Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

GHRA & Local Council Meetings

We just wanted to take a little time to remind you all that this coming week (commencing 17/7/17) we have two important meetings for the residents of Galley Hill, and we would like to see as many people as possible at both of them.

The first is a meeting of the Stony Stratford Town Council on Tuesday 18/7/17 at the Small Meeting Place (above the local shop) from 7pm. Please come to this meeting to have your say while the local Councillors who represent you are there to hear you.

The second meeting is our own Galley Hill Residents Association meeting on Thursday 20/7/17 at the small meeting place, at 7 pm. Again we would like to see as many of the residents of Galley Hill there as we will be voting on a new Vice Chairperson since Mick Allsopp has stepped down from the role.

Thanks
The Committee of the GHRA

Miscellaneous

Burglary In Galley Hill

We are sad to report that a resident of Essenden Court, Galley Hill has been burgled. Alongside the usual electronic items which these low life thieves target, the unfortunate victims lost an irreplaceable family heirloom, a bracelet left to the lady of the house by her late mother.

Bracelet stolen in burglary on Galley Hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you see a bracelet matching this diamond and sapphire bracelet being offered around for sale, please contact Thames Valley Police or let us know so we can pass any information on to the relevant people.

The burglary occurred while the family was out, and the thieves gained access through an upstairs bedroom window. This is a sad reminder of how we all need to be vigilant and watch out for each other as a community. One of the ways this can be done is through the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme which is being coordinated in Galley Hill by the GHRA Committee’s David Tavener. You can register your interest in the scheme through our Neighbour Hood Watch Survey online form here.

Remember to lock all doors and windows securely before leaving home, and keep an eye out for people acting strangely in the area.

The GHRA Committee

Miscellaneous

GHRA – What’s Happening

Hello,
No we haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth, it’s just been quiet here because things have been happening behind the scenes. Things like:-

We have been working on making it even easier to contact us at your Residents Association and we now have a new telephone number (thanks Dave) .
Just call on 01908 973073  leave us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. This is also on our Contacts Page along with all of the other ways for you to get in touch.

Also some of you may have received the GHRA newsletter through your letterbox by now, if not it should be delivered very soon.  GHRA newsletter can be downloaded here if you haven’t received it.  Please take a little time out of your busy days to read it and let us know if there’s anything you liked, or didn’t like about it.  It would be great to hear from people if they have anything they would like to see in the next newsletter, or from any local companies who would like to sponsor a newsletter in the future as they cost money to print. Thanks to the sponsors of this newsletter, AW Diesel Services who paid for the newsletter to be printed for all the  houses in Galley Hill.

We have also finally got the bank account opened after much hard work by our treasurer, Roy who has been trying to get the rest of us to sign forms, which has been like herding cats for him. He has managed it though, and we now need to start filling it with money to spend on local community projects and events, if you feel like donating a little to help with the community events we will shortly have details posted on how you can donate (there is some information on making a donation contained in the newsletter, see the link above).

Plans are in progress for a disco and other events for the local community, but we need to set up insurances before any events can be organised, which again costs money. Hopefully we can get some local government help, but once again donations would help speed things up.
The coffee mornings are still being organised at the small meeting place above the shop every Tuesday morning from 10 am to 12 and all are welcome.

Finally, there is a public meeting of the Galley Hill Residents Association on Thursday 18th May. All Galley Hill Residents are invited to attend to have their say on matters concerning the area.

Thanks for reading this far, The GHRA committee hopes to hear from you soon.

Miscellaneous

Annual Town Meeting

To all residents of Galley Hill, Fullers Slade and Stony Stratford Town
Your Annual Town Meeting will be held on
Wednesday, 26th April 2017
At Swinfen Harris Church Hall, London Road, Stony Stratford MK11 1JA
Starting at 7.30pm
Agenda
1. To present the Annual Community Award 2016
2. ‘Man’s Best Friend’ Presentation – Representatives from Canine Partners, Dogs For Good and Pets As Therapy charities will be presenting on how dogs make a difference to people’s lives and how they support them in their everyday living
3. To receive apologies for absence
4. To accept minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on 12 April 2016 as a true record
5. To receive the Annual Report of the Chair of Stony Stratford Town Council, Cllr Joan Walker MBE
6. To question the Chair on points raised in her report and other matters
Please remember that this is not a meeting of the Town Council. This is your meeting so come along and have your say. Ask questions and we’ll try to answer them.
Convened by Joan Walker MBE, Chair
Stony Stratford Town Council, April 2017
Events, Miscellaneous

GHRA First Coffee Morning.

1 Comment

Tuesday 7th March 2017Coffee morning image

Thank you to everyone who turned up for a coffee and chat on Tuesday, we were overwhelmed by the response and the messages of support from those who were at work or who couldn’t make it on the day.  It was good to see support from the headmaster  of Saint Mary Saint & Giles School Mr. Salter who is hoping to get volunteers to provide labour to help him refurbish the school, more information to follow.

It was also good to have the Stony Stratford Town Clerk Lynne Compton in attendance giving her full backing to the GHRA project.

We did hear that some people did not come as they were struggling for one reason or another. The committee and Court reps are here to help so if anyone wants to come along on any Tuesday contact us and we will arrange to help you get here.

Our thanks to pastor Khumi for providing the venue free of charge in the interest of fostering good community relations, the coffee morning is FREE but some people wanted to donate hopefully Pastor Khumi will accept these donations. The Pastor & Nyomie also provide biscuits and cakes which were much appreciated. Roy our treasurer also did a good job serving tea & coffee and washing up afterwards.

Whilst having a coffee and chat you can tell us what you would like to see at the coffee mornings and for other events the GHRA could organise for the community e.g. bingo, whist, disco etc.

We hope to see you there soon for one of our regular Tuesday coffee mornings

Love & kisses Nyomie (Galley Hill Residents Association Chairperson and the committee of the GHRA)

Miscellaneous

Constituency Boundary Changes Affecting Galley Hill.

It has been noted by the GHRA that Wolverton and Stony Stratford (including Galley Hill) are two of the areas affected by the proposed boundary changes for 2018. These changes are part of a government process to equalise the number of constituents per area, which in the case of Stony Stratford and Galley Hill means we will be moving into a different area, namely that of Buckinghamshire. So far we in the GHRA committee are unsure exactly what that means as far as services and dealing with local issues, but we are delving into this to find out how it affects us all, if it actually does.

For the purposes of clarification we are linking to the following extract from The Boundary Commission for England review of Parliamentary Constituencies, which we hope might help.

“The Borough of Milton Keynes is currently divided into two constituencies, both of which have electorates above the 5% limit. Additionally, the local government ward boundaries in the borough have also been modified. In order to reduce the electorates of the two Milton Keynes constituencies it is necessary to cross the boundary between the Borough of Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire. We therefore propose to include the Wolverton and Stony Stratford wards of the Borough of Milton Keynes in our proposed Buckingham constituency.”

Full doc here http://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-07-11-Guide-to-2018-review-Final-Version.pdf

Here is the boundary information https://www.bce2018.org.uk/

Here are two map extracts which visually indicate the change to our boundaries (taken from a zoomed in view at  http://constituencyboundaries.uk/2016/south-east )

The Purple line shows our current boundary

 

The Blue line shows our new boundary

and here is where people can comment https://www.bce2018.org.uk/node/add/informed-representation/6488

As we have already stated, we are delving into this issue more deeply, and will post any more information we can find right here as soon as we have any. If you are reading this and have any further insight, please contact us so we can share the information with everybody.

Thanks to David for his help in finding the appropriate links and extracts listed above.

UPDATE: From The FAQs at BCE consultation Portal (follow the link for more Frequently asked questions and answers)

Will the boundary changes have an impact on my council tax, local services or insurance premiums?

No. The boundary changes only relate to parliamentary constituencies. Services and council tax charges in your local area are set by your local authority and these will not be affected. Insurance premium calculations are based on postcode so will not be affected.

Miscellaneous

MKC Visit Thursday 16th February 2017

This morning Cllr Mick Allsopp, GHRA Chairperson Nyomie Flecknell and Court rep David Tavener met up with Kevin Wilson from MK Council to discuss issues relating to cleaning up the estate roads & footpaths.

We walked around a variety of courts and Kevin took photographs to illustrate concerns we raised.  We were made aware of the problems that Kevin & Serco face and have let Kevin know the Galley Hill Residents Association is keen to work with him & the Council to improve the look of the estate.

Kevin has undertaken to advise us of when Serco are scheduled to clean the courts so we can get the court reps to notify their residents to keep their areas clear of cars etc so the street sweeping machines can do their job.

Kevin will also be able to provide equipment for volunteers to engage in litter picking as a supplement to the Council’s efforts. GHRA will also be able to obtain educational material to distribute within courts to help people understand when, where and what to put in what bag for collection.

A very positive outcome thanks Mick & Kevin.

GHRA Meetings, Miscellaneous

Big Turnout For GHRA Public Meeting

3 Comments

Well, that surprised us all, the meeting on 26/1/2017 was a huge success and the meeting place was packed with people who want to see a change in their local community. Once the introductions (including the court reps who have volunteered to help get the information flowing both ways) and the general association business had been taken care of, we heard of the first small step the committee made in getting something changed. Our Chairperson has addressed the Council to get the Galley Hill noticeboard  moved to a more prominent position for better access and visibility to all. It may sound trivial, but this was Nyomie’s first time representing the Residents of Galley Hill, so it was decided to start with something small to get her feet wet in the pool of local Council meetings, and she has got her first result as the sign is being moved.  Well done Nyomie!

The floor was then opened up to everybody to find out what the people of Galley Hill wish to see changed. It seems as if there are some common problems in the area which are affecting everybody, such as the overgrown bushes and grass which obstruct the pathways. Litter was also high on the list for quite a few of the people we heard from.  Leaves on the paths making them slippery are another issue we added to the list of local concerns. We also heard about drains with plants growing out of them and parking problems in the courts.

But it wasn’t all about complaints, as the GHRA committee also wanted to know if there was any appetite for social events in the area, and ways to bring the community together as a whole. With the 50th anniversary of Milton Keynes and the historical importance of Galley Hill to the foundation of the New Town it seems only fitting that we try to bring together the people of the area to commemorate the half century.
With that in mind there are the seeds of a plan to organise something for Galley Hill Residents, and we even got somebody to volunteer for the role of organising this and future events, and another kind soul who has offered to pitch in and help with the 50th anniversary celebrations.

To sum it up, the Galley Hill Residents Association has gone from the seeds of an idea to actually starting work on issues and community building. Now we really need your support and help to continue onwards and upwards to making  ours a better area to live in. With that in mind please can we ask you to fill in a feedback form and sign up for the Newsletter before you leave the site?

Miscellaneous

Stony Stratford Library – Volunteers Needed

This is from the Friends Of Stony Stratford Library, please help if you can.

As you will know, recent cuts in local government spending have meant that Stony Stratford Library has had to reduce its opening hours. In accordance with our mission to promote the interests of library users, FoSSL is seeking, with the support of the Milton Keynes Library Service, to restore the previous opening hours. In particular, we are hoping that the Library will again be able to open at 9 a.m. (Tuesday – Saturday) and to remain open until 7 p.m. on at least one evening per week.

To do this, we need to recruit a team of volunteers to assist users. Volunteers would indicate their availability for particular days and times. FoSSL will then set up a rota of pairs of volunteers to cover the extended opening. All necessary training will be provided.

If you are already convinced that you want to join this team, email philip.sarre@gmail.com to sign up.

If you would like more information, or would like to ask questions, please come to a

MEETING IN THE LIBRARY ON TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY AT 3.30 p.m.

Tea, coffee and cakes will be provided.

With best wishes,

The Friends of Stony Stratford Library committee

—

Friends of Stony Stratford Library – we normally meet at 7pm on the first Tuesday of the month. All welcome.

Please pass on information about the Library to your friends and neighbours.

We are also on Facebook – keep up to date with campaign developments.