Page 18 - Phonebox Magazine October 2009

Mercury Report
Olney Town Council Meeting of Monday 7 September 2009
There was a larger than average Charlie’s Guide Olney. Whilst not knowing what the
attendance from members of the public at this month’s council meeting. Indeed, there were so many people at the start of the meeting that the Deputy Clerk Sandra Grummitt had to arrange for extra seats to be brought in to the chamber. However, very few of them stuck it out to the end.
Traffic Review Update
Richard Duffill, Milton Keynes Council (MKC) Traffic Management Team Leader, was present to give an update of the traffic review for Olney which was carried out last year. He started by apologising for the recent problems when yellow lines had appeared unexpectedly on some roads in the town. It appears that the council’s contractors had been over enthusiastic in their work and had put down lines for schemes which were still under discussion and therefore not agreed. The lines had now been removed and the matter taken up with the contactors, he said. Amongst the plans being discussed were for car parking on Wellingborough Road and a new lay-by on Weston Road. The latter would hopefully alleviate some of the current parking problems in Oakdown Crescent and Chantry Rise. Others included the remodelling of the Yardley Road/ Wellingborough Road and Church Street/ High Street South junctions. Steve Clark asked for an update on the possible removal of the controversial mini-roundabouts on Aspreys and was informed that the matter was still under investigation but a briefing to the residents was imminent. Alan Richardson asked when the solar powered speed warning signs at the bend on the Lavendon Road would be fixed, as he personally had approached them at speed in order to trigger them but without success. Rachel Passee asked if there was any progress on the provision of a footpath on the Driftway between Lilley Hill and Wellingborough road. When this matter was investigated by Olney Town Council over a year ago it was noted that there was an underground gas installation in the verge which required a fairly precise weight of earth over the top to keep it stable so a tarmac path was not feasible. Richard Duffill confirmed this, adding that the installation consisted of at least one huge gas container somewhat larger than the council chamber in which they were currently sitting. He said that a solution was due to be in place by March 2010 and one possibility being investigated was the provision of some kind of pedestrian footbridge over the top. Probably best not to stop for a smoke whist traversing it, mused Mercury!
As reported last month, Charlie’s Guide is a yearly produced pocket sized pamphlet promoting independent retailers in its town, for which they pay around £120 each. There are currently guides available for Stamford and Oakham and last month two representatives from the guide gave a presentation to OTC with a view to producing a guide for Olney. The cost to the first 50 retailers could be halved with a contribution of from OTC of £3000 and the representatives offered to approach local retailers to find out how many would be interested in signing up for the reduced fee and report back to the council.
Former town councillor and Mayor Paul Watson had previously requested to speak as a member of the public on this subject and, in keeping with the new policy of allowing members of the public to contribute at the appropriate point in the meeting, was invited to speak. Paul said that in his opinion the granting of £3000 to pay advertising costs of retailers and service providers was not a correct use of the council tax payments. We already have, he said, a far superior free Olney Official Guide published by the local authority publishing company which contains advertisements for local businesses. Secondly, 2 or 3 years ago there was a request to have produced a pamphlet not dissimilar to Charlie’s Guide at a cost to OTC of £700, but he had not seen the finished article and neither had anyone else that he had spoken to. OTC had also contributed to the cost of a map and index of businesses in Olney, which can now be seen in the bus shelter on the Market Place. This map is identical to the type of information which is shown in the Charlie’s Guide for Stamford. Why, therefore, does Olney need a Charlie’s Guide, he asked? In summary, Paul said he saw a financial cost being borne by the residents and the businesses of Olney with a corresponding loss of revenue by our two local free publications, which could restrict their ability to provide our local charities and voluntary organisations with the free publicity many of them currently enjoy. The only operation guaranteed to make money out of this venture is Charlie’s Guide at our expense, he said, and hoped that when the topic comes up for discussion the councillors will remember that they are spending Olney residents’ money and reject the subsidisation of Charlie’s Guide. In finishing, Paul said whilst looking at the agenda for tonight’s meeting he had noticed that there was also a request for funding from Visit
presentation was about, he hoped that it was not a request to finance another commercial operation.
A discussion took place regarding the request for the £3000 grant. Chris Ford said that in his opinion the traders themselves should pay the costs of advertising, not OTC. Later in the meeting Steve Clark proposed a vote that the council should agree the grant but no seconder came forward so the motion was defeated without a vote taking place.
Visit Olney
Sophia Sanger spoke about an enterprise that she is working on to promote Olney, having already written to the council about two websites that she has developed. These websites are www.VisitOlney.com and www.OlneyOnline.com. Sophia talked through a four page document that she had produced as background information to the project. Since she had built the websites she had received much favourable feedback including a testimonial from an American visitor to Olney who had used www.VisitOlney.com to find out about the town, plan days out and even order pet food supplies before leaving home to come to Olney. Sophia said it was always her intention to place a downloadable map on the sites and intended to licence this from the Chamber of Trade. She also wished to do a leaflet version, with information on visiting Olney for use in tourist information offices, hotels and local outlets. Although her main investment had thus far been her time in developing the websites she now needed assistance to proceed further because of publishing costs, she explained. Sophia asked for the council to consider three requests:
• An application for a grant of £1500 to establish the leaflet which would include photographs, copy summarising what Olney can offer visitors, plus the town map detailing businesses. The grant would cover copy writing, layout and photography, license of the Chamber of Trade map, printing an initial batch of 3000 leaflets and purchase of 30 leaflet stands.
• Creation of a web link from the OTC website to her sites.
• Consider whether OTC would wish her to quote for developing a new website for OTC.
Mayor Mike Hughes wondered if the internet had not replaced the need for leaflets but
18 Phonebox Magazine