Page 26 - Phonebox Magazine June 2010

Mercury Report
Olney Town Meeting of Thursday 29 April 2010
The Town Meeting is held yearly and is a chance for the public to learn what the local Police, Olney Town Council and local groups and charities have been doing. Members of the public are welcome to attend and free to ask questions.
Police report
Inspector Roy Stringer of Thames Valley Police gave this report, starting with crime figures for the year ending 31st March 2010. There were 293 crimes in total, five fewer than the year before. These included 27 burglaries from dwellings and 22 from non-dwellings, five thefts of vehicles and 29 from vehicles, 23 incidents of shoplifting and 12 drug offences. He reported various positive results in connection with the burglaries and vehicle crimes, with some offenders receiving community based and some custodial sentences.
Roy explained that operation Drystone, started in late August 2009, aimed to tackle antisocial behaviour, keeping officers in the rural sector. While it was too early to say how well it was working, there had been some successes including targeting youths in the Market Square. Mercury’s web surfing suggests this may be part of an ongoing national crime reduction operation to build safer neighbourhoods, with other examples documented in Yorkshire and, closer to home but just as picturesque, Milton Keynes.
Roy concluded by promoting the Have Your Say meetings in the Olney Centre, a chance to meet the neighbourhood PCSOs and team members. These are held on the second Thursday of every month for two hours, starting at 2.30pm on 10th June, 7pm on 8th July and alternating from then on.
Mike Hughes felt that the Police were very visible in the area and that things had moved forward well since last year. He praised the work of the three local officers: PC Dan Smith and PCSOs Chris Ward and Tina Lewington.
Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)
This report was given by Susan Hughes, Chair of Olney NAG. It had been three years since the NAG last consulted with the public to find its top three concerns – currently antisocial behaviour, traffic issues and litter – and it was nearly time for it to consult again. She explained that the Group had worked hard to publicise the non-emergency 0845 8 505 505 local Police number, and explained that all calls to it are treated confidentially, logged and used to identify problem areas and target patrols.
NAG meetings are held in the Olney Centre on the last Tuesday of each month, usually alternating between 7pm and 11am. The next two are at 7pm on 29th June and the AGM at 12pm on 20th July. Debbie Brock said ‘well done’ to Susan for chairing the NAG.
Olney Health Check
John Crouch, standing in for David Rumens, gave a brief report on the Health Check. The results of its survey had been compiled by four sub-committees into an Action Plan report, and David was starting to push forward the causes it identified. John concluded by noting that the report included the consensus view of the town at the time the survey was performed, but that it needed to be acted on if it was to make a real difference.
Recreations and Services Committee
Committee Chair Tony Evens being unable to attend, Michael Hughes gave this report. It was pretty detailed so just a summary is included here.
Doff’s Field is now in full use, allowing the Rugby Club to vacate one pitch on the main recreation area, in turn allowing the Tennis Club to build a fourth court and the Cricket Club to extend its wicket area. The only negatives with the sports fields were antisocial behaviour from a small number of people littering and lighting fires on the fields, and dog fouling. The Council is working with the Police on the former and will work to stop the latter.
Mike reported that the new parking restrictions on the Market Place are working very well, and that the Council is looking at possible improvements to the toilets there.
Planning Liaison Committee
Steve Clark started by explaining that Olney Town Council merely advises on planning applications, this advice being passed to Milton Keynes Council which makes the decisions. It had been a very quiet year, the Committee having met just twice, mainly due to all the infill sites being taken bar that between the Youth and Rugby Clubs.
Steve concluded by explaining two ways in which the Internet could be helpful with regard to planning applications. First, Milton Keynes Council’s website allows you to view the details of any application – see http://publicaccess.milton- keynes.gov.uk/default.aspx. Second, www.planningalerts.com, although still in beta and with somewhat patchy coverage, will email you if it discovers any applications within a specified distance of your postcode.
Finance Committee
Although no report was presented, audience members were invited to view the figures in their handouts. A selection are reported here. They’re for the year ended 31st March 2010, with the bracketed figures being for the year before. Total income was £295,000 (£277,000) and total expenditure £301,000 (£300,000), resulting in an excess of expenditure over income of £6,000 (£23,000). Cash reserves are £526,000 (£566,000).
Olney Centre Management Committee
Alan Richardson gave this report, saying that it had been a good year at the Centre, the venue being well used. Exit doors had been modified to meet current fire regulations, a covered buggy shelter had been installed in the car park and the floor in the main hall had been replaced.
Local Groups
The Ann Hopkins Smith Almshouse Charity had seen a much quieter year following the major refurbishments of the previous two years. All houses are occupied but a waiting list is maintained. Any elderly lady with strong Olney connections can apply for an Almshouse by writing to Tony Evans at Olney Park Farm, Yardley Road, Olney.
The British School Charity awards grants to people in Olney aged under 25 engaging in further education beyond A Level or in occupational training. Last year’s severe drop in interest rates had led to a very significant reduction in these grants – £740 compared with £3850 the year before.
The Cowper and Newton Museum reported a busy and successful year, with many more visitors than the year before. That said, overall income had not increased, mainly felt to be as a result of the general economic climate. Overall, funds had been depleted by around £9,000 over the year. The members of the Museum were grateful to the Town Council for its support. Mike Hughes congratulated the Museum for its work over the year.
Reporting on The Olney Group (TOG), Dave Price explained that it organises the Raft Race and Fireworks Night, and provides manpower to assist Ron Bull with the hanging baskets. He reported that, while excess profits made by TOG in past years had been donated to charities, this year had been marginal financially so that couldn’t happen. The increasing cost of Public Liability Insurance was one reason cited. A member of the audience noted that the handout in fact showed an excess of expenditure over income of £1,900 for the year. Mark Luckin, another TOG member, explained that this was due to 2008’s extraordinarily wet Fireworks Night: Olney Town Council had agreed to underwrite the event and was awaiting final figures from TOG. When these were confirmed, the resulting £2,000 payment didn’t appear in TOG’s accounts until the current financial year, hence the apparent excess.
Mike Hughes asked if TOG had considered asking the Council if it could cover any of the Group’s town events under its insurance policy. Mark replied that he’d never dared ask. Another member of the audience asked if this suggestion might apply to other local groups. A brief discussion followed. Mercury spoke with the Council a few days after the meeting, and it is currently considering if it could assist with insurance for certain events and, if so, how it might do this.
26 Phonebox Magazine