Olney Town Council Reports

There was one member of the public who spoke this month. Martin Wilkinson started by saying that everyone knew why he was there and jokingly admitted to being ‘a pain’ but said he was speaking on behalf of the many residents who want to see a 20mph limit imposed on all side roads in Olney. Many are not fit for purpose for 30mph due to the volume of traffic and number of potholes, he said. He noted that the council had voted against a blanket 20mph restriction at the December meeting, instead opting for a targeted approach. A blanket restriction would be much simpler to implement, less confusing, and would cost a lot less than the suggested targeted zones, he thought. He referred to a petition raised a couple of years ago that had been signed by ‘a fair few hundred’ people. East Street is particularly dangerous, he said, suggesting that it would be too dangerous to install speed awareness cameras in some locations. He also noted that many road markings in the town, particularly at the bottom of Weston Road, are in urgent need of repainting. He finished by saying that it would be his last time of asking, as he felt like a lost profit in the wilderness.
A letter had been received from Naomi Brock on behalf of Olney Is Kind, thanking the council and staff for hosting the Christmas Day lunch at the Olney Centre. Mayor Debbie Whitworth said the event had been a huge success.

David Tyler, Dan Rowland and Alan Stone had sent apologies. There were no declarations of interest.

Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) Ward Councillor Keith McLean was present to give the report on behalf of the Conservative group. Noting that there had been no OTC meeting in January, he wished everyone a Happy New Year. He said he had been notified of a few changes to the MKCC budget, one of them being that the Highways Department would be seeking a headcount reduction of eight people. However, seven of those were posts that had been vacant for some time, so there would only be one person affected. It was a tight but balanced budget, he said. As previously reported, the Petsoe End Windfarm Fund exists to make donations to community groups. It receives an annual grant of £7k and currently has around £35k in the pot. As a result of the acquisition of the windfarm by OnPath in January 2025, the administration of the fund has now been transferred from the committee made up of Parish Council nominees to the Milton Keynes Community Foundation. Keith said he was confident that the governance structure and transparency of the process for assessing applications would now be much better once it was fully up and running in six to eight weeks. The Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner had that day announced that £200k would be available for suitable schemes and Keith had passed details to all parish clerks in the ward. The MKCC Customer Services email facility has recently been withdrawn and all contact should now be made via the online form. There had been grumbles on social media for the first couple of days but the system now appeared to be working well. The consultation period for the New City Plan had been extended from late December to 16th February due to a flaw in the process of notifying consultees of the previous stage about the Regulation 19 consultation. At a previous meeting it had been reported that the Newport Pagnell recycling centre would be closing at the end of the current financial year, even though the replacement Wolverton ‘Super-Site’ would not be up and running by then. Keith reported that the closure date was now autumn 2026, but an undertaking had been given that it would not close until the new site was open. The rather vague nature of MKCC’s advance road closure signs was a cause for concern for Keith. There did not appear to be standard times for one-day road closures, he said. Usually it was 09.30 to 16.30, but occasionally it was 08.00 to 18.00, which made it very difficult for people to plan their journeys. He noted that the recent closure at Petsoe End had been signposted on the A509, but there were no signs coming from Turvey until the point of closure. Regarding the council decision not to implement a 20mph blanket speed restriction, Keith said he had also spoken to residents who found the decision ‘strange’ but said he looked forward to a report on the council’s further research on the matter. Finally, Keith said that he and fellow ward councillor Peter Geary fully understood why Debbie Whitworth would not be standing in the forthcoming MKCC elections and thanked her, but it wasn’t clear whether they were thanking her for standing down or for her service over the past two years! David Chennells agreed with Keith about the lack of information on the road closure signs and thought the signs should give more information about the actual location. Keith responded that he was more interested in the timings as location data, and more is available on the one.network website. As a supporter of the blanket 20mph restriction, Colin Rodden thought that the council should inform residents about how to go about requesting a restriction in their area and appeared to want to continue the discussion further, but both Mayor Debbie Whitworth and Town Clerk Jane Brushwood indicated a strong desire to move on with the agenda.
In her role as Labour Ward Councillor, Debbie Whitworth gave a brief update on the takeover of the 41 bus service and said she was hopeful of a smooth transition to Palmer Grant, the new operator. The parents of students using the current service had paid large sums upfront for season tickets and were worried that they would not get reimbursed, she said, but she had been assured that would not be the case and all advances would be refunded. The fare cap of £3 would also remain, said Debbie. Parents of Children using the Whirly Pit roundabout crossing had expressed concerns about safety and as a result MKCC would be sending a Traffic and Transport team, including the new Road Safety Officer to investigate and report back. Potholes continue to be a problem, she said and MKCC had investigated and many marked in white for repair. If residents noted a deterioration in potholes that had already been reported the MKCC advice is to report them again, she said. Finally she reported that Aspreys is due for resurfacing in the next financial year.
Keith said as a member of MKCC Planning Committee he had seen an application for the East Street Community Centre (ex-Youth Club) to locate 10 solar panels on the roof of the building, but with no battery storage. He said he had 14 on his own house, along with a 13kW battery so this appeared to be a very cheap solution.

No PCSO was present, so Debbie Whitworth read out the report for the period 01/12/2025 – 02/02/2026:

Additionally, there have been incidents of hare coursing in rural villages.

As there was no meeting in January, two sets of results were available. Deputy Clerk Rob Mungham first provided the stats for the period 7/11/25 to 05/12/2025:

Results for 6/12/25 to 14/01/2026

All locations recorded a decrease in average speed from previous measurements. Colin Rodden expressed the opinion that SID data alone was unreliable because evidence suggests that drivers speed up once they have passed a SID and had some data to prove it. David Chennells said that in his view the only reliable measurements came from average speed cameras. Colin Rodden wanted to continue the discussion, but was asked by the mayor to provide the data so that it could be an agenda item for a future meeting.

Many councillors represent OTC at external groups and forums. Mary Prosser and David Chennells had attended the quarterly meeting of the Ann Hopkins Smith Alms Houses. Mary reported that future maintenance work on the fabric of the buildings would be required, and she had applied to the Emberton Windfarm Fund, but due to the transition to the MKCC Community Foundation, she would need to apply again in March. There was currently one vacancy which would be filled from the waiting list.

Jane Brushwood said that all Building Control requirements for renovation of the ex-football club had been met and work would start the following Monday. No progress on the Padel court.

A lengthy and detailed report had been provided by David Tyler on behalf of the working group proposing to apply to MKCC for a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on trees and hedgerows on the site known locally as ‘The Orchard’ off East Street. This is the site behind the new wooden fencing by the Tennis Club. Jane Brushwood thought it ‘a little bit bonkers’ to apply for a TPO on land where the owner had done nothing but plant trees. Sarah Lowe said as a nearby resident she had read the report with some astonishment. The report stated that there was a clear and persistent development intent on the site which poses a direct and foreseeable threat to an irreplaceable green asset, but the planning applications referred to were not relevant as two shown as pending had since been refused and a subsequent application had been approved on appeal.
A further application was the Arboricultural Method Statement which had been approved. The Landscaping Plan made clear that all existing trees would remain and there would be additional planting. Several trees in a poor state had been removed by the previous owner but the new owner was replanting the orchard as part of the application, including 30 mature trees and 400m of hedgerow at huge expense before they even knew that the appeal against refusal had been granted.
The proposed TPO included trees that the new owner had planted, she said incredulously. A dilapidated hedgerow from the end of her own garden had been removed, replanted in a better location and watered all through the summer and was now thriving, Sarah said. The trees were not at threat, she said, and did not understand the report. The owner obviously loves trees, she believed, and the report, as worded, was unfair on that individual. Agreeing with Sarah’s viewpoint, Deirdre Bethune was concerned that a subsequent owner of the site might not be so benevolent so it might be prudent to apply for a TPO now. It was agreed to hold fire on the TPO request and ask David Tyler to revise the report.

Finance matters are discussed and decisions made at the Finance Subcommittee. The accounts are then sent to all councillors before the full council meeting. Any issues are now dealt with before the meeting rather than discussed at the meeting, where they are effectively ‘rubber-stamped’. This year the Draft Budget and Draft Schedule of Charges for 2026/2027 has been agreed in the same way.
All charges for services and charges will rise by 3.6% in line with inflation. Chair of Finance Chris Shaw noted that there was no charge shown for a plaque to be fixed to a bench or post in the cemetery where ashes had been scattered so a fee of £50 was discussed and agreed.
From the ensuing discussion it appeared that this is to cater for the situation where ashes have been scattered elsewhere, but a memorial is wanted in the cemetery. Deirdre Bethune asked if this same cost would apply if ashes were scattered in the cemetery, but no plaque was required. An awkward silence ensued as it appears that this isn’t a service that is officially offered by the council. Jane Brushwood thought it unlikely that anyone would ask permission to do this, but she said the groundsmen had evidence that it is happening because ‘the lawnmower makes a different sound’!
The recent internal audit gave the council’s accounts a clean bill of health, and thanks and congratulations were offered to Clerk Jane Brushwood and Deputy Rob Mungham. Colin Rodden noted that OTC had used the same company to audit the accounts for several years and suggested that it might be good governance to change. Rob said that there was a regular rotation within the company and as a result there is a different auditor every two years or so. Besides that, there are very few companies offering that service, he said.

Riverfest will take place on Sunday, 5th July and Motorama will take place on Sunday, 14th June.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 2nd March at 7pm in the Olney Centre. If you would like to contribute to the Public Participation section at the start of the meeting, or any time the mayor deems appropriate, please contact the Town Clerk, townclerk@olneytowncouncil.gov.uk.