arted the meeting by saying how Core planning strategy wo e ul it was to see Ron Bull take his place _rt, Ck in the Council Chamber. Public participation Now almost a regular at these meetings, Brian Rice spoke about parking in Oakdown Crescent. In an earlier meeting, Councillors had referred to ballpark costs for two possible ways to address the issue: £80,000 to provide parking in the retained garden of 102 Weston Road, and £250,000 to provide an access road through the Pyghtle. Sceptical of these figures, Brian asked if Olney Town Council (OTC) had investigated whether they were correct. Questioning the lack of consultation on the proposals, he repo ed that residents thought the 102 Weston Road proposal was 'funny'. Liam Costello explained that OTC was still waiting for Milton Keynes Council (MKC) to propose a scheme and, once it did, it would be put to public consultation in due course. Peter Geary and Debbie Brock, OTC's Ward Councillors on MKC, said that a scheme should be proposed by MKC in this financial year. Brian White, Milton Keynes Mayor, attended the sta of the meeting. He wanted to show that the Mayoralty wasn't just for Milton Keynes town, but for the whole borough and, to do this, he aimed to be seen in every Parish. He also promoted the need for a two way flow of information between MKC and OTC. He spoke briefly about his two nominated Charities for the year: the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines (www.icbl.org), and Ted's Gang (www.tedsgang.co.uk), a local Charity supporting children with Shwachman Diamond Syndrome. Youth Centre grant application Jeremy Rawlings introduced this item before, along with others, leaving the meeting having earlier declared a pecuniary interest. MKC doesn't fund youth work for the under 13s and, about 15 years ago, Olney Youth Centre felt it would be good to provide a service for that age group. So, itstarted an under 13s night on the first and third Mondays of each month, staffed by volunteers without the benefit of Council funding. These nights grew in popularity and now regularly attract 50-60 children. As they grew, they became harder to manage without professional help and, for the last two years, OTC has funded a professional Youth Worker to run them alongside the volunteers. The Youth Centre would like to continue funding this position, and is applying for a £1 200 grant to cover it for another year. With the various Councillors having left the meeting, those remaining discussed the item briefly before approving the application. Peter Geary introduced this item, explaining that about three quarters of the 17 Parish Wardens in Milton Keynes Borough area are currently employed by Parishes, the balance being employed by MKC and generally working in the Traffic regulation order SM c o u t s by Wayne Bulpitt. It was a great honour for our scouts as Wayne is the UK chief Commissioner for Scouting! He was very interested in how the troop had incorporated the award activities into their programme, and become the first troop in the country where scouts had achieved the Award through Scouting.The Deputy UK Commissioner for Programme (Activities), Tim Pike also joined in the congratulations and was able to share how Scouting is now looking at giving all groups the opportunity to gain the Award as part of their scouting. We'd say - go for it - it's great fun smaller Parishes. These r MKC's budget last yea nd one year's grace given to allow P sties to buy in to paying for their work a a ervice. For example, OTC might decidetoi)ay£4680peryearforhalfadayaweek This was discussed at length, the main points including that the Wardens may be trained to implement road closures, and an interesting explanation of how dog fouling enforcement works. In order to issue a ticket for dog fouling in an area not under a dog control order, a Warden has to be visible and prominent, watch the deed being done, watch the owner walk away, offer a bag and challenge the owner to pick up, and only on their refusal can the Warden issue a ticket. Most owners pick up when challenged, hence so few tickets being issued. Compare that with the more straightforward situation in which an area might be covered by a dog control order which, amongst other things, mandates that no dogs are allowed. Jeremy Rawlings proposed that OTC sign up for half a day a week of Warden time for a year. A vote was taken, and carried with all in favour bar two abstentions. Road closure The A509 will be closed for resurfacing between its junctions with Weston Road and Lavendon Road for approximately 8 days, the proposed start date being Monday 19th August. Local traffic will be dive ed via Weston Road, Aspreys and Driftway, and through traffic diverted via the outski s of Bramham on the A422 and A428. In order to alleviate problems due to vehicles parking on or near various West Street junctions and on the North side of Spring Lane towards the High Street, MKC is considering introducing waiting restrictio n s , denoted by double yellow lines. Further, due to a request from a nearby resident, the existing restrictions on Spinney Hill Road opposite the School are being changed to allow more flexibility with parking outside the School's pick up and drop off times. The proposed scheme set out the circumstances in which the Town Clerk and various Committees areauthorisedtoactwithdelegatedauthority.So, while it seems pretty mundane, it's actually very important to the smooth running of the Council. For example, the scheme proposed that the Town Clerk can authorise emergency expenditure of up to £2,000 without requiring the approval of full Council. The ensuing discussion centred mainly on one pa icular aspect of the scheme: the way in which Committees report their work to full Council meetings. Steve Clark explained that, in the past, this reporting would sometimes result in full Council reopening and debating recommendations made by the Committees, thus wasting time and lengthening Council meetings. Joe Stacey felt that since Committees would now be reporting on decisions rather than recommendations, these debates simply would not happen, and meetings wouldinfactbesho er. Bus services Following on from the issue covered in previous Mercu repo s, meetings are being held to see if it would be possible to reinstate a small number of the cut services. Peter Geary noted that the critical cost was that which MKC would need to pay to subsidise a service, per person per journey, and that, if this was less than £2.50, reinstatement may be possible. MKC will be talking with Olney and Newport Pagnell Town Councils about additional land allocation for small housing developments, with the Town Councils having a say on where these pieces of land might be. Peter Geary stressed the importance of this issue - local Councils should be able to have their say on housing and retail planning in their areas. Hanging baskets Ron Bull usually organises sponsorship for the hanging baskets on the High Street and Yardley Road, and recruits a team of people to put them up. Itwasn'tpossibleforhimtodosothisyear,so alternative arrangements were made. He thanked Liam and Sandra for arranging sponsorship, and Mark Luckin, TOG, the Lions and others for putting them up. The next meeting wlll be held at 7.30pm on Monday 2nd September in the Councll Chamber in the Olney Centre. Members of the public are always to attend and, If they wish, speak at the sta of the meeting, or at any int that the mayor decides is a ate. Parish Warden time. Either way, it needs to decide on the first year by the end of September. Examples of a Parish Warden's duties include weekly patrols for dog fouling and littering, and checks for household waste being put out early. Scheme of delegation embers of 1st Olney Scout Troop were delighted to be presented with their bronze Arts Award certificates Parish Wardens 14 Phonebox Magazine The scheme of delegation was approved.