Page 39 - Phonebox Magazine August 2011

Recreation ground sewage pipe
Alan Richardson reported that a camera inspection had revealed that the sewage pipe connecting the four sports club houses to the main in East Street had collapsed, which is why there is regularly an overflow when functions take place at the clubs, necessitating rodding by the council staff. The current pipe is four inches in diameter and runs roughly halfway up the side of the football pitch before connecting to a junction to run underneath adjacent gardens and buildings. Alan said he had met with contractors to discuss the options and they were:
1. Continue to rod as an when a blockage occurs
2. Install a new six inch pipe from the existing junction away from the properties to join the main sewer on East Street
3. Approach residents with adjacent property to discuss option to lay new pipe across their land to meet existing main junction
No estimates have yet been obtained, but Alan’s professional opinion was any replacement costs would be high. Deidre Bethune asked about the changes to legislation to make water companies responsible for more of the network. Alan agreed that there were changes ‘in the pipeline’ but said they would not be relevant in this case. Tony Evans thought it was a health issue which the council could so be called to task for.
Rugby Club Freehold
At the March meeting Chris Talbot, Treasurer of Olney Rugby Club had addressed the council and explained that the Club’s Management Committee has decided to proceed down a limited liability company route, splitting the Club into two parts: one to hold the assets and the other to run the activities and provide the facilities while maintaining the status required for gift aid. He asked if OTC would let the Club acquire the freehold of the land on which the clubhouse stands in exchange for a suitable sum, thus giving it the freehold of both the clubhouse and the adjacent field. Tony Evans asked if there had been any progress on this matter. Jeremy Rawlings pointed out that only the Bowls Club, alone, currently owned its freehold and that particular piece of land had never been in OTC ownership. It was of no consequence for limited company status whether the land was freehold or leasehold, he said. Mike Hughes pointed out that there are 80
years left on the current lease and there would be little benefit to OTC in selling the land. Andrew Dooley observed that if it was agreed then the council would have to consider similar requests from the other sports clubs. Jeremy Rawlings proposed that the council maintain the status quo and retain ownership of the land, which caused a number of members to feel that they should declare an interest for personal or family reasons. In the end the vote went heavily in favour of Jeremy’s proposal, with one against and many abstentions.
Toilet Refurbishment
As reported at previous meetings, the council had decided to investigate the cost of refurbishing the public toilets on the Market Place and had set a working party to decide on a proposed layout and then Bill Bethune would prepare drawings and specifications to enable the work to go out to tender. Tony Evans reported that Nigel Birrell had put a lot of work into pulling the project together but due to an increase in costs and some required electrical work that had not been allocated in the original plan the total now exceeded the budget of £35K +10% contingency. As a result the Recs and Services Committee were recommending that the refurbishment did not go ahead at the present time, but the plans be kept for consideration in the future. Deidre Bethune disagreed and said that she thought the toilets were in a disgusting state , despairing of ever getting the matter resolved and as a member of the Chamber of Trade felt that they were presenting a bad image of Olney. There is a limited window in which the refurbishment can go ahead, she said, with such events as the Big Olney Food Festival, Dickens of a Christmas and Pancake Race through out the year. Debbie Brock suggested that perhaps there should be a public consultation and Mike Hughes wondered if the overwhelming opinion might be that the money could be better spent elsewhere. Deidre proposed that the council do not accept the recommendation of the Recs and Services Committee to put the scheme on hold and to press ahead with getting detailed costs and discuss again next month. Tony Evans and Alan Richardson expressed their deep dissatisfaction that the subcommittee had been created to investigate but their recommendation was now being rejected and the matter was being discussed in its entirety by the full council.
Mercury noted from the minutes of the Recs and Services meeting that only 6 out of a possible 12 councillors were actually present at the meeting where the vote had been taken.
Planning application
An application has been received for the building of a two storey, three bedroom house at the rear of 32 West Street in the grounds of Orchard House. Deidre Bethune was concerned that the building would be higher than the existing Coach House and felt that OTC should be against further piecemeal development in the grounds of Orchard House, which is Grade II* listed. Jeremy Rawlings noted that the properties either side of Orchard House had been subject to infill in their gardens but agreed that the importance of Orchard House together with recent government policy against such infill meant that OTC should not be in favour of the scheme. Steve Clark said he detected a general feeling of discomfort with the application in terms of size and access and asked if OTC should write to the MKC planning authority objecting. Mike Hughes said he was not comfortable with this, since OTC seemed to have had a negative attitude to any development on the site, referring to their objection to the conversion of Orchard House to a Bijou Hotel a few years ago. He would prefer OTC to say that it had no comment. Eventually a decision was made to write to MKC, not objecting but expressing concern about the infill, that the plans were not in context with the surrounding buildings and that due consideration be given to safe access. Full details of the application, ref 11/01238, can be found at http://publicaccess.milton-keynes.gov.uk/
MKC wind turbine policy
Jeremy Rawlings reported that the existing policy had not been updated for some time and MKC had been asked to update it to bring in line with national guidelines. In particular, there was no reference to consideration being given to the proximity of existing installations and bearing in mind that on that very day an application had been received for 18 turbines at Stoke Goldington it was a potentially serious omission.
The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Monday 1st August in the Council Chamber in the Olney Centre. Members of the public are always welcome to attend and, if they wish, speak at the start of the meeting, or at any point that the mayor decides is appropriate.
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Phonebox Magazine 39
“Speak to the Geek”