Minutes:
Savio Decruz advised the Forum about the implementation of a walking and cycling route from Baylis to the Town Centre. Route M from the Walking Strategy forms part of this larger walking and cycling route that will provide links to several schools and green open spaces in the area via substantially off road access.
SD described the route leading from Canterbury Avenue in the north along the Cinder Track south through Godolphin Playing Fields and Baylis Park, then linking to the Town Centre via Salt Hill Park and the Bath Road. It is intended that a secondary route is also implemented from the train station along the A4 to the junction with Upton Court Road, then linking with the Linear Park via Upton Court Road and the Castleview entrance to Upton Court Park.
The size of this scheme dwarfs previous projects that the Council has completed, such as; the route from the Train Station to Lascelles Park and the streamside route through Windsor Meadows leading to Montem Primary School. This scheme has been submitted to Sustrans a national charity which manages large amounts of government funding for projects which fulfil the aim of encouraging more children to walk or cycle to school. Sustrans have made it clear they are willing to provide 160,000 funding which has to be matched.
Schools that will be reached by this scheme are; Penn Primary, Baylis Court Godolphin Primary and Junior, Herschel Grammar and Castleview. SD explained that through targeting children, new habits could be created that would stay with them into adulthood, which is a good investment for sustainable transport. Clare Robinson commented that she is already working with Godolphin School who have signed up to the Bike It scheme and this project will provide further encouragement for them.
SD advised that the Cinder Track faced several ongoing problems that would need to be tackled with the backing and involvement of the local community. He explained that a major part of the project would be consulting with the local community with the aim of getting them onboard to claim ownership of the route for the sake of ongoing maintenance and the overall success of the scheme .
One of the major problems is the broken fencing of several properties backing onto the Track. SD advised that direction was needed on what to do about this issue. The Council may set a dangerous precedent if it repairs and puts up new fencing along this route, however, the current state of the fencing lets the route down.
Graffiti along the Track is another recurring issue and one that has to be tackled. A new product is currently being trialled that could reduce the ongoing removal costs of graffiti. It is a water based nano technology that coats a surface so that future graffiti can be removed easily with soap and water.
SD explained that getting young people to take ownership could be achieved by the proposed improvements to the subway tunnel between Baylis Road and Salt Hill Park. These include murals to cover the facade of the tunnel, painting the inside and new lighting to create a feeling of lightness. It would be necessary to get Network Rail approval for all works but SD stated that they were already happy with the general principle.
To have this scheme done properly local residents would need to invest their ideas and enthusiasm in it. Ian Houghton asked if the North Slough Forum had been contacted. SD said that Cllr Swindlehurst will be consulted and the scheme would be taken to the Baylis and Stoke ward NAG (Neighbourhood Action Group). Letter drops to local residents will also be carried out to ask about problems.
It was thought that Residents Associations and other local groups would feed into the NAG groups. For future consultation purposes Margaret Innis informed the meeting that in the Chalvey area the Chalvey Community Forum is the Neighbourhood Action Group for that area. This is recognised by the Police.
JW explained that the Cinder Track as a public footpath would be upgraded to a public bridleway status to legalise the cycling use of this route. The LAF would be consulted on this in due course.