Page 50 - Phonebox Magazine April 2012

Councillor Corner
A contribution from Cllr Debbie Brock
Due to the law regarding elections this article and indeed the May article is only from Debbie Brock, however the Olney Ward councillors are a strong team and continue to work together on your behalf throughout the election period.
Authority for Policing in Thames Valley, the Fire Authority to fund the Fire Service in Bucks and Milton Keynes and also from your Parish Council to fund the services in your parish. Milton Keynes Council collects through the council tax system all the above monies and then passes the shares due to these other authorities onto them.
nEwton BLossomViLLE schooL pLAyinG FiELd
It seems almost unheard of these days for a school not to have a playing field, especially a school in the rural areas however until now the school at Newton Blossomville has not had a sports field, the only outdoor area being a small playground. The school was very fortunate when a local landowner gave the school permission to use a small part of a field close by. The school will have to fence it, look after it and most importantly get planning permission to use it as a school playing field. The change of planning class from a field is a more difficult procedure than some might think with various groups having to be involved and numerous surveys being done for wildlife etc. While some of the consultees who responded to the application were not in favour the scheme, when it went to a recent meeting of the Development Control Panel in Milton Keynes, the result was of overwhelming support for the proposal although some conditions were imposed including the request that floodlighting cannot be installed. So soon, Newton Blossomville School will also have a field where the pupils can play and also enjoy the fresh air.
BoARdwALK
The field soon to become the school field at Newton Blossomville
Olney Baptist Church as it is at present
constructed on Weston Road. This is proving to be a valuable asset for the young people living in the area, however accessing the play area has proved somewhat problematic. While a lovely path was laid it seems that the area was very low and the path regularly flooded, even when the water is not present the path is covered in mud leaving it not a very clean way to access the play equipment. Officers of Milton Keynes Council have been thinking about a solution for the problem for some time now, with a solution requested by local residents and the NAG, and have come up with the idea of a board walk to bridge the affected piece of path as the best option. The spend of money was agreed at a Cabinet meeting in February and the work on construction will start imminently.
As part of the planning obligation for the houses built on the site of the former tannery in Olney a small play area had to be
oLnEy cRicKEt cLuB
The Olney Baptist Church as it will soon look
oLnEy BAptist chuRch
Olney has many sports clubs and the Cricket Club have an ever increasing demand for younger players and have been looking to increase the amount of games they can play and the facilities they have for younger players. The only way possible of doing this was to lay some new wickets which have become available following the moving of one of the rugby pitches as well as renovating the nets at the pavilion. Renovations such as these do need money and in Milton Keynes we are lucky to have the Hockey Foundation. You may remember
Another good piece of planning news was for Olney’s Baptist Church, granted planning permission on 22nd March to extend and improve its existing building. In so doing they will also be able to remove some unsightly temporary buildings from the graveyard, in due course.
The Baptist Church has been a part of Olney life
for hundreds of years, more recently it has seen improvement works carried out in 1948, 1986 and again in 2006, these major improvement works
have been necessitated by a burgeoning congregation and as the Church has played it’s role as a part of an increasing, wider, very active local Community.
that over 10 years ago Milton Keynes used to have the National Hockey Stadium near to the train station in Central Milton Keynes which became the temporary home for the MK Dons before the Stadium MK was built. When hockey did not return to the stadium and it was sold to make way for the new Network Rail building, money that had been spent on building the site became available to reinvest in sport. Some of this belongs to hockey and has been spent on hockey clubs across the country however some of the money came from Milton Keynes and this money is being spent in Milton Keynes on grass roots sports. The proviso for the money is that it has to be match funded by the clubs and also that it has to enable more young people to participate in sport. The Olney Cricket Club benefited by £20,000 for this project and in the past Olney Tennis club has also benefitted.
The annual Holiday Bible Club for children and young people attracts hundreds of young attendees; there are social occasions, weekly coffee mornings and visiting National and International Ministry. The current congregation, which regularly exceeds a hundred people on Sundays, includes a number of elderly and young members so improved access arrangements will be of great benefit and the improvements envisaged to the kitchen & toilets will also help to keep pace with the catering & sanitary requirements of a busy centre.
The Baptist Church provides a thoroughly enriching role in the lives of many, not only from our town but a wider hinterland, so Congratulations to the Baptist Church & best wishes to you all in your fund raising efforts.
Path leading to the play area on Weston Road soon to be upgraded
nunn wood windFARm
counciL tAX
You may remember that Milton Keynes Council has
At the end of February Milton Keynes Council set its annual budget and for the second year in a row there was no increase in Council Tax. This was made possible as Milton Keynes took advantage of a government grant which gave us money if we did not increase council tax. Your demand notice should have arrived by now and you should not notice any difference in this respect to last year.
challenged the decision by the planning inspectorate to allow planning permission for the windfarm at Nunn
The demand notice is made up of more than just Council Tax from Milton Keynes Council it also includes a charge from The Police
Very best wishes for a Happy Easter and if you need help please do make contact on the details given at any time or alternatively drop into our surgery on Friday April 13th from 7.30 - 8.30pm or Friday May 4th from 7.30 – 8.30pm.
50 Phonebox Magazine
Wood. It seems that the issues are indeed complicated and the case is now expected to be heard at the High Court in London, sometime in July.