Page 26 - Phonebox Magazine November 2014

Newport Pagnell Councillor Corner
Cllr. Paul Alexander Giffard Park pond update
An increase in nutrients in the water, mainly from bread that sinks to the bottom, has created activity for ‘bottom feeders’
creating a high demand for oxygen in the water, which has led to fish dying. Problems have not been helped by a tree falling into the pond. An Action Plan is being drawn up, but it is expected to take about £60,000 to fully restore the pond, funding which is not readily available. On the 27th September a group of residents, led by Marcel Mallens and joined by Cllr Paul Alexander and Parish Cllr Peter Widdowson, took matters into their own hands and started to remove the undergrowth. Well done residents!
With one visit to the pond by a group of supporters, it is noticeable how much clearer the pond is looking.
Newport Pagnell Town Council Neighbourhood Plan
There have been many months of devotion by a working group made up from councillors and officers from Newport Pagnell Town Council, members from Milton Keynes Council Planning department, local business people and residents.
A Neighbourhood Plan is a community led framework for guiding the future development and growth of an area. It may contain a vision, aims, planning policies, proposals for improving the area and providing new facilities or allocating key sites for specific kinds of development.
All Neighbourhood Plans must meet basic conditions, and they must relate to the use and development of land and associated
26 Phonebox Magazine
A map of the potential development sites under the Newport Pagnell Neighbourhood Plan.
social, economic and environmental issues. It may deal with a wide range of issues (like housing, employment, heritage and transport) or it may focus on one or two issues that are of particular importance in Newport Pagnell.
A Neighbourhood Plan will be subject to examination and referendum and then form part of the Local Development Plan. This statutory status gives Neighbourhood Plans far more weight than some other local planning documents, such as parish plans, community plans and village design statements.
The Newport Pagnell Neighbourhood Plan was available for discussion and scrutiny by local residents across three Saturdays in September and October.
Successes in the community
The Milton Keynes Councillors, who are responsible for the Ward of Newport Pagnell South, include Cllr. Douglas McCall, Derek Eastman and myself. We all note and report local problems in addition to local residents informing us of problems that they have encountered.
I have reported and been successful in getting a casework successfully completed during the time since I have been elected. This includes the sign on the right here, which is a replacement road sign that had been hit by a motorist. Others include pothole repairs, resurfacing of deteriorated pavements,
replacement of white lines on the highway, removal of overhanging branches onto the public highway to name but a few.
Follow me online at: paulalexander.mycouncillor.org.uk.
If you need to contact any of the Newport Pagnell South Liberal Democrat Focus Team please e-mail us at NewportSouth@ mklibdems.co.uk. Write to (no stamp needed): FREEPOST RSLR-SSHC-GKUS, Newport Pagnell South Focus Team, Newport Pagnell, MK16 0BW