Page 32 - Phonebox Magazine August 2016

Olney Ward Councillors Corner
Cllr Peter Geary
Cllr David Hosking
Cllr Keith McLean
important. Some concerns have been raised about schools in the catchment area for Ousedale joining a MAT with another school well away from Olney. The decision is in the gift of the governors and we understand that they did consider this, and other alternatives, before reaching their decision to proceed with the option of forming a MAT with Two Mile Ash.
Closer to home, Emberton School has asked that we let readers know of its success as a Forest School. This type of teaching enhances the core curriculum with experiences outside of the classroom. The children are taught and encouraged to understand more about the environment in which they will grow up. As we live in the most rural part of Milton Keynes this creates a more holistic approach to upbringing. If you think your child would benefit from the high ratio of teachers to children and the Forest School ethos then please contact the school office@embertonfirst.milton-keynes.sch.uk
MK Futures 2050 Commission
As reported in July’s Phonebox, the MK Futures 2050 Commission published their report last month. A number of public sessions have taken place where the Commission have presented the outcomes of their work. The title of the report is “Milton Keynes: Making a Great City Even Greater.” At a special Council meeting held on 20th July, Milton Keynes Councillors voted unanimously to adopt the report and to begin work on the recommendations proposed by the Commission; these were broken into “Six Big Projects”:
● Hub of the Cambridge–Milton Keynes– Oxford Arc. Improving the transport links to support growth and strengthen the city’s competitive advantage.
● MK:IT The building of a new city based university to provide a world-class learning environment in the middle of the Arc and provide a step change to the social buzz of CMK.
● Learning 2050 has a vision to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to study and learn in Milton Keynes in a way that helps them achieve their aspirations.
● Smart, Shared, Sustainable Mobility is one of the enablers to support the proposed growth to 400,000 residents. New modes of transport will be required for the increased numbers and to reduce the environmental impacts.
● Renaissance:CMK will be the project that
Sherington Neighbourhood Plan
The final draft of the Sherington Neighbourhood Plan (NP) is now available for people to read and to offer comments on. A great deal of hard work has gone into the project so it is important, that if you have any more comments, to make sure that these are received by 4th September 2016. Copies are available at the Village Shop and can be found on the Sherington Parish Council website: http://www.sheringtonpc.co.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2016/07/Neighbourhood-Plan.pdf
Developments at Cranfield
(Yes, we know it is not in the Ward, but read on!)
Over the past few years there have been several commercial, educational and residential developments at Cranfield in Bedfordshire. In May an application to build 198 houses was submitted with Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC). The parish councils of North Crawley and Moulsoe
expressed concern because if these homes are built there is likely to be even more traffic travelling through the villages to and from Milton Keynes. The villages already experience many inconsiderate drivers, so the thought of more is unacceptable. A meeting was held with a ward councillor from CBC who also expressed concern about the proposal. If you want to make a comment to the CBC planners, you can do so here: http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov. uk/PLANTECH/DCWebPages/AcolNetCGI. gov. The application reference number is CB/16/02039.
Schools
An interesting end to the academic year. We were aware that Olney Infant Academy and Olney Middle School are considering joining a Multi Academy Trust (MAT); this would be with Two Mile Ash School (TMA). Recently awarded Outstanding status by Ofsted, TMA has a very good reputation for nurturing pupils and developing teachers’ skills; both vitally
32 Phonebox Magazine | August 2016