Page 52 - Phonebox Magazine December 2009

Councillor Corner
A contribution from Cllr Debbie Brock and Cllr Peter Geary
WESTON UNDERWOOD
Weston Underwood have recently installed new heritage style road signs throughout the village and the signs marking the entrances to the village now have “the Knobs” featured on them. A local foundry cast the signs to the Parish Council’s specification.
The next meeting of the North East Consultative Area Forum (covering Olney and the villages of the Olney and
Sherington Wards) will meet at the Village Hall on Wednesday 2nd December at 7.30pm. The recent spate of burglaries will be very much on the Agenda with an update from local Police officers and if you have a beef about planning matters, please feel free to come and air your views for the benefit of new Assistant Director of Planning at Milton Keynes Council, Nick Fenwick.
LAVENDON
There has been great sadness in the village of Lavendon following the sad news that David White suffered a fatal heart attack whilst abroad in Cyprus. David had been very involved with village life having served on the Parish Council and then playing a key role in the formation of the Lavendon and District Residents Association as well as his involvement with the Village Hall Committee. Our condolences to David’s family he was a lovely man who will be very much missed. Quite some time ago a Lavendon resident complained that the village entry signs were letting the side down. Coincidentally the Parish Council were looking into having new signs made along similar lines to Olney’s entry signs. From the pictures taken you can see the entrances to the village are now proudly sporting
brand new signs featuring a pastoral scene.
WEIGHT
RESTRICTION
CONSULTATION
Milton Keynes Council is currently consulting on whether a weight restriction of 7.5tonnes should be placed on a number of roads to the north of the Olney Ward. The proposals include the B565 from Wellingborough Road in Olney to the A428 at Cold Brayfield and also the spur from the B565 to the Langlands junction in Lavendon. It is also proposed to put a weight restriction on the
Yardley Road in Olney (B5388)
from the Aspreys roundabout to
the Northants border.
Lorries above this weight that are
visiting premises on these routes
to either load or empty will still be
able to use the roads. The aim is
to keep the heavy traffic on the
main roads and keep it off the
more minor roads. The consultation runs until the 30th of December so if you have any views either positive or negative then please get in contact with us before this date and we will make sure that your thoughts are taken into account when decisions are made.
BOLLARDS AT BRIDGE STREET
You may have noticed along the east side of Bridge Street recently some bollards have appeared. For years vehicles have from time to time left the road and hit the houses with
varying degrees of severity. In the wintry weather earlier this year there were three incidences within a week. So far it has been deeply fortunate that pedestrians have not been injured, however it was high time
something was done. The location required some balancing to be undertaken between the effectiveness of any solution and the ability of the residents of Bridge Street to still be able to load and unload vehicles. After consultation with the residents the scheme was drawn up and hopefully a workable result has been achieved that will provide more protection to both the properties and pedestrians while still respecting the nature and the use that local residents require. Bollards outside The Swan should soon follow.
WELLINGBOROUGH ROAD
When the houses along Wellingborough Road in Olney were originally built no one could have envisaged the requirements for parking that are required nowadays. If you have ever driven past this area you will have
seen that through need, vehicles have had to use a lot of the verge for parking. Over the years some material has been placed on the surface to attempt to make it firmer but many are still having to park on mud which causes a significant problem in the winter. This was highlighted in the traffic review as an area that needed some significant works and when the review was finally given some funding this was marked as a top priority. Recently we held a consultation evening with local residents to seek views on the preliminary proposals and after some changes were suggested a final plan is now being drawn together to try to create more parking spaces and to tidy the area up. This work is planned to begin early in the New Year and should also see the path in front of the houses that has fallen into a poor state of repair, lowered and resurfaced.
It has been a very busy year for the Olney Ward and we look forward to an even busier 2010. We wish you all the very best for a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.
As ever if you feel we can assist in any way please do not hesitate to contact us or come along to our surgery which will be held from 7.30-8.30pm at The Olney Centre on Friday 4th December and Friday 8th January.
Cllr Debbie Brock and Cllr Peter Geary, c/o Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, CMK MK9 3HG
TEL 01234 714260 EMAIL debbie.brock@milton-keynes.gov.uk peter.geary@milton-keynes.gov.uk