So it was that only Deirdre Bethune, Trevor Aldred and Colin Rodden had passed on apologies for no-showing. Councillor David Hosking was back to deliver Milton Keynes Council’s regular update and with both Town Clerk Jane Brushwood and Deputy Town Clerk Rob Mungham in attendance, there wasn’t an awful lot of elbow room at the table.
Are there any declarations of interest, asked Mayor Ben Brown. There were three: Ian Stokes and Ben (sports club committee members) and Chris Tennant (association with the Caveman Conditioning group).
Well, I’m not going to say Happy New Year, said the Mayor, adopting the tone of Ebenezer Scrooge. It’s the 9th of January and I only say that in the first week.
There was a pause while everyone took in those rather un-festive comments. We were half-expecting a ‘boo!’ but that brief silence possibly prompted Ben to have a change of heart: Happy New Year everyone, he finally uttered.
The minutes of the December meeting were duly approved and it was on with the business in hand.

David Hosking was in attendance once again. He, at least, was willing to wish everyone a Happy New Year. And a healthy one too, he said, 2023 is likely to be a challenging one for many and I hope that together MK City Council and OTC can continue to serve the residents of Olney and particularly those that need us most.
He had six updates to run through: EV charging points, litter, roads, Olney High Street, MK Councils budget consultation and housing growth. So a fair bit to cover, he said.
Those round the table noticeably settled themselves into their chairs for a long night ahead at that point. But they needn’t have worried – Councillor Hosking pranced through business like a Lipizzaner stallion. There was skill and finesse on show here as well as speed – David had another meeting to attend himself, so he wasn’t hanging around.
He mentioned that he had been seeking feedback since December on potential electric vehicle (EV) charging points in Olney’s Cattle Market car park. The vision was for eight parking bays with emphasis on people living in the town rather than on visitors. What was clear from the feedback David had received was that there was general support for the introduction of the charging bays but not necessarily at the expense of existing parking spaces in the town. That feedback was passed on to MK council officers and the plan to provide those spaces has now been removed.
David went on next to litter: a problem that blights our area, he said, particularly on roadside verges. Ward Councillors have received several comments from residents about the A509 from the Land Rover roundabout right down passed Chicheley Hill into Olney and out towards Warrington. Part of the problem is that much of the vegetation has gone over the winter months so you can now see more litter. David and his team have spoken to MK officers who will publish a new cleansing programme for that road, he said, and also Chicheley Hill out to Stagsden. The cleansing programme had been interrupted he said, with officers doing other jobs but it will be re-started.
Traffic management will be necessary on some stretches of the road, said David quickly, hoping it would be a throwaway line. ‘Traffic management’ usually translates as ‘temporary traffic lights’ and everyone knows that’s not a prospect that Olney residents driving home for the night ever want to consider. However, an accident on one stretch of the road a few years ago means that traffic management is necessary, said David, the memories of the furore surrounding the roadworks outside the Swan Inn in November clearly still hurting back at MK Council’s offices.
Moving on David said that the roadworks on Lime Street and Weston Road over Christmas had been completed and that traffic lights had been removed. He said he had noticed that Anglian Water were ‘back in town’, almost as if an old nemesis had turned up uninvited. Ian Stokes stuck his hand up sheepishly. It’s my house, he said, there’s a flood. Thank you for that confirmation, said David, I should come here more often.
One disappointing item was the works being done to repair a strange and faulty piece of road on the A509 that refuses to go away, reported Councillor Hosking. It’s known as the ‘Roller-coaster’ and drivers will know it from the way it dips up and down alarmingly. A repair attempt had been made but hadn’t been successful. Ward Councillors had asked officers to look at that again and report back. They are also looking at repairing some potholes that have appeared around the town, keeping residents awake at night especially when HGVs pass through Olney in the twilight hours.
Moving on to the High Street and providing support for retailers in the town, David said that it was well-known that businesses had been affected by Covid and that MKCC were keen to do whatever they could to help. There will be some further information on that coming up soon, he added, but I wanted to keep everyone up to speed at this point. We hope that it will be financial support as well as other types of help.
MKCC are currently consulting on its budgets for 2023/24 and the headline is an increase in Council Tax of 4.99% which includes social care precepts and social housing as well. OTC will be able to review that budget and comment on it to Milton Keynes. Finally he wanted everyone to know that an outline planning application for a further 800 new houses was granted as part of the Milton Keynes East project. This will increase traffic during the construction phase and also once the houses have been completed and people are living there, he warned. It won’t be helped by a new crossing which will almost certainly slow traffic down and might result in safety issues for pedestrians. David and fellow Ward Councillor Peter Geary have both voiced their concerns and spoken in objection to that decision but the vote has gone against them.

Local PCSO James Andrews wasn’t able to be at the meeting so Ben said he would run through the report for December. The Clerk interjected and said that a last-minute report of stalking and harassment had been received which slightly changed the report. Breaking news, said Ben, there’s an extra one to add. The list included the following: one stalking & harassment, two suspicious persons, three suspicious vehicles, one theft, three criminal damage, one public order, two burglaries, two road collisions and four concerns for safety. If anyone has any queries, they can be passed to James via the Clerk, said Ben.

The main part of the meeting tonight is agreeing next year’s budget, and that will fall into that, said Ben. Nobody knew what he meant by that second part.
We have seen a progression, said the Mayor, and there’s going to be a small surplus. There’s nothing in there where we’re way over budget apart from the obvious open space budgets such as the Rec, but on the positive side the council have made some really good savings. They have reviewed contracts, for example, and it has certainly helped with budget setting this year. Ian Stokes asked about a particular expense under ‘Market Projects’: what’s that for, he queried. Is that on the Market, asked Ben, desperately trying to find what Ian was talking about. Yes, said Ian, fourth line from the bottom. Ah yes, said Ben, that’s for the refurbishment of the toilets. No it’s not, said the Clerk, who had clearly been waiting to see how Ben was going to answer. It’s for the electric bollards – the power points, she said adding without a hint of irony: it came as a shock to us. We held some money back originally, she said, but now the balance is due.

Did anyone represent the council at any meetings asked the Mayor. Well, there was the AG250 event on 1st January, said the Clerk, and you were there. Yes, said Ben, that was the kick-off event over the Christmas period and of course Olney was featured on Songs of Praise on Sunday. There will be the AG250 events throughout the year and we will make sure we advertise those and attend wherever we can.
We also had the Christmas Lunch which some councillors took part in, said the Clerk. On Christmas Day? asked Ben. Yes, said the Clerk, and you could see she was thinking: well, when else would it be? It wasn’t a council thing, she said, but it was held here in the Olney Centre. The volunteers are too modest to take any credit but thank you to those who gave up their time to do that, said Ben.

The Clerk said she’d had a meeting with Vistry Homes who are building on the Yardley Manor development on the outskirts of Olney. The discussion was about the proposed community building – Vistry were concerned that OTC were not prepared to take it on and were confused as to why the council had rejected it. They were asking what it is that OTC do want. I told them that it doesn’t meet any of our requirements as it’s neither a sports hall nor a community centre, said the Clerk.
Separately, she had shown S106 officers from MKCC around the Olney Centre to demonstrate to them how things are done there and what improvements are needed.
The council now have a feasibility report about the Olney Centre. Ben said that the report was about looking at improvements to the building such as windows being changed and double glazing and the building of a mezzanine floor on the pre-school area so that they can have an office and kitchen upstairs and give more floor space for the children. They also want to increase door widths and add in solar panels and improve the heating system and refurbish the toilets.
The Kitchener Centre has also been informed of funds available to them and they will make applications directly. Anyone can look at S106 availability, said the Clerk. There’s a computer programme on it, which is sat on my laptop and I will find out how it works and let people know, she said. But it is publicly available – it’s supposed to be all-singing, all-dancing.
Chris Tennant congratulated the Clerk’s office on the work they have done on the Olney Centre project. He said one of the main benefits of the work was in reducing carbon emissions. Yes, agreed the Clerk, we are trying to get rid of the gas completely, she said, and we are looking at alternative ways of heating the building.
She said they had been looking at something called a varied refrigerant flow system. There was total silence at this revelation. Clearly no-one had heard of it before. Someone had to break the hush: that sounds good, said the Mayor, to sighs of relief around the table.

The Mayor said that updates on the Rec will appear on the agenda every month even though ‘there’s not a lot of swimming going down there at the moment’. The Deputy Clerk said that, in fact, two people had been in the water a few weeks ago.
Ben said that CCTV, which had been improved recently, is now offering greater coverage of the Rec and the car park. Some of the sports clubs there have added in their own CCTV on top of what the council had contributed, he added. The message for everyone is that if you are doing anything silly down there, you will be seen. The quality of the cameras is now so good, said Ben, that ‘you can see the raindrops on the river’. Volunteer marshals have been meeting to discuss what they have learned from previous years and there will be a call for more volunteers.

At this point two members of the public – Phonebox columnist David Pibworth and Kevin Viney, both of them former councillors – upped sticks and left the meeting without so much as a ‘by your leave’. Was it something I said?, asked Ben. Always, replied Ian Stokes. And we were just getting to the most exciting part of the night, said Ben, the draft schedule of charges.
These are what the council charges tenants to use its facilities and there had been a proposal to increase these by 2.5%. There was one exception to that: the Olney Centre where there would be no increase. Ian Stokes had been doing his maths homework. There seems to be an anomaly on our proposed rentals, he said. Rentals for the East Street building were different from that charged in the Olney Centre. We are not being consistent, he said. There’s nothing to stop us doing that, said the Mayor, we are entitled to. He added that they need to review it which could be done by the Recs and Services committee. Ian said he thought the council were undercharging for the East Street building and other facilities including the MUGA recreation area when compared with the Olney Centre. Peter Geary said that the council have a duty by law to make the best use of its facilities and can’t be seen to be offering lower rates. The Mayor said that he understood Ian’s frustrations and that further reviews would be made when they had clearer comparisons.

The Mayor reported that there was a forecasted income of £160,114.40 for the coming year and a forecasted expenditure figure of £500,050, which meant that there would be a precept request (what the council earns against what it spends) of £339,935.60 to Milton Keynes City Council. This is a 2.9% increase on the current precept. This was approved by the council and the precept sent to MKCC. Ben thanked Peter Geary for ‘getting his head in a lot of budgets’ at the Milton Keynes offices. It’s a budget we can be proud of, said Ben, and we have delivered good value to the people of Olney. On the subject of budgets, Peter Geary said that Ward Councillors have a discretionary grant of £1000 per year each to spend on community events and he was open to suggestions. Applications to receive this funding, as long as it’s match-funded, should be directed to Ward Councillor Keith McLean. The King’s Coronation later this year has been suggested for example, said the Clerk.

The Mayor thanked the MKCC team for helping to develop a plan to improve the Johnsons Field recreational area in Olney. The Clerk said that planning permission would be required because new features are being proposed, not just repairs, before a public consultation process could be started.
Ian Stokes has always been a big fan of a new skate park and this was another opportunity for him to campaign to get one built. I think this is a good plan, he said. It’s a good use of space and offers facilities for a wide range of ages. Can I recommend that we do push for the skate park, he said. That is something that consistently comes back and children in the town ask for again and again. Ron Hall agreed that the plan had been mentioned several years ago and it is an ideal opportunity now to build it.
Residents of Johnsons Field have expressed some concerns about these plans and I think we should be mindful of them, said Dan Rowland. There were nods of agreement around the table. Any other comments, asked the Mayor. From our experience, let’s not make the same mistakes again, said Ian. Can we include CCTV into these plans? There was again a long silence (and perhaps even a groan from someone) as it became clear that Ian might be on his own where closed circuit cameras were concerned. Again the Mayor had to break the hush: that’s a question we can go back to, he said. Councillors agreed that they would keep Olney residents informed about the Johnson Fields plans with exhibitions or displays so that people could make their own minds up in time to give their views. The Olney Centre and the Farmers Market were both identified as sites for the displays and information. A new footpath going across the Field is also proposed but where to put it? Peter Geary said the best way is to see where the grass becomes most worn out by people and then put the path there. Nobody could disagree with that logic.
A 28 day public consultation process was proposed and agreed. The council will also propose to MKCC that the current zipwire and an unused tyre swing on the Johnsons Field site is removed to make room for the proposed skate park.
Could Ian Stokes finally be getting his wish of a proper place for people to take their skateboards? Park that thought…

The next meeting will be on Monday 6th February at 7pm in the Olney Centre. If you would like to contribute to the Public Participation section at the start of the meeting, or any time the Mayor deems appropriate, please contact the Town Clerk: townclerk@olneytowncouncil.gov.uk.

The public seating area was quite busy – eight members of Olney’s populace had braved the wind and turned up for the meeting and, as it turned out, three of them were up for speaking.
First came former councillor Kevin Viney who was angry that Cobbs Garden was ‘bursting at the seams’ and no longer taking any new patient registrations. He linked it to the explosion of new homes in the area and on that point he added he was disappointed that plans for a new ‘health hub’ in the town were not going ahead. He asked that OTC writes to Milton Keynes Council to convey ‘dismay’ at this decision. With just the merest of glances in the direction of Ward Councillor David Hosking – who was due to present at the meeting later – Mr Viney added that he thought Olney townsfolk would like to see the ward councillors, and our elected MP for that matter, all ‘doing something’ about this health situation regularly, and not just near election time.
Mr Viney was followed by two more public speakers; teenagers who wanted to show their support for the proposed redevelopment of Johnsons Field. They had turned up with dad Martin Mayes. The likeable pair told councillors how much they enjoyed skateboarding and were looking forward to the new development. They spoke well about how the sport helps their physical fitness as well as their mental well-being. Personally, said one of the lads to a hushed council chamber, skate boarding makes me feel free and alive. It reduces stress and stops me having any worries I might have, he added. There was hardly a dry eye in the house and the boys rightly received a round of applause from councillors as they sat down. Thanks for that, said Mayor Ben Brown, we will keep you updated on Johnsons Field. Well done for coming in to speak, he added, you spoke a lot more sense than some people do. Ben kept his gaze downwards at that point to avoid glancing at anyone and giving away who he was thinking of.
You can go now if you want to, said a smiling Deirdre Bethune to the two boys. She had clearly had a quick glance down the agenda and knew that this was hardly going to be an evening of fun and laughter for a couple of teenage lads. We’ll stay for a bit, said Dad, the boys want to see local democracy in action. Hmm… you had to admire their enthusiasm.
I’ll try to keep this as interesting as possible but feel free to leave at any time – we won’t be offended, reaffirmed the Mayor.

Peter Geary, Jane Varley and Debbie Whitworth had sent apologies. Trevor Aldred was also absent from the meeting. Any declarations of interest, asked the Mayor. Ian Stokes said that a later item about parking on the sports ground might affect him as chairman of a local sports club. The minutes from the meeting held in February were duly approved.

Local PSCO James Andrew was on hand to deliver his report personally and asked if everyone around the table had seen his latest crime figures. There were nods of agreement. So were there any questions, asked the officer. David Tyler wondered how to report badly parked cars on zig-zag lines outside schools for example. Not to me, said James. It’s MK Council’s responsibility where zig-zags are concerned – we only do unnecessary obstruction of the highway. Colin Rodden raised the subject of cars sticking out from their parking bays along the High Street. At least that stops them parking on the pavement, said Deirdre. Well, some vehicles do both, returned Colin. As long as those cars are not bringing traffic to a complete stop, said James, there’s nothing we can do about it. Colin also asked about speeding issues in Olney. PC Andrews said there have been talks between the local police and the Thames Valley Force about bringing Community Speedwatch (where local residents use police equipment to do their own monitoring of roads) into the area. He said he would report further when he could. Ben thanked James for all the work that he does. Recreation ground marshals are due to meet soon as the spring and summer seasons approach and Clerk Jane Brushwood invited the PCSO along to the next meeting of the group to support the volunteers in their roles.

David Hosking was again in attendance to present the ward councillors report to OTC. With local ward councillor elections looming in just a few weeks, David was anxious to show support for OTC, its local initiatives and the town in general.
He first wanted to cover the ‘Bins on Tour’ event, held at the Olney Centre. David made it sound like a grunge metal concert. The subject of wheelie bins has been trundling along for some time now and lots of people had come out to talk and make their views heard, he said. Everyone was respectful toward MKCC’s officers, regardless of their view of them, and he was pleased about that.
One thing I will say, said David, is that the bins are coming, rightly or wrongly, and we will be working hard to make sure that people who can’t store them will have coloured sacks provided. ‘Rightly or wrongly’? That certainly didn’t make it sound like David was 100 per cent behind the wheelie bins idea. He added that he’d spoken to the council’s ‘waste team’ and, given the number of people who had attended the ‘Bins on Tour’ meeting and the types of questions raised, they will provide a report about the whole rubbish situation moving forward.
David also told councillors that a ‘stage 3’ road safety audit is planned for the troubled zebra crossing near the One Stop store on Olney High Street. MK councillors do think that the crossing could be made safer, he said, but it’s important that safety officers do their work with a comprehensive review of road safety measures before any proposals are made.
For anyone who drives on the A509 between the Chicheley Hill roundabout and Sherington High street will notice it’s now litter free. Councillor Hosking said that the section would be closed overnight for a week in late March to allow for safe litter picking. Other roadworks will be carried out near the roundabout while it’s closed, he added.
He then went on to talk about school places. Ousedale School, he said, had been massively over-subscribed for this year’s Year 7 entry in September. Because of this many children from the surrounding villages have not been offered a place at either the Olney or Newport Pagnell campuses. It’s the first time that this has happened he warned. Although it won’t affect Olney children this year, he added, it might be worth thinking about for future years.
It took a little longer than hoped, said David, but a retail forum and networking event for retailers was organised at Olney Rugby Club. It was organised by an group called Collaborate UK and supported by the ward councillors as part of their backing of local traders and hospitality suppliers.
David also reported that MK Council had set their budget for the 2023/24 financial year and that it included a 4.99% increase in council tax. He was sorry to announce that no provision for a new rural bus service had been included in that budget.
Councillor Hosking said that a community litter pick had proved highly successful with ‘an army’ of litter pickers collecting more than 30 bags of rubbish. Trash was collected from various areas of town but mostly to the east of the High Street. Talking of community spirit, David thanked David Phillipson and his Pancake Race committee for another successful event and congratulated Deirdre Bethune for completing the course and Eloise Kramer for winning it.
Naomi Brock said she was concerned how long it had taken for any movement on the High Street crossing, because every day there is an issue there, including a near miss for herself recently, she said. Will someone have to be killed before something gets done, she asked with exasperation evident in her voice. Well I certainly hope nobody is killed before something gets done, countered Councillor Hosking. He said he was recently nearly hit by an HGV truck that had ignored the red lights outside the Bull Hotel further down the High Street. The point he was making was that these things happen on light controlled crossings as well as zebra crossings. He was confident that road safety officers would be starting investigations and reporting on the crossing in the next few weeks and everyone should wait for the report so that they have some findings to talk about. I’m sorry if that’s a bit of a non-answer, he added.
Deirdre said one of the easiest places to cross the High Street was near the old NatWest Bank where there is an island. That’s where she always crosses, she added. Could a ‘splitter’ island be installed by the One Stop crossing, she wondered. Even looking at something like that slows traffic down, she said. But David wasn’t going to be drawn. I’m not a professional on this he said, and I want to wait for that report to come.
Colin Rodden asked whether OTC could launch a campaign to encourage people to use the town’s bins more and thus reduce litter. Debbie Hall said the state of the town’s rubbish bins was a cause for concern and could be putting people off using them. Are they ever washed, she asked, they are disgusting. The Clerk agreed that they could all do with a scrub down and added that she would like to get the whole lot of them cleaned but it’s not easy to get that done. Perhaps it’s something we could have sorted for the Coronation, proposed Debbie.
The lustre was starting to wear off for the two teenagers and dad Martin had seen the warning signs. The boys had started to get fidgety (and who can blame them?) and so they thanked everyone and left straight after David Hosking’s presentation. Perhaps they sensed that it wasn’t going to get any better than that. If we insist on talking about bins, that’s what’s going to happen, quipped Ben.

There was no unexpected expenditure said the Mayor. Income from the Olney Centre is up, he said, and generally the council are tracking for a small surplus for this financial year. A wall at the back of the playground in the pre-school collapsed recently, said the Clerk. It was during the Christmas holidays when there was nobody about, she said. It could have been bad, she added with a shiver, you don’t want to see the pictures – it’s really scary. That will cost £16,000 to repair, she reported. It can’t be covered by insurance and just goes to show that you can’t take anything for granted in terms of expenditure, said the Mayor. The Clerk said OTC are hopeful of covering the expenditure through S106 funding (money for community projects).

Did anyone attend any meetings, asked the Mayor. Ian Stokes said that he and the Clerk had been to a meeting with the Football Association, the Football Foundation, local councillors and turfing specialists. It was about promoting how local councils offer facilities for sports. Applications for grants from the Football Foundation have been opened up to parish councils now, said Ian, to help provide more sports facilities and with upkeeping them. The Mayor and Mary Prosser had attended the Pancake Race, said Ben, and he was delighted with the way it went. It’s a good advert for the town, he added. The Mayor, Naomi Brock, Debbie Hall, Mary Prosser and Debbie Whitworth all attended the grand opening of the community fridge, the facility behind the Olney Centre. Donations have mainly come from residents – with not much from shops so far, said a disappointed Clerk, but the service is proving a very popular way to cut waste. Have my five jars of gherkins gone, asked the Mayor, who’s a big fan of the pickles. All gone, confirmed the Clerk. People will take anything, said Ben.

The Mayor confirmed that feedback received from residents about the Johnsons Field proposals had now been collated and will be sent to the relevant MK Council department so that it can be added into the final proposals for the planning application. There is clear messaging from these comments said the Mayor. The Clerk reported that resurfacing is planned to take place at the allotments, the MUGA (multi-use games area) and the East Street car park entry road including re-marking of parking bays and disabled bays.

The Mayor said the Rec’s volunteer marshal group will be meeting later in the month with the target to get as many people involved as possible. It has to be well manned to be effective, said Ben. There will be advertisements going out to attract new volunteers, he added. He said that the issue of parking enforcement in the area had been raised, particularly in the summer months when it gets very busy. Ian Stokes wanted to raise an issue: have we got plans for disabled parking there? It’s in the plans, said the Clerk. As part of the re-lining work down there it will include disabled spaces. We did re-marking temporarily last year and it worked, she said. How do we enforce that, pressed Ian. Preparations were being made and lines for the bays will be properly painted and marked out, said the Mayor. Watch this space, he said, pleased with his irony. We could produce cards for volunteers to put on people’s cars asking them to park considerately, said Debbie Hall. Can we do that, asked Naomi, incredulously. Can we actually do that? There were nods around the table that suggested they could. Yes that’s one for the volunteers said the Mayor. I don’t think there’s anything off the table in terms of what we can do for enforcement. David Hosking said he would consult with his ward councillor colleagues on ways to enforce parking regulations while, on the subject of volunteers, Ian Stokes said there should be a JUG (Joint User Group) meeting to encourage people to volunteer for marshalling duties.
The Mayor said the local Olney and Clifton Fishing Club has been doing some more testing of the water that runs through the Rec area. The river, especially down by the Victorian bathing steps, is a popular attraction but samples had confirmed that water pollution is a problem there.
The Clerk said she would like to organise some signs for the area to discourage swimming down there. Colin Rodden said the council should ’push back’ and find out why water companies, farmers and other industries are polluting the waterways. We have a duty of care to inform people about the water, said the Clerk and if we don’t and people get sick, they can come back at us about it. Yes we should challenge the water companies about it, said David Tyler. Ron Hall agreed. This is a national problem and it’s a disgrace, he said.
The fishing club are continuing with their testing, said the Clerk. They are doing the swimming steps and a bit further up and I have asked them to let me have a report on it. They will do it for us and we will contribute towards the cost, she added. And would you like us to ask for you officially to do that, asked the Mayor. No, said the Clerk, I didn’t ask, I just did it, because I think it’s important. OK, said the Mayor, clearly not in the mood to continue with that conversation. The Clerk also thought the extra signage was important. Debbie Hall wondered what words can be used on any signs. How do you define ‘dangerous’, she asked. It’s dangerous because of the reeds and the foam in the water and all the rest of it, but this is pollution, said the Clerk. Could we perhaps have a colour coded system, said Dan Rowland, a kind of red, amber, green, so people can judge the toxicity for themselves. That suggestion sounded complicated and the total silence in the room that followed it did nothing to encourage its deployment. The Mayor agreed that measures should be looked at that discourage people from entering the river, a view shared by all around the table.

Various requests have been made to use the nursery pitch at East Street for car parking for these two important events. The Rugby 7s events has previously been marshalled and controlled by their own organisers, said the Mayor. Ian Stokes said that parking for long periods can compact down the earth which can affect the pitch.
They have also requested parking on the strip of land outside the football club, said the Clerk. But I don’t think you can do that when that area is used by visitors.
Colin Rodden remembered past events in that area where visitors have parked badly in surrounding streets and ‘across residents’ drives’. Is there anything we can learn from those events, he asked. Nobody else thought the Rugby game would have that same impact though.
Chris Tennant brought up the subject of charging for parking in that area to ‘remunerate the potential impact’ of cars stopping there and the resultant repairs. This subject has come up before and is always hotly discussed. He suggested levying ‘the price of a pint’, £5 for each car. It would only be right and proper he said. The main problem with that is that cars then spill out onto the surrounding roads because people don’t want to pay for parking and although it’s only five pounds, most people don’t carry cash any more, said Naomi Brock. Ian Stokes said they have to be consistent. We don’t ask people to pay when the Raft Race is on, he said, so why would we ask when it’s the Rugby?
Dan Rowland asked Chris why OTC had not considered charging before. We have never been that commercial, was the quick reply. Naomi thought that people will try to park in the Rugby Club car park which is free, and fill it up. It is a well-attended event, said Chris with a shrug of the shoulders.
On they went: Do we need to charge £5 or can it be a smaller sum? What sort of damage does parking do to the pitch surface? How will the £5 charges be collected? Who’s collecting the money? The questions continued as the minutes ticked by. Eventually the proposal to charge £5 to park at the Rugby 7s event was approved.
And so it started all over again…
The Olney Open Gardens had also requested to use the Nursery Pitch for their event this year. It will be especially busy in the town that weekend as it clashes with the regular Motorama event down at the Market Place.
Should we charge for them to park there, asked Debbie Hall, adding that while the rugby club will be making money from their event, the Open Garden was for charity. Are all groups equal, she asked. We should talk to the individual clubs first before we just say, here’s a charge, said Ron Hall. There is an environmental impact here and the £5 levy offsets that impact, said Chris Tennant. I don’t know why the Open Gardens need parking, said Deirdre. It’s not that big a thing unless there are a lot more gardens this year. Yes but Motorama’s on the same weekend, said the Clerk, that’s why they think they won’t be able to get parking around the town. Why don’t they change the date of their event, posed Ian Stokes. The gardens will still be there, he added with a degree of logic. No, said Deirdre, bringing Ian firmly back to earth, it’s linked to a national thing, working with Willen Hospice.
OTC voted to allow the Open Gardens to use the pitch as a car park but it did not agree to charge the £5 levy – that was voted against. It was a close thing though – the Mayor having to us his casting vote to say no.

The Mayor thanked ward councillors for their grant of £150 towards the forthcoming Coronation’s flags and bunting. The interim audit report was received with thanks to Deputy Clerk Rob Mungham for his work. Coronation celebration plans in Olney were discussed. There will be celebrations in the town on the Saturday including big screens showing the ceremony at Olney Baptist Church, while tea parties, lunches and a ‘Big Help Out’ of sign cleaning and litter picking will also take place. The resolution to participate in a ‘Sister City’ programme with Olney, Illinois was signed by the Mayor. And a request for new signage for three houses along Aspreys was received. Councillor Hosking said he would raise the issue with MK Council as signage is their responsibility.

Ben Brown confirmed that this would be his last meeting as an Olney Town Councillor as he no longer lives in their area. That makes him ineligible to stand as a councillor. He thanked fellow councillors and wished them well. Ian Stokes led the applause and gave praise from councillors for Ben’s work saying everyone recognised all the work he had put in.
Ben had enjoyed his time in office and would be taking some good memories away with him. A fiver for his thoughts…

The next meeting will be on Monday 3rd April at 7pm in the Olney Centre. If you would like to contribute to the Public Participation section at the start of the meeting, or at any time the Mayor deems appropriate, please contact the town Clerk: townclerk@olneytowncouncil.gov.uk.

Prior to the formal opening of the meeting Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) Ward Councillor Peter Geary noted that the first item on the agenda was ‘To elect a Chairman’. This item was necessary following last month’s resignation of Mayor Ben Brown. Peter observed that more correctly it should be ‘To elect a mayor’ since it was not possible for the meeting to take place without a mayor. While most members present probably assumed that Debbie Whitworth would chair the meeting as the Deputy Mayor, Peter pointed out that this was only possible when the deputy was substituting for the incumbent mayor. Without a mayor the meeting would have to be adjourned, he said.