ARMED FORCES DAY: To mark Armed Forces Day, Olney  wn Council hosted veterans at a lunch at the Carlton Club, where Royal British Legion local branch chairman Chris Robe s, told how the Olney branch have been sending boxes to the troops in Afghanistan. This is a local initiative, quite separate from the Legion's poppy appeal, to keep the morale up of troops currently serving in theatre. Many of those serving don't receive anything from home during their tour so the boxes from Olney do make a real difference.
Funds were raised to put goodies from home into shoe boxes, donated by shoe shops in the town, at last years' Dickens of a Christmas event. 21 Engineer Regiment were so grateful for the 40 "Dickens boxes" sent earlier this year that they invited the local branch chairman to their recent homecoming parade in Ripon. The branch is now sending boxes to 22 Engineer Regiment and appealing for funds to continue their work.
At the Armed Forces lunch just over £70 was donated which represents another seven boxes for the troops in theatre and 1 3 in all with the funds already in hand. If you would like to support this local initiative donations can be sent to the Branch Treasurer Basil Margrave at 5 Johnson's Field, Olney, MK46 SJF  It's a great example of community spirit in action!
HIGH STREET, OLNEY: resurfacing due to start August 19th. The road su ace on Olney High Street has been in need of replacement for some time now. The job was sta ed a few years ago when Bridge Street and High Street South were resurfaced as part of the road improvement scheme that was undertaken there. This work will continue from that point and progress up the High Street. This does however mean that the road will be closed for a number of days while the work is undertaken and this is planned to sta  on August 19th. While the work is ongoing diversions will be put in place. For through traffic this will be from the Chicheley Hill roundabout to Bromham and then back to the Warrington Toll Bar roundabout and vice versa. For local diversions this will be via the Weston Road and Aspreys.
The work will cause disruption, however it is necessary and will be completed as soon as possible.
FOOTPATH IMPROVEMENTS: Many people will know that some of our footpaths are not in the best condition. This has been a situation that has been getting steadily worse over a number of years now and is something that needs to be rectified. While poor paths can look unsightly they also represent a hazard to people using them, particularly the elderly and vulnerable. As a result of this, the current administration of Milton Keynes Council has looked at ways to address this issue and has developed a process where £50m extra will be invested in highways in the coming years, around £1 O  of this will be in footpath improvements. Some of this work has recently been completed in Langlands, Lavendon (see the photograph below) and others will be replaced in the coming months. We will update people when work is likely to happen.
WARDBOUNDARYCHANGES:Inpreviousentriesinthiscolumnwe have informed you of proposals to change the way that councillors are elected to Milton Keynes Council. Currently the Olney ward has two councillors and the Sherington Ward has one councillor. The proposals were to change the ward boundaries across the whole of Milton Keynes and in this area the proposal was to merge the Sherington Ward with the Olney ward. The only exception to this is that Stoke Goldington and Gayhurst will transfer to a new ward taking in Haversham, Hanslope & Castlethorpe and the no h part of Newpo  Pagnell. This will leave the new Olney Ward as the largest ward in Milton Keynes, covering almost the same area as the rest of the city put together. It will encompass 16 villages with various arrangements of parish council and parish meetings. This will keep the councillors who cover the area busy and will mean that, in May next year, on the same date as the European Elections you will have the opportunity to vote for three councillors to represent you in the new ward.
OLNEY ROAD, LAVENDON: We have updated over the past year about the replacement of the culvert for the stream the goes under the Olney Road in Lavendon, made necessary after the floods last year. The work finally commenced on July 15th and will take around 12 weekstocomplete.Wehaveworkedtotrytominimisethedisturbance to people during this time, a pedestrian walkway has been arranged so people can walk between the two pa s of the village and a road diversion via Cold Brayfield. We have also managed to arrange for the bus still to collect at the top of the Olney Road, turning round and going via Cold Brayfield to collect from the other end of the village.
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