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.”

Two new websites relating to Olney have recently been launched and have generated some very positive feedback for the developer, local resident Sophia Sanger. The two sites are still under development, but look very promising indeed. The two sites are VisitOlney.com and OlneyOnline.com. Links to the two sites have been provided in the ‘Useful Links’ section on the left hand side of this page. Please take a look and feel free to leave your comments about them.

Visiting is being restricted at Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to help reduce the spread of the N1H1 (Swine Influenza) virus, and help protect patients.

Jayne Skippen, Head of Hospital Access at Milton Keynes Hospital, said: “Milton Keynes Hospital has robust plans in place to manage the current N1H1 (swine influenza) virus. It is essential that we continue to ensure that we are as prepared as possible to cope with the pandemic’s development.

“Patient safety and the delivery of high quality care are our top priorities. To help prevent the flu virus spreading we are restricting the number of visitors that each patient can have.”   

Each in-patient on most wards or departments is now allowed a maximum of two visitors at any one time. No children are permitted onto the wards, unless there are exceptional circumstances and a prior request has been made to the ward manager.

On Ward 9 (Maternity Unit) only one visitor is permitted for each woman. This is to help protect mothers and babies.

Jayne Skippen added: “Please do not attend the Hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department if you don’t have to. Think carefully before turning up with minor injuries and ailments - A&E is for accidents and genuine emergencies only.”

If you have symptoms of influenza please call your GP or the swine flu information line on 0800 1 513 513. You can go online and check symptoms on www.nhs.uk, or call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.

It is important that visitors do not come to see relatives/ friends if they have symptoms of swine flu, and avoid spreading the virus.

It is also important that any individual who has been prescribed flu medication, such as Tamiflu, continues to take paracetamol to control pain and reduce temperature.

(Please feel free to vote in my survey, which can be found on the right hand side of this item. You will need to enter your email address, but please be assured that addresses will not be stored or passed on to other parties.)

For some months, a group of cross party members has been working with officers to recruit a new Chief Executive for Milton Keynes Council. The Appointment Panel’s unanimous recommendation, to be ratified at the next Full Council meeting on 14th April 2009, was to appoint David Hill, currently Chief Executive at Ashford Borough Council in Kent.

David Hill has worked as Chief Executive at Ashford for over seven years, during which time he worked closely with the Executive and council officers to oversee some significant achievements. These include the completion of a masterplanning process for the borough, the achievement of Beacon status for the council’s Asset Management and Planning functions and agreement to the first ever borough council led housing PFI scheme which is regenerating Stanhope, a 1960’s housing overspill area on the southern edge of Ashford. The £200m PFI scheme will see the private sector partner taking on responsibility for regenerated housing for the next thirty years.

Prior to his appointment at Ashford, David Hill was Director of Organisational Development at Suffolk County Council, during which period the council was named Local Government Chronicle Council of the Year. He has also held a number of senior civil service posts within the Department of Health and Social Security, and the Northern Ireland Office.

David Hill will be leaving Ashford in July to take up his new post in Milton Keynes. The Appointment Panel saw a number of very strong candidates, but were very clear that David Hill was the right person for this very challenging role. However, he will find that the political situation here in Milton Keynes is very different from that in Ashford. The political balance is finely poised in MK with 21 Liberal Democrat councillors, 20 Tory councillors and 10 Labour councillors. In Ashford the Tories hold the majority of the seats with 28 out of the 43 seats. The Liberal Democrats have yet to make major advances, with just 8 seats. The ‘Ashford Independent’ group has 3 members, Labour has 2 and there are 2 other independents.

Work on the eagerly anticipated signalised crossing for Olney Middle School is to commence during the forthcoming half term holiday. The crossing will be of the ‘Puffin’ type. Work on equipment installation will require the closure of a 30 metre stretch of Yardley Road from a point just south of the main school entrance. This road closure will be from Monday 27th October until Friday 31st October. The closure may be maintained through the weekend of Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd November in the event of any unforseen problems. Final completion of the crossing is scheduled to be carried out later this year. Congratulations to local parents Della Cheal and Rachael Passee who campaigned tirelessly to get a signalised crossing for the school. Thanks also to MKC Liberal Democrat Cabinet member Cllr. Chris Williams who has given this project a great deal of personal attention to ensure its eventual delivery.

The Liberal Democrat Leader of Milton Keynes Council, Isobel McCall, says that the Conservative and Labour opposition parties in Milton Keynes should put up or shut up when it comes to running the Council.

After the recent local elections

• the Liberal Democrats remained the largest party on Milton Keynes Council

• Isobel McCall was elected as Leader of the Liberal Democrats

• she was duly elected as Leader of the Council at the recent full Council meeting.

Then the two opposition parties, working in coalition, decided they wanted to dictate to the Lib Dems who their leader should be. When Labour and Conservative Councillors didn’t get their way, they voted to hand councillors’ decision-making powers to unelected officers.

Isobel McCall said: “It is completely unheard of for members of one party to dictate who should lead another party. We are prepared to run an administration - even the Tories say we should! But we do it on our own terms, including deciding on our own leader. The opposition have no right to decide who our leader is. If they won’t allow us to run the Council with the Leader and cabinet members we want, the opposition must put up an administration themselves rather than employ wrecking tactics to bring the Council into chaos. They have more than enough votes between them to put up an alternative administration.”

Meanwhile, Isobel McCall is carrying on with her duties as Leader of the Council where the current situation makes it appropriate to do so, in order to minimise disruption to partner organisations within Milton Keynes. She has invited the other two cabinet members to play their part. There has been no response whatsoever from the Tory leader who, along with the Labour leader, was elected to the Cabinet.

This whole fiasco started with the opposition parties blaming Isobel McCall for the problems with the school build programme. Not a single report on the school build programme, including the Penn Report, named Isobel as being culpable. The Council staff that were to blame have now gone, and the cabinet member responsible for the school build programme has honourably resigned. The Leader was not held responsible by Mr Penn.

The independent Penn Report was, in fact, commissioned by Isobel McCall and it makes some helpful suggestions on how the Council could work differently, which both Isobel McCall and the interim Chief Executive, Kate Page, are already starting to implement.

“You don’t have the Prime Minister step down just because one civil servant makes a mistake,” said Isobel. “The official or the Minister resigns - and both have done so in this case.”

Local campaigner Steve Clark commented: - “I hope those of you who voted for the Tories in the local elections are proud of the shambles that you have helped to create!”

Following revision of the routes followed by the coaches providing transport from the Olney ward villages to the new Ousedale campus it became apparent that parents in Clifton Reynes, Newton Blossomville and Cold Brayfield were not totally happy with the new arrangements.

Following suggestions by some parents the council has now agreed a further revision, which will apply from MONDAY 12th MAY. Warrington and Lavendon children will continue to travel on the current OC1 contract. Those from Clifton Reynes, Cold Brayfield and Newton Blossomville will transfer onto the contract which transports primary aged children from those villages (plus Petsoe End and Emberton) to Olney Middle School. Any Emberton children transerring to secondary in September will go onto the dedicated Emberton contract. Parents of children involved in these changes should receive confirmation from the council in due course.

The Annual Town Meeting for the Parish of Olney on 25th April commenced with the presentation of the “Quality Council Certificate” to the Town Mayor by Richard Pushman, the Vice-President of the Buckinghamshire Association of Local Councils. Cllr. John Smail, the Town Mayor, received the certificate and noted the amount of hard work that had been required to achieve it.

The Rural White Paper “Our Countryside: The Future, A Fair Deal for Rural England”, published in November 2000, recognised the important role of the first tier of local government and proposed a number of initiatives designed to enhance the role of parish and town councils. Subsequently, in June 2003 the Quality Town and Parish Council Scheme was launched.

In order to achieve Quality status, parish/town councils have to complete a number of tests. These tests are split largely into seven categories;

1. Electoral Mandate;
2. Qualifications of the Clerk;
3. Council Meetings;
4. Communication;
5. Annual Reports;
6. Accounts; and
7. Ethical Framework

 The tests are designed to ensure that the parish/town council is functioning as an effective, representative and active council. Olney Town Council has demonstrated compliance with these criteria, hence the award. The notion of applying for Quality Council status was first mooted by my OTC colleague Jeremy Rawlings, and I am delighted that the work of the Town Council has been recognised in this way. Elections for the Town Council take place on Thursday 1st May, with 16 candidates standing for 15 seats. 

Ousedale Olney Campus is celebrating its first birthday this coming week.  Steve Clark says: “Getting the school into the education plan, and building it is one of the biggest achievements of the local Liberal Democrats.”

Local Councillor Steve Clark and former Lib Dem Councillor Graham Mabbutt campaigned for a number of years to get a secondary school for Olney and the villages.  It was not until the Liberal Democrats took control of Milton Keynes Council that the Olney Campus was included in the new school build programme.

Steve Clark says: “It may have been behind schedule, but it was well worth waiting for. I am proud of the fact that the Liberal Democrats have provided Olney with a first class secondary school”

When Steve Clark has been out and about meeting local residents, many have raised with him the reports in the Phonebox magazine about the proposal for a new Tesco Store on Olney Market Place.

Steve says: “I want to know your views on Tesco potentially opening a Tesco Finest Store in Olney”  If you are opposed to, or in favour of a Tesco store on the Market Place then please click on “comment” and send Steve your views.  We will publish a summary of your views, and the latest news in a future posting.

Last year the Liberal Democrats made six pledges that they said they would deliver on. They were:

1   Provide more activities for young people

* Free sports sessions have been provided at leisure centres and money invested in youth club sessions for younger children

2  Clean up the grot spots in Milton Keynes

*  The Litter Buster service was set up to target hot spots. Tough action is taken against people caught fly tipping and dropping litter.

3  Promote energy efficiency across MK Borough

*  Milton Keynes leads the way nationally in building new homes to the toughest environmental standards.  This tackles climate change and saves residents money on their fuel bills.

4  Increase the number of community safety wardens

*  The Lib Dems invested in additional community safety wardens. Their work is targeted in areas where there are anti-socail behaviour or crime problems.

5  Keep council tax rises to no more than inflation

The Lib Dems kept this promise in 2007 and 2008. Nearly 90% of English Councils charge more than Milton Keynes.

6  Help more older people to live independently in their community.

* The popular Extracare village opened and provides top quality housing and care of older people of all incomes.

Steve Clark and his Liberal Democrat colleagues on Milton Keynes Council have kept their promises and acheived their pledges. Now here are their pledges for the coming year:

1  Council tax rises no more than inflation

2  Reduce anti-social behaviour

3  Improve GCSE results

4  More affordable homes for rent

5  Make our Borough even cleaner.

 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.

The Council’s Lib Dem administration has once again kept its pledge not to increase council tax above inflation. It is currently consulting local people about its budget and its proposed council tax increase of 3.9%.  Council tax in Milton Keynes is well below the national average.

 A 3.9% increase matches the cost of inflation rise which pensioners will receive from the Government next year.

 The Lib Dems are also putting forward proposals in their budget that deliver other promises made to local people.  They are investing additional money in:

·          community safety and tackling anti-social behaviour;

·          activities for young people;

·          continuation of the litter busters team to tackle grot spots;

·          raising educational standards at GCSE level in lower performing schools, and ·          .extra resources to deal with flood prevention. 

Local Councillor Steve Clark says: We want to know what you think. Look out for the consultation proposals in MK News or you can respond on line up to 4th. February.  www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/budget-consultation”

 Supporting older residents to remain independent – and providing them with choices – is a priority for the Liberal Democrat Council, says local Olney Ward Councillor Steve Clark.

“A lot of crucial work goes on behind the scenes.  Examples are the community alarm system, providing disabled adaptations to homes, home care, free travel and ‘Plus Bus.’”

 Earlier this year saw Lovat Fields, the ExtraCare retirement village in Willen, open its doors to its first residents.  This offers people over 55, regardless of income or ability/disability, the opportunity for an active and social life.  Interest in the Village is so great that the Council is now planning a second one.

This isn’t the only improvement for older people.  Castlemead Court, a splendid state-of-the=art care home has just been opened in Newport Pagnell, the third such brand-new home built since the Lib Dems took over Milton Keynes Council.

The Government’s Minister for Waste has praised Liberal Democrat Milton Keynes Council as being one of the top authorities in England for tackling fly-tipping. She said, “Councils as diverse as Sheffield, Worthing and Milton Keynes are driving down fly-tipping through targeted, concerted action. I want other councils to follow their lead.”

Milton Keynes has seen a 35% reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 and an increase in enforcement.

The Lib Dem run Milton Keynes Council has announced that it has no plans to introduce a ‘pay as you throw’ scheme following a recent announcement by the Labour Government to allow Local Councils to directly charge for rubbish collections.

Local Councillor Steve Clark says: ”We don’t see the need for the scheme in MK due to our relatively high recycling rates, currently 36%. We prefer to educate residents of the need to recycle”. He went on to say “We can’t continue to simple throw our rubbish into a big hole in the ground. Each household in Milton Keynes is currently paying £25 each in landfill tax and this will increase to around £33 each in April 2008 because the government is increasing the land fill tax. It is a simple equation the more rubbish we throw away in our black sacks the more we pay in tax”.

 Earlier this year (2007) we consulted you about what the Lib Dem led Milton Keynes  Council’s pledges should be.  We wanted to know which are most important to you.  Thank you to everyone who replied.  

You supported our pledges overall and they are listed below in YOUR order of priority. The Lib Dem Council will:

1.              Keep council tax rises to no more than inflation

2.       Help older people to live independently in their   community

3        Clean up any “grot” spots

4        Increase the number of community safety wardens

5                Provide more activities for young people

6                Promote energy efficiency across Milton Keynes 

We are delivering on our pledges. 

Council tax is Milton Keynes is well below the national average and the Lib Dem Council kept the rate of increase to the rate of inflation. 

We have taken on two more community safety wardens and invested an additional £200,000 in cleaning up the grot spots.

We will continue to deliver our pledges in the months ahead.

Following the Conservative controlled Local Government Association’s recent announcement supporting a move to fortnightly rubbish collection in order to push residents into recycling more, many residents have contacted us to say they want the rubbish collection to remain weekly.

Lib Dem Councillor Steve Clark is pleased to reassure local residents that the Liberal Democrat run Milton Keynes Council is committed to retaining weekly rubbish collections.

“It was the Liberal Democrats who brought back the weekly recycling collection when we took over the council in 2002, and since then recycling has continued to grow helped by the pink sacks, green bins and now the High Street recycling litter bins” said Steve Clark.  “Recycling is at an all time high in Milton Keynes, and we look forward to hearing the results of the kitchen food recycling schemes that are being trialled in parts of the borough”