Call for ‘younger, active’ civic support
MAIDENHEAD: Chairman of planning group the Maidenhead Civic Society, Bob Dulson, is standing down from his role after 14 years.
Bob, aged 76, gave notice two years ago that he was to leave his position with an intention to bring ‘new blood’ forward within the group.
The team is now on the hunt for ‘younger, active members’ after the departing Bob gave his final annual report at a meeting last week.
A replacement chairman is still to be found for Maidenhead Civic Society, which was founded in 1960 to provide a community voice on planning issues.
Addressing the society’s 62nd AGM on November 16, Bob quoted from a survey of members who had joined in the past year.
He said: “Though the sample was small, we were struck by the unanimity of their views, both on their reasons for joining the society and their concerns for Maidenhead which, in many cases, amounted to the same thing: the scale, type and affordability of new housing, and the state of the town centre.
“There was almost universal condemnation of the number of flats and high-rise buildings and people questioned the evidence for 70 per cent of the borough’s housing being allocated in Maidenhead.
“There was also concern that a town plan for the centre might never materialise and that people who were now shopping in other places where parking was much easier might never return.”
A recent recruitment campaign had successfully helped the society to maintain membership numbers at well over 300.
However Bob added: “But we
need younger, more active support. Too much effort is falling on too few senior shoulders.
“Frankly, as it stands, the society is struggling to meet its regular commitments; moreover, new initiatives are becoming impossible to undertake.”
At the AGM it was announced that former Tory Royal Borough councillor Derek Wilson would take the reins as interim chair of the group until next May.
This will keep the society on an even keel and give it another six months to find a permanent chair or agree another way of operating, the society added.
The team also elected two new members to its executive committee: Jane Wright, the Nicholsons Centre manager, and Tim Burt, a retired operations director from the telecommunications industry.
As well as planning matters, Maidenhead Civic Society, which is a registered charity, also holds activities include amenity, environmental and heritage projects, campaigns and occasional social events.