Page 16 - Demo

16 Phonebox Magazine | April 2025Mercury ReportIt was an unusually busy chamber for last month%u2019s Olney Town Council gathering, with every councillor present and 22 members of the public shoe-horned into the room. There must have been something important in the air then? There certainly was: BOFF. Olney%u2019s well-known food festival was coming under scrutiny, and we weren%u2019t even sure if it was going to go ahead. It was all going to come down to a closed vote%u2026Public ParticipationSeven of the public present had requested the opportunity to speak in the open forum. And we all knew what the subject of their presentations was going to be. The fi rst of them was Amir Nazary from the Courtyard Brasserie. His objection to BOFF was the length of the festival. From Thursday to Monday the car park is full, he said, and there was also %u2018big damage%u2019 to his business. On each day after the previous night%u2019s BOFF he said he has to clear a lot of rubbish from outside his premises. He felt the businesses that came to the festival were not doing %u2018a proper job%u2019 and that the event brings the %u2018wrong type of people%u2019 into the town.Next to speak was Varges Shturnahalian from Enzo%u2019s Fish Bar. He didn%u2019t like the fact that BOFF has grown from one day (Sunday) into Saturday, too, and now he said his main objection was the Friday, which he felt was %u2018too long%u2019. It aff ects his business, he said, adding that he%u2019s not keen on the amount of alcohol that is %u2018involved%u2019. He has had to put a lock on his gate because he discovered that people have urinated on or near his property. He said a two-day event was suffi cient.In the middle of all this BOFF business, former councillor Jim Cooper popped up to talk about his favourite subject: the allotments, and specifi cally, the use of weedkiller there. He asked the council how many of them owned or worked on an allotment. He didn%u2019t include David Chennells in this question as David is a farmer and has grown a thing or two in his time. Jim wanted to make the point that decisions on the use of weedkiller should be left to the experts at the National Allotment Society. We had, of course, all been here before, and this was one of the reasons for Jim%u2019s rather theatrical resignation from the council a few months back. Councillors around the table should not be making up their own rules about weedkiller, he said. Kevin Viney brought attention back to BOFF and was in favour of the event. He believed misinformation had been put about surrounding BOFF, which had misrepresented the event. This year, he said, the council has set out several conditions for BOFF, including addressing alcohol sales, security, and requiring all committee positions to be fi lled. The BOFF committee have addressed these in good faith. But he added that he believed there was an attempt to undermine the event through a %u2018so-called poll sent to traders but riddled with misleading statements, distortions and outright untruths%u2019. He said the poll was by the Mayor, %u2018someone who should be neutral and impartial%u2019. The Mayor shook her head at this point. Many traders were outraged, he said, making it clear that BOFF is good for their business.Mike Hughes, a former Olney mayor, said he was concerned about the general safety of the Market Place and the event, in particular concerning traffi c and the openness of the market area to traffi c. He asked if the council would consider installing roadblock furniture to seal the road off so that vehicles %u2018can not come through%u2019.Next was Tom Bent from the Pancake Parlour, who said that although his sales were down during the BOFF event, having worked with the committee, they had %u2018thoroughly enjoyed%u2019 the event. He spoke of a letter that had been distributed claiming that traders had not been involved with the event%u2019s committee but said that he and his business had been. He was grateful that he had been part of the event in the past and %u2018not charged%u2019 for that.Jack from Pickles Pet Pantry said he had been a trader in 2023 but not in 2024. He said last year%u2019s event had turned out %u2018quite busy for us%u2019, with visitors buying a treat for their dog, and that the atmosphere was %u2018pretty good%u2019. He asked whether all other Market Place events were going to be reviewed in a similar way to BOFF.Apologies for absence and approval of minutesEveryone had turned up for this clearly important meeting, so there were no apologies, and nobody had any declarations of interest. Deirdre said she wasn%u2019t at the meeting, but she understood that it was said that the council would try to determine what the traders and residents thought about BOFF. Was this done? she asked. Nobody said it was going to be a full consultation, said the Mayor, it was more to do with addressing complaints from residents and traders. That wasn%u2019t how it was reported to me, countered Deirdre, and it%u2019s not in the minutes anyway, about how you would deal with it. I don%u2019t think this is about whether the minutes are correct are not, said Town Clerk Jane Brushwood. This is what we%u2019re dealing with now; in fact, Standing Orders say that by the time it comes to the meeting, the minutes should be considered %u2018as read%u2019. The minutes for last month%u2019s (February) meeting were duly approved.Ward Councillor%u2019s reportCllr Peter Geary had just about managed to find a place to stand at the back of the chambers and was invited to deliver his report. He said a contract had now been issued to the current provider of the MK Connect public transport service. They are changing slightly the way they work, which, he said, we expected. There is now a guarantee of 60 minutes wait maximum for users, although Peter didn%u2019t know how that would be monitored and implemented. It is a two year contract, he said, and there%u2019s an option of a third year.On the Newport Pagnell waste tip Peter said there were plans to close it %u2018relatively soon%u2019 and would likely be shut down by the end of the 2026 fi nancial year. The nearest tip for Olney residents will be at Old Wolverton (Milton Keynes) said Peter, which is going to be %u2018quite a disturbance%u2019 for people having to drive that far away and back again. Peter and colleague Keith McLean have been making their views known to Milton Keynes City Council about the plans, saying they don%u2019t think it is in the best interest of the area. He said the Leader of MKCC (Cllr Pete Marland) was going to %u2018bulldoze the blockers%u2019, which Peter took to include himself. Hopefully, common sense will prevail, he added. Colin Rodden had a rubbish-related question %u2013 litter on the verges. There is so much of it, he said, should people accept that he asked. It shouldn%u2019t be like that, agreed Peter. This is the worst time of year, he said, where until the grass grows a bit and hides it, it%u2019s at its worst. Keith McLean has been pushing to make sure Olney gets a regular cleanse outside the boundaries and settlements. These should be done in Spring and Autumn.Peter added that the MKCC New City Plan is now likely to be submitted early next year, not in the summer of 2025. The future of BOFFThere was no PCSO present, so the Mayor decided to bring forward the council decision on the future of BOFF as had been discussed earlier. Richard Hillier discussed safety and said he had heard that a committee member had said the council wants to %u2018shut us down%u2019. David Chennells asked if the three-day event format was non-negotiable. In other words, if we are voting tonight are we %u2018voting for a three-day event, take it or leave it%u2019, or do councillors have the option to say yes to a two-day event? He asked. The Mayor cleared it up by saying they would be voting for the event %u2018in its present form%u2019. At no point had a BOFF committee member come back with a compromise, she added. David said there had been misinformation last time. There was a cohort who strongly object to BOFF and %u2018a heck of a lot of people%u2019 who enjoyed themselves. So, the balance of enjoyment against disruption