Page 16 - Phonebox Magazine August 2007

Councillor Corner
A contribution from Councillor Steve Clark
Floods
The searing temperatures experienced during July 2006 seem a very distant memory following the prolonged period of heavy rainfall over the past couple of months. Scenes of extensive flooding have been a regular feature in the media for some weeks and events once thought of as almost once in a lifetime now seem to take place with alarming regularity. Locally, it is of very great concern that some residents in Stoke Goldington have been badly hit by flooding twice in the space of a month. Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Potts has asked the Council to carry out an enquiry into what happened in the village.
A further report is to be carried out into flooding in nearby Weston Underwood. Other villages in the area suffered flooding to a varying extent. There was considerable flooding in Moulsoe, where vast amounts of water were running off the very farmland that Conservative controlled Bucks County Council thinks we should be building houses on!
Whilst our part of the country has not suffered the unprecedented and widespread flooding that has affected vast areas elsewhere, it is worth noting that some of our emergency services have been called on to help out. A Fire and Rescue crew from Newport Pagnell, along with their appliance and rescue boat, were on duty throughout the evening of 20th July at Droitwich in Worcestershire, where more than 100 people were rescued following heavy flooding there.
Routine maintenance of the Council’s flood defences concentrates on silt removal from highway culverts, the removal of debris from trash grids and cutting back of vegetation where it is deemed to impede the flow of water. The Council works closely with and seeks advice from the Environment Agency and the Buckingham Internal Drainage Board on all planning issues to ensure there is no increased risk of flooding in the Borough. Areas shown to be at risk on the
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Environment Agency’s indicative floodplain maps are identified on the proposals map of the Milton Keynes Local Plan. Local Plan Policy S13 states that planning permission will be refused for development if it would be likely to;
G Materially impede the flow of flood water G Restrict the capacity of the flood plain to
store water
G Increase the number of people or properties at risk from flooding.
Whilst there is considerable debate about the reasons behind the freak weather conditions, there does seem to be a genuine understanding that much more consideration need to be given before building homes and businesses in areas at risk from flooding.
Road Works Ahead
A number of temporary road closures are scheduled in and around Olney this month for carriageway resurfacing to take place. Signed diversions will be put in place during these closures and access to properties within the closure areas will be maintained as far as possible. The resurfacing work is being carried out as part of the Liberal Democrat Milton Keynes Council’s continued Highway Maintenance programme for the rural areas where I have been pressing for action.
G A temporary closure of the A428 through Lavendon from the A509 roundabout at Warrington to the junction with the B565 at Cold Brayfield is scheduled from 09.30 to 18.30 each day from Monday 30th July to Monday 6th August.
G A temporary closure of the B565 Lavendon Road from the junction with the A509 Wellingborough Road to the junction with the A428 at Cold Brayfield is scheduled from 09.30 to 18.00 each day from Monday 6th August to Thursday 9th August, although it is hoped that it will be completed in two days.
G A temporary closure of Silver End in Olney from Market Place to East Street, along with the part of East Street from The Maltings to Palmers Road is scheduled from 09.30 to 18.30 on either Wednesday 8th August or Friday 10th August. It is expected that the work can be completed in one day, so there should be no disruption to the regular weekly market in the town.
Milton Keynes Council is currently looking at options for remodelling the Silver End Car
Park in Olney following complaints of anti- social behaviour by local residents. It is likely that the vehicular entrance from Freemans Gardens will be restricted or closed off to prevent the use of the car park and adjacent roads as a race track. This follows remodelling work carried by the Town Council to their car park in East Street, again following complaints from local residents.
We still await the opening of the final section of the Drift Way distributor road between Wellingborough Road and Yardley Road in Olney. The provision of this stretch of highway was negotiated by me and my former council colleague, Graham Mabbutt. The project is close to completion but the council is unable to open the road until the highway lighting is fully installed and working. The new stretch of road will be subject to a 30 mph speed limit, but this speed limit only becomes valid in the presence of street lighting.
The Olney-Newton Link
The Olney-Newton Link was set up after the parish church established contact with Newton, named after the former slave trader known internationally for The Olney Hymns. The aim of the Olney-Newton Link is “To advance education and to relieve poverty in the village of Newton, Sierra Leone by the provision of charitable assistance”. To date some £3000 has been sent to Newton with the aim of establishing a skills centre. This will be a U – shaped building incorporating three apartments, two tutorial rooms and six rooms for guest, office and storage purposes. All of the work is being carried out with local labour and currently the foundations are being established.
A group from Olney was originally intending to visit Newton this month to see how the various projects were coming along. However the Sierra Leone government suddenly changed the date of a planned General Election, the first since the end of the Civil War, to August 11th. Although it is hoped that the election will not be too eventful, as a precaution it was felt wise to postpone the visit until later in the year. The