Page 38 - Phonebox Magazine August 2011

Mercury Report – Olney
Council Meeting of Monday 3rd July 2011
Public participation
Two members of the public wished to speak at this months’ meeting. The first was Ben Clark on behalf of the Allotment Society. Ben spoke about the damage caused to the allotments on the night of 16th/17th June, when 30 allotments and sheds had been vandalised. This was a perennial problem, he said, and noted that it was the third incident of this kind since he had been an allotment holder. He invited the council to join with him in condemning the attacks and to work with the police to identify the individuals concerned and look at options to prevent a repetition. Although policy dictates that this does not become a Q&A session, Mayor Steve Clark said that he could speak for all councillors in condemning the incident and it had been discussed at the last meeting of the Recreation and Services Committee, which Tony Evans would be reporting on later in the meeting.
The next person to speak was Elisa Shipton speaking on behalf of the residents of Dinglederry and Moores Hill who would be affected by the planning application to build three large detached houses in the rear gardens of 57 and 59 Moores Hill. She noted that Dinglederry residents had been notified by Milton Keynes Council (MKC) of the application but so far they had failed to advise residents of Moores Hill. Elisa expressed her concern that the applicant had persuaded MKC to sell part of the garden at number 57 which is still a council property and persuaded the owners of 59 to sell if planning permission is granted. Access to the houses would be via a narrow lane between the houses in Dinglederry which MKC owns the ransom strip to. In essence, she said, MKC will profit from the sale of the land to the developer if the developer gets planning permission from... MKC! Similar applications had been refused twice in the past and now there was additional reasons for refusal in that preservation orders now existed on the trees in Moores Hill and the Government has now classified rear gardens as greenbelt land as opposed to brownfield sites, in attempt to stop such ‘garden grabbing’. She invited Olney Town Council (OTC) to work on the residents’ behalf to ensure that the application is refused.
Co-option of members
Recent resignations from the council meant that there were now two vacancies and, there being no request from the electorate for an election, it fell to the council to fill the posts by co-option. Three applications had been received and each was invited to give a short presentation. The first to speak was Andrew Dooley, a company director and resident for 12 years. Andrew explained that his background is in managing complex international projects and is currently Supply Chain Director of a large agri-food business, as well as having responsibility for Risk, Sustainability and Procurement. He said that as his three year old son grows up he is
eager to do what he can to support Olney and maintain its unique feel, offering a safe and secure environment for all, young or old, in increasingly demanding times.
Next up was Rosemary Osbourne who has lived in the town for five years but explained that she had been a regular visitor since the 1970s. Rosemary currently runs her own Foodservice Consultancy company, having been a consultant since 1992 providing management advice to several sectors of the industry. Since moving to Olney Rosemary has become an active member of the Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) and taken part in many Environmental Visual Audits. She said she felt that she is an approachable person who likes to listen and help, where possible, and wishes to keep Olney beautiful.
Last to speak was David Rumens, who was elected to OTC in 2008 and served for two years before having to resign due to ill health. Now that his health issues had been resolved David said he would welcome the opportunity of serving the town again as a member of the council. His experience in local government dates back to 1979 when he was elected to South Beds District Council and he has held many positions since. During his last stint on OTC he represented the council on a number of traffic management committees as he has a keen interest in resolving the enduring problem of high traffic volumes through Olney. He was also instrumental in the battle to keep Olney as a single ward, against the wishes of MKC who wanted to split it into three. He is currently a member of the NAG and when he picks up an issue he runs with it until it is sorted, he said.
A secret ballot then took place with Andrew Dooley and Rosemary Osbourne receiving the most votes and they were duly elected. Steve Clark thanked David Rumens for his interest and said that there would be another opportunity for him to return to the council, since Councillor Nigel Birrell had recently resigned.
Allotment damage
Tony Evans reported on the recent meeting of the Recs and Services committee to which the police had been invited to discuss the antisocial behaviour at the allotments He confirmed that 30 sheds had been broken into, but only nine incidents had been reported to the police. Various suggestions had been put forward, including covert surveillance (i.e. officers hiding in sheds to spot any trouble) and the use of infrared CCTV cameras. Mike Hughes once again emphasised the need for the public to report ALL incidents on the 0845 number. As far as the police were concerned, if it was not reported it didn’t happen, he said. Since the night in question there had been one further incident of damage, Tony said, although there was no suggestion that the individual involved was connected with the original attack. A week later the lock and chain on the allotment gate
had been broken and a car had been driven past the allotments onto the sports field, where the driver had proceeded to perform ‘doughnuts’ on the pitches. It was only due to the dry weather that the ground was firm and considerable damage was not caused to the surface, he said. The individual responsible had since been identified and the council is in the process of obtaining a Reparation Order against him. [For information: Wikipedia describes doughnutting as “a manoeuvre performed while driving a vehicle which entails rotating the rear or front of the vehicle around the opposite set of wheels in a continuous motion, creating (ideally) a circular skid-mark pattern of rubber on a roadway and possibly even cause the tyres to emit smoke from friction”].
Farmers Market advertising
Tony reported that James Evans had attended the Recs and Services meeting to request funding to advertise the Sunday Farmers’ market. The advertising would be in the form of:
a. Signs to be erected in surrounding villages, for which formal planning permission would be necessary
b. Regular adverts in The Phonebox to promote the Market
c. A full size banner for stall holders to erect on the day
d. Leaflets to be distributed on the day giving future dates and trader details.
Debbie Brock said she thought it would be a good idea to talk to the councils of those surrounding villages out of courtesy, and there would be costs involved in applying for planning permission. Deidre Bethune said that any advertising should refer to the Thursday Market and not just the Farmers’ Market. Tony agreed and proposed that council authorised the purchase of the banner, but Debbie Brock called a halt to the proceedings saying that Tony had an undeclared family interest and was leading the discussion. The Clerk had left the meeting at this stage to obtain some advertising costs and Mike Hughes said he was not comfortable progressing with the meeting until she returned and recommenced minuting proceedings. Tony replied that he was only relaying the discussion that took place at the Recs and Services meeting and had no financial interest in the Farmers’ market, apart from the fact that he had helped to set it up. In his ‘maiden speech’ Andrew Dooley said that the summer months are not good for retail, in general, and suggested that the council should decide on an overall budget now and follow up with research so that they could decide how to spend the budget at the September meeting. This met with general agreement so Mike Hughes proposed that a budget of £2000 be agreed to advertise the Thursday and Sunday Markets and resume the discussion next month, which was agreed by a majority.
38 Phonebox Magazine