After a lot of pressure from your Lib DemFocus team, some of the potholes in Lichfield Down, Walnut Tree are beginning to be fixed BUT the Council are still saying they must be 50cm deep before they will repair them! Your councillors will still keep leaning on the council.
The Lib Dems still want the whole of Lichfield Down re-surfaced, and not this piecemeal work, to ensure car drivers, cyclists and bus users have a less bumpy trip.
Pigeons are now causing problems under the bridge off Brecon Court, Monkston (above). Vanessa McPake has added it to list of problem bridges.
Sadly the new anti-pigeon netting we had installed in Birdlip Lane and Tewkesbury Lane was vandalised. MK Council have told us they are reinstalling it in Tewksbury Lane, and having a general clean up of all 3 sites.
Cllr Jenni Ferrans has had some new lights installed along the Snail Trail in Walnut Tree. “Well Done Jenni” say cyclists and walkers along this very busy path. However, she continues to press for the other end of the Snail Trail to be lit.
Jenni Ferrans writes:the first three of the vacant plots on the even numbered side of Queensbury Lane, Monkston Park are being advertised for sale for single self-build houses. Please contact us if you want more details.
If there is enough interest, the remaining plots will follow soon. If not, they will be held until next year. The end plots have been deemed big enough to hold two houses, but we wait to see what buyers propose.
Once buyers have the land, they will put planning applications in, and residents will be able to comment at that stage.
Cllr Jenni Ferrans directs traffic at the new one-way signs at Monkston School
“Well done!”, said parents to the Lib Dems for getting the traffic chaos at Monkston Primary School sorted out. The Police will now be able to enforce the one-way flow.
Cllr Vanessa 
McPake had the litter removed from the play area behind Heronshaw School, Walnut Tree. The Lib Dems are also trying to get your litter bins emptied more often in busy places.
More litter has been removed from Ulverscroft play area in Monkston.
Walton Grange residents say what they think!
Sorry about the lateness of this update.
Just a few weeks after residents celebrated success after BT planned to install fibre in Walton Grange this summer, they were disgusted by the news that BT had put the plan back to next year!
Thanks to all the residents who turned out and emailed to make the point to BT that Walton Grange needs broadband.
It helped – when we met with BT a couple of weeks later, they certainly knew about Walton Grange’s plight!
At first no explanation was given. But now BT have explained that the software routing broadband signals cannot cope with the cabinet connecting to both fibre-to-cabinet and fibre-to-premises!
Cllr Jenni Ferrans commented “This is a fundamental limitation that will affect many outlying areas, and should have been dealt with years ago. BT have said that they are trying to overcome it. They need to succeed – quickly!”
Residents in Walton Hall and parts of Walnut Tree are also affected by this problem. The Focus team is helping residents to keep the pressure up on BT!
Since 2009 the Lib Dems have been encouraging apprenticeships – first in Milton Keynes, and then after 2010, across the country. Modern apprenticeships provide flexible training while you earn, giving students between one and seven years of high quality training backed up by practical experience.
Now one of our local companies has contacted us asking for help publicising vacancies in Kingston. Please contact them if you are interested.
Milton Keynes’ top young people needed for unique vacancy
Remit Training is offering two lucky young people in Milton Keynes an amazing opportunity to get into the automotive sector.
Remit is working alongside Sytner Mercedes Benz, based on Grey Friars Court in Kingston, to offer two young people the chance to be Sales Apprentices with the biggest retailer of prestige cars in the UK.
The roles offer the candidates a chance to gain nationally recognised qualifications and be fully-employed from day one, as well as a chance to get valuable work experience.
But this is no ordinary apprenticeship. Sytner is offering the young people who take up the opportunity the chance to earn £12,000 per year with a further earning potential of up to £3,000 bonus paid on achievement of the qualification after two years.
This is one of the highest-paid available apprenticeships in the country, and the high quality training delivered by Remit Training, Sytner, and Mercedes-Benz, will provide any young person with a CV to be proud of.
Steve Barker, Sales and Marketing Director for Remit, said: “An apprenticeship is always a fantastic route into work, not only providing you with employment, but the opportunity to build your skills, knowledge and experience, while achieving nationally recognised qualifications.
“This apprenticeship of course offers even more, with an excellent starting salary rarely seen in apprenticeship circles, and the opportunity to work for a multi-national company, with fantastic opportunities for career progression.”
This is one of the more elite apprenticeships available. Those applying for the Milton Keynes positions must have a valid UK driving licence and grades A-C in GCSE Maths and English and be educated to A Level standard which may include an NVQ, BTEC National or Diploma level qualification.
Steve added: “There will be a lot of young people in Milton Keynes thinking about their future right now, and I would encourage those who might be interested to contact us straight away to find out more.”
Remit works with more than 4,000 apprentices across the country, the majority in the automotive industry. It also works with young people in the IT, hospitality, health and social care, customer service and business administration sectors.
To apply, please contact Remit on 0845 8399 200 or visit the website: http://www.remit.co.uk/vacancies/.
The outline plans for 5 houses on the corner of Limbaud Close and Chase Avenue in Monkston Park go to the Council’s Development Control panel on Thursday July 3rd. Up to three residents can speak and must register with the Council by noon on Monday 30th June.
Cllr Jenni Ferrans is pressing MKDP to prune their trees on Monkston Park
The Focus team has been walking the streets to check on the bushes, grass cutting and the weeds after a number of residents have complained.
On Kents Hill, Cllr Vanessa McPake disappeared under the weeds in Tunbridge Grove!
On Monkston Park, Cllr Jenni Ferrans could not walk down Queensbury Lane because of the overhanging trees and shrubs.
They have now asked that MK Council sort out the problems. Cllr Vanessa McPake will be pushing the new Labour-run MK Council to get the weeding done and Cllr Jenni Ferrans will be pressing MK Development Partnership to maintain their reserved sites.
Vanessa disappears under weeds in Kents Hill