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News & News Archive

Abingdon's Abbey Meadow outdoor pool has re-opened

on Tue, 19/06/2018 - 11:03am

Swimmers have returned to Abingdon’s Abbey Meadow outdoor pool, after it re-opened on Saturday 16th June, following its £1.3m refurbishment over winter 2017/18.

The new look L-shaped pool has a beach-style sloping entrance at one end. The other end of the pool is deeper and can be used for lane swimming.

The pool has become a deck level pool where water sits at the full height of the pool’s sides, which improves filtration and water quality. A rubber crumbed surface has been installed to create a safe area around the pool and in front of the changing rooms. The changing rooms now have coin-operated lockers.

For more information on the pool please see GLL website (click).

More pictures of the new pool are available <here>.

From an article on the Vale's website; see the original <here>.

 

Parish Council Annual & Parish Minutes - Tuesday, 16th May 2018

on Tue, 19/06/2018 - 8:35am

SPARSHOLT PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Sparsholt Parish Council held on

Tuesday 16th May 2017 at Griffin Memorial Hall starting at 8.00pm

Present: The Chairman Councillor Comyn, Councillors Brown, Downie and Williams, the RFO and Clerk and 4 parishioners.

 

 

ACTION

1

Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman:  Cllr Comyn prepared to continue as Chairman, proposed by Cllr Downie, seconded by Cllr Williams and agreed unanimously.  Cllr Brown prepared to continue as Vice-Chairman, proposed by Cllr Comyn, seconded by Cllr Downie and agreed unanimously.

 

2

Apologies:  Cllr Barnes and DC & CC Constance.

 

3

Declaration of Acceptance of Office, Declarations of Interest & Reminder of the Code of Conduct:  None.

 

4

Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 18th April 2018:  The minutes were proposed as a true record by the Chairman, Cllr Comyn, seconded Cllr Brown and agreed unanimously.

 

5

Matters Arising: 

  1. B4507 50 mph speed restriction update:  Ongoing, Cllr Downie has looked into the criteria and suggested that the best option is to for him to put together a statement, which will be circulated for comments/additions.  The statement will then be forwarded to the other interested local parishes to support and then to OCC.
  2. Cemetery rules:  Published on the website.
  3. Pot holes:  Ongoing, some have been fixed.
  4. Salt rota on the website:  Still to be published on the website.
  5. Eastmanton Hedge:  Cllr Comyn to speak to Ruth Caulfield who is in touch with the owner of the derelict house regarding the hedge.
  6. Cemetery items in section 19.
  7. GDPR and DPO:  Sparsholt Parish Council are working towards the GDPR requirements and are awaiting a decision on whether a DPO is required.
  8. The Star Public House – Asset of Community Value:  Ongoing.
  9. Footpath No. 5:  Cllr Brown as Footpath officer reported that he was awaiting the final version of the copy of the diversion of the footpath due to the building of the bungalow.  Cllr Brown has asked the VOWHDC to make sure that steps are taken so that footpaths are not blocked off in future.  Cllr Brown also reported that he has strimmed Footpath No. 12.

 

Cllr Downie

 

 

 

 

 

Cllr Comyn

 

Cllr Comyn

 

 

 

 

Cllr Comyn

 

6

Review of Standing Orders:  It was unanimously agreed that no amendments need to be made.

 

7

Review of delegation arrangements to committees, sub-committees, employees and other local authorities:  All five Parish Councillors also constitute the planning sub committee.  The Clerk and the RFO are the only employees of the Parish Council.

 

8

Review of the terms of reference for Committees:  Terms of Reference for the planning committee are in the Standing Orders.

 

9

Receipt of nominations to existing committees/appointment to any new committees, confirmation of the terms of reference, and the number of members:  All Parish Councillors to remain members of the Planning Committee, unanimously agreed.

 

10

Review of representatives on or who work with external bodies and arrangements for reporting back:  No proposed amendments.  Planning received via the VOWHDC and the Parish Council will continue to make representations to the VOWHDC and OCC when necessary.  Cllr Comyn to remain Burials Officer proposed by Cllr Brown, seconded by Cllr Downie and agreed unanimously.  Cllr Brown will remain the Rights of Way Officer proposed by Cllr Comyn, seconded by Cllr Williams and agreed unanimously.  Cllr Comyn volunteered to deal with Highways, proposed by Cllr Brown, seconded by Cllr Williams and agreed unanimously.  Cllr Williams and Cllr Brown agreed to continue to look after the cemetery, proposed by Cllr Comyn and seconded by Cllr Downie.

 

11

Assets review:  The RFO presented the Asset Review, it was suggested that an amendment be made to remove the Sparsholt noticeboard and alter the Westcot notice board amount by £500.  Cllr Comyn proposed these amendments, seconded by Cllr Brown and agreed unanimously.  To be signed at the next meeting.

 

 

 

RFO

12

Risk Assessment:  Acceptance of the Risk Assessment was proposed by Cllr Comyn, seconded by Cllr Brown and agreed unanimously.   The Sparsholt Village Green notice board to be added to the next Agenda as it currently being stored by Ian Lambourne.  It was proposed that the trees on Church way do not need to be added to the risk assessment as they are not on Parish Council land, seconded by Cllr Williams and agreed unanimously.

 

 

Clerk

13

Review of Insurance Cover:  The renewal from Zurich is £352.60 inc. IPT.  Cllr Comyn proposed that we remain with Zurich, seconded by Cllr Brown and agreed unanimously.  The RFO to check if the defibrillator needs adding to the insurance.

 

 

RFO

 

Cllr Williams left the meeting

 

14

Review of the Council’s and/or employees’ membership of other bodies:  The Council is a member of the OALC, Cllr Comyn proposed to continue the OALC membership, seconded by Cllr Brown and agreed by Cllr Downie.  Membership of Community First Oxfordshire to be discussed again at the next meeting.

 

 

 

Clerk

15

Review of the Council’s complaints procedure.  Review procedures for handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998:  Cllr Comyn proposed that no amendments were required, seconded by Cllr Downie and agreed by Cllr Brown. 

 

 

 

16

Review the Council’s Policy for dealing with the press/media:  The Chairman Cllr Comyn will speak to the press on behalf of the PC, after consultation with all the Parish Councillors if possible.  Proposed Cllr Brown and seconded Cllr Downie.

 

17

Finance:

  1. Approval of the monthly Financial Statement:  Cllr Comyn proposed acceptance, seconded by Cllr Brown and agreed by Cllr Downie.
  2. Approval of bank signatories for 2018-2019: Cllrs Comyn, Brown and Downie were proposed and agreed unanimously.     
  3. Approval of the Annual Return for the year to 31st March 2018:  Cllr Comyn proposed acceptance, seconded by Cllr Downie and agreed by Cllr Brown.
  4. The Clerk asked to purchase a portable hard drive no more than £60, acceptance proposed by Cllr Comyn, seconded by Cllr Brown and agreed by Cllr Downie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18

Planning: 

  1. P18/V0627/FUL Hill Barn Stables, road between Sparsholt Firs and Lodge Farm, OX12 9XB:  Erection of new American-barn style stables with19 horseboxes and tack room/store.  Granted.  Nick Price asked why the comments made by the Parish Council were not mentioned on the permission, were they accidently left off or deliberately.  Cllr Comyn agreed to enquire with the Planning Officer.

New Applications:

  1. P18/V0888/HH 4 West Street, OX12 9PR:  Part demolition of amenity buildings to rear and new single storey extension to rear and front of garage.  Cllr Comyn proposed that there were no objections, seconded by Cllr Downie and agreed by Cllr Brown.  The Clerk to submit the response.

 

 

 

 

 

Cllr Comyn

 

 

 

 

 

Clerk

19

Cemetery:  Cllr Brown has obtained quotes for signs labelling the various bins and composters in the cemetery, also one stating “by order of the Parish Council”.  £70 + VAT, these were proposed by Cllr Brown, seconded by Cllr Comyn and agreed by Cllr Downie.  Cllr Brown will purchase the signs and fit them.  Cllr Brown will try to straighten the Cemetery gates.  Cllrs Brown and Williams replaced the cemetery rail and Cllr Brown repaired cement holes in the path.  Cllr Comyn will re-visit the cemetery and try to reorganise the realignment and the hole in the hedge.  Cllr Comyn to ask advice from a tree surgeon about the hedge before the next internment of ashes.  Mr Lucas has enquired if his Mum’s ashes can be placed next to Edgar Lucas if the plot has not been reserved and want to hold the internment on the 4th July 2018.  Cllr Comyn to respond.  Cllr Comyn to check the space size between the tablets.  One of the graves is still very high and Cllr Comyn has asked Ian Lambourne if the extra soil can be re-distributed into the sunk graves to level it out.  This would make grass cutting easier.

 

 

 

Cllr Brown

20

Westcot Village Green:  Cllr Brown reported that his daughter had cut the grass four times since the sale of the farmhouse.  The Parish Council to advertise for someone to cut the grass, this was proposed by Cllr Comyn, seconded by Cllr Downie and agreed by Cllr Brown.  Cllr Comyn offered to do a notice and also put it on the website.

 

21

Matters for future discussion: 

  1. Clerks contract.
  2. Verge damage to Days Lane will be repaired once the works at Days House are completed.

 

22

Set dates, times and place of ordinary meetings of the full Council for the year ahead: Wednesdays 13th June, 8th July, 12th September, 17th October, 14th November, 5th December 2018 all starting at 7.30pm at the Griffin Memorial Hall.

The Parish Council may need to change this date as necessary.

 

Meeting closed at 9.20pm.

Minutes prepared by Mrs D Lewis-Pryde, Parish Clerk

Signed........................................................................................Date.......................................................

SPCAM 16th May 2018


SPARSHOLT PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Sparsholt Annual Parish Meeting held on

Tuesday 16th May 2018 at Griffin Memorial Hall starting at 7.30pm

Present: Councillors Comyn (Chairman), Brown, Downie and Williams, the RFO and Clerk and 4 x parishioners.

 

 

ACTION

1

Apologies:  Cllr Barnes and DC & CC Constance

 

2.

Sparsholt Parish Council Chairman’s Report:  The report was given by Cllr Comyn, see attached.

 

3.

District and County Councillors Report:  In the absence of DC & CC Constance her report was read out by Cllr Comyn, see attached.

 

4.

Any Other Business:  Angie Brown thanked the Parish Council for the £1,000 donation towards the Griffin Memorial Hall roof on behalf of the Management Committee.

 

 

Meeting closed at 8.00pm.

Minutes taken and prepared by The Clerk

 

Signed........................................................................................Date.......................................................

APM 16th May 2018


 

SPARSHOLT PARISH COUNCIL

_______________________

CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT

16 MAY 2018

_______________________

INTRODUCTION

As recorded in last year’s Chairman’s report, Pete Wilshire stood down from the Council after 5 years’ service and his place was taken by co-optee Councillor Ian Barnes of Hillside.  The membership of the Council during the year was, accordingly, Tim Comyn (Chairman), Iain Brown (Vice Chairman), Norman Downie, Laurence Williams and Ian Barnes.

Debbie Lewis-Pryde continued as our parish clerk and was assisted for part of the year by Rachel Bennet as the Responsible Financial Officer and subsequently by Jane Valentine in that role.

PLANNING

The Parish Council was consulted on a number of planning applications by the Vale during the year.  The proposed demolition of a bungalow and pool house at Days House and the division of the site to erect a new house proved controversial.  The Parish Council objected to the development on a number of grounds including drainage.  Others considered that the application was no different to that refused on appeal at Humber Barn in 2015.

The Vale granted the application on grounds including that, the new dwelling being a replacement of an existing self-contained bungalow which was to be demolished as part of the scheme, the number of single dwellinghouses in Westcot remained unchanged.

The conversion of single storey redundant farm buildings to three dwellings at Westcot Farm granted prior approval P15/V2600/PAR, was commenced during the year and is continuing.  As recorded in last year’s Chairman’s report, contrary to DLCG guidance, prior approval was granted by the Vale without any proper assessment of the structural integrity of the existing agricultural buildings proposed to be converted.  And it has been observed during the year that the development being carried out on the site has not involved the ‘conversion’ of the existing agricultural buildings but their replacement with new build. This would appear to have confirmed the structural unsuitability of the existing buildings for conversion to dwellings.

The Parish Council was consulted by the Vale on an application for planning permission and listed building consent to convert the Grade II listed barn and adjoining vernacular farm building at Westcot Farm to 2 dwellings; and gave its support to the proposal subject to a proper drainage scheme being put in.  In seeking to address that issue, the applicant submitted a revised red line plan that included the entirety of the enclosed farmyard in the application.  Despite the Parish Council’s subsequent objection to the altered layout on the grounds of creeping residential development contrary to the up-to-date policies of the new Vale of the White Horse Local Plan Part 1, the Vale granted the application as amended.

HIGHWAYS

The poor maintenance of the local highway network by Oxfordshire County Council has been a continuing concern throughout the year. Many pot holes that appeared in Sparsholt village, on the B4507 and on Clements Hill going up to Sparsholt Firs remained unfilled for months on end not only causing damage to vehicles but also dangerous driving conditions, particularly on the B4507.  The worst potholes on Clements Hill were ultimately filled by volunteers such was the dereliction of statutory duty on the part of OCC.

Road markings were repainted at the cross roads in Sparsholt and at the dangerous junction at Eastmanton; and the very worst of the potholes on the B4507 between Sparsholt and Kingstone Lisle have recently been filled.  But the condition of the B road through the parish remains one of disrepair despite the Parish Council receiving updates that OCC is spending additional sums on potholes.

In addition to its concern regarding the non-repair of local highways, the Parish Council resolved to lobby OCC for a speed limit of 50 mph on the B4507.  There was a fatal car crash on the B4507 on the 9 September near Ashbury adding to that at the bottom of Blowing Stone Hill in May 2017; and a number of other accidents have been recorded along the road.[1] A particular concern was the pedestrian use of the narrow 60 mph road associated with the camp sites at Britchcome Farm.

In November District Councillor Yvonne Constance chaired a “Speed Limit on B4507: Ashbury to Wantage” meeting of local parishes’ representatives (19) at which concerns were expressed and solutions considered.  Her record of the meeting proposed “Next Steps” that remain to be undertaken.  Norman Downie undertook on behalf of the Parish Council, to pursue the cause and the Chairman to look into the application of the DfT ‘Speed Limit Appraisal Tool: User Guidance.’  However, it seems doubtful whether the relevant DfT criteria for imposing and policing a 50 mph limit along the road can be met. The Parish Council is continuing to consider the case for a 50 mph limit.

CEMETERY

At the September meeting Councillor Brown updated the Parish Council on the use made of the compost and litter bins and the need for signs indicating their proper use.  It has not proved possible to obtain a brown bin for cemetery garden waste from the Vale.

At the March meeting of the Parish Council, an update of the cemetery rules were agreed which, among other matters, provided for the burial of partners of residents and qualifying former residents.

An outstanding resolution of the Parish Council to fund and carry out works to provide a rail on the concrete slope up to the cemetery gate and to repair of the gate itself, remains to be implemented.

Councillors Brown and Williams carried out checks on the safety of the cemetery during the year.

VILLAGE GREEN

The issue of the Village Green at Westcot and whether the Parish Council should make an application for its registration under section 15(1) of the Commons Act 2006 was raised at a number of Parish Council meetings during the year.  To register land as a green it has to be demonstrated that it has been used by local people for lawful sports and pastimes ‘as of right’ (i.e. without permission, force or secrecy) for at least 20 years.  Councillor Brown registered the Parish Council’s interest with OCC (Arthur McEwen James) and remains on the case.  Evidence is required to be gathered as to the use of the green over the last 20 years if the matter is to be progressed.

FINANCE

Compliant financial reports were produced by the Council’s Responsible Financial Officer, Rachel Bennett, in the early months of the year.  She then retired as RFO and the position was vacant for a while until taken up by Jane Valentine in February.  I here express the gratitude of The Parish Council to Rachel and Jane for keeping the council’s finances in good order during the year. 

The outstanding issue as regards finance for the Council is the £11,000 cash balance that it holds that ought to be defrayed, if at all possible, on projects in the parish.

OTHER MATTERS

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of several parishioners during the year to serve the Sparsholt and Westcot community that otherwise may have gone unnoticed:

  • Nick Price who administered the website
  • Guy Mendonca who painted the bus shelter in Sparsholt
  • Iain Brown who organized the removal of the dead tree in Church Way
  • Laurence Williams who cleared the footway in Broadbrook Lane
  • Sandra Hesford for strimmimg the triangle at the top of Days Lane
  • Alex Brown for mowing the Westcot Village Green
  • John Caudle for maintaining the triangle at the Church Way / Partridge

No doubt there are others deserving of mention.  To all I express the gratitude of the Parish Council for their good works on behalf of our community.

I also want to thank Debbie Lewis-Pryde our Parish Clerk for her hard work throughout the year organising our meetings and all that goes with that including drafting and circulating agendas and keeping the minutes.  The work of a parish clerk seems to become more demanding as each year goes by; a recent example being the introduction of GPDR and the need for ensuring the Council’s compliance.  We are grateful to Debbie for keeping us on track. 

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War; and in recognition of this event, the Parish Council made a donation of £1000 to the War Memorial Appeal set up by Anthony Lee of Sparsholt House.  The works to repair and refurbish the war memorial in the church yard of the Holy Rood have been started with the cleaning of the names inscribed on the base; names – Ackrill, Wiltshire, Shirreff, Rowland, Wallington and others – that were heard in the parish 100 years ago and are still heard today.

I attach to this Annual Report a full list of the men of Sparsholt and Westcot who give their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

Tim Comyn

Chairman, Sparsholt Parish Council

16th May 2018

 

[1] In April 2016, for example, Nick Price recorded an accident / near miss on his dash camera on the B4507 just west of Westcot.   


District and County Councillor Report for Annual Meeting 2018

VALE OF WHITE HORSE DISTRICT COUNCIL :

LEADER Matt Barber steps down by end of May to take up full-time position as Deputy Police Commissioner Thames Valley after 7 successful years as Leader VWHDC.

Matt Barber has been a  very successful leader, who has steered the Vale through the pain of Local Plan Part 1 (LPP1) delivered over 7500 new houses so far, a new leisure centre, and set up LPP2; negotiated the Five Counties deal, the Growth Deal with County, the City and District Councils, and brought the Vale round to support for a Unitary Council in the future, whilst ensuring high standard services for all residents.  We will miss his grasp of the strategy for the  Vale and his ability to make it a forward-thinking Council and his careful control of the spend by the Council

A new Leader will be elected by Conservative Group on 8th May.

Local Plan Part 2 has been submitted for Examination in Public by Inspector during the summer.  The Vale is required to deliver 2250 extra houses to meet Oxford City’s unmet need. All are allocated in the Abingdon/Oxford ‘fringe (1200 on the Dalton barracks site) and the worst effect will be more congestion on our roads.

Budget for 2018/19 required a 4.6% increase in Council Tax, which includes significant  funds for ‘deep clean’ of the towns and villages to improve the state of our area.

Vale District  council has registered objection to Thames Water’s renewed proposal for a reservoir at Steventon and called for a public enquiry.

OXFORDSGIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

BUDGET for 2019/10 has been increased by 5.99% to include 3% ring-fenced increase for social care  - children and adults.

SOCIAL CARE :  Care worker recruitment drive has already attracted more applicants in 5 months as in past 2 years.  OCC currently has about 14,200  working in adult social care, but Oxfordshire’s ageing population is growing at twice the national average.

POTHOLES :  As Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport I have raised potholes to the top of the OCC agenda.  Gov has provided £2.8 million extra for repairs making about £16 million for road repairs this year.   But snow, and ice and salt have damaged our roads beyond expectations – reports to Fix My Street are now running between 7,000 to 8,000 per month, up from the average of 2,000 per month, so we have brought in 2 extra repair teams and an additional Dragon Patcher and aim to fix about 35,000 potholes this year.  I hope you have noticed there are workmen repairing potholes in our area already.   But we know it will need £150 million to resurface our roads, and I am open to all suggestions about where to find this money!

HGVs : throughout the county are working with Trading Standards to police the scourge of HGVs ignoring weight restrictions on rural roads and bridges.  Since Feb 2016 there have been 100 prosecutions (resulting in £55792 in fines) with 57 more cases under active investigation.  In total 550 warning letters have been issued following reports from the public; 157 seen by patrolling Trading Standard officers and 460 vehicles recorded by the ABPR cameras at Newbridge.

GROWTH DEAL : OCC initiated a deal with Gov for £215 million over 5 years for  infrastructure, which includes £60 million for affordable housing, likely to be for key-worker housing  close to Oxford to counter the problem that Oxford City  housing is most expensive outside London. This is a ground-breaking deal for a stream of significant funds to provide roads to deliver 100,000 houses in the county by 2031.  The deal required agreement from all four District Councils and the City, and will enable OCC to plan big infrastructure improvements ( from the Ox.Infrastructure Schedule) and is a wholly new way to fund development in a county without a Unitary authority.

UNITARY COUNCIL :  the plan  agreed by all councils last year for a Unitary authority is still on the desk of the SoS, and we watch developments in Northamptonshire with great interest.  But meanwhile the gain for major infrastructure funding has been secured through the successful Growth Deal.  

EAST WEST RAILWAY :  OCC has been a lead council in the consortium which has secured £1billion Gov funding (November 2017) to extend the East/West railway from Bicester to Bletchley (Milton Keynes).  Following this model a new consortium will now be formed by the councils east of Bletchley to extend the railway to Bedford and Cambridge.

OXFORD EXPRESSWAY :   I chair an advisory group on the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway which aims to ‘open’ England’s economic heartland with a science .knowledge spine from Cambridge to Oxford with a new science university at Milton Keynes, as proposed by the National Infrastructure Commission.  There are 3 possible ‘corridors’ to route this road through Oxfordshire, which makes us the most affected by this development.  We cannot yet indicate a preferred corridor, as the technical assessments are not yet available.  We have responded to Highways England that the Expressway must NOT use the  section of A34 through central Oxfordshire, and must not seek to use A34 where it serves as a local road past Oxford City.  It must also be developed separately from local planned enhancements like the Culham river crossing  The VWHDC prefers a route south of Abingdon; SODC prefers a route north of Oxford and they have called for a public enquiry.

THAMES WATER’s RESERVOIR :  OCC  has called for more detail about TW’s estimates of population growth in the county, aware that TW sees this as a regional facility without making clear what other possible sites have been assessed across the South East region. We have asked also how much of the water will be sold to other water companies, and called (again) for TW to speed up their programme of leakage reduction to ‘delay the need for a reservoir as long as possible.

ENVIRONMENT :  OCC is planning first Zero Emission Zone in the world for centre of Oxford by 2020; is initiating many improvements for cyclists in and around Oxford City; and has consulted on how to increase recycling aware that nearly 60% of what still goes to waste generating plant is recyclable.  We must do better with bottles . . .and all plastics!

Cllr Yvonne Constance

Sparsholt Parish Council Chairman's Annual Report, 16th May 2018

on Tue, 19/06/2018 - 8:34am

SPARSHOLT PARISH COUNCIL

_______________________

CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT

16 MAY 2018

_______________________

INTRODUCTION

As recorded in last year’s Chairman’s report, Pete Wilshire stood down from the Council after 5 years’ service and his place was taken by co-optee Councillor Ian Barnes of Hillside.  The membership of the Council during the year was, accordingly, Tim Comyn (Chairman), Iain Brown (Vice Chairman), Norman Downie, Laurence Williams and Ian Barnes.

Debbie Lewis-Pryde continued as our parish clerk and was assisted for part of the year by Rachel Bennet as the Responsible Financial Officer and subsequently by Jane Valentine in that role.

PLANNING

The Parish Council was consulted on a number of planning applications by the Vale during the year.  The proposed demolition of a bungalow and pool house at Days House and the division of the site to erect a new house proved controversial.  The Parish Council objected to the development on a number of grounds including drainage.  Others considered that the application was no different to that refused on appeal at Humber Barn in 2015.

The Vale granted the application on grounds including that, the new dwelling being a replacement of an existing self-contained bungalow which was to be demolished as part of the scheme, the number of single dwellinghouses in Westcot remained unchanged.

The conversion of single storey redundant farm buildings to three dwellings at Westcot Farm granted prior approval P15/V2600/PAR, was commenced during the year and is continuing.  As recorded in last year’s Chairman’s report, contrary to DLCG guidance, prior approval was granted by the Vale without any proper assessment of the structural integrity of the existing agricultural buildings proposed to be converted.  And it has been observed during the year that the development being carried out on the site has not involved the ‘conversion’ of the existing agricultural buildings but their replacement with new build. This would appear to have confirmed the structural unsuitability of the existing buildings for conversion to dwellings.

The Parish Council was consulted by the Vale on an application for planning permission and listed building consent to convert the Grade II listed barn and adjoining vernacular farm building at Westcot Farm to 2 dwellings; and gave its support to the proposal subject to a proper drainage scheme being put in.  In seeking to address that issue, the applicant submitted a revised red line plan that included the entirety of the enclosed farmyard in the application.  Despite the Parish Council’s subsequent objection to the altered layout on the grounds of creeping residential development contrary to the up-to-date policies of the new Vale of the White Horse Local Plan Part 1, the Vale granted the application as amended.

HIGHWAYS

The poor maintenance of the local highway network by Oxfordshire County Council has been a continuing concern throughout the year. Many pot holes that appeared in Sparsholt village, on the B4507 and on Clements Hill going up to Sparsholt Firs remained unfilled for months on end not only causing damage to vehicles but also dangerous driving conditions, particularly on the B4507.  The worst potholes on Clements Hill were ultimately filled by volunteers such was the dereliction of statutory duty on the part of OCC.

Road markings were repainted at the cross roads in Sparsholt and at the dangerous junction at Eastmanton; and the very worst of the potholes on the B4507 between Sparsholt and Kingstone Lisle have recently been filled.  But the condition of the B road through the parish remains one of disrepair despite the Parish Council receiving updates that OCC is spending additional sums on potholes.

In addition to its concern regarding the non-repair of local highways, the Parish Council resolved to lobby OCC for a speed limit of 50 mph on the B4507.  There was a fatal car crash on the B4507 on the 9 September near Ashbury adding to that at the bottom of Blowing Stone Hill in May 2017; and a number of other accidents have been recorded along the road.[1] A particular concern was the pedestrian use of the narrow 60 mph road associated with the camp sites at Britchcome Farm.

In November District Councillor Yvonne Constance chaired a “Speed Limit on B4507: Ashbury to Wantage” meeting of local parishes’ representatives (19) at which concerns were expressed and solutions considered.  Her record of the meeting proposed “Next Steps” that remain to be undertaken.  Norman Downie undertook on behalf of the Parish Council, to pursue the cause and the Chairman to look into the application of the DfT ‘Speed Limit Appraisal Tool: User Guidance.’  However, it seems doubtful whether the relevant DfT criteria for imposing and policing a 50 mph limit along the road can be met. The Parish Council is continuing to consider the case for a 50 mph limit.

CEMETERY

At the September meeting Councillor Brown updated the Parish Council on the use made of the compost and litter bins and the need for signs indicating their proper use.  It has not proved possible to obtain a brown bin for cemetery garden waste from the Vale.

At the March meeting of the Parish Council, an update of the cemetery rules were agreed which, among other matters, provided for the burial of partners of residents and qualifying former residents.

An outstanding resolution of the Parish Council to fund and carry out works to provide a rail on the concrete slope up to the cemetery gate and to repair of the gate itself, remains to be implemented.

Councillors Brown and Williams carried out checks on the safety of the cemetery during the year.

VILLAGE GREEN

The issue of the Village Green at Westcot and whether the Parish Council should make an application for its registration under section 15(1) of the Commons Act 2006 was raised at a number of Parish Council meetings during the year.  To register land as a green it has to be demonstrated that it has been used by local people for lawful sports and pastimes ‘as of right’ (i.e. without permission, force or secrecy) for at least 20 years.  Councillor Brown registered the Parish Council’s interest with OCC (Arthur McEwen James) and remains on the case.  Evidence is required to be gathered as to the use of the green over the last 20 years if the matter is to be progressed.

FINANCE

Compliant financial reports were produced by the Council’s Responsible Financial Officer, Rachel Bennett, in the early months of the year.  She then retired as RFO and the position was vacant for a while until taken up by Jane Valentine in February.  I here express the gratitude of The Parish Council to Rachel and Jane for keeping the council’s finances in good order during the year. 

The outstanding issue as regards finance for the Council is the £11,000 cash balance that it holds that ought to be defrayed, if at all possible, on projects in the parish.

OTHER MATTERS

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of several parishioners during the year to serve the Sparsholt and Westcot community that otherwise may have gone unnoticed:

  • Nick Price who administered the website
  • Guy Mendonca who painted the bus shelter in Sparsholt
  • Iain Brown who organized the removal of the dead tree in Church Way
  • Laurence Williams who cleared the footway in Broadbrook Lane
  • Sandra Hesford for strimmimg the triangle at the top of Days Lane
  • Alex Brown for mowing the Westcot Village Green
  • John Caudle for maintaining the triangle at the Church Way / Partridge

No doubt there are others deserving of mention.  To all I express the gratitude of the Parish Council for their good works on behalf of our community.

I also want to thank Debbie Lewis-Pryde our Parish Clerk for her hard work throughout the year organising our meetings and all that goes with that including drafting and circulating agendas and keeping the minutes.  The work of a parish clerk seems to become more demanding as each year goes by; a recent example being the introduction of GPDR and the need for ensuring the Council’s compliance.  We are grateful to Debbie for keeping us on track. 

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War; and in recognition of this event, the Parish Council made a donation of £1000 to the War Memorial Appeal set up by Anthony Lee of Sparsholt House.  The works to repair and refurbish the war memorial in the church yard of the Holy Rood have been started with the cleaning of the names inscribed on the base; names – Ackrill, Wiltshire, Shirreff, Rowland, Wallington and others – that were heard in the parish 100 years ago and are still heard today.

I attach to this Annual Report a full list of the men of Sparsholt and Westcot who give their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

Tim Comyn

Chairman, Sparsholt Parish Council

16th May 2018

 


[1] In April 2016, for example, Nick Price recorded an accident / near miss on his dash camera on the B4507 just west of Westcot.   

District and County Councillor Report for Annual Meeting 2018

on Tue, 19/06/2018 - 8:32am

District and County Councillor Report for Annual Meeting 2018

VALE OF WHITE HORSE DISTRICT COUNCIL :

LEADER Matt Barber steps down by end of May to take up full-time position as Deputy Police Commissioner Thames Valley after 7 successful years as Leader VWHDC.

Matt Barber has been a  very successful leader, who has steered the Vale through the pain of Local Plan Part 1 (LPP1) delivered over 7500 new houses so far, a new leisure centre, and set up LPP2; negotiated the Five Counties deal, the Growth Deal with County, the City and District Councils, and brought the Vale round to support for a Unitary Council in the future, whilst ensuring high standard services for all residents.  We will miss his grasp of the strategy for the  Vale and his ability to make it a forward-thinking Council and his careful control of the spend by the Council

A new Leader will be elected by Conservative Group on 8th May.

Local Plan Part 2 has been submitted for Examination in Public by Inspector during the summer.  The Vale is required to deliver 2250 extra houses to meet Oxford City’s unmet need. All are allocated in the Abingdon/Oxford ‘fringe (1200 on the Dalton barracks site) and the worst effect will be more congestion on our roads.

Budget for 2018/19 required a 4.6% increase in Council Tax, which includes significant  funds for ‘deep clean’ of the towns and villages to improve the state of our area.

Vale District  council has registered objection to Thames Water’s renewed proposal for a reservoir at Steventon and called for a public enquiry.

OXFORDSGIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

BUDGET for 2019/10 has been increased by 5.99% to include 3% ring-fenced increase for social care  - children and adults.

SOCIAL CARE :  Care worker recruitment drive has already attracted more applicants in 5 months as in past 2 years.  OCC currently has about 14,200  working in adult social care, but Oxfordshire’s ageing population is growing at twice the national average.

POTHOLES :  As Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport I have raised potholes to the top of the OCC agenda.  Gov has provided £2.8 million extra for repairs making about £16 million for road repairs this year.   But snow, and ice and salt have damaged our roads beyond expectations – reports to Fix My Street are now running between 7,000 to 8,000 per month, up from the average of 2,000 per month, so we have brought in 2 extra repair teams and an additional Dragon Patcher and aim to fix about 35,000 potholes this year.  I hope you have noticed there are workmen repairing potholes in our area already.   But we know it will need £150 million to resurface our roads, and I am open to all suggestions about where to find this money!

HGVs : throughout the county are working with Trading Standards to police the scourge of HGVs ignoring weight restrictions on rural roads and bridges.  Since Feb 2016 there have been 100 prosecutions (resulting in £55792 in fines) with 57 more cases under active investigation.  In total 550 warning letters have been issued following reports from the public; 157 seen by patrolling Trading Standard officers and 460 vehicles recorded by the ABPR cameras at Newbridge.

GROWTH DEAL : OCC initiated a deal with Gov for £215 million over 5 years for  infrastructure, which includes £60 million for affordable housing, likely to be for key-worker housing  close to Oxford to counter the problem that Oxford City  housing is most expensive outside London. This is a ground-breaking deal for a stream of significant funds to provide roads to deliver 100,000 houses in the county by 2031.  The deal required agreement from all four District Councils and the City, and will enable OCC to plan big infrastructure improvements ( from the Ox.Infrastructure Schedule) and is a wholly new way to fund development in a county without a Unitary authority.

UNITARY COUNCIL :  the plan  agreed by all councils last year for a Unitary authority is still on the desk of the SoS, and we watch developments in Northamptonshire with great interest.  But meanwhile the gain for major infrastructure funding has been secured through the successful Growth Deal.  

EAST WEST RAILWAY :  OCC has been a lead council in the consortium which has secured £1billion Gov funding (November 2017) to extend the East/West railway from Bicester to Bletchley (Milton Keynes).  Following this model a new consortium will now be formed by the councils east of Bletchley to extend the railway to Bedford and Cambridge.

OXFORD EXPRESSWAY :   I chair an advisory group on the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway which aims to ‘open’ England’s economic heartland with a science .knowledge spine from Cambridge to Oxford with a new science university at Milton Keynes, as proposed by the National Infrastructure Commission.  There are 3 possible ‘corridors’ to route this road through Oxfordshire, which makes us the most affected by this development.  We cannot yet indicate a preferred corridor, as the technical assessments are not yet available.  We have responded to Highways England that the Expressway must NOT use the  section of A34 through central Oxfordshire, and must not seek to use A34 where it serves as a local road past Oxford City.  It must also be developed separately from local planned enhancements like the Culham river crossing  The VWHDC prefers a route south of Abingdon; SODC prefers a route north of Oxford and they have called for a public enquiry.

THAMES WATER’s RESERVOIR :  OCC  has called for more detail about TW’s estimates of population growth in the county, aware that TW sees this as a regional facility without making clear what other possible sites have been assessed across the South East region. We have asked also how much of the water will be sold to other water companies, and called (again) for TW to speed up their programme of leakage reduction to ‘delay the need for a reservoir as long as possible.

ENVIRONMENT :  OCC is planning first Zero Emission Zone in the world for centre of Oxford by 2020; is initiating many improvements for cyclists in and around Oxford City; and has consulted on how to increase recycling aware that nearly 60% of what still goes to waste generating plant is recyclable.  We must do better with bottles . . .and all plastics!

Cllr Yvonne Constance

Neighbourhood Police Update - June 2018

on Mon, 18/06/2018 - 9:50pm

Priorities

Burglary: We are continuing to tackle the increase of burglary and theft related offences in the area. Faringdon Neighbourhood team will be working alongside Operation Monitor team, based at Abingdon. This team will be focusing on burglary in the area, targeting known offenders to disrupt their activity. Please continue to report any activity you believe to be suspicious on 101, or 999 if there is an immediate risk.

Rural Crime: Rural crime continues to be a priority for the Faringdon Neighbourhood Team. With crops now starting to grow in the area our focus is now more on rural thefts than hare coursing. We do continue to conducted regular patrols in our area to deter offenders and take action by working together with the rural community to catch offenders when they are identified.

Offenders brought to justice

Faringdon Neighbourhood team successfully applied a partial closure order on 1 The Lees, Faringdon (click), on 14th May. The magistrates agreed that the order was necessary to prevent anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder at and outside of this address. This has had a positive effect, with us noticing a decrease in ASB and disorder in this area.

Alan Reed, aged 45 of Van Diemans Road, Stanford in the Vale, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates Court on Tuesday 22nd May to one count of breach of restraining order, one count of using threatening, or abusive language to provoke fear of violence, and one count of breaching a suspended sentence. He has been sentenced to a total of 2 years at Oxford Crown Court on 24th May and was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £140.

Crime prevention advice

As the warmer weather hopefully continues to make its presence we see our beauty spots such as White Horse Hill, The Ridgeway and Badbury Hill getting busier. Unfortunately with this comes more opportunities for offenders to commit thefts from vehicles. We encourage you to deter these offenders by applying the following when leaving your car unattended in the car park

  • Double check that your vehicle is securely locked.
  • Don’t tempt thieves by leaving bags and valuables on display. Instead take them with you when possible. Also be aware of people watching you if you are relocating items to the boot where you think they are out of sight. If offenders see you put them there, they know they are there.
  • Sat navs can leave marks on your windscreen. If offenders see this they may take the opportunity to see if it’s left in the car.

We continue to perform patrols of these areas to deter offenders. While on these patrols PCSO Maralyn Pack and PCSO Howard Pack recently found items that had been dumped following thefts from vehicles. We are pleased to say that we manged to reunite some of these items with their owners.

What the neighbourhood team have been doing

Faringdon Neighbourhood Team were proud to be involved in helping support police operation in Windsor for the Royal Wedding on 19th May, which went smoothly.

We also attended the Old Berks Hunt Countryside day, which was an enjoyable day. It was nice to see so many people enjoying their day and many of you that attended came to talk to us. We are always happy to give any advice and help you with any concerns that you wish to raise to us.

On Saturday 2nd June we attended Watchfield Village fete. Thank you to who came to say hello to us. Again it was nice to see community spirit and everyone enjoying themselves.

Sunday 3rd June Faringdon Neighbourhood Team attended our local beauty spots such as White Horse Hill, Ashdown House and Badbury Hill to engage with the public and raise awareness of the issues around thefts from vehicles as mentioned above. Days like these give us a great opportunity to talk with the community and gives you a chance to raise any concerns you may have.

Future events/meetings/active communities

We will continue to attend the cake café when possible on Wednesday mornings at the Pump House in Faringdon. Please come along and feel free to approach us and ask any questions.

We would like to make you aware that we now have a new Facebook page – TVP South Oxon and Vale of White. Please take a look and give us a follow. We will be using this along with our Twitter @tvpsouthandvale to give you regular updates and announce activities such as our Days in Action and Have Your Say events. We encourage you to take these opportunities to come and chat to us.

TVP South and Vale Twitter

Please remember the best place to find out what the Faringdon Neighbourhood team are up to is always on Twitter: @TVPSouthandVale (opens new window) and using the #Faringdon.

Thames Valley Alert

Receive free local crime alerts and crime prevention advice by registering at www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk (opens new window) today. This allows anyone who signs up to choose what updates they receive and how they would like to receive it. A new option includes receiving information via text but more traditional landline and email messages are still available. You can also filter the updates you receive by specifying the priority level of the messages you receive.

Contact us

If you want any advice or would like to contact the neighbourhood team you can call us on the police non emergency number 101 (or 01865-841148 if 101 doesn't work for you) but if your call is an emergency then dial 999.   You can also contact us via email: - [email protected] please note this email address cannot be used to contact Thames Valley Police to report crimes or for any urgent matters. To view information on your neighbourhood team visit the Thames Valley Police website at: www.thamesvalley.police.uk.The Thames Valley Police Twitter account is kept up to date with what we are up to; please follow us @TVPSouthandVale. (opens new window)

To report local problems such as graffiti, fly tipping, pot holes and

broken street lights please visit

www.fixmystreet.com

Find out more here:-

Sparsholt Charity Auction Success - £3000 raised

on Mon, 18/06/2018 - 8:39pm

The Sparsholt Charity Auction, on 3rd June 2018, went extremely well after three and a half months of preparation, generous donations, worry…….

We were lucky with the weather and enjoyed a lovely sunny evening with a very tasty fish & chips supper provided by Cheryl & Stanley from “Village Fish ‘N’ Chips” and a good crowd to get the bidding going.

I am very happy to let you know that we raised a total of £2,944.50 – which has now been rounded up to £3000 - to be divided between my two chosen charities: 

  • The October Club in Wantage – Alzheimer’s and dementia Day Care Centre
    &
  • The Oxfordshire Animal Sanctuary in Stadhampton

I would like to thank everyone who was in some way involved in the organisation to make this event a very special one indeed.

Martina W

Ed Vaizey MP - Parish News, June 2018

on Sun, 10/06/2018 - 5:47pm

Lots of good news for our local area.  Last month Business Secretary Greg Clark launched a major new scientific centre in Harwell Campus and announced its first major projects. The Rosalind Franklin Institute, which is backed by £100mil in government investment, will focus on a number of projects, including the development of the world’s best ultra-fast video camera for imaging, which will be invaluable for both detecting and treating disease.

The Big Lottery Fund has announced £17,280 of funding for projects in the constituency such as the The Pelvic Partnership in Harwell, which focuses on treatment for Pelvic Girdle Pain. The fund distributes money raised by the National Lottery to good causes which seek to improve lives and communities. If you have a cause that you believe deserves funding you can apply at biglotteryfund.org.uk.

Huge congratulations to Wallingford School, who have been awarded the prestigious ISM Trust’s Silver Certificate in Music for 2018, and King Alfred’s, who have been awarded the Bronze Certificate. This means that more than 15% and 10% respectively of all the schools’ GCSE students who entered into GCSE music achieved an A* to C grade. This is a huge achievement and demonstrates a real commitment to music in both schools.  The Teaching Apprenticeship Programme (TAP) launched across the country last month to help schools recruit, train and retain the best graduates into teaching roles. TAP offers a 1 year programme which guides apprentices towards Qualified Teacher Status and schools can also use the Apprenticeship Levy funding to train and retain the best graduates into teaching roles. If you are interested in how the Apprenticeship Levy works you can find all the information you need at the Teaching Apprenticeship website.

Over the last month I was pleased to meet with representatives of 'Hands off Hagbourne Fields' to discuss Taylor Wimpey's plans for developing the land between West Hagbourne and Didcot, meet with local councillors to discuss how to tackle litter on the A34 and visit Enesi Pharma in Milton Park to see their revolutionary work on vaccines.

Ed Vaizey MP

Please feel free to contact me if you have any pressing issues that you would like help with. You can contact me on any matter at the House of Commons, SW1A 0AA, [email protected] or 01235 768 888. Email is the quickest and most reliable way to get in touch, as I keep a very close eye on my emails and can reply very quickly.   Details of my activities in Parliament can be read on my website, https://www.vaizey.com. I also send out occasional general interest emails about developments in the Wantage and Didcot Constituency. You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/EdVaizeyMP

 

Lovely weather for Burglars

on Thu, 07/06/2018 - 12:47pm

We’ve all been enjoying the sunshine recently, but with the nice weather comes opportunities for thieves.

Did you know that a large number of burglaries reported to us have no signs of a forced entry?

Many burglars target homes with open doors and windows during the summer months, they rely on people forgetting to lock doors or windows that have been left open during the day for ventilation.

Here’s some straightforward advice to help you, help us to reduce burglary.

  1. Before you go to bed at night, just take a couple of minutes to check around your home and make sure doors and windows, especially on the ground floor, are secure.
  2. If you can afford them CCTV systems and alarms are great deterrents to thieves, but you can prevent crime by using less expensive means too.
  3. Security lighting at the rear of your home or a courtesy light at the front door illuminates any activity and removes the cover of darkness for criminals.
  4. If you have a side gate, fit a bolt and padlock to prevent easy access to your garden. Did you know that you can buy combination lock bolts to fit on the front face of the gate to allow access to authorised people?
  5. Keep car keys out of sight and out of reach of your letter box- some burglars are adept at using implements to reach through letter boxes and hook keys from hall tables and shelves.
  6. Some thieves will knock on the door of an address to see if its occupied before trying to break in. If you see or experience something suspicious or that you’re unsure of please call us, we’ll always do our best to get to calls of suspicious activity quickly if we think a burglary may be taking place.
  7. Don’t purchase goods from sources that you aren’t happy with, your bargain buy may be the proceeds of a heart breaking crime for a victim of burglary and the next victim may be you or someone close to you. We know that some thieves will use Facebook selling sites to dispose of stolen property- we will always seek to prosecute those we suspect of handling stolen goods. If it seems too good to be true- it is, be careful.

The Op Monitor team is working hard to reduce burglary and to target and convict the callous criminals who commit this type of crime. We need your help, remember that you can contact us with information regarding burglary in confidence via 101, or via Crime Stoppers on 0800555111.

From a Thames Valley Alert email received 6/6/18.

Have your say on housing land supply proposals

on Mon, 04/06/2018 - 8:10pm

Have your say on a government proposal to give Oxfordshire councils greater protection from speculative housing development - on sites which are not the most suitable or preferred - as we plan for the county’s future housing needs.

"In many parts of Oxfordshire unplanned speculative housing development in relatively unsustainable locations is raising significant community concerns, contributing relatively little to infrastructure, and diverting planning resources away from the delivery of planned strategic development sites".

Sound familiar?

Have your say.

The Oxfordshire Growth Board, which we are part of along with all of Oxfordshire's councils and key strategic partners, is consulting on the proposals which would mean we will only need to provide a three-year land supply, rather than the five-year supply which is normally required, while we develop a Joint Statutory Spatial Plan (JSSP). A JSSP is being drawn up to provide a tool for considering the county's growth in a co-ordinated, long-term way, in addition to localised plans which help to guide development at district-level. 

The proposals would also mean that a Housing Delivery Test (HDT) would be in place for three years after the JSSP has been adopted.

The changes being put forward under the proposals would make it harder for unplanned speculative housing development to get planning permission and would also allow us to focus on preparing the JSSP and our respective Local Plans.

For more detail on the proposals, and to submit your views, please visit the Oxfordshire Growth Board website (click). The consultation is open until 11.45pm on Thursday 12 July.

Partly from an article on the Vale website; see the original <here>.

Attempted Burglary Uffington

on Thu, 31/05/2018 - 2:02pm

Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following an attempted burglary in Uffington, Oxfordshire.

On 30.05.18 between 10:00 – 10:30 a property in White Horse had an attempted burglary. No entry was gained.

If you have seen any suspicious looking vehicles or people in the area or have any information relating to this message, please call the police via the 24 hour non- emergency telephone number 101.

Alternatively, if you have any information but wish to remain anonymous, please call crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online @ crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

From a TVP email received 31/5/18

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