PARISH COUNCIL NEWS FROM THE APRIL 2025 MEETING
Update from Thames Valley Police – Crime statistics between 16/3/25 and 7/4/25 were as follows: Harassment x 1, Public order x 1, Theft (Emberton caravan park) x 1.
Brick path in High Street – Despite following this issue up with the Ward Councillors, we understand the dislodged brick on the footpath opposite the Bell & Bear remains a low priority for repair by MKCC but will continue to be monitored.
Parking around The Forge and Institute – Following complaints on Emberton Echo of difficulties with parking around The Forge and The Institute, the parish council contacted Acorn Early Years Nursery to request that its staff and visitors kindly use Acorn’s car park in the High Street rather than taking up road spaces usually available for residential parking. Acorn Early Years Nursery have taken on board the request by reminding their staff and visitors that only parents with babies should be using the entrance at the front of the premises and that nursery staff and families with older children are asked to use Acorn’s High Streeet car park. Our thanks go to Acorn, their staff and visitors for their help with this.
MK Connect – Changes to MK Connect from 1 April 2025
The new operating times for MK Connect will be from 6am – 8pm Monday – Saturday. There will be no Sunday Service.
Journeys outside the rural area will no longer involve changing vehicles in Newport Pagnell, as the zonal system has been discontinued.
Prices - Fares will be changing from 1 April 2025 with a new pricing structure for longer journeys within Milton Keynes:
• Peak £4
• Off Peak £3
• *Older Person’s and Disabled Person’s bus pass holders (ENCTS) £1.50
• All in One card user £1.20
• Additional surcharges will apply for non ENCTS pass holders for rides of over 5km (peak £5, off peak £4) and over 8km (peak £6.50, off peak £5.50)
*MK Connect is not part of the English National Concessionary Scheme (ENCTS) and Milton Keynes City Council has been subsidising the cost of these trips. MKCC will continue to contribute to the cost of ENCTS trips, but after recent consultation on future pricing there was overwhelming support for a £1.50 charge for ENCTS to use the MK Connect service.
New vehicles with better accessibility will be in use, including several accessible vehicles with tail lifts.
You can book an MK Connect vehicle when you are ready to travel, and unlike an immediate door-to-door taxi you may be sharing it with other people heading the same way. There will likely be a short wait just like at a bus stop. Most people wait around half an hour, though it can be longer.
The easiest way to book is by the MK Connect smartphone app, which you can download from your preferred app store. If you do not have a smartphone or need extra help, MK Connect’s customer service team can make the booking for you. Book a ride by calling 01908 252526. If you do have the app, you can track vehicle progress in real time. Payment can be made with debit/credit card via the app.
If you have any comments on these changes, please do communicate them to MKCC and also to the parish council, so we can make representations on your behalf.
Changes to additional green bin collection - From 12 May 2025, residents who wish to have their second or third green bin for food and garden waste collected can opt-in to the annual paid subscription service.
Online is the quickest and easiest way to subscribe but if you do not have internet access, and cannot ask someone to help, please call 01908 252570. MKCC will only provide 140L green bins. If you already have a larger green bin, you can subscribe for that bin. You don't need to return it and order a new bin.
Residents can subscribe to have up to two additional green bins collected weekly. The first green bin remains free for households. The 2025/26 subscription cost is £55 per bin and the service will run from 12 May 2025 to 31 March 2026. The city council will issue a permit sticker for each subscribed additional green bin within 10 working days of the subscription start date. Additional green bins without a valid permit sticker will not be collected after May 2025. Anyone who does not wish to subscribe for an additional green bin collection can still take extra food and garden waste to a local recycling centre or compost at home.
Speed Watch – Volunteers undertook Speed Watch in Olney Road on the 28th March between 4 and 5pm. Of the 56 vehicles travelling north on Olney Road; none of those vehicles were exceeding the 30mph speed limit. Speed Watch as well as the Speed Indicator Device now installed on Olney Road are intended as educational tools and act as a deterrent for motorists to observe the speed limit. When Speed Watch is deployed, any vehicles exceeding the speed limit (by 10% + 2mph) will be reported to TVP and will receive a letter. The data from the Speed Indicator Device is fed back to TVP and MKCC.