Agenda item

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 December 2014.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 3 December 2014 were confirmed as correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members asked for clarification on the S106 contribution of £48,808 for enhancements and improvements within Highwood which was mentioned in the minutes.  Simon Bartlan, Countryside Operations Officer stated that Wokingham Borough Council had received approximately £48,000 from the Bulmershe Court development to be spent on “access improvements of Highwood”.

Simon tabled a paper containing a list of projects that the Countryside Service felt would be appropriate and should be considered for funding:

·           Enhancement of the existing three access points through the provision of suitable surfacing, gates and basic site welcome board.  This would just have the site name and contact details (including website address).  The access points could be constructed to ensure access for disabled, cyclists dismount and motorcycles restricted;

·           Limited surfacing of sections of the main circular path in order to address any current problem areas;

·           Any works required to link the new Bulmerhse Court access point to the main circular footpath (may not be required but unclear at the moment);

·           Upgrading of the bridleway access from the Bulmershe pond to the Kingfisher way access point.  This pond is due to be passed over to the Countryside Service in the near future and should be considered part of the Highwood site;

·           Replacement of Heathland fencing to ensure heathland is protected from additional access/ desire lines establishing over the fragile habitat;

·           Development of a Highwood web page on the WBC website including basic information, maps and photographs.

Simon invited Members to put forward any other ideas to use the funding for the Highwood.  Members agreed with the suggestions, stressing the importance of keeping paths clear and maintaining the pond area.  After discussion it was decided that Simon would find out the pricings for the projects and once the cost was known it would be possible to make a decision on how to spend the money. In response to a question, Simon stated that once it was decided what projects should be carried out; the work would be carried out this year once the weather improved.  Simon informed that there were no timescales attached to this funding, so it was possible to carry it forward to the next few years.

Councillor Swaddle pointed out that the developers would want to know how the money was spent and therefore it was important to be clear and transparent, but also there should be no unnecessary delay in using the S106 contribution.

Councillor Gradison suggested that the Countryside Services liaise with Earley Town Council as he believed it may be possible to work together on some of the projects. 

Members asked Simon to find out how much interest was due on the £48k, as this had been received over one year ago.

There was discussion about the boundaries near the Reading Council allotments and the access points to the Highwood.  Simon believed it was very important to maintain the boundaries; however it was necessary to find out what Reading’s plans were before a decision could be made on this issue. Freda Pattison from Friends of Highwood, stressed the importance of keeping open spaces for the wildlife.

Simon would contact the Members of the Highwood Management Conference with the projects’ pricings as soon as possible.