Milton Keynes Council are due to carry out emergency road works to deal with the subsidence caused by collapsed ducting underneath the pedestrian crossing at the Market Place in Olney. If the damaged ducting is not repaired, there is a risk of failure of the lights on the crossing due to the crushing of the electrical cables that run through it. At the same time it is intended to upgrade the crossing to the latest Puffin design. It is likely that there will be considerable traffic disruption during the remediation work, which is likely to be carried out around the end of April or beginning of May. Once we have more information, it will appear on this website.

My Olney Town Council colleague Deirdre Bethune has announced that she will be participating in her 10th consecutive London Marathon this year. Once again, Dee will be raising funds for MENCAP. Mencap is the UK’s leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers.

Dee is aiming to finish the course within 4 hours, her best ever time being 3:48:12. Dee’s sponsorship target is currently £1,200, but I am sure that we can do better than that with the support of visitors to this site! If you would like to sponsor Dee, you can do it on line by clicking on the link to “Dee’s 10th London Marathon” on the left of the screen. Donating through the “justgiving” site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor Dee: Mencap will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, and extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you!

  Steve with Deirdre

A number of parents have asked the Council to consider re-routing the coaches that take children to the Ousedale annexe from Lavendon and the surrounding villages. The majority of the children live in Lavendon and are picked up first in the mornings and dropped off last in the evenings, despite living closer to the campus than children from the other villages. The completion of the Driftway link means that the Council are now able to consider re-routing the service. Parents are being consulted on three options: -

• No change to the current system
• Reverse the route for the morning journey (First pick up in Clifton Reynes, last pick up in Lavendon)
• Reverse the route for both morning and afternoon journeys (Lavendon children would have the shortest journey time for both journeys.)

75% of the students travelling come from Lavendon. The maximum journey time is 35 minutes regardless of the route.

Following the consultation process, the most popular option was the third one. Changes to the travel arrangements will take effect from Tuesday 6th May 2008. The pick-up and drop-off times will now be as follows: -

Morning:                                                                      Afternoon:

08.00    Clifton Reynes                                                15.52

08.04    Newton Blossomville                                     15.48

08.09    Cold Brayfield                                                 15.43

08.14    Olney Road, Lavendon                                  15.38

08.17    The Cross, Lavendon                                     15.35

08.22    Warrington                                                      15.30

08.35    School                                                               15.20

Roadworks in Weston Road, Olney were suspended late last year when contractors working on the crossing point for the new housing development discovered some unexpected drainage pipes. The contractors finally arrived back on site to complete the works on Monday 7th April, one week later than had been advised.

  Three-way temporary traffic lights have been reintroduced, with hours of working being 09.15 to 16.00 on weekdays and 09.15 to 12.00 on Saturdays. Traffic lights on Weston Road have been set up outside number 66 and number 110, with the third set on the exit from the new development. The delayed road works in Lime Street are due to follow once the Weston Road works are completed.

 Local Councillor Steve Clark is pleased that MK Council has resurfaced another section of the road between Clifton Reynes and Newton Blossomville.  Steve says; “It is good to see that the Liberal Democrat run council are continuing to improve our rural roads” 

Coming soon: another stretch of the B565 between Olney and Lavendon - Cold Brayfield is due for resurfacing. Congratulations to Newton and Clifton Parish Council for providing a superb new play area with funding from Milton Keynes Council’s Parish Partnership Fund, and the Landfill Tax Funding scheme operated by WREN.

Nun Wood Wind Turbines, Lavendon 

Following objections from English Heritage, Npower Renewables are revising the numbers and the siting of the Wind Turbines at Nun Wood, between Lavendon, Bozeat and Harrold. It is expected that the developer will submit a new planning application very soon. These plans will be considered as a new planning application, and the planning procedure starts all over again, this includes the making of objections or support.  Lib Dem Cllr Steve Clark says: “It is very important that local people have their say. We will keep you informed of how to make representations either for or against.”

There was encouraging news for Olney Middle School when the Council’s Development Control Committee resolved to hand over the £110,000 of planning obligation money for education arising from the Aspreys housing development site. Around £38,000 of the total sum will be available towards a planned project of alterations to the school hall which will enable more efficient and extensive use of the facilities. The remaining £72,000 is intended to restore the school’s Devolved Capital already invested to support growth. This is really excellent news for the school and will really benefit pupils and staff as well as encouraging wider use by the local community.

Milton Keynes Council has agreed to provide a controlled crossing outside Olney Middle School in the next financial year following a visit made to Olney Town Council by Councillor Chris Williams, the Liberal Democrat Cabinet member for Transport and Planning.

Chris and I attended a site visit at the school some weeks ago when children were arriving, and saw the problems at first hand. Chris agreed to take the issue up with officers as a matter of urgency.

Historically, Milton Keynes Council has used a simple mathematical formula involving the number of vehicles and the number of pedestrians when assessing priorities for the provision of these crossings. However, the formula-based approach doesn’t easily allow for local site characteristics to be taken into consideration. There is no national standard for these assessments, with some local authorities using more subjective criteria and others using the more objective formula.

Cllr. Chris Williams attended a meeting of Olney Town Council and listened to the views of members before advising that he was prepared to review the criteria for assessment to see if a more favourable case could be made for the crossing. I had a further meeting with Chris Williams in Olney to press the case for the crossing some days later. I was subsequently advised by Chris that the Council was prepared to include the crossing and other ancillary work during the 2008/2009 financial year.

 A number of issues will be addressed during April 2008. These include the repair or replacement of the broken safety barrier and new lineage and signage. Discussions are ongoing concerning the introduction of a 20 mph zone outside the school. This would have to be subject to the normal statutory consultation, which would delay implementation until later in the year. There is already a sum of money set aside for improvements in Olney and it is hoped that the Town Council will agree to prioritise the controlled crossing within the schedule of improvements to allow some of that money to be used towards the cost of installation. There may also be a case for the Town Council to apply for Parish Partnership funding towards the scheme as well. The installation of the crossing would also be subject to statutory consultation, but I sincerely hope that nobody will object to it! There will also need to be underground surveys for utilities before construction can begin. I will conclude by congratulating the two local parents, Rachael Passee and Della Cheal, who have campaigned tirelessly to get a controlled crossing for the school.  

As reported in an earlier posting the controversial planning application to demolish a detached house at 74 Olney Road, Lavendon and replace it with three detached houses was turned down by the Council’s Development Control Committee after members heard representations from local residents including my former ward colleague, Graham Mabbutt. The applicant had intended to provide access from two cul de sacs in Langlands as well as the original driveway in Olney Road. The objectors were concerned about the proposed removal of a number of mature trees and the loss of on-street parking in Langlands itself. Committee members felt that two larger detached properties accessed from Olney Road would have been more appropriate for the site. Sadly the refusal of the application did not stop the destruction of the mature trees on the site a few days later. The site is now a complete eyesore. Surely this is hardly the best way of canvassing support for the application site from the residents of Langlands?  

It now transpires that a further application relating to this site has been lodged with the Council. The latest application seeks the demolition of the exisiting property and construction of four new dwellings.

I was once again delighted to receive an ‘official’ invitation to this year’s Shrovetide event in Olney. The Pancake Race has to be the major event in the life of the town every year and one cannot underestimate the great benefit it brings to the cultural, religious, social and commercial life of the town. Although there were a few scattered showers during the children’s races, the weather  during the rest of the morning was kinder, albeit somewhat blustery, and a splendid time was had by all who came along to see and participate in the event. The Olney race was won by Andrea Brear in a time of 69 seconds and there were initially hopes that we might win the transatlantic challenge with Liberal in Kansas as they were enduring much harsher weather conditions.

 Steve with Virginia

Our American friends were represented at this year’s event by Virginia Staab from the US Embassy. This was Virginia’s second official visit to Olney and she has already commented that she hopes to return in 2009. The race was followed by the traditional Shriving Service, a truly ecumenical event which attracted a capacity congregation to the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul.   During the service, the congregation heard from Rt Revd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford. John Pritchard is the forty second person to attain this high office and looks to be rather less controversial than his immediate predecessor, Richard Harries!

The Shriving Service was followed by a very welcome hot lunch at The Working Men’s Club. Unfortunately, Virginia Staab was unable to join us for lunch as she had the small matter of heading back to the Embassy for a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice! The events concluded in the evening with the prize-giving party at the Working Men’s Club and a live video link with Liberal, during which we discovered that Andrea Curtis, an 18 year old student, had won the transatlantic challenge for the U.S.A.