Olney Town Council Reports

Trevor Aldred spoke on behalf of the trustees of the East Street Community Centre (previously the Youth Club). Trevor explained that the building is well utilised by about 50 groups each week, including karate, music, Zumba, drama, and others. It is run by a team of three unpaid volunteers and a modest rent is paid to Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) as the landlords. Trevor said the heating in the building was installed in around 1966 and is now completely rugged (Mercury may have misheard this bit) and will cost around £30,000 to replace. MKCC will only assist with funding for a heat pump solution but the poor insulation and general state of the building makes this unsuitable. Trevor said he recognised that Olney Town Council (OTC) have no responsibility for the building, but MKCC had been inert, lazy, unresponsive, impolite, and unprofessional in their dealings with the trustees. The trustees have some money available, but Trevor said he thought it unfair that they should have to pay for repairs when all around were saying it was not their responsibility. As this was an item on the meeting agenda Trevor asked that the council bear this in mind in their discussion.
Mayor Debbie Whitworth said the council had received a letter from a young person who lives in the High Street supporting the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit and warning signs. It would make Olney a safer place, she thought.

Apologies were received from Ron Hall, Debbie Hall, Naomi Brock and Chris Tennant. Ian Stokes declared an interest in the item regarding the former football club building as Chairman of Olney Town Colts FC.

Keith Mclean gave the ward councillors report. MKCC had prepared their draft budget for the next Financial Year and Council Tax is likely to rise by 4.99%, 2.00% of which is for social care. Bids are now being invited from parish councils for their own projects, he said. Mercury assumes that this for the parish precept, the amount collected with the MKCC Council Tax which is then returned to parishes. Keith said he was shocked to receive an email stating that Willen Road will be closed for over a year from next month between Marsh End and Tongwell Roundabouts. He then went on to say that it won’t actually be closed but extensive roadworks to widen but not dual the road will be taking place which will lead to long delays, particularly as most people are using it as the unofficial diversion route to get to Junction 14 while the A509 is closed. There had been no holistic view of how to manage traffic over the next few years, he thought, particularly as the ‘white elephant’ bridge had been built over the A509 and then pulled down. There had been mixed reactions to proposals to introduce a 20 mph speed limit in the town, particularly as there was no evidence that the accidents that do occur are due to speeding, but the consultation would continue. Keith said that it was important that OTC are represented at a forthcoming meeting with MKCC planners to provide input to the impending Milton Keynes Local Plan. Over the past 4–5 months there had been a call for landowners to put forward sites to be considered for development. Although there had been changes to the National Planning Policy Framework in December Keith said he had been assured that the changes would not ‘trump’ any Neighbourhood Plans produced by the parishes.
Colin Rodden asked when MKCC would be installing the posts for the Speed Indicating Devices (SIDs) that had cost OTC £10,000 and were currently sitting in boxes. Jane Brushwood interjected to say that it was in hand, leading Colin to ask when? Debbie Whitworth replied that OTC was going through the stages and Colin, clearly exasperated asked what was the problem? Jane Brushwood, equally exasperated said the problem was that OTC does not own the land that the poles will be installed on. Who does, asked Colin? MKCC replied Jane. Why don’t we put them on the lampposts like we used to asked Colin? Because we’re not allowed to and never were replied Jane. Debbie closed down the conversation saying she wanted to move on but Colin, eager to have the last word, said it would be useful to get a date.
Debbie informed Keith that the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) restricting parking in Osier Way would go ahead, but the similar order for Oakdown Crescent had been delayed due to complaints from some residents of Weston Road who use Oakdown Crescent to park. Mercury was not remotely surprised to hear this as this very issue was the subject of many heated discussions at OTC meetings some years ago when a residents only parking scheme was being sought by a relative of an elderly Oakdown Crescent resident. MKCC are suggesting that the provision of dedicated disabled parking spaces goes ahead without delay, she said. There was a problem with the proposal to introduce a 20 mph limit at Yardley Manor, said Debbie, because the roads were not yet adopted by MKCC. The solution was for residents to lobby the developers to request a ‘Section 38 agreement’ whereby the developers can ask MKCC for their own 20 mph orders. If that is agreed it can be ready and in place for when the adoption takes place, she said.

Jane Brushwood said PCSO Arlene Ormstom had managed to get the monthly crime stats produced on her first day back after Christmas. One point of interest was the theft of a sheep from The Goosey. Other crimes included 2 x assault without injury, 1 x attempted burglary, 2 x criminal damage to cars, 2 x drink/drug driving, 1 x shoplifting from the Co-op, 1 x theft of handbag from shop, 1 x theft from vehicle.

Debbie Whitworth said she and Jane Brushwood had attended the Amazing Grace 250 service at St Peter and St Paul which had been very well attended. The event had included the showing of the video ‘Amazing Grace: Legacies at 250’ detailing the highlights of the year, which can be viewed via the museum website. They had both also attended a meeting of the Social Prescribers, Debbie said. There will be a drop in coffee morning on the third Tuesday of each month to link residents of Olney and surrounding villages to local services and activities to improve health and wellbeing. Debbie said she had also attended a meeting with a group that are keen to set up a ‘new vision for a youth club and crisis drop-in centre’ for teenagers with mental health issues. Since emerging from Covid Debbie said she had heard from schools and parents that many young people are having problems with their mental health, so she had reached out to Mind BLMK who have agreed to run sessions at the Olney Centre with a qualified outreach worker funded by MKCC. Jane Brushwood reported that she had attended the Christmas lunch at the Olney Centre to assist organiser Naomi Brock which had been attended by around 30 people. Lunches had also been delivered to those who could not attend. Deirdre Bethune said that she had recently joined the Cobbs Garden Surgery Patient Participation Group and reported that a new GP would be joining the surgery in January and a new partner in March. As a result, the patient list had been reopened from the beginning of January.

Jane Brushwood said a questionnaire regarding the future of the building had been included in the recent Neighbourhood Plan survey and the results had been collated and it was clear that the majority of residents want it as a community building for all to use. She presented a draft plan detailing the various stages of the project. Colin Rodden noted that the plan seemed to assume that the existing building would be demolished and replaced, but Jane said that was still to be decided by ‘the experts,’ although it might turn out to be the cheapest option. Ian Stokes agreed that the feedback showed that there was a desire for mixed community use and suggested that some preliminary work could start now, such as high level concept design and grant application. He wondered why the project currently sat with the Development Control Committee rather than the Recs and Services Committee, since it would be necessary to consult with the Joint User Group and other experts. David Tyler wondered if the Recs and Services had the capacity to take it on. Jane said that now that committee was smaller and had a chairman it took less time to make decisions, so she believed that had sufficient capacity. Deirdre Bethune said historically such projects did not sit within Recs and Services because several past councillors had also been associated with the sports clubs, implying that there could be a conflict of interests. Ian Stokes proposed that the progression of the project moved to the Recs and Services which was agreed unanimously.

Some years ago the council produced policies for communications, complaints, and Co-option which are reviewed each year at the annual meeting. An additional policy had recently been produced for biodiversity. Jane Brushwood said that the size and number of the policies meant that it was too onerous for one person to review effectively so Jim Cooper and Dan Rowland had spent some time reviewing them and proposing the necessary changes. Colin Rodden was of the opinion that the Biodiversity policy was too general and did not go far enough in stating what OTC specifically was doing. Jane said that she had suggested engaging the services of an advisor to do just that, but the members had decided that the quote was too expensive and rejected the idea. Colin reminded members that there used to be a team of volunteers who worked on biodiversity projects, but the council had dispensed with them as they were not insured. Dan Rowland noted that the face to face communication section was very prescriptive in identifying negative body language (specifically, eye rolling, tutting, sighing, glaring, finger tapping, finger pointing, aggressive gesturing, and excessive sarcasm). Deirdre Bethune said it had been necessary because such behaviour had been evident from some members of the previous council. Additionally, it was agreed to change the references to ‘he/she’ to the now more commonly accepted single pronoun ‘they’.

Background: Some years ago OTC applied to purchase the building and land from MKCC for the princely sum of £1 under the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) Scheme. The site had been registered as an ‘Asset of Community Value’ (ACV) meaning that MKCC could not sell the site to anyone else without giving OTC the option to buy it first. Since the necessary building repairs at that time would have cost in excess of £150,000 MKCC were happy to oblige, and negotiations commenced. Before the process could complete OTC allocated the site for the new health hub in the Neighbourhood Plan (NP) and intended to gift the land to the surgery. A condition of CAT is the asset must remain in its original use, so MKCC withdrew from the process. The ACV registration ran from 2017 to 2022 and has now expired. MKCC have stated that reregistering the ACV might conflict with OTC’s desire for MKCC to sell (note sell!) the site to Cobbs Garden for the health hub, because it cannot be a designated development site and an active ACV site, since it would render the site undevelopable in something of a Catch 22 situation. In 2022 MKCC valued the site at a minimum of £250,000 but stated that it could be higher if there is an uplift in the market.
Jane Brushwood said that the current committee of volunteers running the building had asked if OTC could help with the required repairs to the building (as mentioned by Trevor Aldred in the public participation section) but she felt that OTC could not be seen to be spending time and money on a building which they didn’t own. However, she said she recognised that it was an important asset to the town and wanted to prevent MKCC from selling the site for any purpose other than the health hub. She said she didn’t think that MKCC had any plans or desire to sell it for any other reason than for the health hub but that could not be guaranteed. Jim Cooper said if a developer came along with a big offer, then MKCC would have to accept it. Colin Rodden wondered whether it would be possible for MKCC to transfer the building to OTC and retain ownership of the land, enabling OTC to assist with the necessary repairs? It was agreed that Jane would reopen negotiations for CAT with MKCC and look at the various possibilities, depending on the outcome of those negotiations.

As discussed previously, David Coles Associates architects have submitted plans to build 11 new homes on the site of the now disused convent under Application no: 23/02713/FUL. Debbie Whitworth explained that this would normally be dealt with by OTC’s Development Control Committee but they are not due to meet until 29th January and the deadline for comments to MKCC is the 27th, although under certain circumstances comments may be accepted after the cut-off date. It was agreed that Jane would speak to Chris Tennant, chair of the DCC and then respond on behalf of the council. She asked if anyone had particularly strong views on the matter and the general consensus was that no one was in favour of the development. Deirdre Bethune thought it a great pity that it couldn’t be used as the site for the new Health Hub. Debbie said that many residents had been in contact with her expressing their opposition to the development.

Debbie Whitworth explained that currently applications for double yellow lines have to be submitted to MKCC as highways authority via the Ward Councillors. MKCC are now placing the onus on parishes, meaning that parish councils will provide a sanity check to requests from residents and apply to MKCC direct if they support the request. She said an enquiry had been received from residents of Johnsons Field, which is currently on hold until MKCC publish details of the revised process. OTC will then request a formal application from the residents and discuss and progress accordingly. Colin Rodden noted that if MKCC is going to invest in the proposed development of the play areas on Johnsons Field and then prevent visitors from parking nearby they are going to look ‘a bit silly’ and Jane Brushwood agreed, saying that it might lead to parking elsewhere, possibly across residents’ driveways during the school run. Jim Cooper thought that perhaps the residents were requesting the double yellow lines now in anticipation of parking problems once the development had taken place. Deirdre Bethune suggested that it might be something for the council to consider once the development had taken place and if it became an issue.

Colin Rodden noted that the monthly expenses sheet included £2600 to a firm of tree specialists and asked why the council’s own grounds staff couldn’t do the work, since they presumably had chainsaw experience? The quote was for six or seven items of work which the ground staff are not qualified or equipped to carry out, replied Jane Brushwood.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 5th 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.

Wheelie bins rolled into the conversation again at Olney Town Council’s monthly meeting. But this time it wasn’t the new red and blue bins that were the cause of some heated exchanges, but the good old-fashioned black and green ones.

There were no requests from members of the pubic to speak so Mayor Debbie Whitworth moved immediately to apologies for absence on the agenda. Councillors Ian Stokes and Naomi Brock were unable to attend and had sent their apologies. Councillor David Tyler was also absent – but Clerk Jane Brushwood had not heard from him by the start of the meeting.
There were no declarations of interest from anyone so the Mayor asked for approval of the minutes from the last meeting, held on 4th March. Everyone seemed happy with what they had read and Mary Prosser was pleased to propose the approval while James Cooper seconded.

Councillor Keith McLean was in attendance to deliver the news from MK Council as his colleague Peter Geary was tied up with other council business elsewhere. Indeed, Keith’s night wasn’t going to be over after the OTC meeting – he had another gathering to go to following it.
Since the last meeting, a few major items have come up, said Keith. The new City Plan discussions have been ‘active’ he added. But no decisions have been made yet, he added, to no surprise to anyone around the table. There’s still a consultation going on, and certain landowners have put their areas forward, he added. It should have been wrapped up in March, said Keith, but unfortunately we won’t see anything until June as (at the time of the meeting) we are in ‘purdah’ when sensitive political items can not be discussed with the local elections looming.
A new MK Connect ‘zoning system’ scheme had just started, continued Keith. It’s a plan that means the MK Connect buses run in zones rather than across the whole MK area. He said he had ‘popped over’ to Newport Pagnell that day at about 11am, and someone there told him that there had been no incoming MK Connect buses at all. Keith said he had also heard that there were problems with the service’s booking system.
I’m not surprised it hasn’t gone smoothly, he said with a shrug of the shoulders and the look of a seasoned pro who has seen all manner of delays, debacles and disappointments throughout his illustrious council career.
He said he had asked for statistics to ‘see what has happened’, adding that local people had told him they use MK Connect to get to work and that they were very worried. The ward councillor added that he would be waiting to see what the bus company’s reaction was.
He said people have to consider not only getting to their destinations but getting back again too and they would have to consider ‘when the last bus runs’.
With buses done, it was time for the subject of black bins to come up, particularly about them being collected fortnightly. There has been ‘activity’ on social media about the bins, said Keith, adding that the matter ‘was discussed’ at Milton Keynes Council level.
What was? The Mayor jumped in suddenly. The possibility of the collection of black and green bins going to fortnightly, replied Keith. They were talking about going fortnightly, and those proposals are something that they would consider. So, it’s not pie in the sky, he reiterated, it was discussed at a formal MK council committee.
I have also been asked about what’s called street cleansing or roadside cleansing, of the A509, the A422 and the B-roads, said Keith. I keep being told that it’s coming, and some of the verges have been cut from Olney up to Emberton. The challenge that I have is that those roads have 40 and 50 mph speed limits, and they are declared to be safe, whereas you can’t cut verges that are 60 mph routes unless you have traffic management which means you have to close the road.
He added that he was disappointed that the work had not started. I’m confident those roads will be treated but I don’t know when, he said.
The Mayor picked him up on the bins report. I hear what you’re saying about the bin collections and that report was a council officer’s report at full council in Milton Keynes, she conceded. There was a ‘but’ coming.
But it’s not actually policy, there’s obviously speculation and lots of residents are getting concerned about it.
About what? It was Keith’s turn to jump in.
About the bins, said the Mayor, going fortnightly. It is a report by a council officer, but it’s not been taken forward, so I think it’s best to leave it there.
Keith smiled wryly and did what the Mayor suggested: he left it there. And so did everyone else – there followed a long and awkward silence as everyone was again left to consider the thorny subject of bin collection.
James Cooper thought MK Connect is an example of how something has been ‘thought about’ but ‘not thought about’. People aren’t sure what to expect, he said. It seems a bit strange to change something that’s working into something that’s not working.
The Mayor reiterated that residents who do have any issues with the service should tell ward councillors who have been instructed to report directly back to MK Council who will look into them. We have been told today that they could look to pull the trial, she added ominously.
Is this new MK Connect scheme a trial period? asked Chris Tennant. Yes it is, said the Mayor but I myself, I have to get an MK Connect to Newport Pagnell and then get another bus (to Milton Keynes). We have lots of residents who have hospital appointments, for example.
And on the bins, said Chris, checking his notes. Everyone looked round at him in horror – oh, not the dreaded bins again? Obviously, there is a lot of consultation over the changes from the old system to the new system. You would hope there would be a lot more consultation on the fortnightly plan rather than just an officer’s report. So, we should take that with a pinch of salt.
What’s the time frame for MK Connect? asked Dan Rowland. It hasn’t been published, but it’s a six-month trial, Keith replied. And the data from that will help to form the tender document for the new service that will start in 2025. That will be very tight for time though, he warned, but I’m sure officers are considering their options.
And residents are urged to contact any of the ward councillors or customer services if they are having any issues, reiterated the Mayor.

Local historian Rachel Lewis was present to give an account of her work at the ancient Roman find alongside the construction site for the new Aldi store. More details are given on her private study on page 34 of this issue of Phonebox, but Rachel explained to interested councillors that she had been given access to the site and had also received artefacts from MK Museum, which she was able to split between Olney’s schools.
There’s a lot of data here that will come out in the future, and because I went to school here, I thought it was right that the schools got something back. In return, she had made 1800 replica Roman dinaris, which were being made available to school children in the town. She thanked the council for their support.
Rachel was thanked by the council for her work and research of Roman history in the town and received a warm round of applause for her efforts.
Colin Rodden once again stated that he was sorry that developers had buried the Roman mosaic – he has long been a critic of that decision – but he added that he had reassurances from English Heritage that there will be representations about the ancient findings once the supermarket has been built and finished.

New PCSO Connor Braddish had sent the report, and Clerk Jane Brushwood read out the list. It appeared to be a little ‘assault’ heavy this month – there had been 21 of them, seven with injury and 14 without. The Clerk added that there were also five burglaries (two business and three residential), three cases of criminal damage, four of harassment, two malicious communications, six shopliftings, four thefts and two car or motorbike thefts. Among non-crime-related items were two suspicious persons.
Deirdre Bethune asked why the crime report was not given to councillors before the meeting started. The Mayor explained that they like to read out the figures during the meeting so that the public (and therefore Mercury) gets to hear what’s been going on in Olney’s shady underworld of crime.

All of you had those, said the Mayor, looking down at her report. Let’s take expenses first, she said, without a hint of irony. Everyone looked at the expenses sheet without much conversation. It looks as if the council is running up a significant operating loss, said Chris Tennant, because of the works we are doing at the Olney Centre. And we continue to report that we are, he added.
The Clerk allayed everyone’s fears. In the next couple of weeks, we will have about £250,000 coming through the door, she said. But unfortunately, it will be after the year end so it will look disastrous. But, she added, year by year we are very similar. If you took out S106 income and expenditure, let alone what’s due to come in and what has been spent in advance, we are only £2000 different from last year.

James Cooper asked about the Yardley Manor building plans. They are due to start in May and are finishing by the first quarter of 2025, replied the Clerk. Someone had also asked me about the play area there, she added. That has been commissioned and will be finished by May.
And Johnson’s Field? James pressed. I had a meeting with Laura Clancy, MK Council’s project development manager, and she is gathering all the information together for all the different areas, said the Clerk. She has to justify how she spends the money.

The Mayor said she and the working group were due to have a meeting with MK Council about the state of the local river. The big shock, she said, was that it’s the worst it has ever been for E.coli and the Ouse was now considered among the top five worst rivers in the country for being polluted. It’s considered very serious and unsafe to go in certain parts of the water, she added. Testing has been delayed in our area, said the Mayor, due to the flooding, but it will be restarted soon. Milton Keynes Council officials will be meeting with Environmental Services and the Environment Agency to discuss next steps.
A clearly shocked Chris Tennant wanted clarification. You say that the river is among the top five worst in the country? he asked incredulously. Yes, said the Mayor, adopting the tone of a High Court judge passing a death sentence. Well, that’s awful replied Chris, getting the vote for understatement of the night. According to the river report the Ouse is as bad as the Thames now, James Cooper dropped in cheerfully.
Chris was still reeling. Are we mindful of future river-based activities he said, presumably thinking of this year’s annual Raft Race. Yes, came the Mayor’s reply.

It’s all going to plan said the Clerk. We are where we need to be (on plans), but we need to know the funding. It’s a little bit chasing our tails at the moment. The planned toilets at the end of the building are going to cost more than £100,000 she said. I am really keen to pursue that because the current toilet block down at the Rec is not fit for purpose now, especially with Olney’s growing community.
We had a JUG (Joint User Group) meeting and reached out to all the clubs down there and none had any objections to having a new toilet block there, she said. It was agreed that the toilets should be incorporated into the current building plans and the application process for the new sports building, she added. In terms of cost, the council have to look at what they actually need and what they don’t need.
James Cooper started to explain the technical details of the building’s walls and cladding and how it’s all put together, but the Clerk was having none of that. Well, that’s for the experts she interjected, we are meeting with them next week.
Councillor Cooper hadn’t finished. Well, I probably know more about building design and what goes into it than most people around this table, he said proudly. But that didn’t impress the Clerk. I’m not professing to know anything about it, she replied. I’m asking the experts. Well, be aware of experts, that’s all I would say, James added, somewhat cryptically.
Would it be worth having Jim in the meeting? asked Chris Tennant, thinking he was being helpful. The Clerk shot Chris a withering glare. To be honest, it is an initial meeting, she said. It’s about discussing the different options there, so I don’t think there’s any point at this stage. We’ll look into it in more detail later.
The storage space there – is that for various clubs to use the facilities, asked Ron Hall. Yes, said the Mayor. The fishing club said they have 650 members and were saying they were desperate for storage, said Debbie Hall. Well, I’ve already spoken to them about it, said the Clerk. The existing toilet block will become partly a Men’s Sheds Association charity space and partly for use by the fishing club. If they want to have a meeting space, they can use the new building like any other club or party or individual. No one person is going to have exclusive right to it, she added.

More sport followed and it was the turn of the local tennis courts and a potential padel court. The tennis club want to change their fencing, which is going to improve their clubhouse, but they need to be more definitive regarding the fencing, said the Clerk. They also mentioned a padel court, which has gone to Recs and Services and the JUG. Nothing is set in stone, again it’s just a wish list.
The Clerk explained what a padel court is. It’s a cross between a tennis and a squash court. The ball goes off the wall and you can carry on playing without having to go and get the ball, so it’s more encouraging for children. If you look at a map of where padel courts are, it’s north of London, and then it’s Derby, and there’s nothing in between.
So, this is why it was brought to me, added the Clerk. Are we keen to carry on doing it? Any sports we can get in Olney is probably good for the town. So where do we put it? The plan was to have it near the tennis courts and the MUGA (Multi Use Games Area). It doesn’t interfere with anybody, so how do we feel about it?
Deirdre Bethune said that the one important thing was that it was see-through. There were objections to a cricket pavilion scheme there previously because it would change the look down towards the river, she said. Even though it’s glass you won’t be able to see as easily, she added.
I think it’s a good idea, said Mary Prosser, with children getting their eye in with all sports, it would bring creation. Yes, it’s a good idea – just where to put it? added James Cooper.
If the club can’t get the money together for it, said the Clerk, is this something that we would be prepared to try to invest in for the tennis club and for the town? Have we got a problem with putting one there? And if the club are not prepared to put one there would we be prepared to? The proposal that the padel court be put in the tennis court vicinity was approved in principle. The revised layout of the tennis court’s fencing was also approved.
And with that, it was game, set and match for the meeting.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 13th May, 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.

The May Council Meeting will be held on Monday 13th May, 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.