Olney Infant School has been honoured by OFSTED in a celebratory event recognising outstanding schools in England.

Steve Dunning, the headteacher, attended the event at Gibson Hall in central London which was hosted by Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills, OFSTED.

She praised the top schools, colleges, childcare and social care providers who had earned themselves a place in the annual list of outstanding providers published by OFSTED. Providers on the  list have shown an excellent quality of care, support and education to meets the needs of the children, young people and adult learners.

Christine Gilbert went on to say: “I wholeheartedly congratulate these providers on their success and hard work in delivering such high standards. Excellence does not happen by chance, these providers have a real drive to inspire, challenge, and support children, young people and adult learners. But there is no reason why everyone can’t be outstanding, I hope they will be a source of inspiration to others.”

  The celebration was held at Gibson Hall on Thursday 21st January. (click on the photo to enlarge)

Christine Gilbert (wearing the yellow scarf in the above photo) was the headteacher of Whitmore High School in Harrow for 8 years. She is married to former Home Office Minister Tony McNulty.

The OFSTED report that found Olney Infant School to be ’outstanding’ can be viewed by clicking on the link to the left of this item. 

The issue of parking in Olney has been a difficult and contentious one for many years. The majority of households have at least one vehicle, and some larger families may have several. Much of the housing in the older parts of the town was built long before the advent of the private motor car and off-street provision is very much lacking. In some of the narrower streets in the town residents have attempted to park in such a way that their vehicles would not impede the flow of traffic. This often meant parking with the two nearside wheels just on the pavement. However, in the past this type of activity has been frowned on by the local police.

Even in our very wide High Street we still get parking problems. The edges of the highway are wide enough to allow the sensible parking of moderate-sized vehicles, but not sufficient to allow the parking of 4×4 type vehicles. Many drivers of these vehicles tend to roll one or more wheels up on to the kerb, causing damage to the integrity of the kerbstones and also the drainage gully covers.

The issue of parking came up at the monthly meeting of the Town Council on 4th January, at which members were advised of some vehicles parking with all four wheels on the pavement! With the amount of traffic using the High Street it is obviously difficult for HGV drivers to make deliveries to the High Street shops, and there are clearly issues with security companies making deliveries and collections for the various banks. However, there does seem to be little justification for parking on the pavement.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has visted this site over the past two years. The site has averaged around 100 ‘hits’ per day in recent months. I try to update it when I can, but it is not always easy to do so. In 2010 I hope to encourage more participation in the ’survey’ section of the site. I do not believe that only two people in Olney care about whether we have a bypass or not!

I will try to make the survey more interesting (or maybe more controversial?) in the year ahead. Please rest assued that if you vote in the survey you details will not be used to harrass you at any time in the future!

Just for fun, the normal survey is replaced by a simple question for a few days. The question is: - “What date followed Wednesday 2nd September in the year 1752?”

I was beginning to think I was a lone voice in the wilderness until a couple of days agao when I saw a comment made by local author Susan Popoola. Since then, I have heard from other people who live in a world of mathematical reality. Sadly most of the media, including the BBC, are living in cloud-cuckoo-land! I have lost count of the number of items I have seen of items relating to the best film, song, programme, personality, actor of the decade. Do these idiots not understand that there are ten years in a decade, not nine? The current decade will end on 31st December 2010, not this year. The problem probably arose when technological experts all over the globe were predicting doom and gloom as we passed from the end of 1999 into 2000. The perceived problem was known as the ‘millennium bug’, which probably led some people to believe that the new millennium began on 1st January 2000, whereas it actually began on 1st January 2001. Come on everybody, it is not difficult to count in tens! 

Whilst on the subject of Susan Popoola, I can heartily recommend Susan’s book “Touching The Heart of Milton Keynes”. For more information about this book, have a look at the following link: - http://tinyurl.com/6fnv48

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion about the revised dates for kerbside collections in Olney and surrounding villages. This is despite Milton Keynes Council delivering a leaflet explaining the changes to every household. Collection dates will not revert to the normal pattern until the third week of January 2010. For those who have already recyled the helpful leaflet from Milton Keynes Council, the revised dates for collections can be seen on the council’s website. Here is a link to the appropriate section: -

http://tinyurl.com/yd8pwz9

Collection dates for Olney itself are as follows: -

Normal Collection Day                     Revised Collection Day

Monday 28th December 2009              Wednesday 30th December 2009

Monday 4th January 2010                    Wednesday 6th January 2010

Monday 11th January 2010                  Tuesday 12th January 2010

Monday 18th January 2010                  - collections as normal

Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles is working to make sure the UK’s corner shops don’t lose out from a proposed EU Directive on the safety of Pharmaceuticals.

The Directive would introduce new controls to restrict the spread of counterfeit medicines into the supply chain. It aims to protect patient health by making sure only genuine medicines reach consumers.

But Sharon Bowles is warning fellow MEPs that attempts to include non-prescription medications like Anadin or Ibuprofen in the Directive could put small shopkeepers at risk.

“Especially in hard economic times, our corner shops need all the trade they can get. And we’ve all been in the situation where we pop in to get an aspirin for a throbbing headache - and end up picking up a lot of other things as well, from loo rolls to dog food. Being able to stock these valuable over-the-counter medicines makes a big difference to our corner shops.

“Well-intentioned legislation should not over-regulate sectors that don’t need it. Over-the-counter medicines are cheap enough that they are hardly ever counterfeited. Including them in the Directive would add a needless regulatory and administrative burden that pharmacies can cope with but corner shops can’t.”

Like Ireland and the Netherlands, Britain has a liberal market where over-the-counter medicines can be sold outside of pharmacies. Other countries have a more restricted approach and subsidy of pharmacies.

Sharon said, “The consequences are wider than might be thought, so I am making sure the needs of the corner shops are heard in Parliament - but it’s a two-sided process and it needs to be reflected by the government in the European Council.”

It has become a tradition for the December meeting of the Milton Keynes North East Area Forum to take place at Weston Underwood  Village Hall, and this year was certainly no exception. However, this meeting was tinged with sadness as the delegates attending were advised of the recent passing of Fred Foster, a former Chairman of the Parish Council. It appears that Fred passed away quietly in his sleep. At the start of the Forum meeting the delegates stood in silence in memory of Fred and in recognition of his amazing service to the village of Weston Underwood.

Fred was first elected to the Parish Council on 10th May 1955. He beame Chairman on 15th June 1973 and continued in that office until May 2004. He held the post of Vice-Chairman for a further 2 years until May 2006, and remained as a councillor for a further 2 years until May 2008. He thus served as a councillor for a continuous period of 53 years, including 31 years as Chairman. Fred will be very sadly missed by his friends and family and everybody that knew him.

The Area Forum meeting continued with a discussion on recent crime and “Operation Confidence” led by PS2922 Andy Paulden from Newport Pagnell Police Station and Lisa Gabriel, Community and Diversity Officer based at Milton Keynes Police Station. Operation Confidence is aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour and is a two-month operation which commenced in mid-October. The current phase of the operation is centred on Olney. During the lively discussion which ensued, delegates were advised that Thames Valley Police has its own “Facebook” page. This followed one of my questions about how much the police monitored social networking sites.

The other main part of the Forum meeting centred on planning issues. Senior planning Officer Michael Moore gave an overview of the “Core Strategy” and further consultation. The Core Strategy is essentially the document which replaces the Local Plan. MKC’s new Assistant Director of Planning, Nick Fenwick, then treated the delegates to a useful presentation on the planning process.

The Forum was due to receive an update from Richard Duffill, the council’s Traffic Management Team Leader, on traffic issues and cycle paths. Unfortunately Richard didn’t manage to get to the meeting, so concerns about such issues will have to be addressed at another time. The evening finished with brief updates on wind farms, the Stoke Goldington flood improvements and the Minerals Plan.

The next meeting of the North East Area Forum is to be held at Lavendon Village Hall on Wednesday 3rd March 2010. 

Milton Keynes Council has secured a grant of £107,000 from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Grant Scheme for improvements to the ‘C’ Block building at Emberton Country Park. The ALSF grant scheme aims to support projects that reduce the effects of aggregate extraction in local communities and the natural environment. The grant will be used to re-roof the building and upgrade the toilet facilities, as well as developing the internal space as an Education Centre. The nature of the grant funding means that the money cannot be used to develop the cafeteria side of the building.

The ALSF grant scheme has also been used to produce three new leaflets covering the Habitat Trail, the Timeline Wall and the Churches Trail. The new leaflets are available at the gatehouse.

Emberton Country Park was the first such park to be designated in the UK. It opened in 1965 and covers some 200 acres, including five lakes. Discussions are ongoing with a view to the possible transfer of Emberton Country Park to The Parks Trust. It is likely that any move to improve the cafeteria facilities will remain on hold until the issue of the future management of the park is resolved.

A new full-time Youth Worker has been appointed at Olney Youth Centre following the departure of the previous post-holder, Peter Madden, in November 2008. Announcing the new Youth Worker, Chairman Jeremy Rawlings stated: -

“Olney Youth Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of a new full-time Area Youth Worker covering Olney and the rural area. Darren Smith started on 1st September and will bring a wide range of experience to the town. He previously was employed by Leicestershire County Council where he worked on DoE projects, was an Explorer Scout Leader and provided key curriculum work and support to young people. Darren will be working with Ousedale School and provide input to the local Neighbourhood Action Group. Olney Youth Centre Management Committee looks forward to working with Darren and welcomes him to the town.”

The village of Weston Underwood has once again triumphed in the Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village competition. The Chairman of Weston Underwood Parish Council, Mr John Covington, was presented with the Tindall Cup by Mrs Jenny Hopkirk, the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, at a ceremony on the village green on Saturday 12th September.

The presentation ceremony began with a brief introduction from Richard Pushman, the Chairman of Buckinghamshire County Council. Richard has been associated with the Best Kept Village competition for about 40 years, and he noted that Weston Underwood was frequently amongst the winners. In contrast to the previous year, the assembled guests and residents were bathed in glorious sunshine throughout the presentation.

Other winners in the Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village competition were as follows: -
Gurney Cup (population under 500)
Little Missenden (runners-up Fulmer)

Morris Cup (population 500 - 1500)
Frieth (runners-up Jordans)

DeFraine Cup (population 1500 - 3000)
Stewkley

Michaelis Cup (population over 3000)
Marlow

Tindall Cup (2008 cup winners)
Weston Underwood

Sword of Excellence (best overall winner)
Stewkley

Dashwood Trophy (best runners-up)
Jordans

The Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village competition is sponsored by Bucks County Council, Milton Keynes Council and the District Councils from Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe.