Wantage Boxing Day Mummers Play

Here are some photos taken today at the annual mummers play outside The Bear in Wantage. A mummers play has apparently been performed locally every year since 1977 and there were two other performances today in Faringdon and Childrey. Much of the play consisted of the skirmishes between King Alfred and the Napoleon look-a-like, Beau Slasher, finishing up with Old Father Beelzebub commenting on the issues of the day and some Morris dancing.

More information on The Wantage Mummers can be found here.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone in Grove, Wantage and the surrounding villages a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2010. Here is a wintry picture of Wantage Church after the recent snowfall and a picture of Grove from earlier snowfall in February 2009.

Meteor Hunting near Grove

Last night, we went outside as far away from the street lights as possible to see if we could find any evidence of the Geminid meteor shower. This is caused each year by the Earth travelling through a stream of debris left behind by an asteroid. The night sky started off clear and we managed to see several shooting stars, which we assumed to be Geminids, before the clouds appeared.

The shower is supposed to reach it peak tonight (Sunday) and into Monday morning. Best place is to look south at 45 degrees. See here for more information on how to observe.

Apparently, Hatford, near to Stanford in the Vale, is one of the few places in Britain where a meteorite - a meteor that has survived to make impact with the Earth's surface - has been recorded (in 1628). See this local history article from the Vale & Downland Museum for an account.

Threat to the Sweatbox

Today Jenny and I met three young people from the Sweatbox Union Youth Forum at County Hall who were speaking at the Childrens' Services Scrutiny Committee. This is because of the proposed cuts in youth work funding, which the Conservative controlled County Council is considering as part of its budget setting exercise.

Scrutiny committees are currently meeting to discuss where savings can be made and committee members can contribute to the debate. The budget will be set at the full council meeting in February next year.

The young people made an excellent presentation to the committee and were given a round of applause. The members round the table seemed suitably impressed and certainly did appear to have been convinced of what a valuable asset our youth centres are. I also spoke at the committee arguing the case that the Sweatbox is one of the few facilities which we have in our area and serves a huge population from Grove, Wantage and the surrounding villages. My email box is becoming full of concerns on this matter since the campaign to save the Sweatbox was launched in Wantage at the Dickensian evening. If you would like to support their campaign, then do email occ.feedback@oxfordshire.gov.uk and copy in myself at zoe.patrick@oxfordshire.gov.uk or you can respond to the comments on this blog.

Dickensian Evening in Wantage

An excellent turn out and the weather just held off.

The Queen Visits Oxford

Today Her Majesty the Queen visited Oxford to officially open the Ashmoleum Museum. I was fortunate to be one of the guests at this event and it was a real pleasure to be there representing Oxfordshire. She was taken on a tour of the galleries before officially unveiling the plaque. Readers of my blog will know that this is the second time I have visited and seen the transformation of the museum since its £61 million refurbishment. I hope readers will find the time to go and take a look at some of the world famous exhibits beautifully displayed inside.

The story is reported here.

Christmas Tree Returns

I was delighted to find that our Christmas tree has been returned at long last after the County Council's blunder which was reported on my previous blogspot. The news was reported nationally (again). If Grove will be remembered in the future, then it will be because of our Christmas tree (but we are not a town!)

Hopefully villagers will gather at the Christmas Carol Service which is scheduled to take place on Thursday 17th December at 7pm. Lights are being switched on this Sunday at 5pm. It should add a little cheer for us all as Christmas approaches.

Wantage Festive Preparations

Here is a photo of King Alfred inspecting this year's newly installed Christmas tree in Wantage Market Square. This year's Dickensian Evening will be on Friday 4th December at 6 - 9 pm. Details can be found here.

Oxford Cancer Centre - Open Day

On Saturday, I went along to the Open Day at the new Oxford Cancer Centre at the Churchill Hospital. It was a very interesting day and we were able to visit the complex of operating theatres where the highlight was the laparascopic - or keyhole - surgery suite and the daVinci robotic surgery system (left photo). We were even allowed to test our own skills at keyhole surgery... although I hasten to add on non-animate objects!

Also on the tour, was the radiotherapy department where we saw a CT scanner as well as the linear accelerators used for treatment. There are six of these electron accelerators, which generate high energy X-rays, in their own separate rooms(right photo). They can swivel through 180 degrees to direct beams from different angles. Of course, all of this high-tech equipment and advances in treatment has to come at a price - worth remembering when politicians talk about NHS funding. The Oxford Biomedical Research Centre was also open... although we ran out of time.

It was certainly good for local people to be able to make this "behind-the-scenes" visit of these major new facilities for our region. The staff and volunteers had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to welcome everyone and make the day informative and demystify the difficult area of cancer treatment. More information can be found here and here.

Large Hadron Collider and Oxfordshire

Congratulations to all at CERN with the circulation of two beams of protons after the successful restart of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Having lived in Geneva for some time (my husband is a particle physicist), it's quite astounding that many years later I am sitting in Oxfordshire and writing this blog post using the World Wide Web - another technological advance from CERN.

Another Oxfordshire connection? We should not forget that the county hosts two research centres working on experiments at the LHC: Oxford University (ATLAS and LHCb teams) and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (ATLAS, CMS and LHCb teams).

One of the great accelerator pioneers of all time, Sir John Adams, also worked at both Harwell and Culham in between his stints as Director General of CERN. Today, we have the legacy of the John Adams Institute in Oxford.

If you want to follow further progress at the LHC, go to http://twitter.com/cern or http://public.web.cern.ch/public/

Big Drink Debate

This took place last night at the Oxford Museum of Natural History and was chaired by TV presenter Nicky Campbell. There were representatives from Thames Valley Police, CAMRA, NHS, National Union of Students and the retail industry.

It was a disappointing turnout really as the lecture theatre was only half full. I think the venue was not a particularly easy one for people to come to for such an important event.
To find out more about this and to feed in your views click here.

Road Repairs!

It is that time of year again when the need for pothole and road repairs around Grove and Wantage become all too apparent.

I am pleased to report that the pedestrian crossing near to Millbrook Square has been repainted after resident complaints - although I note from the photo that the felled Grove Christmas tree has still not appeared! Some road repairs have also been performed along the Denchworth Road, which I reported and are very welcome. Although it is certainly an improvement on the previous crumbling surface, it's a pity that there is not a more permanent repair to this section of road - some of the white marked out areas for repair were ignored.

Anyone who spots other roads or pavements in need of repair in the Wantage/Grove area please let me know. We need to keep on top of this over the winter.

The Work of a Local Councillor

This was the title of a talk I gave yesterday afternoon at the Wantage and Grove branch of the U3A. It was a very lively session, with lots of questions from the floor and the general feeling that no one fully realised the full extent of a councillor's work these days.

I explained all the tiers of local government from parish, district, county to regional level, and tried to show how legislation passed either by Westminster or the European Parliament often filters its way down for us to implement at local level. This particularly applies to waste collection and planning decisions.

The audience was also interested to learn about how we communicate with our electorate. In my case, I try to keep in touch with everyone whether it is my blog, my reports, newsletters, emails, letters, telephone calls and the like. Communications and media technologies are changing and we have to change with the times. It was good to have an opportunity to interact with everyone and especially to hear their views about important issues like caring for the elderly and concessionary fares. Planning decisions were another hot topic!

Visit the website if you wish to find out more about future talks and events, I am sure the organisers will be happy to welcome new members.

Grove's Disappearing Bus Shelter

Hot on the heels of Grove's disappearing Christmas tree, several people have asked what has happened to the new bus shelter recently erected near to the entrance of Bosley's Orchard.

The shelter suffered damage after it was apparently hit by a bus - and it had to be removed. It is planned to replace it, but this will take a few weeks. Just to prove that it really did exist, here is a picture taken just after the incident and before it was removed!

Vivaldi in Wantage

Last night, I went to an excellent and enjoyable concert by Wantage Choral Society in Wantage Parish Church. The evening included Corelli and Pergolesi (Magnificat), but a particular highlight was the Gloria by Vivaldi. He is know to have written a number of settings for the Gloria and I learnt from the programme notes that this one (RV589, the best known) only received its first modern perfomance in 1939 and it was not until 1957 that the first really authentic performance took place. The West Forest Sinfonia provided the music for the evening with Ian Miles as Accompanist, conducted by Richard Smith. Phillippa Lay was the Soprano for the evening with Cathy Bell as Alto.

You can find more about Wantage Choral Society here. It is worth noting that their next concert in the church is on 5th December - Christmas Music with Wantage CE Primary School. It will be well worth attending on the basis of last night's performance.

Grove Milestones - Fairtrade Village and Millbrook School

Today, on a wet and windy morning, I held my monthly surgery in Grove Library to hear the concerns and issues of local residents. My next surgery will be held on 12 December from 10.30am.

At the same time as my surgery, Grove was being presented with Fairtrade Village status in Old Mill Hall. I hurried over to join in the celebrations. Congratulations to all involved from the Parish Council and the various Fairtrade supporters in Grove (Bay Tree, Cornerstone Coffee Shop, Mayfield Coffee Lounge, Co-op, Wine Rack and Tesco). More information can be found here.

As I battled the wind in the car park, I was also reminded again by the sign (see above) that this year is Millbrook School's 40th Anniversary. The school has a special place with my family. Both my children were educated there, my husband was a governor in the days when there was a separate infant school, I myself have been a governor and my daughter served as a governor until very recently. More information and memories can be found here.

Lights back on in Oxford Lane

Returning from Oxford this evening, I was taken aback to discover that at long last it looks like the street lights are back in use in Oxford Lane. This area has been in darkness for many weeks despite reporting from myself and local residents.

My question to the County Council last week brought the subject into the limelight (?) and hopefully now someone has taken it on board. Or perhaps someone is reading my blog?

Nick Clegg in Oxford

Tonight, I attended a public meeting held by Nick Clegg MP in Oxford at the Wesley Memorial Hall. There was a full house with a lively audience and a whole set of questions ranging from climate change to the European Union. An very interesting evening.

No sign of any Carnage UK on the way back from Oxford, though it was still early in the evening when I left.

Remembrance Sunday

I joined parish councillors this morning at St. John the Baptist church in Grove to pay my respects along with local residents. The church was full and the service commenced with the traditional parade of colours by the beavers, cubs, scouts, rainbows, brownies and girl guides from the community. Professor Gary Sheffield, a military historian, gave us an insight into some of the local soldiers buried in the churchyard which was really interesting to hear.

Remembering

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

For the Fallen, Lawrence Binyon

The Big Care Debate

I attended a seminar at County Hall yesterday on the government's Green Paper on proposed radical changes to social care. The proposals outlined in 'The Big Care Debate', will probably be a big topic in the run up to the General Election next year. Read all about it here.

As a member of the LGA (Local Government Association) Community Well-being Board, we were briefed about this last month and were aware that our local authorities would be requested to send in a response. Oxfordshire County Council has drafted this at a meeting with the Cabinet Member this week.

This will be an opportunity to have your say on this important issue but there is not much time left before the consultation period ends on 13th November. Click on the website and send in your response as soon as you can. The final roadshow on the debate will take place in Bonn Square, Oxford on 13th November between 10am and 6pm, so you can go along to find out more.

Ashmolean Museum Prepares to Reopen this Saturday

Last night, I attended a reception to view the Ashmolean Museum after its £61 million redevelopment. The museum opens to the public again from this Saturday (7th November).

The original facade has been kept (as shown in my first photo), but the interior has been transformed with 39 modern galleries. The second photo gives an idea of the airy interior - it shows Japanese taiko drumming by the cascading staircase.

The University is to be congratulated on this remarkable transformation of what is Britain's first public museum - it was founded in 1683. Admission is free.

For further details go to http://www.ashmolean.org/

Still in the Dark!

At the County Council meeting yesterday, I also tried to see if I could progress the issue about the lack of repairs to our street lights in Grove because of cable faults, which are the responsibility of Southern Electric. I was told that these faults take between 10 and 60 days and there are no financial penalites attached to the service level agreement with the electricity company - which basically means, if they are not repaired, there is nothing we can do!

With dark nights and winter approaching, this is not good news for our residents - especially those along Oxford Lane, Mayfield Avenue and Godfrey Close where they have been left in the dark for weeks. When I asked whether the Cabinet member would consider pursuing a financial penalty to help solve the problem, I was told that residents should phone the street lighting fault number (0800 317802) which has been done dozens of times by many of us, just to hit the same problem - it is a cable fault! So keep battling on with this one.

Hoping for Real Change at County Hall

Yesterday, at a meeting of the full County Council, the Lib Dem group had an opportunity to put forward our own topic for a themed debate. We chose 'Breaking the Cycle of Deprivation Taking Account of the Recession', because this is a huge area which needs to be tackled now, according to our Director of Public Health for Oxfordshire. He gave us all a stark warning at our last council meeting that we would ignore his report 'at our peril'. With unemployment rising, and our below average educational attainment alongside the health inequalities we face, this proved to be a topic which engaged all of our councillors. We thought the debate was a success and we now look forward to seeing some real action by our Cabinet members and the Oxfordshire Partnership Board. You can read my speech here

What was not so positive to see was the reaction of the Conservatives to our motion on climate change, where we were proposing some real action to cut our carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010 (10:10). Many other councils have signed up to this, and with the current high profile of the Copenhagen summit and protestors climbing up the towers of Didcot Power Station, we thought it was an excellent opportunity to engage our County Council. We were disappointed to hear that in David Cameron's own back yard, despite the rhetoric about Tories going green, there doesn't appear to be much evidence of it on the ground.

Bus Shelters

A long-awaited bus shelter has now been installed outside Tescos at Millbrook Square (above left). This means that at long last passengers wishing to travel from Grove into Abingdon or Oxford can wait for the bus with some protection from wind and rain. I am also pleased that the bus shelter on the Green has now a new roof thanks to a grant from the Grove Joint Environmental Trust (above right). There will also be a new bus stop at the entrance to Wolage Drive and you will see others around the village. Real time information should be coming next.

With winter approaching these are all welcome improvements for public transport locally.

Autumn Colours

Coldly, sadly descends the autumn evening. The field strewn with its dank yellow drifts....

Its that time of year, when the nights shorten and winter approaches. However, there are some wonderful autumn colours around as shown from the pictures above taken in Wantage and Grove.

A good place for autumn colours is usually the Harcourt Arboretum near to Nuneham Courtenay. See here for details.

Halloween Past

Halloween seemed to pass very peacefully in my part of Grove - just three visits from some young trick or treaters.

It looks like The Swan in Wantage certainly entered into the (lingering) spirit of the night...

Incinerator Story Continues

At today's Planning and Regulation Committee at the County Council, both applications to build incinerators at Ardley near Bicester and at Sutton Courtenay were turned down. This was in spite of the officers' recommendation which was that planning permission should be granted (subject to a long list of conditions in each case). This is an extraordinary situation. The County's Cabinet had agreed that Viridor at Ardley should be the preferred bidder for the tendering process, but the planning committee has now turned down its application to build the incinerator on the site. It makes you wonder whether the planning decision should have been taken first - who knows?

I doubt the story will end here .... watch this space!

King Alfred's Awards Evening

It was a real pleasure to have been invited to the Awards Ceremony this year held at Centre site. We were all able to celebrate the many outstanding achievements of the students who have participated in so many events over the last year. We even had a couple of renditions from the X Factor. Visit the school's website here where you can also download a copy of tonight's programme.

Community Grants Awarded

At tonight's South East Area Committee we awarded grants to three worthy causes. Firstly, to the Wantage and Grove Street Pastors, who as I have previously reported went out for the first time on the streets of Wantage last Friday. This scheme was awarded £3000 to help provide administrative support and equipment for the volunteers.

£500 was awarded to East Hendred Community Centre towards the cost of replacing fencing on the boundary to Snell's Hall. Finally, £1500 was awarded to the Wantage Betjeman Festival of Literature and Poetry which is a new organisation hoping to set up a new festival to celebrate the work of Sir John Betjeman and other authors and poets with local connections to the Wantage area.

That just about uses up all the funding which we have currently available except for £1000 left in the pot in case any applications come forward which cannot wait until next year.

Double Launch - King Alfred the Great and Street Pastors

Last night I went along to two important events in Wantage which proved to be thoroughly enjoyable occasions. First up was the Vale and Downland Museum, our jewel in the crown of Wantage, where the new exhibition 'Alfred the Great: Warrior and Visionary King' was opened by TV Presenter Phil Harding of Channel 4's Time Team. This is all very timely considering the recent Saxon finds in a local field near Grove - see my previous blogpost. This exhibition will be worth a visit and highly recommended, so try to go along if you can - details here.

Next stop was to Wantage church where we had a commissioning service for the first night of our Wantage and Grove Street Pastors hitting the streets of Wantage. This will soon be extended into Grove. Again, you can visit my previous post telling you all about it. It is always a pleasure to support such excellent initiatives in our community where dedicated volunteers play such an important role. This is an example of where the police and the church can work so well together to achieve a common goal - to make our streets safer places at night. Anyone interested in taking up the challenge can still get involved (details on the link above).

Christmas Tree Blunder!

Well, we have discovered that the culprit responsible for chopping down our Christmas Tree is our very own County Council! The news came as a shock to many of us as we grappled to get to the bottom of the facts. The story was in the press this week and fortunately the council came forward to admit that it was their 'mistake'. According to officers in Highways, they were doing a 'survey' of the village and decided that this tree needed removing because it did not look a healthy specimen. Unfortunately, they did not consult with the parish council beforehand - and we are yet to find out why.

However, the good news is that the tree will be replaced very soon with a bigger tree and we shall have new fencing around it too which should make up for the disaster. We shall hopefully be able to have our carol service around the tree at Christmas after all - though it will have a whole new meaning now!

This story hit the BBC news aswell as our local news (including featuring on BBC South Today) - I think there will be many jokes made about this one for a long time to come!

Grove's Christmas Tree Gone!

Christmas may have come early for someone - but sadly not for us in Grove! Our Christmas tree which had been planted at the end of Vale Avenue only a short time ago has been chopped down and taken away.
(see picture on right).
Every year the villagers have sung carols around our tree, which used to be in Millbrook Square but replaced when Tesco's came. The carol service is arranged by the parish council with the collection funds going to charity.
The tree will not survive in time for Christmas and why would anyone want to do such a thing? It happened at the end of last week because I heard the news when I attended the Grove Parish Council reception on Friday evening. None of us could believe it - so I had to go along to take a look.
Two young girls walking past as I took this photo said "The Christmas tree's gone - oh how depressing!" That just about sums it up! Anyone who saw anything - please report to the police.

Presenting Our Petition for Mably Way

We have collected 1938 signatures on our petition to reduce the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph at Mably Way and today we presented this to the Transport Decisions Committee at the County Council.
The photo shows Cllr. Jenny Hannaby and myself just before we went through the doors into the committee room to present our case.
I was allowed to speak for just 2 minutes, but we were both delighted to hear that the Cabinet Member for Transport agreed that this should now go out for formal consultation with a view to this being implemented in the forseeable future.

Saxon Treasure on the Doorstep

Driving along the A338 to Oxford from Grove and back again at the weekend, I couldn't help but notice the enormous rally of people with metal detectors in the fields nearby. It was therefore with much surprise that I heard the news that a find of such significance had taken place. A Saxon brooch and other jewellery along with a skull and other bones have pointed to an early grave of perhaps 1500 years old has been discovered. Read the full story here

It makes you wonder what other treasures will be found underneath our local fields - maybe that's one way to dig ourselves out of the recession!

Grove Secondary School Update and More

Today at the County Council's cabinet I spoke in support of the proposals to build a new full-sized secondary school in Grove for 1200 pupils with its own sixth form. This was welcome news after the decision was taken over 2 years ago that only a small 600-place school without a sixth form would be built.

At that time, there had been a public consultation exercise with 3 possible options, a large 'superschool' for both Grove and Wantage, two separate schools of around equal size for both communities or a small 600-place school for Grove. The smaller school option was chosen. However, although we sought assurances that the school could 'grow' in size if necessary, there was always going to be a problem for developers and planners to set aside a large enough site to allow for this to happen. Now however, this can be planned in from the start and ensure that shared community facilities can also be provided for at the same time.

As part of the proposals, King Alfred's School will downsize to 2 sites in Wantage, and there is hope that funding can be applied for from government BSF (Building Schools for the Future) programme. You can read the agenda report here.

Another important decision was taken at Cabinet today, which again I spoke in support of - this was for the important transport infrastructure to be agreed and worked on in advance of any housing development coming to Grove and Wantage. This is referred to as the SCOTS (Southern Central Oxfordshire Transport Study) report and has been rumbling on for some time. Read the press report here and the agenda item here

Scrutinizing the Incinerator Decision

Liberal Democrats at the County Council have 'called in' the decision to build an incinerator in Oxfordshire for the following reasons:

The meeting was poorly publicised
Decisions on the planning applications should have been made before the procurement decision
The decision was made on financial grounds rather than environmental grounds
There is no specific “break clause” proposed for the contract
There was confusion about the mandatory elements of the tendering process
There was no report on the performance and track record of the two companies, so that element was not properly considered
There was inadequate consideration of capacity in the context of Oxfordshire’s needs and no consideration of the environmental impact of importing waste

Read our press release here

The Growth and Infrastructure Scrutiny committee meeting where this will be heard is due to take place on Wednesday 16th September at 10am at County Hall.

Oxfordshire's Incinerator One Step Closer

Today the County Council's Cabinet decided to proceed with the procurement of an incinerator with the company Viridor which runs its operation at Ardley near Bicester. Read the press release here

The meeting room was packed this afternoon with protestors and everyone was waiting to hear the decision with bated breath. Some of the proceedings had to be taken in private because of the sensitivity of the tendering information. The next stage of the process will be the decision to grant planning permission.

Liberal Democrats in opposition at the County Council have been concerned about the process leading to this decision, especially the lack of publicity surrounding this extraordinary cabinet meeting called at the last minute and which was still not listed on the county's website today.

We have always called for the least environmentally-damaging option for incineration, if this is to be the only alternative to deal with our residual waste. We have also called for there to be a break clause in the 25 year contract to allow for more up to date technologies to be considered when they become available. With more and better recycling facilities, the capacity for such a large incinerator does need some questioning. Watch this space.

Independent Advice Centre

In Wantage, we have an Independent Advice Centre who can give local residents advice on a whole range of issues including debt, legal aid and help with transport for people in need. On Thursday evening I attended their AGM in Ardington at the Loyd Lindsey Rooms and it was a real pleasure to meet up again with the staff and volunteers who do so much for our community. Last year they were awarded the Queen's Jubilee Award for Voluntary Service. See my previous blog posting here which tells you all about it.

Anyone who needs help can always just pop into their office at 16 Market Place in Wantage or telephone 01235 765348/763862. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated service on our doorstep.

Grand Event on the Park

Today saw the Grand Event at Grove Technology Park with all proceeds going to Helen and Douglas House.

The low cloud put paid to some of the aero displays, but otherwise the weather held and the large crowds appeared to have a great time.

Highlights included an army helicopter, climbing wall, live music, the cockpit section of a C47 Dakota plane and classic cars.

The picture shows racing driver Paul Rees in an ex-Ronnie Peterson March F1 car at the end of this excellent day.

Two Small Requests

Today was a special meeting of the County Council to debate the new constitution - not a subject that captures the public imagination - but before you glaze over - it was an important step in local democracy. The new administration at County Hall was setting out their store of new proposals for running the council over the next four years.

In opposition, we are keen to hold the Cabinet to account and to ensure the public have a chance to have their say too. So one request, was to ask that if a member of the public submits a question to a council meeting, if they are unable to attend for any reason, then someone else can ask the question in their place. The question will have been tabled, so no extra work involved, just a change of name if the person cannot be there. But no, this was too much of a problem for them and the suggestion was voted down.

Secondly, we wished to try to ensure better and effective scrutiny of the work of the council, especially as all the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the Scrutiny committees, are also members of the ruling group. They wished to disband the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group, which is a forum where all members of all political parties can look at scrutiny reviews, ensure adequate resources are available and prioritise the issues. We proposed to replace this group and have a Scrutiny Management Group of all political parties which would be open to the public (the current meeting isn't) and thus the scrutiny function of the council would be seen to be more outwardly focussed and accountable. But, guess what? The proposal was voted down. We were unanimously supported in our requests by both the Labour and Green groups

I really hope this does not mean that we are going to be battling on like this for the next four years. But there is a chink of light - we are supposed to be reviewing the situation in 12 months time - so we will be carefully monitoring this to see if there really is going to be any improvements.

Oxford City Tour for Army Families

Today I had the privilege of joining young families from Bicester Garrison who came into Oxford for an open top bus tour of the city sights. For many of them, it was the first time they had been into Oxford and they enjoyed the opportunity of seeing all the main tourist attractions, including the colleges, museums and the parks. After the tour, they all came back into County Hall to have tea and cakes with the Chairman and those of us who had joined them. This was an opportunity to express our appreciation to the troops who are currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or Cyprus on our behalf. Read more here.

Wantage Day Centre Open Day

I went along this morning to have a look at the activities happening at Wantage Day Centre in Stirlings Close on their Open Day. It was lovely to see the older people taking part in their seated exercise classes, painting sessions and relaxation therapy. There are a whole range of opportunities available here and it was good to talk to the dedicated staff and many of the clients who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The Mayor of Wantage presented the centre with a cheque for £526 which had been raised by Waitrose supermarket in Wantage from their community fund. This will go to help support the work they are doing by putting in some extra much-needed resources.

Many residents in the area come along to the centre twice weekly, but there are some vacancies so if you or your relatives or friends would like to find out more then see here for contact details and the full range of facilities on offer.

Cropredy is here!

Its the final day of Fairport's Cropredy Convention - another of our local musical festivals. I have been to Cornbury and Wychwood, but this year has seen my first visit to Cropredy (despite the fact that it has been going since the 1970s) and it has been excellent. The rain has held off so far and everyone is so friendly. The stage picture is from Steve Winwood's set on Thursday night which was fantastic and brought back many happy memories. There may still be some tickets available for today. See here for all details.

Thames Valley Police Open Day

I attended this event over the weekend and saw many visitors enjoying the day which was held at the Sulhamstead Training Centre, nr. Reading.

The mounted section, the dog handlers and the fire and rescue service were all there on display for the public to view and ask questions. Read about it here.

As one of the members of the Police Authority for the County Council, it is always welcome to give support to the Force on these occasions and see the hard work they are doing on all of our behalf.

Public Enquiry called on the Reservoir

It was announced this week that the government has called for a public enquiry on Thames Waters' proposals to build a massive reservoir near us at Steventon. You can read the story on the Vale of White Horse website and also the County Council website. The news has been welcomed by both councils and is also a relief that residents can now have an opportunity to have their say. This has been looming over us all for a long time with various proposals coming back to us for 'consultation'. I am also grateful that campaigning for our voices to be heard is now beginning to pay off. Now the whole scheme can be looked at and decided upon. We shall await further news about when this will be taking place. Will keep you posted.

Back from Amalfi

'When the American writer John Steinbeck first saw the Amalfi coast, he was moved to uncontrollable weeping. He was not the first - nor will he be the last - to succumb to the emotional impact of the potent beauty found here.' So reads my Guide Book which I took with me on holiday to Amalfi in Italy for the last two weeks and how well it fits the description. What can I add?

Except to say that I have now travelled on the most incredible bus journey of my life. One day, catching the local 'SITA' bus outside our hotel with a 'Unico Costiera' ticket at the cost of 6Euros, we travelled all the way along the coast from Amalfi to Sorrento and back. A truly rollercoaster ride, zigzagging around the mountains' hairpin bends with sheer jaw-dropping cliff edges and a view of the whole bay of Salerno one side and changing to a view of the Bay of Naples with Versuvius in the background on the other. The highway is so old that it is 'listed' and no alterations can be made to it. There is a weight limit and the buses are the largest vehicles which can travel along it - anyone meeting them has to negotiate with skill - though scraped cars were a plenty! The small towns on the way were built right up to the road edge - so walking the road is as dangerous as driving it, though you can sample a taste of it through this You Tube link. The journey into Oxford will never be the same again!

But now it is time to catch up, as usual, on everything that has been happening whilst I have been away. The weather has been pretty grim here, so I am pleased to have not grumbled about the searing heat but was thankful for my sunhat! I am now ready again to continue to keep you posted.

Difficult Times Ahead

There has been a lot in the press about the forthcoming job losses which are being predicted by the County Council in the light of the economic recession. The budget is tight, the likelihood of a poor settlement in the forthcoming CSR (Comprehensive Spending Review) is looming large and the ruling group are planning a low council tax of 2.5%.

The alarm amongst staff has been regarding the announcement of the cuts which only came about during a TV interview about 2 weeks ago - not a good way of handling the situation. It was also put up on the council's website hidden amongst other stories the same day. There needs to be a round table discussion of all parties to try to resolve the situation and we have called for an early meeting of the Employees Joint Consultative Committee which comprises staff, union representatives, councillors and management. We have now heard that this has been agreed in August.

Our staff are key in delivering frontline services, whether it is supporting our children, older people or mending our roads. We also need to cut down the wastage at County Hall in creating unnecessary posts and printing glossy publications. Perhaps the time has come where there will have to be a change of direction - but we need to bring the staff with us, not alienate them. I hope the situation can be resolved.

Grove Challengers Annual Football Competition

Today I was a VIP guest at the Grove Challengers Football Club Annual 6-a-side competition. This important event in Grove has teams ranging from Under 7's through to Under 16's, attracts over 1600 children and 2500 adults from the local area and further afield.

The weather stayed good and was a bit cooler than the previous years where I have attended in sweltering heat. It was an excellent opportunity to have a look around the new clubhouse and changing facilities and to catch up on the latest news from the organisers of the event. The children and their families were all having a great time and the quality of some of the football matches being played was impressive too.

The club offers an important facility for the youngsters of Grove, Wantage and surrounding area - checkout their website here. I look forward to many more competitions to come.

LEADER funding in the North Wessex Downs

On Thursday I attended a meeting of the North Wessex Downs Council of Partners where I represent the Vale of White Horse District Council looking after our interests on the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).

We learned about the LEADER scheme (Liaisons Entre Actions de Développement de l'Economie Rurale) which will open up opportunities for funding in rural development which comes from Europe via the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). The idea is to help local projects get off the ground especially those helping rural communities. The North Wessex Downs Action Group successfully secured £2.5 million to help fund a wide range of activities including farm diversification, tourism activities and community groups who wish support for the local economy. If you wish to find out more click here. Funding for up to £50,000 may be requested so long as they meet the criteria set out.

It is always a pleasure to serve on this partnership where everyone works together in the best interests of the historic downland which is so close to us here in Grove and Wantage. What could be more pleasant on a beautiful day than a walk up on The Ridgeway with the whole landscape rolling before you. The Management Plan is now ready to be adopted by our respective councils in the area which will ensure that this important landscape can be enjoyed by all of us for many years to come.

Wantage Area Summer Concert

The Oxfordshire County Music Service has arranged a host of summer events this year, and I was able to go along last evening to the Wantage Area Music School Summer Concert held at King Alfred's School.

We listened to a whole range of different ensembles including string, brass, wind and jazz which made for a very lively evening. I was certainly impressed by the high standard of music on offer and the enthusiasm of the children involved. We are fortunate to have such a wealth of talent in our area.

You can visit the website here.

Flying the Flag in Oxfordshire

This morning I attended a ceremony outside County Hall in Oxford 'Flying the Flag for the first British Armed Forces Day'. Read more about it here

This was an opportunity to talk to many of the cadets who are serving in Oxford and who came along to take part in this nationally organised event. Officially this will take place on June 27th every year. On the many occasions where I have attended events with the military, I know how much they appreciate the support for all the hard work they undertake on our behalf.

Traditions at the Council

Today was the first annual meeting of the new Oxfordshire County Council after the recent elections. The Conservative-controlled Council decided to change the tradition of rotating the Chairman and Vice-Chairman amongst the three political groups to take both offices for themselves.

Liberal Democrats are the Opposition at the County Council and it was our turn to have been given the opportunity to take the Chair. Unfortunately, this was not allowed and Cllr. Anne Purse who had held office of Vice-Chairman over the past year was denied this honour. It was a shame. She has been an excellent ambassador for the Council in her role over the past year.

In true traditional style though, like the last time when taking control four years ago, all the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of all 5 scrutiny committees were also given to the ruling group. Despite our co-operation with the Labour group collectively putting forward our own nominations for these posts - all were turned down. In effect, leaving not much confidence in the scrutiny process. The Cabinet needs to be held to account if the public are to believe that democracy is in action at County Hall.

Today, I was officially named Leader of the Opposition for the fourth year running. There will be challenging times ahead!

Wantage Summer Festival

Just a reminder that the 14th Wantage Summer Festival is underway until 5th July. Details can be found here with the programme of events here.

Street Pastors Launch

This evening it was a pleasure to attend the launch of a new initiative in Wantage and Grove called Street Pastors. You can read more about it here

Street Pastors go out and about in the community at night and give help and support especially to young people who may be in trouble. There are many cities all over the UK who are already part of the scheme. The Ascension Trust gives training and support for anyone who is interested in becoming a street pastor and all ten churches in Wantage and Grove are involved. Wantage and Grove Street Pastors can be contacted by telephoning 01235 771859 or by email at: wantageandgrove@streetpastors.org.uk

It is excellent that this scheme is being supported by Thames Valley Police and we hope this will lead to a reduction in crime across the whole area. I am sure it will be a great success.

Folk for MS Charity Concert

Last night, the annual Folk for Multiple Sclerosis (FfMS) charity concert was held at Old Mill Hall in Grove. This was the 20th anniversary of these concerts and this year the idea was to recreate the very first concert from 1990. As always, an excellent evening and fundraising for a very good cause.

More on FfMS can be found at http://folkforms.org/index.htm

Election Result - Thank You Grove and Wantage

Excellent news for Grove and Wantage as Jenny Hannaby and myself retain our 2-member division with an increased majority. Click here to see the full result

I believe the national scene has had a real impact on the local County Council results in Oxfordshire with many voters deciding to express their opinion locally or not at all. The European election results will not be known until Sunday.

We are both looking forward to working with our residents over the next four years, working hard to represent you all at County Hall. Liberal Democrats remain as the official opposition to the ruling group. I will continue to keep everyone posted - watch this space!

County Council Elections on Thursday 4th June

This Thursday, it is the Oxfordshire County Council elections which are being held at the same time as the European elections this year.

I have been your County Councillor for the last 8 years and have always worked hard for the community of Grove and Wantage, keep residents informed about the important issues and always been available by telephone or my face-to-face surgeries. It has been a real pleasure to serve you all.

There has been a lot of disillusionment with the national political scene, and I hope this does not mean people will be turned away from voting. It is an opportunity to exercise your democratic right. Who will be your local councillor really matters in this election. Jenny Hannaby and myself hope you will give us your support for the 2-member division of Grove and Wantage.

Recruitment Evening at Wantage Fire Station

This evening I went along to see the recruitment evening which was planned at Wantage Fire Station and to give my support. Oxfordshire has an excellent Fire and Rescue service and there are plans across the county to try to recruit more retained firefighters at many of our local fire stations. See the press release here

There are currently 16 retained firefighters at Wantage and we would like to encourage more. There are 2 fire engines at the station and the plan is to be able to keep them both active. One of the requirements is that you have to live close to the station so that you can get there in an emergency within 5 minutes.

There were quite a few who turned up this evening to 'have a go' at the various tests that were on offer. Climbing the high ladder looked one of the biggest challenges - I think I would have failed that one! Anyone interested - do look at the weblink above and find out more. Everyone will remember how busy they all were during the July 2007 floods.

World's Largest Picnic in Grove

It was a real pleasure to help officially witness this event today which hopefully will make the Guinness Book of Records. Families had to register before 1pm to take part in the family picnic which was taking place on the playing field of Grove Church of England Primary School and was organised by Grove Free Evangelical Church. Myself as County Councillor and Frank Parnell, Grove Parish Chairman were there to see that the rules were being followed. Read more about it here

The weather was excellent and there was fun and games including bouncy castle, water balloons, football, rounders and finally a big tug o' war. There were 123 families registered altogether which will go forward along with all the other numbers counted at other events happening all over the country. In Oxfordshire, there was an another event organised at Cogges Museum in Witney. A good day was had by all.

Local bus timetables changing

Stagecoach, who run our local bus services into Oxford and Abingdon are to change their timetables in July and are currently consulting with the public about their proposals. To read in full and to download a timetable click here

The good news is that there will be more frequent journeys of the popular X30 fast service into Oxford. Also the first X30 bus into Oxford which can be used by those who are eligible for concessionary fares will now be 9.35am instead of 10.15am, which will give more time to make hospital and other appointments in Oxford. There are also some additonal evening services to improve journeys for passengers coming home. Oxfordshire County Council will be subsidising some of the evening services until December because of the poor patronage on some of these journeys - so a plea to residents to use it or lose it!

There will be a public meeting in Wantage next Tuesday evening 19th May in the Civic Hall from 7pm until 9pm where Stagecoach managers will be on hand to hear your views. You can also leave comments on the website link above.

May Fete in Grove

Here is a picture of the May Fete early this afternoon on the village green in Grove. Although there were a few drops of rain, the weather held and there was a good turnout throughout the afternoon until proceedings finished at about 4pm.

As usual, we were entertained by the excellent Wantage Silver Band.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Bank Holiday despite the doom and gloom in the newspapers.

Jousting on The Politics Show

Today, I was at Blenheim Palace to appear on The Politics Show on BBC South. The pictures on the left show me with the presenter Peter Henley. This all took place whilst a mediaeval jousting tournament was in full flight in the background. The idea was to have both knights and politicians "jousting" at the same time in the lead up to the local elections on 4th June!

The programme was covering issues surrounding the Oxfordshire county council elections (see previous entry regarding our Lib Dem manifesto). We covered the pedestrianisation of Oxford City Centre and educational achievement in the first half of the programme and then went on to the housing allocations in the forthcoming publication of the South East Plan.

As we all know, Grove and Wantage along with Bicester and Didcot, have all been named as locations for housing growth up to 2026. I tried to get across (although this can be challenging on live TV) the concerns of residents about large-scale housing in areas such as Grove where there is little existing infrastructure. Both Didcot and Bicester are much better locations as they have existing infrastructure like railway stations, close links to the A34/M40 and cultural/leisure facilities (e.g. cinema and arts centre at Didcot).

If you missed it, you can still watch the programme here. The Oxfordshire piece is about 30mins into the programme and is 20 mins long. There was a lot to pack into this short time, but it was an opportunity to try to push our message across.

May Day Manifesto and Grove Annual Parish Meeting

Today has been a very busy day for me. May Day revellers were launching themselves off Magdalen Bridge whilst I was busily preparing myself to launch the County Council's Liberal Democrat manifesto on Radio Oxford. I hope I got our main message across on the Drivetime programme this evening. We have been in Opposition on the County Council for the last four years, and it has not been an easy job for me as Leader. It has been difficult to have any influence on the administration with the Conservatives taking all the Scrutiny Chairs and basically scrutinising themselves instead of giving us the power to do that. This would be the obvious democratic solution. But with the County Council elections coming on on June 4th, it will be an opportunity to change things for the better.

Liberal Democrats have 7 clear messages in our manifesto:

• Helping our economy to thrive
• Giving our children the best start in life
• Improving our roads and pavements
• Investing in social care & home support
• Protecting our environment
• Making Oxfordshire a safer place
• Using your money wisely

Our key message is to invest in front line services – this is what people tell us they want. The County Council has been criticised for children’s poor achievement in schools, and we want to turn that around. We also need to support our young people, provide more youth workers and support the elderly and vulnerable. But when it came to budget setting this year, the administration chose to invest in things like appointing a new Head of Marketing and Public Affairs. Wasting money on glossy leaflets instead of spending money on residents’ everyday needs. We are ambitious to change that. This is what we have set out to achieve in our manifesto today.

Afterwards I attended our Annual Parish Council meeting in Grove, where I reported on my activities over the past year. David Buckle, our new Chief Executive at the Vale of White Horse District Council came to give us a presentation, which was very informative and I hope interesting to residents. He set our the savings we are achieving at the Vale with our shared management. He also gave us an update on the proposed development for Grove which now seems to be on hold due to the economic recession and the impact it is having on housebuilding.

There were not many questions from the public, and nothing controversial, so I suppose that means we must be doing something right. I always enjoy these occasions where it gives us a real opportunity to engage with our electorate. Interesting times ahead for all of us.

Wantage Town Mayor's Charity Ball

I attended this last Saturday evening, but where has the time gone since then? It has been a very busy week. However, I do wish to record that this was an excellent evening at Wantage Civic Hall. Music was by "Out of the Blue" and there was a wonderful performance of Riverdance which had us all tapping our feet! Proceeds from the event were donated to the Wantage Advice Centre, who are doing excellent work, especially during these times of recession helping people with debt problems. Oxfordshire MIND was the other nominated charity by the Mayor Patrick O'Leary. It was good to see old friends and new.

St. George's Day

Today I attended a Citizenship Ceremony at the Town Hall in Oxford which was conducted by the Oxfordshire County Council's Registration Service. Ceremonies take place each Thursday, but today was a special occasion because not only was it St. George's Day, but we welcomed the 5000th person to become a British citizen in Oxfordshire.

The decision to implement 20 mph speed limits in Oxford also took place today at County Hall, it will be interesting to see how this will be enforced. Oxford is the second city after Portsmouth to bring in such measures.

Finally, I ended up at Wantage and Grove Traffic Advisory Committee where we looked at many local issues which need attention. We had the discussion regarding the speed limit reduction at Mably Way, and it looks like we are going to have to wait for the countywide review of all speed limits. So not a quick decision on this one. Let us hope there will be no more accidents in the meantime.

Public Health and Community Safety

These are two of the issues I pursued at today's Cabinet at the County Council. The Public Health Report for Oxfordshire has been published and it was interesting to hear it reported on the news this evening as the 'demographic time bomb'. I sat on a scrutiny review commissioned by the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee where we spent many hours of the last 18 months looking at all aspects of this. We made many key recommendations which were reported to Cabinet in January. You can read the review here

Today, however, it was time to revisit the problems and highlight the concerns made about the challenges we face to deal with this in the future. Certainly, I was pleased to see the reference made to carers and how current health services and social services would collapse without them. It is time their role was officially recognised and they are given the support they need. Government is slow in ackowledging this. The full Public Health report is available to read online.

The County's Audit report was also looked at and it is well known that the 'excellent' 4 star rating was lost some time ago, especially due to their poor record on Children's Services. However, today I highlighted aspects of community safety which need to improve especially with regard to deaths and serious injuries on the roads. Funding for community safety schemes were taken out of the budget about 2 years ago and this would have helped to fund schemes like zebra crossings and road safety measures which may have helped to improve this. It will also be interesting to see how implementation of 20 mph speed limits in Oxford will go ahead, which is up for a delegated decision on Thursday. I know there is a debate about police enforcement on this.

Speeding is known to cause accidents, and certainly, Cllr. Jenny Hannaby and myself have been looking into the reduction of the speed limit on Mably Way as the doctor's surgery had contacted us after a resident was badly hurt on the crossing recently. This followed a fatality there just over a year ago. This will be discussed on Thursday at the Traffic Advisory Committee in Wantage. We arranged for a speed survey to be undertaken there, so it will be interesting to hear the results.

Wantage Town's Annual Meeting

Tonight I attended Wantage Town Council's Annual meeting. There were quite a few members of the public present which was good to see. We had a presentation about the Wantage Civic Hall from the Wantage and Grove District Arts Guild and heard about the possibilities of using it for the community and arts facilities. There were reports from the various town council committees and the district and county reports. I was pleased to present a report on behalf of the County Council especially focussing in on local matters. There were a number of questions from members of the public on various topics.

Last night I was at the local Neighbourhood Action Group in Wantage where we discussed policing matters. Street lighting and footpaths and pavements came up as they did tonight. Maintenance of our roads seems to be a very popular subject at the moment. Anyone who wishes to report a pothole can do so at the Oxfordshire County Council website online or telephone: 0845 3101111.

Smart Meters

Today at the County Council's full meeting, I proposed a motion calling for a scheme to introduce 'smart meters' for hire or to buy from local libraries. This was to make it easy for residents who wish to find out how much electricity they are using in their homes to then be able to reduce their fuel bills. This not only helps households during the recession, but helps to reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. Too many of our electrical appliances, particularly televisions on 'stand-by', guzzle up energy without us realising it. By plugging in a 'smart meter' you are able to find out how much electricity is being wasted unnecessarily.

The BBC thought it was an excellent idea and I was interviewed on Radio Oxford this morning giving the merits of this scheme which was introduced in York last year with much success. A resident from North Leigh, nr. Witney was also interviewed telling us how much it had helped reduce his energy costs.

But, surprise, surprise, the ruling group voted it down despite their national leader's support for the meters. There is always a problem when it comes to trying to get the County Council to take on an idea - they rarely want to do it and always put obstacles in the way. This would have been a real opportunity to try to get families to help themselves during this recession, but sadly we will have to wait another day.

Two of our motions did get through (with a struggle and with amendments). One was to get supermarkets to reduce their packaging - not before time! The other motion we put was in favour of keeping the opt-out clause for the EU working time directive for Oxfordshire's firefighters. This is to enable our retained firefighters to continue to work without being penalised especially in rural areas. Both of these motions involve writing to relevant ministers - so not too hard a task to do. Let us hope they take notice so that today's long day of debate has not been in vain.