Page 56 - Phonebox Magazine February 2010

Councillor Corner
A contribution from Cllr Debbie Brock and Cllr Peter Geary
Lavendon Traveller Site
You may recall that in November 2008 planning permission was submitted for a Romany Gypsy Traveller Site on a piece of land in the open countryside opposite the cemetery in Lavendon. This application was refused by the Development Control Committee of Milton Keynes Council in February of last year and no appeal followed.
A new planning application has now been submitted and so Milton Keynes Council will once again have to determine whether planning permission should be granted for a traveller site at this location.
undertaking will soon be submitted that the owners will allow visitors to the cemetery to park in the eight parking spaces by the road.
The access arrangements have changed somewhat since the last application, it had been proposed for access to the site to be via a single access road to the west of the site (the village side), this new application sees a one way system introduced with an entrance on the east side of the plot and an exit on the west side of the site where the original access point was proposed. These access arrangements have done nothing to change the vision when leaving the site and as it accesses onto a main road where traffic is travelling at the national speed limit so this could still produce a major road hazard.
We both opposed the last application on a number of grounds which included road safety. This application has changed none of those issues and therefore we will be opposing it as well. We can not do this alone however. Last time there were over 400 letters of objection highlighting legitimate planning reasons for objection. It is important if the committee is to know the strength of feeling about this application that the same amount or more write and express views so please do so but please always quote the planning number 10/00010/FUL. It is also important that you include your name and address as anonymous correspondence cannot be taken into account.
Representations can be made by e-mail to the planning officer Richard Sakyi on richard.sakyi@milton-keynes.gov.uk by letter addressed to Richard Sakyi Development Control Division, Environment Directorate, PO Box 125, Civic Offices 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, MK93ZJ.
Comments can also be made online at www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/publicaccess where the application can also be viewed or this can be done in person at the Civic Offices in Milton Keynes during office hours. It is likely a decision will be made at a meeting of the Development Control Committee towards the end of March and of course we will keep everyone informed of any progress through this column.
Review of Speed Limits
Periodically Milton Keynes will review the extent of speed limits in certain areas and propose changes to them. These changes are made in line with current policies and guidelines which state what speed limits should be in place on certain roads.
A number of changes have been proposed in the Olney Ward which are:
Ravenstone: To extend the 30 mph limit on the Stoke road by 100 meters so it starts at the
village
name plate.
Newton
Blossomville: To extend the 30mph limit 120 eastwards towards Turvey, in line with the red road marking.
Clifton Reynes: It is proposed to make the village a 30mph limit (currently it has no designated speed limit). This will start from outside the allotments and encompass the rest of the village.
Lavendon: To extend the 30mph speed limit on the Harold road a further 100m Northbound towards Harold.
We would like to know any views you have on these proposals, we have to respond by the 12th of February so please do get in contact if they concern you.
Gravel & Mineral Extraction
In previous columns we have mentioned that the regional apportionment of the amount of aggregates that an area has to extract every year was being reviewed. Currently Milton Keynes has to extract 90,000 tonnes of aggregates each year under the apportionment. It was proposed last year that this should rise to 160,000 tonnes a year, primarily due to the proposed expansion of Milton Keynes. This was viewed by many as being very short sighted and as a result we both challenged the cabinet at Milton Keynes Council to fight to get this figure reduced. As part of the challenge to this and on behalf of the North East Area Forum, Peter went to the examination in public in Reading in October and put in person the arguments of many residents and indeed the Forum.
The recommendations of this examination in public have now been released and have shown that Milton Keynes will in future have to dig 280,000 tonnes a year. This was a very disappointing conclusion. Most people including us acknowledge that Milton Keynes will have to dig aggregates to enable construction but digging at this rate threatens to scar and possibly destroy the current characteristics of our rural areas - we feel such targets are completely unsustainable. We will investigate ways to fight this recommendation and will continue to make sure that the rural areas are not blighted by development plans dictated by faceless bureaucrats. We will of course keep you updated.
Our surgery in February will take place on the Friday 5th at the Olney Centre from 7.30- 8.30pm. In March also on Friday 5th, please feel free to come along if you feel we can help with any issue and do not hesitate to contact us if we can help at any time.
Proposed Traveller Site
Previously, the application was refused on three grounds, two were related to highway safety and were against policy and the other was about the precedent that may be created if planning permission were to be granted at that location.
This site has had for decades a history of threatened development which has always been opposed by local residents. On the 21st January we both attended the AGM of LADRA (Lavendon and District Residents Association) held at Lavendon’s Village Hall. We introduced the application and answered questions about both it and the way in which people could object to it.
The new application is for three pitches, just as the last one. Each pitch will consist of a brick built washing and cooking area, a site for a static mobile home and a site for a touring caravan. There is also space for the parking of two vehicles at each pitch and for parking eight vehicles in a parking area by the road. The letter with the application states that a unilateral
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