Page 25 - Phonebox Magazine June 2007

John Sharp noted that, in the four weeks or so since the drugs related arrest at the Cemetery, there had been no further problems there during the nights. Tony Evans questioned whether locking the gates would help given the low walls and various ways onto the land.
Councillors voted by majority not to lock the Cemetery gates.
Farmers' Market
The Farmers' Market has lost three stalls and has four more waiting to join, including the Snoggable Garlic Company. Now that the Market occupies almost all of the Market Square, Tony Evans felt that there was room for all four of the new stalls to join. Subject to them being approved, Councillors voted in favour of this.
Market Towns Group leaflet
This part of the meeting was a discussion on whether the Council wished to pay to have Olney included in the Market Towns Group leaflet, of which David Coles had bought along a proof. The leaflet's circulation will be around 50,000 copies and it will also be available electronically from MK Web (www.mkweb.co.uk).
The maximum cost for inclusion was £700 and the Olney Chamber of Trade had offered to pay half the amount on the conditions that it has some input to the wording in the leaflet and that the Council pays the other half.
Steve Clark asked about the financial transparency of the bodies producing the leaflet. David Coles replied that they were accountable and that he could prove this if required.
Paul Watson felt that the £350 would be a waste of money and that the existing glossy Official Olney Guide had all the benefits of the leaflet and more. Following quite a long discussion on distribution methods it became clear that most Councillors felt it was sensible for Olney to be included in the leaflet, both to raise its awareness in the surrounding towns and because it could lose out by omission.
Councillors voted by majority – all but Paul Waton (against) and Steve Clark (abstention) – for the inclusion of Olney in the leaflet.
Air conditioning
Councillors agreed to spend £1,386 on an external air conditioning unit for the Council office, to be sited to the rear of the office behind the Olney Centre.
Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (CNEA) 2005 Protocol
This protocol will give Parish Councils a range of new powers to tackle certain environmental crimes, including the powers to issue a Dog Control Order and to take enforcement action against dog fouling, people dropping litter, fly posting and creating graffiti. It also allows the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices with the power of prosecution if such penalties aren't paid or the offence is sufficiently serious.
There followed an interesting diversion on ways to deal with cat fouling. Dave Price explained that lion dung is available from Woburn Safari Park (01525 290407). This would appear to be the easiest way to get the stuff – lions don’t make good pets.
Diversion over, Councillors voted to sign the Protocol.
Raft Race
The Olney Group (TOG) had asked the Council if it could use the Recreation Ground for the Raft Race on 1st July 2007. Councillors agreed to this request.
Air quality
An air quality monitoring unit will be sited at the corner of Church Street (near the Olney Wine Bar) for two months, occupying two parking spaces for the duration. This is apparently the second most polluted spot in Milton Keynes Borough.
Tony Evans questioned the need for the monitoring, asking what MKC was actually going to do about the air quality issue. Steve Clark explained that MKC was required by law to monitor the air quality. Tony Evans, clearly frustrated, pointed out that it already had the evidence of poor air
quality and, again, asked what it intended to do about it. Steve Clark again stated that the monitoring was a legal requirement.
Ousedale Annexe – audit
Jeremy Rawlings explained that he will be working with auditors to look at the whole process that led to the new Ousedale Annexe development. He anticipated that a report on this would be completed by October, noting that some information was secret and so would not be published.
Emberton Park Steering Group
Steve Clark reported that the Milton Keynes Angling Association (MKAA) was in discussions with the Group regarding a possible long-term agreement that would see MKAA making improvements to the Park, including restocking fish in some of the lakes, and night fishing being restored for syndicated members only.
He completed this part of the meeting by explaining that, while it's currently possible to get into Emberton Park at night using either a vehicle pass or by paying with coins, the Steering Group is considering changing this in October so that night entry would be allowed only by vehicle pass. K
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Phonebox Magazine 25
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