Page 11 - Demo

March 2025 | Phonebox Magazine 11Four Course Meal %u00a329.95 per personIncludes: Starter, Main Course, Rice and Naan, and a glass of wine for Mum!60 High Street, Olney BuckinghamshireFour PillarsTandoofi RestaurantHONOURING OUR SPECIAL GUEST: MUMIndulge in a Four-Course Feast - She Deserves It!Tel: 01234 714083 / 711563 Sunday 30th March Reserve Your Table for a Mother%u2019s Day to RememberOpen 1 %u2013 11pm Sundays / 5.30pm %u2013 11.30pm Mon to Sat*www.the4pillarsrestaurant.co.uk* Additional surcharge on seafoodFor example, diff erent words were used by the reporter, changing %u2018the town%u2019 in the letter to OTC to %u2018your town%u2019 in the report and %u2018the local economy%u2019 to %u2018your local economy%u2019 to make it look like a %u2018them and us%u2019 divisive situation.People who live at Yardley Manor are residents of Olney. Do you dispute that? Your report attributed those incorrect words to an address made by the Mayor and we understand that Debbie Whitworth is unhappy to have been misquoted.Residents %u2018asked for%u2019 and did not %u2018demand%u2019 the council%u2019s support. They sought it. It is cynical to characterise this otherwise%u00a0Later on in this publication, in the %u2018update on YM playpark%u2019 section of the report residents were referred to as the %u2018Yardley Manor Mob%u2019. That is atrocious and I demand an apology from you as editor for printing such a derisory term. Residents there are not a mob but actually a large number of professional people who live in Olney and would like this town to be a pleasant and well-maintained place to live. Does your reporter prefer that Olney be unkempt and unfi nished? Do you support that view?The overall impression the reporter leaves is one of personal prejudice on their anonymous behalf, so I suggest you name the author and instruct them to write a correction that you publish.It is clear that several councillors and OTC support the concerns of the residents so it is disappointing that your reporter chose to make dismissive remarks and also got their facts wrong.%u00a0I am not humourless and understand the need to balance reporting facts with keeping the interest of readers, but poking fun at several hundred people and demeaning their status by calling them %u2018peasants%u2019 goes too far. You need to make amends.Your report has caused considerable anger and off ence amongst the local residents and it has tarnished the reputation of the Phonebox magazine.Regards, Chris SlezakowskiOlney resident and adviser to the Yardley Manor Steering GroupDear Sir To correct an error in my previous message, I misremembered one comment; your report did not refer to Yardley Manor residents as %u2018peasants%u2019. The comment was that they were %u2018revolting%u2019.Regards, Chris SlezakowskiThe Editor Replies:We have edited both these letters because many points were repeated.The Mercury Report is there to inform Phonebox readers of monthly business at the town council meeting and is often done in a light-hearted manner which most readers enjoy. We attend so readers don%u2019t have to.The Mayor did indeed read out %u2018your town%u2019 and %u2018your local economy%u2019 to councillors when referring to residents%u2019 %u2018quality of life%u2019 in the letter, and that%u2019s how it was reported. OTC meetings are recorded by the council and ourselves. We check our recording when we create the report.We have spoken to the Mayor, and she has confi rmed that she was not misquoted and is therefore not %u2018unhappy%u2019. It was correctly reported that the Mayor said residents had %u2018set up our own steering group of more than 200 residents%u2019.Posse is another word for a group of people with a common goal or characteristic.There is an old joke which goes: %u2018Outside, the peasants were revolting%u2019. Others would say in revolt! Our writer was refl ecting that humourous line in his report. As for the word %u2018mob%u2019, who hasn%u2019t watched The Wackey Races?The writer has no personal view on the condition of the estate.Phonebox Magazine has consistently supported residents of the Yardley Manor estate by highlighting the problems and issues homeowners have faced there with construction and late delivery of promised features, and it will continue to do so. Helping the town is at the heart of what we do.