Page 41 - Phonebox Magazine June 2013

Annual Olney Town Meeting held on May 2nd
This meeting is held annually for Olney Town Council to report back to the registered electorate of the Parish and for the electorate to question the council on any matters of concern. There were 20 members of the public present. Report by Mercury.
Chairman’s report: Mayor Steve Clark welcomed everyone to the meeting, saying that it had been an interesting year which could be summed up in three words: Jubilee, Olympics and rain. He said that he had attended an enjoyable Garden Party at Henley in the presence of The Queen and Prince Phillip, accompanied by the Deputy Mayor’s daughter Tamsin Rawlings. The Churches had organised a very successful mini- Olympics opening festival which was enjoyed by all on one of the few ne evenings of the summer. However, the rain had caused many other local events to be cancelled or postponed. Olney had kept up the association with the mayors of neighbouring towns, he said, and had welcomed the High Sherriff of Buckinghamshire, Carolyn Cummings, to the town when she had started her charity horse ride from the Cowper and Newton Museum. The council had continued holding its Armed Forces day inviting ex-servicemen to the Olney Centre, and this year it would be held at the Carlton House Club.
Report from Thames Valley Police: PC Andy Perry addressed the meeting as Beat Of cer for Olney, and pretty much everywhere else as a result of a recent boundary reorganisation. He showed a map of his beat prior to and post the reorganisation and it was clear that he now has to cover a much larger area. Andy reported that the crime gures were up slightly from last year with a total of 276 reported crimes as opposed to 254 the previous year. The biggest increase was in burglary from dwellings which was 22, up from 6 last year. These fell into three types, he explained:
Minor domestic items, such as toilet rolls where the perpetrator was found to be a homeless person Vehicle keys leading to theft of vehicles
Major items such as jewellery and electrical goods There had been one successful prosecution with others in progress, he said.
There had been 15 cases of assault, up from 13 the previous year. The gures suggested that Olney is still a safe place to live with a similar crime rate to the rest of the rural areas of Milton Keynes. Councillor Deidre Bethune asked Andy if victims of crime in Olney would be noti ed if the perpetrator was apprehended in another county. Andy replied that the police have a duty to keep victims informed this tended to be down to individuals to comply.
Finance: Deidre Bethune presented a report on behalf on the Finance Committee. She said that despite being criticised last year for increasing the precept the council had found it necessary to impose an increase of 5% this year. The council was running a de cit, she said, but had managed to save money by completing the renovation of the toilets on the Market Place for less than the quoted £45,000.They had continued to fund the Community Nurse for the elderly and a community fund exists for local groups to apply for grants. They had recently purchased a new cooker and re alarm for the Olney Centre, she said. Resident Paul Collins said that in his opinion it was good that the precept had risen. It was sensible to raise it slowly year on year, instead of having less frequent but larger increases.
Recreation and Services: Tony Evans reported that during the year the Council appointed
a new Head Groundsman, Martin Ward, who is proving to be a great asset to the team. He and Richard do all the maintenance work at the Recreation Ground and throughout the town, including all the ower beds and hanging baskets which help to make the Town so attractive particularly during the Summer months. A tree survey has been carried out during the year of all the trees belonging to the Town Council, giving a report of Species and condition and any remedial work required. The new eld acquired and seeded two years ago and now known as Crouch’s Field is looking good and during the winter the hedge between this and the allotment eld has been laid and the whole area tidied up and some new trees planted. Plans for upgrading the East St. car park are progressing and will go out to tender. The plans for a new parking area at the East St. end of the Nursery eld have been submitted to Milton Keynes and the site will now be surveyed and plans drawn up to facilitate a full planning application. The Neartown Allotments are all let and there is still a small waiting list. Dog fouling continues to be a problem particularly on the recreation ground where plastic bag dispensers have been installed. As a very last resort the Council can apply for Dog Control orders for particular areas, especially pitches. Litter continues to be a problem in the town, and although some people think the Council should be doing more to both prevent it and clear it up when it occurs Tony said it is important to remember that the Street cleaning is Milton Keynes Council’s responsibility. Finally he thanked the two Groundsmen, Martin and Richard, who work so hard to keep the town looking as good, and Reg for his work in the Cemetery. He also thanked Town Clerk Liam and his deputy Sandra who make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.
Planning Liaison: Steve Clark said there had been very little in terms of planning applications this year. In years gone by the council did not look at relatively minor applications but had now decided to look at all planning applications. The opening of Costa Coffee had caused some controversy, he said, but the building had become empty and unkempt since Derby House had moved out and it was too big to be left as a single unit which was why the rst and second oors had been converted to ats. Concerns had been expressed about the impact on smaller independent outlets but the council could only comment in planning terms, not how it will impact competitors.
Olney Centre Management: Alan Richardson reported on behalf of the management committee. He said the building was now in its 21st year as a community centre and continued to be well used by all section of the community from babies to senior citizens and for wedding, parties, bridge groups and table tennis to name just a few. A deep cleaning exercise had recently taken place, he said. Roger Mann asked if there had been any progress on the town council taking ownership of the building under the Community Asset Transfer programme. Alan explained that it wasn’t currently part of the programme but Milton Keynes Council would be holding a public meeting this month to initiate the process and gauge public opinion. He hoped that in due course this would lead to OTC taking ownership, although Steve Clark observed that it was a very long process.
Ann Hopkins Smith Almshouse Trust:
Tony Evans reported that during the year two
trustees had resigned and thanked them for the valuable work they have done during their time as trustees. They had been successful in nding one new Trustee, but another is required and needs to be a Quaker to conform to the trust deeds. There have been no changes of residents in the year and at the moment there a small waiting list. There is a problem with the mains water supply at the Almshouses, due to the age of the piping outside, so the trustees have decided to renew it all with alkathene pipe, and this work will be done during the summer.
Newport and Olney Lions: Trevor Aldred reported that the Lions raise money for deserving local, national and international causes now had 18 to 20 members. In the past year they had made grants to Newport Pagnell Christmas lights, Christmas parcels for the elderly, Olney Pre-school, The British Legion, Willen Hospice, Age Concern and Advantage Africa amongst others.
Cowper and Newton Museum: Paul Collins report is printed on page 27.
The Olney Group: Roger Mann presented the report and accounts on behalf of TOG. He explained that the two biggest events organised by TOG, namely the Raft Race and Fireworks, had both suffered postponement due to the appalling weather. The Raft Race was moved from July to September because the river was dangerously high and the reworks had been delayed by a week because heavy and persistent rain on the day meant that the site was ooded. As a result the ticket sales were half what they had been the previous year and together with the ve year lease for a lockup from the council, this meant that there was a de cit of £1640. However, reserves meant that it had not been necessary to request underwriting from OTC, as in previous years. He nished by saying that former Mayor and founder of TOG, Dave Price, would shortly be moving away from the area and thanked him for all of the hard work he had put in, not just to TOG but the community in general during his time in Olney.
Open forum: Peter Hill asked what the council intended to do about the problem of cars parking on the junction of West Street and Long Lane. Would they consider painting double yellow lines, he asked? Steve Clark explained that, while sympathetic to the problem, it was not an issue that OTC could resolve as it was a matter for the Highways department of Milton Keynes Council. They could offer their support to the suggestion though, he said.
Helen Fudge asked if Olney should have a Neighbourhood Local Plan. Steve Clark replied that this had been discussed at a council meeting and some members felt strongly that Olney should have such a plan so were looking to set up a working group. Jeremy Rawlings said that without such a plan it was very dif cult to object to unpopular planning applications.
Paul Collins asked if the council had been consulted about the proposed downgrading of the bus service to and from Milton Keynes. From 2nd June there would be no Sunday or Bank Holiday service and the evening service had be cut considerably, he said. Other similar towns and villages, such as Woburn Sands, had maintained their level of service he said. Jeremy Rawlings said that he was not aware of any consultation
There being no further comments or questions from residents, the meeting was closed by the chairman.
Phonebox Magazine 41