Page 15 - Phonebox Magazine April 2008

Mercury Report
Olney Town Council Meeting of Monday 3 March 2008
Public participation and Police report
Unusually, no member of the public wished to speak at the start of the meeting and no member of the Police was present for the Police report. So, the meeting moved quickly on to the next agenda item.
Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)
John Sharp reported briefly on the last meeting of the NAG. The main item of interest was that the Group is compiling a report on the zebra crossing on the High Street outside One Stop. This is in the light of two recent accidents on or immediately next to the crossing.
Olney Rugby Club 7's tournament
Olney Rugby Club has asked to use the Recreation Ground for a 7's tournament, along the lines of that held last year. This was agreed, subject to there being a discussion with the Club, before the event, on clearing up litter.
Great Escape Ballooning
Great Escape Ballooning, which used to be run by Kevin Viney but has now been sold to the European Balloon Display Company (EBDC), has requested the use of the Allotment Field as a balloon take off site.
As explained by Pat Slaney, before the company was sold, Olney Town Council (OTC) used to charge £700 per year for this use. Since the sale, the company has attempted to negotiate this price down, starting at £350 and, on that being refused, rising to £500.
Councillors including Jeremy Rawlings and Tony Evans felt that the price should not be dropped as ballooning is a commercial venture and does not bring any business to the town. David Coles felt that the ballooning was an asset to the town and that it'd be a shame if it was lost.
Chris Ford noted that, in spite of EBDC claiming that it may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to cover the £700 cost, it must surely have reviewed Great Escape's accounts for the previous year before purchasing it. Given this, the £700 price should have been planned for and can hardly have been a surprise.
Councillors voted to keep the price at £700.
Best Kept Village
Councillors agreed to enter the Best Kept Village competition again this year, Olney having done well last year by winning the Tindal Cup. The cost of entry is £8 and the judges turn up anonymously at an unknown time during a six week period.
Britain In Bloom (BIB)
The decision on whether Olney should enter the BIB competition for the year generally provokes some discussion, and this year was no exception.
Alan Richardson, who was heavily involved in last year's entry, said that he would fully support Olney entering this year if that was the Councillors' wish. However, he noted that he was a bit disappointed with the whole event. Last year, Olney got its highest ever number of points and won one of the very few silver gilts awarded. But, he felt that this was the highest prize Olney would ever get.
This view was based on his attending the prize giving last year, and on information from a speech given at that event. If more than two pieces of litter, any graffiti or insufficient community participation are seen then this prevents a gold prize from being awarded. He thus felt that a gold prize would be very difficult to achieve in Olney, in spite of the significant amount of work done.
Tony Evans felt that BIB was a good thing as it provided an impetus to keep the place looking good. He noted that it was not about winning but, instead, about reaching a certain level of performance – and that it'd be sad if Olney did not try to reach it again. He proposed that Olney enter the competition.
Michael Hughes asked who benefited from all the work – around 50 people who were interested in the event or the town more generally. He also asked what would change if the town did not enter. He concluded by noting that he did not have strong views either way.
After further discussion, the Council voted to enter the competition again this year.
Driftway banks
Now that Driftway is open, the state in which the earth banks to the sides of the road have been left has become clear. Tony Evans, who raised this item, felt they looked disgraceful.
The appearance of the banks is currently dominated by raw earth and many quite large stones. As far as Mercury can discover, it appears to be Milton Keynes Council who devised the plans for the landscaping and the developer, George Wimpey, who carried them out. But, since the Councillors had not seen the plans, they could not be certain whether it was them or the way in which the developers had actioned them which they disliked.
The limited information that the Councillors did have led them to believe that the raw
earth and stones were intended to be sympathetic to the site having been, in the past, a stone works and were aimed at promoting the growth of a wild flower meadow.
Councillors in general were sceptical of the site ever having been a stone works. Tony, himself a farmer, was also sceptical about the site ever producing a decent wild flower meadow, thinking instead that it would be inhabited by thistles, nettles and dock. He also noted that it would cost money to cut down the injurious weeds which would likely grow there.
Steve Clark recommended that, before acting further, the Council should talk with Milton Keynes Council (MKC) to understand the agreement between it and the developers. Then, it would be clear if that agreement had been fulfilled and, if not, who was responsible for sorting things out.
Councillors agreed to arrange a site visit and to write to MKC to learn about the agreement between it and the developers.
(No) parking in Market Square
The Farmers' Market is held on the first Sunday of each month in the Market Square. For the days preceding it, a sign is placed there stating that cars must not be left parked on the Square for the Sunday.
However Tony Evans explained that, for the most recent Farmers' Market, three cars had been left parked on the Square, and that this had been extremely inconvenient for the stallholders and the public attending the Market.
He noted that OTC has the right to have such cars towed away and suggested that this be investigated. This subject, discussed here under the Members' Matters agenda item, will be dealt with as a full agenda item in next month's Council meeting.
You have been warned...
Cattle Market car park
As reported in October 2007’s Mercury, there had been problems with cars speeding through the Cattle Market car park and the noise associated with them. New bollards have now been installed there and Michael Hughes was happy to report that these had been a success, seeing a marked reduction of the issues. K
The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Monday 7 April in the Council Chamber in The Olney Centre. Members of the public are always welcome to attend and, if they wish, speak at the start of the meeting.
Phonebox Magazine 15