Local ward councillors have responded to allegations made by a member of Olney Town Council that they have released 'inaccurate and misleading' information about the housing numbers included in the Olney Neighbourhood Plan.
In a statement released yesterday, Olney Parish Councillor Joe Stacey said "There has been much information issued about housing numbers but several points can be made. The information given by the Ward Councillors regarding housing numbers [are in my opinion] inaccurate and misleading."
Cllr Stacey has since told MKFM that "This leaflet was written after I had checked and double checked all the information that I had and I worded it very carefully."
He highlighted several elements of the communication made by the Milton Keynes Ward Councillors for Olney over the weekend, including that "there [was] no mention of the independent examiner in the Milton Keynes Council letter of 13th August 2014 that gave us Milton Keynes Council's requirement."
Mr Stacey also said that there was a "significant omission" in the statement because "there [was] no mention of the fact that the Milton Keynes Council requirement figure for Olney was amended downwards to take account of the Newport Pagnell situation."
He also added that "As part of the checking process Milton Keynes Council themselves arranged a 6 week period of consultation between January and 8th March 2017 prior to the Plan being passed to the Examiner. During that period they made no comment to suggest that the criteria by which housing numbers were assessed had changed."
Cllr Peter Geary, Cllr David Hosking and Cllr Keith McLean have subsequently released a statement denying that they released any misinformation.
They said "The three Olney Ward Councillors are bemused at the allegation that we have distributed inaccurate and misleading information relating to tomorrow's referendum on the town's Neighbourhood Plan. We recently published a statement, prepared by the independent professional officers at Milton Keynes Council, designed to dispel the myths that have been circulated about the Neighbourhood Plan.
"The residents of Olney now have a choice. To decide whether they believe the independent professionals at MKC, who have no axe to grind, or a lay person in Olney trying desperately to shore up a Neighbourhood Plan which is increasingly being shown as lacking. The omission of a Housing Needs Survey in the Neighbourhood Plan means that the assumptions made cannot be demonstrated and evidenced as meeting the needs of local people."
"In the last few days the situation has become far worse. Local people have been reported to the police, with the apparent assistance of an Olney Town Councillor, over a leaflet they circulated in the town. This gives the impression that people, who are supposed to be representing members of the public, are afraid of debate and want to restrict residents from expressing their views. So much for democracy."
"This situation is precisely the opposite from what a Neighbourhood Plan is supposed to create. The process should bring communities together to plan for their future. This Neighbourhood Plan, regrettably, seems to be tearing the community of Olney apart. As Ward Councillors, we organised a meeting for Tuesday evening to try and bring the two sides together to try to find common ground on which they agreed. However, many members of Olney Town Council did not wish to attend, so the meeting had to be cancelled."
"This is a very poor situation, exacerbated by poor leadership and personal attacks and puts the future of the town at risk."
