second house being refused. This is for no other reason than material gain. A fact that not the case. continues to energise the unrelenting efforts of your Previously, the same form of application (F/2012/1639) Parish Councils’ Planning Committee who consistently was granted consent by the same committee, against a oppose strong case for refusal from your Parish Council, in harmful proposals for development in our Parish. November 2012. That decision was later reversed after thirty days to refusal following non-payment by the Planning the way forward. applicant of the required S106 infrastructure payment of With upgrades, modifications and drastic changes to £194,628.42 (including £160.000 towards off-site regulations covering development in our environment, the affordable housing). process of trying to keep pace with the changes is an It was readily apparent that a demand for an Affordable unrelenting process, particularly that which concerns us Housing payment of £160,000 was unrealistic in locally.