Page 39 - Phonebox Magazine April 2016

“Olney is a safe place to live”
Police Meeting
This is according to the police at a meeting at the Olney Centre regarding the spate of burglaries in our town.
The town of Olney was first highlighted by a recent newspaper article about the top places for burglaries in the country. This certainly was a surprise to many in the area. As if to reinforce the article Olney seemed to have a run of burglaries with several taking place on a night. No one was spared; householders, businesses and non-dwelling buildings such as the Church Hall.
Concerns were raised about the distance Olney is from MK for when a burglary is in action. Being situated on the edge of the Thames Valley area and on the border of Northants and Bedfordshire is always going to be a problem for the residents of Olney. Nothing will change the geography. Reassurance was given that the Police were instigating more patrols at night and the chances of catching a burglar in the act would be greatly helped by assistance from the public as well as householders taking all necessary precautions to prevent burglaries. There was mention of the public’s criticism that the police are mostly interested in catching traffic offenders
(non-seatbelt users perhaps!) but we were assured that they could diversify their deployment of police to cover a wide range of offences.
There were unsurprisingly several victims of burglary in the audience and were all very positive about the way they were handled
after the event. As for what can be done to prevent burglaries in Olney we all need to be vigilant and also try to prevent crime by securing our properties as best we can.
So we must all be the eyes and ears of the community and report suspicious behaviour to the police on 101.
Drinks and Nibbles
ends on Wednesday 6th April. It is therefore important that anybody intending to respond to the consultation makes sure that they do so before the closing date.
The rest of the meeting will include brief reports from the various committees of the Town Council about what they have achieved over the past year. Olney Town Council owns and manages the majority of the sports and recreation facilities in the town, along with the Market Place and The Olney Centre. We also suspect that there may be some comments and questions relating to general planning issues in the town. We also hope to include brief reports from various charities based in the town.
Following the public forum those attending will be welcome to stay and enjoy a glass of wine, or soft drink, and some nibbles. We look forward to seeing you there! Councillor Steve Clark, Olney Town Mayor
April 2016 | Phonebox Magazine 39
Olney Annual Town Meeting
Olney Town Council would like to invite residents of the town to come along to our Annual Town Meeting to be held at The
Olney Centre on Thursday 14th April 2016. The proceedings will commence at 7pm. This meeting gives residents the opportunity to hear what the Town Council has been doing on your behalf over the past year and also to ask questions during a public forum at the end of the meeting.
One of the major concerns in the town in recent weeks has been the number of burglaries, both from dwellings and also commercial premises. Following on from the well-attended public meeting held at The Olney Centre on Thursday 3rd March, Thames Valley Police will be in attendance to give us an update on their enquiries. Let us hope that there will be positive news to report on the identification and apprehension of
those responsible for these despicable acts. Another issue which has aroused considerable interest this year is Plan:MK, which has been going through what we believe to be a seriously flawed consultation process. Hopefully most of you will have read the explanatory article written on page 16 of the March issue of Phonebox Magazine by Councillor Jeremy Rawlings. If not, I would seriously urge you to do so, as the plan could have major implications for Olney residents in the coming years. Councillor Philip Ayles, the Chairman of Castlethorpe Parish Council will be coming along to our meeting to give more detail on the background to this process. Phil has been spearheading a campaign by the rural areas of Milton Keynes against the way that the consultation process has been carried out. I should stress, however, that our town meeting will be taking place after the consultation period for Plan:MK