Happy Christmas to All

Having watched the switching on of these pretty Christmas tree lights outside County Hall by Oxford schoolchildren earlier this month, it is now Christmas Day at long last. It therefore remains for me to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2008.

Grove Christmas Carol Service

Lots of familiar faces were standing round the Christmas tree at the end of Vale Avenue this evening for the annual Christmas Carol Service organised by the parish council. Rev. John Robertson led the readings and prayers and we were accompanied in style by the Wantage Silver Band who always make these occasions so wonderful. All donations raised were in aid of Grove Day Centre for the elderly. This a voluntary-run centre and it is very much valued by residents in Grove and the surrounding villages who appreciate the excellent care they receive here on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. When I popped in on Tuesday, they were in the throes of their Christmas entertainment preceding lunch and they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Afterwards we went across to the Methodist Church Hall where we were kindly treated to coffee, tea and mincepies. It was good to catch up with everyone and share events of the past year. The Methodist Church itself was flooded during the July floods and are seeking to fundraise for a new building for the future. I buy their 'Ultimate Plum Pudding' at Christmas to raise funds for their Property Development Fund, and very good it tastes too!

An Evening in Song

This evening it was Fitzwaryn School's Christmas presentation of 'Scrooge' and the performance was excellent. Christmas songs and the children's portrayal of this age-old Dickens favourite was a delight to watch, so it was a satisfying end to a long day. We are very fortunate to have this special school within our community and they have received an excellent Ofsted report in the past. Do visit their website to learn more. They also have plans for a major refurbishment project to improve the school's facilities, and I hope that they will receive the necessary funding from the County Council to enable this to go ahead.

Christmas Charity

This weekend in between trying to do the Christmas shopping, writing my cards, and putting up the Christmas tree, I have attended the County Council Chairman's Charity Dinner. This took place on Friday evening at County Hall and was attended by over a hundred people from all over Oxfordshire. The after dinner speaker was Colin Dexter, who gave us an amusing insight into his life with (and without) Morse. Funds were also raised through a charity auction.
The dinner was held to raise funds for the Oxfordshire Community Foundation, which is a local charity which aims to offer grants to meet local needs, particularly around disadvantaged and vulnerable groups within our communities. You can read more on their website
I was aware of the work of this organisation when I worked for Age Concern, and I was trying to organise some start up funding for a tai chi group in Abingdon. We were successful in receiving a grant of £1000 which paid for the hire of the church hall and some start up publicity to get the classes started. It is thanks to such local charities that small projects to help people can get off the ground. We are very fortunate to have organisations like this in Oxfordshire, and long may they prosper. I would hope that Friday evening's event boosted their coffers to help them provide much needed funds for the coming year.

Grove Airfield - an Eco-village?

At the Grove Development Forum last night, we had a presentation from Faber Maunsell consultants entitled 'Grove Airfield - Sustainability Overview'. The word 'sustainable' is a subject in itself, and indeed someone last night asked the question 'what does sustainable mean?'.

Well, the overview covered landscape, ecology, urban design, energy, transport, water use and drainage, and waste. We were told that the homes would be built to a particular 'level' using targets under a government 'Code for Sustainable Homes' - that translates into what we would describe as 'eco-homes'. To be truly energy efficient, we would be looking at solar panels on roofs, biomass communal heating and potential wind energy. We would also be investigating water use including rainwater harvesting and also having a site waste strategy including local recycling.

So how would all this look and work in practice? I said that we needed to see some sort of feasiblity study showing what would work and evidence of some good practice elsewhere. With the planning application expected in the Spring of 2008, we would need to look at some of these ideas in advance of that - perhaps by holding a public exhibition. We are hoping to explore this in the New Year. Meanwhile, anyone who wishes to see the latest news on the airfield development, click on this link to find out more. Also, any comments and feedback on the potential for the housing to be eco-friendly would be welcome.

International School Awards

Yesterday afternoon I attended a ceremony at County Hall to present the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) International School Awards for 2007. 13 successful schools in Oxfordshire were recognised for their excellent work during 2006-7 working with schools in other countries. These awards are managed by the British Council and Oxfordshire has been proactive in supporting this scheme.

International partnerships have been forged with schools within Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand to name but a few and the experiences shared between the children has been remarkable. We are fortunate to have both Fitzwaryn School in Wantage and Faringdon Community College within our area who have won this prestigious award which just 24% of our schools in Oxfordshire have been accredited with. Well done to all those involved!

Breathing Places

Anyone who has been following The Nature of Britain programme on BBC1 or manages to see Autumnwatch will be familiar with the BBC's Breathing Places website here

Not only can you find out local places where you can go along and join in activities as a volunteer or simply go and visit, but there are funding opportunities available too. Having seen successful lottery bids happen locally recently, again, this may give some inspiration for the New Year.

It is wonderful to see what wildlife can be found on your doorstep if you can find the time to look more closely.

We are fortunate to have the Letcombe Brook project working to improve the environment in Wantage and Grove, and we often call for ideas as part of the Grove Joint Environmental Trust. If anyone thinks they may have an idea for a local project, do let us know, because we may be able to help.

Vale Lottery Bids Success

Well done to both Vale projects at Farmoor and Fernham who won their bids for Accessible Sailing and Project Inspire. These results mean that £188,000 has been invested into our area, each project receiving £94,000 each which will be of enormous benefit to many people.
This must surely give some inspiration to others who may wish to look for funding community ventures they are working on.

Open Space, Sport and Recreation Provision

Everyone knows the importance of our open spaces. Also, sport and recreation provision is something many people feel we need to have more of, especially if there is to be more housing development in Grove. So here is a chance to have your say on this in the future. What requirements do you think are necessary? The Vale of White Horse District Council is undertaking a consultation on their draft supplementary planning document. You can download the documents here

There is quite a lot to take in, but it is worth noting that on p.19/20 of the main strategy document there is a specific issue relating to Grove Airfield. The Big Question is:

What open space, sport and recreation provision will these new residents need?
Possible initiatives:

• Work with the County Council to ensure that the new school planned for Grove will have a good range of high quality indoor and/or outdoor sports facilities designed for school and community use
• Provide one or two artificial turf pitches at the new school in order to provide high capacity pitches for local clubs
• Use the provision standards developed as part of this strategy to identify future local needs for open space and sport and recreation facilities

So it is worth at least giving your views on these points to make sure that we are listened to. The new school can provide this opportunity, and I keep flagging this up so that we can plan good community facilities at the outset. You have until 14th December 2007 to send in your comments.

Red Cross Flood Relief Funds released

Today the Vale Council has announced the British Red Cross have launched a scheme to help vulnerable residents affected by the July floods. Please read full details here

Anyone who feels they may qualify for these hardship funds or who knows any elderly or vulnerable residents who would benefit, please download a form from this link or pick one up from Council offices in Abingdon, Wantage or Faringdon, or by phoning 01993 861000.

The People's Millions

This week From Monday 26 November until Thursday 29 November, you can have a say on how lottery money is awarded to local communities in Oxfordshire by voting in the People’s Millions competition.

A number of local organisations are in the running to win a grant of up to £80,000. The grants will fund projects that aim to improve the quality of life of local communities through transforming the local environment.

There are six projects from across the region that are in the running. You can support the following Oxfordshire projects by voting on the relevant days:

Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground - screened on Tuesday 27 November on the ITV Thames Valley programme
Carterton Town Square Regeneration - screened on Tuesday 27 November on ITV Thames Valley
Farmoor Pontoon for Disabled Sailors - screened on Wednesday 28 November on ITV Thames Valley
Oxford Sea Cadets HQ Refurbishment - screened on Wednesday 28 November on ITV Thames Valley
Fernham conversion of parish church into community hall - screened on Wednesday 28 November on ITV Central East
Bicester Athletics Club improvement of facilities - screened on Thursday 29 November on ITV Thames Valley.

As you will see from the above, there are two Vale projects listed who would benefit from your vote, so do give them some thought when making your decision. The Vale projects are:
Fernham's community hall initiative, Project Inspire (to make their vision of a community hall for Fernham and surrounding villages a reality). Fernham will be competing with a charity in Stamford, Lincs which has a population of 18,000; with a population of 200 Fernham is definitely the underdog!
AND
The Farmoor Reservoir Pontoon Project (for an electric lift so that disabled sailors can get down to their boats safely)

So, here's how to vote:
The numbers for voting will be announced in the regional media on the day of voting and will also appear on The Big Lottery's website.

For full details of the projects visit:

www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/peoplesmillions.

On the Buses

New bus services for our area are to start running from 9th December 2007, as written about in my earlier post in October . Please see the County Council website for up to date information here and the full range of service timetables here. Thames Travel will be operating the no. 32 hourly service between Grove/Wantage and Harwell campus and Didcot/Milton Park/Abingdon from Mondays to Saturdays.

The new Milton Park Express service also starts from 10th December run by RH Transport Services operating at peak times as a commuter link to Didcot Parkway, Didcot Town Centre and Milton Park. I do hope that residents will take advantage of these services, and I shall be grateful for any feedback.

Stagecoach will also be operating services to Abingdon and will continue the X30 route to Oxford and I do hope that there will be improved reliability as some passengers have reported punctuality problems recently. Perhaps now that we have 3 different operators running these services, there will be some incentive to improve.

I am pleased that my constant campaigning for better public transport locally is beginning to have an impact. I hope that there will be increased bus usage so that we will not lose these valuable routes in the future.

The Vale's Future

Last night, district councillors were asked to discuss the future direction of the Vale for the next 20 years. Please do visit the Vale of White Horse District Council website here to read what it is all about. The Vale's priorities will then be fed into the Oxfordshire Community Strategy (again on the same web page).

Simply speaking, this is new government legislation which is trying to shape the places in which we live, making our communities more sustainable and giving people a chance to have their say.
Many of us will have heard these words before, but if we do want to make our towns and villages better places in which to live and work in the future, it is worth giving this a look.
Why not fill in your response, which has to be submitted by 31st December 2007? Of course, I can think of better ways of spending New Year's Eve, but there's plenty of time to do it before then.

All district councils in Oxfordshire, including the County Council, have to be signed up to deliver targets on some of the chosen top priorities, and in return will be given reward grants. One of these is affordable housing. What does this mean for us? The new Development Framework is to replace what we now call the 'Local Plan'. It is hoped that this will make local people decide for themselves about their communities.

Well, I see the challenge for us will be that whenever people say they want 'affordable housing', they usually want it to be built somewhere else. And of course, this presents a dilemma for the planners. Do send in your responses and of course, comments posted here are welcome too.

A Closed Cabinet

When you are a politician you can spend many hours attending meetings, trying to do your best for the community, but when you are in Opposition it can be doubly difficult to make progress.

The County Council is controlled by Conservatives with Liberal Democrats being the party of Opposition. In my role as Leader of the Opposition, I spend many hours trying to raise issues that are important to my constituents. Unfortunately, all Chairs and Vice Chairs of the committees are Conservatives and all members of key outside bodies are Conservatives. Many people would argue that this is completely undemocratic and they would be right!!

However, the Government is trying to change this, turning backbench councillors into frontline councillors who will champion their own communities. I am looking forward to this day with anticipation, hoping that there will be rewards for those of us who try to do the right thing by those who elected us.

The ruling group changed the official name of their Executive decision-making body to the "Cabinet" - does this imply they had always intended to make every decision themselves without fear of any scrutiny?

This doesn't give politics a good name. Today I spoke about the floods in Oxfordshire and how it would have been better to take immediate action rather than waiting for scrutiny to do the job at a snails pace. I also spoke about the important role of public health and the challenges we face with our ageing population supporting everyone's needs without necessary funding from the NHS to cover it. It would be nice to think that the "Cabinet" was listening. Fortunately, the press were there today, so we can only hope that they will give a balanced view.

Water, Weeds and Wind

A long day at County Hall for the full council meeting. It began with patting the lovely horses outside in the car park who had come to protest at the Council's decision to allow BMW to re-route a bridleway in Oxford. The complicated saga means that after a court ruling the Ramblers Association and the British Horse Society are being asked to pay costs. How appalling and what a day for civil liberties when charities could be made to pay for taking companies to court to defend their rights. As Opposition members on the County Council, we were not allowed to give an alternative reply to that given by the ruling group.

Then our long awaited motion to deal with action on flooding was voted down, but not before the County Council agreed to undertake a flooding scrutiny review. Originally, this was not going to be the case, but now they have changed their minds. I think this U turn means we were right in the first place, and people want to see firm action being taken. I look forward to finding out more and hopefully our district councils will be able to contribute. I made the point about good communication, so that at the very least people know where to go for help. I also emphasised that drains and gulleys need regular maintenance because I do not believe that once a year is enough. It is vital that the Environment Agency and Thames Water play their part too. Also, we do need to encourage parishes and towns to set up their own flood defence groups so that local action can be taken.

Next my motion on weeds, and again time has passed since my initial call for action and we are already into the winter months - some have died off, but many still remain. The Cabinet had put an amendment asking that this be part of the budget setting process for next year. Well, that is fine, and we shall ensure there is adequate funding in our budget, but will they? However, the crucial point I made here is that if we do not meet our national targets for improved street and environmental cleanliness, we shall be in serious danger of losing reward monies of up to £1.2M. So, it will be a certain false economy not to take this seriously, let alone the fact that repaving pavements is more expensive than killing the weeds!

And finally, where is the wind in all this - well I guess that can only describe some of the 'hot air' which was expelled in the council chamber. I can only hope that I made a smidgen of difference and something really will happen... and that will make it all worthwhile. We live in hope.

Road Safety Matters at Millbrook School

This afternoon I had the pleasure of seeing children from Millbrook School in Grove Library presenting their work on road safety around the village. They had been out and about at various locations with a speed gun to monitor speeding cars. Do read the full story here
and do pop along to the library and take a look at the excellent display of the children's work.
All the children were very enthusiastic about their project and hope that lives could be saved as a result. The Oxford Mail came to take a photograph, so hopefully their work will be recognised in Oxfordshire and other schools may follow their initiative.

Vale Publishes Flood Review

The Vale of White Horse District Council has now published its internal review on the July floods. Do check this out on the website link below

http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_news/DetailPage12191.asp

This will also link to the large amounts of reports and documents which have now been published in the public domain. Anyone who was listening to Radio Oxford last night or saw the local news on BBC South Today would have heard Tim Sadler, Strategic Director at the Vale, talking about this live. Everyone who sent me their questionnaire should be assured that all comments were fed into this process. Messages coming back about future preparation, in particular, regarding stocks of local sandbags are consistent with some of the areas of my report which I submitted.

There has also been a joint letter written on behalf of all district councils and the County Council to government ministers. Read the full story here

Grove Primary School Celebrates

This afternoon I had the pleasure of presenting Grove Church of England Primary School with an Inclusion Quality Mark award from the County Council. This was given to the school after an enormous amount of hard work on behalf of staff and children, led by the previous head of the school, Julie Carr, who came back today to join in the celebrations.

We all enjoyed seeing the children take part in a special assembly and hearing about the activities they have been involved with. Apparently, there are only about 20 schools in Oxfordshire who have achieved this prestigious award so congratulations to our local primary school for being amongst them.

Sunset flypast at Grove Airfield

This evening I witnessed an unforgetful ceremony at Grove Technology Park. Many local residents turned up to see the official installation of a De Havilland Venom fighter at the entrance to the former Grove airfield. Although set up last week ahead of this evening's event, we watched enthralled as this plane held aloft on a plinth was surrounded with light, fireworks and music. During the sunset, we saw a Spitfire flypast and watched its breathtaking display above.

The RAF were there along with representatives of the community, who like myself, had been invited to witness and share in this memorable occasion. This was all put together and hosted by Robert Lamplough, Chairman of Grove 2000 and will be a reminder for many years to come of how Grove played such an important part in our war history.

Grove Station back on track

The prospect of a new railway station for Grove is one step nearer after the Vale of White Horse District Council granted planning permission at the Development Control Committee meeting last night. I was there along with my District colleague Cllr. Sue Marchant, to give our support to this application.

It has been an aspiration of many residents for a long time to re-open the station after it was closed during the 60's under the Beeching cuts. Since then we have been given various reasons why the station may not be feasible, one of these reasons was that the prospects of having a rail service to serve the station are not likely in the short term. But surely what is really needed is the political will?

We need firm action from national government and the County Council to press for rail services here in the future. This needs both commitment and investment. If we are really serious about climate change then we need to provide good public transport, and this is desperately needed if Grove is expected to take any further housing development. Who will rise to the challenge?

Oxford Prison Re-visited

Last night I visited the Malmaison Hotel in Oxford for the re-opening night of the 'Visitors Room' at the previous prison. It was an eye-opener to see the huge refurbishment this hotel has undergone as part of the Castle Heritage site redevelopment some years ago with funding from SEEDA. Read the story here of the history and some of the awards they have won. It is amazing to think that this was once used for scenes from 'Porridge' and other TV series. All the hotel rooms have been converted from previous prison cells and it has all been very tastfully done. I did attend the official opening ceremony by the Queen last year.

This whole complex is a real asset to Oxford city centre and an excellent stop for visitors, especially if they also take a look inside the Unlocked musuem nearby. It is also now registered as an official site for wedding ceremonies and other civic functions as you can read here

However, last night was a precursor for Christmas so although it was nice to sample some offerings from their Christmas fare, it was a wake-up call to think that the festive season is not that far off and another year will have come and gone.

Letcombe Brook Project Meeting on Flooding

Last night there was an excellent turnout to this special meeting which was called in response to the recent flooding. The Letcombe Brook Project Partnership is funded by the Environment Agency, Grove and Wantage Joint Environmental Trusts, Letcombe Regis Parish Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council. This enables us to fund our Project Officer, Sally Wallington, who works to improve the environment of the brook and organised this event.

We had presentations from the Environment Agency which explained the incidents which led to the flash flooding on 20th July, and we also had various myths expelled like 'opening sluice gates caused the flooding' and 'we were flooded to save others downstream'. This was followed by a question and answer session with the county and district councils, Thames Water and Environment Agency. Some questions were answered more satisfactorily than others. However, the general feeling was that the meeting was well organised and that everyone had a chance to have their say.

I do hope that those residents who were flooded are now getting their lives back to some sort of normality again. We did hear from the Vale's Emergency Planning Officer that there are some really good flood prevention measures on the market now which can be used to protect one's home from serious flooding, so it is worth investigating these products if you live near the brook. However hard we try to plan, you can never predict when these freak events will happen.

If anyone has any queries regarding the Letcombe Brook, do email:

letcombebrook@hotmail.com

Local Bus Services

Today I attended the Transport Decisions Committee at the County Council to argue the case for ensuring local bus services in the Wantage, Grove and Faringdon area are continued.

Much of my casework is involved with dealing with residents' concerns about the local buses, and it is always a passion of mine to try to improve public transport. In an ideal world, people would choose to leave their cars at home because the experience of public transport is so much better than sitting in traffic jams.

Details of the individual services and any changes to those currently running will be available shortly, but I just wanted to make people aware that there are some improvements on the way. One of the possible new services will be a through service at peak times from Wantage, Grove & Hanney to Didcot and Milton Park. This is something I have been pushing for over a number of years ever since a young man came to my surgery who had lost his job at Milton Park through lack of a regular, reliable bus service to get him to work on time.

Today it was also agreed to continue to award grants towards the very successful Wantage/Grove Community Car Scheme run by the Independent Advice Centre in Wantage, the Grove 'Shopperbus' Service and Stanford in the Vale's minibus. All very valuable services run locally by volunteers and which contribute greatly to improving the lives of elderly and frail people within our community.

I had spent a long time preparing my report for submission to this committee and was very pleased that my comments were listened to and was particularly grateful for the hard work which has gone into these individual contracts by our Public Transport Team at the County. Watch this space for further details.

Lessons to be Learned from July Floods

Please see the latest news from the Oxfordshire County Council website link here where Emergency Planners from Oxfordshire County Council have passed on their views to an independently set up inquiry that is investigating the floods that struck England in July.

Let us hope that more lessons will be learnt from this and ensure we do plan and co-ordinate better in the future.

A Tour of Italian Cities

I have been away from my computer for the last two weeks on holiday in Italy. It has been a long-standing wish to visit Venice, Florence and Rome and we managed to be able to spend a few days in each. Venice is a city where people live with the regular winter floods and have to try to plan for the sinking of the city each year, made worse by the river traffic. Public transport in Venice is by water taxi and it was a joy to walk around without worrying about cars. Our hotel on the Lido had a beautiful view across the water to the city and the basillica of St Mark's.

At the other extreme is Rome where the traffic is chaos and around 2 million people travel into the city each day to work. Finding a parking space can take up to an hour. Crossing the street can be taking your life into your hands. All noisy and chaos which fitted well with the Colosseum which still holds its atmosphere after hundreds of years. We had a guided tour of the Vatican, and the Sistine Chapel did live up to its expectations.

Florence on the other hand was a mixture of both, with quiet streets and large squares in which to wander within the historic centre. Many wonderful art treasures including Michaelangelo's David were awe-inspiring and it was quite exhausting to try to fit it all in. We shall have to go back!

The only fly in the ointment were the Italian baggage handlers' strike which meant we couldn't land in Venice and had to detour to Verona which made us late on arrival. Then on our return, their decision to leave everyone's luggage on the runway in Rome in a thunderstorm. Emptying a wet suitcase is not much fun -unpacking is depressing enough without that!

But it is nice to be back! I now have a mountain of post to deal with which is always one of the joys of going away. So now I need a holiday...

Positive Action in Millbrook Square

I was delighted to receive an email communication today from the owners of Millbrook Square to confirm the following:

1. All the gullies and drains in both Millbrook Square car park and in the access road behind the shops have now been emptied and cleaned.

2. A regular maintenance programme for their cleaning is to be set up.

3. The application for the 8 flats has been withdrawn and will only be re-submitted once the Environment Agency (EA) are happy with the Flood Risk Assessment (FRA)

4. The revised FRA will be submitted next week and hopefully it will address the issues raised by the rain on 20th July. If not, then it will be amended until the EA are satisfied.

This is excellent news for the residents of Grove and I am pleased that our concerns have been taken seriously by the management of the shopping centre. This bodes well for good community relations in the future and I welcome such a proactive approach.

Council Debate on Flooding in the Vale

This evening the Vale of White Horse District Council had an extraordinary Council meeting to deal with the events surrounding the July flooding. A number of issues were discussed not least the Council's response to the recent flooding and how improvements could be made to emergency planning for the future. I certainly welcome the emergency plan's priority to put in place a robust communications strategy, because one of the main themes which emerged from the situation in Grove was the confusion of where people went for help. We need clear advice on this to pass on to residents.
Many councillors, including myself, shared experiences across the Vale, and many people suffered like ourselves and it was helpful to listen to this and from speakers who came to the meeting to address us.
We passed a cross-party motion to urgently review the Operational Flood Plan in light of the recent flooding. To bring a report to the October Executive. To consider funding for flood defences in its budget setting process. To call on responsible land owners, Oxfordshire County Council, Thames Water, Environment Agency and Network Rail to

• Carry out a major clearance of water weeds, to remove silt and remove blockages of culverts and bridges in selective areas in the Vale where urban flooding occurred
• Clear and repair any controlling outlets to the existing storage ponds where there are flooding problems
• Ensure that all sewerage pumping stations are regularly maintained in good order so as to avoid breakdown in critical flooding periods when there is a potential for overspill of sewage

So what a contrast to yesterday where at the County Council we were told that our motion on flooding was 'not urgent' and would not be discussed, yet the Vale Council were willing to give this important topic such priority that a special meeting was called to deal with it.

I look forward to reporting back on more action as it happens.

Weeds and Pavements

Numerous residents have complained to me this year about weeds and the state of many pavements in Grove and Wantage. I discovered early this summer, when I made my first enquiries, that the budget for routine weedkilling has been curtailed at the County Council and no money was being delegated to parish councils to do it either. Basically, the work wasn't being done. I had therefore prepared a motion for debate at today's Council meeting to call for the re-instatement of this budget for next year.

We have had some success with overhanging brambles being tackled in our worse areas, but as evidence in the photograph shows, our pavements are cracking up with this lack of maintenance and it will lead to more costly repairs in the future. Hardly efficient use of our money if we think about it. Urgent action is still needed.

Today was the full meeting of Council and it was an unusual day. Standing orders were suspended to allow the Leader of the Council to put forward his ideas about developing a sustainable community strategy for Oxfordshire. .... so our pavements were yet again put on the back burner. However, I live in hope and we will bring it back to the Council in November. Watch this space!

Inauguration Ceremony at Oxford Brookes University

Today I attended the inauguration ceremony of Professor Janet Beer as the new Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University. This position was previously held by Professor Graham Upton, who had played a key role on Oxfordshire County Council's Strategic Partnership. Please follow this link for details of Professor Beer's career to date:

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/structure/management/janet_beer

After the official ceremony, we were invited back to the gardens of Headington Hill House where we had the opportunity of meeting many of the key players in Oxfordshire's community.

Oxford Brookes University began life as the Oxford School of Art in 1865, and then expanded to become a technical college. When it moved to Headington, it became a Polytechnic and finally in 1992 it became the University that we have today. It honoured John Brookes' memory by choosing the name Oxford Brookes University. Read the full history here:

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/history/timeline

Now the university enjoys an excellent reputation within the academic world, so long may its success continue.

Health Walks

Today I led the health walk in Abingdon, leaving the White Horse Leisure Centre at 2.30pm on the first Sunday of every month (except Bank Holiday weekends). Walks take place every Wednesday mornings too leaving the Leisure Centre at 10.30am. We walked around the River Thames over the lock and back through Abbey Meadows. The river is still very full, but the meadow has completely dried out after the floods. Health walks take place all over the county and indeed all over the country and were set up and funded by the Countryside Agency (now renamed Natural England). Visit their website at: http://www.whi.org.uk/

to find out where walks are taking place in your area.

I helped to set up health walks in Wantage too, which take place every Thursday at 10am at the Vale and Downland Museum in Church Street, Wantage. If you wish to come along, please do just turn up, there is a small health assessment form to fill in, but otherwise you can just join in as and when you wish to. It is all completely free and run by volunteer walk leaders.

Walks are usually just about 1-3 miles long, and take up to an hour. It is a great way to keep fit if you don't get much exercise and a way of meeting new faces with similar interests.

The Big Housing Debate

Yesterday the South East Regional Assembly (SEERA) published the Independent Inspector's Report on the Draft South East Housing Plan. This looks at how much housing should be built in Oxfordshire and the rest of south east England .

For Oxfordshire, the Draft South East Plan proposed building 2,360 homes each year in Oxfordshire over the 20 year period. The inspectors’ report proposes a slightly higher figure of 2,730 but endorses Oxfordshire County Council's call for sufficient investment in infrastructure to support those new houses in terms of schools, health services, road and rail improvements, water and sewerage. So although this has effectively slashed the government's expectations for new housing, we shall have to wait to hear from the Government Minister, Hazel Blears, who will have the final say. A summary of the report can be found at this link:
http://www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/southeastplan/plan/inspectors_report.html

What may cause some concern for Oxfordshire County Council's planners is the Panel's recommendation for a strategic urban extension of 4,000 dwellings on the southern edge of Oxford which will require a "highly focused selective" review of the Green Belt. Considering the County Council have advocated housing growth at Bicester, Didcot and Wantage/Grove, will this mean there will be a change in direction now or not? It would be interesting to hear your views on this debate.

Latest Information on Flood Recovery Relief Fund

I now have the latest information from the Vale of White Horse District Council which says that householders affected by the July floods will each receive a £250 grant as stated in my previous post.

The Government has announced that the Vale will receive a total of £250,000 in emergency recovery grant to help flood-hit members of the community.
Any remaining capital will be invested in capital schemes to protect against future flooding.
The Council will be using the Government's definition of flooded properties to determine eligibility, which is floodwater inside homes.

So far, the Vale has recorded more than 600 flooded homes and this figure could increase.
Each household recorded as being affected will be sent an application form for the grant and payment will be made to the bank account of the person responsible for paying the Council Tax. Any householder who believes that they may be entitled to this grant who has not received a letter inviting them to apply within the next week or so should contact the council on 01235 520202 or visit the website at:

http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/

The Red Cross Relief Fund should also soon start to distribute awards, so the application form includes a section for those people who believe they are in particular hardship. This information will be passed on to the Red Cross for consideration.

Grants up to £2500 will be made available to businesses affected by the floods to help them to develop recovery plans. The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is making this funding available as part of an initial package to help businesses to make as swift as possible a recovery from flooding. Full information at this link:

http://www.seeda.co.uk/news_&_events/press_releases/2007/20070724.asp

Flood Recovery Grants

Yesterday I attended the first Flood Recovery Advisory Group at the Vale of White Horse District Council. This is a cross-party group set up under authority delegated by the Leader of the Council to consider lessons to be learnt from the flooding events in July 2007 and to advise the Executive on how the Recovery Grant should be spent.

We all shared experiences right across the Vale. We also heard about some interesting good practice happening in Kennington where flooding did not occur due to the pro-active approach taken by their local community with setting up flood defence groups by using volunteers.
It was decided that all households which were flooded would be offered a grant of £250 to help them to get back on their feet and advice would also be given to help to protect themselves in future.

There is now an extra-ordinary Council meeting on 12th September to discuss the following:
1. The Council's response to the recent flooding
2. Improvements to emergency planning and response
3. Development policies and responses to consultation on major infrastructure - influence on future flooding incidents
4. Flood recovery grant allocation

I have now received 60 replies to my questionnaire on flooding in Grove and have sent my report to the County, the Vale and Grove Parish Council. I have also sent a copy to our Letcombe Brook Officer who is looking into some of the issues relating to the brook.

More flood feedback

Today I met residents of Vale Avenue along with the County highways drainage engineer so that we could discuss what happened to this area during the floods on 20th July. We followed the line of Pill ditch from Mary Green at the back of Millbrook Square right up Vale Avenue, over Kingcup Green to where the original line of the ditch goes out onto the A338.

It was useful to share views and concerns and learn about the history of this area in the past, where the brook regularly flooded the water meadows (by Bosleys' Orchard). This meant the silt fertilised the grass to make it ideal grazing land for the cattle and the old Saxon Pill Ditch used to carry the excess water away. It seemed that the water decided to follow its old route during the flood and consequently used the road to find its way. We are hoping that improved drainage will alleviate this problem in the future.

Flood walkabout in the rain

Today I met the emergency planning officer from the Vale and we went on a walkabout in Grove visiting the flood-affected areas around the Letcombe Brook. We started on The Green, where the new footbridge has been repaired and on through Bosley's Orchard, Membury Way, Kingfishers, Cane Lane and Sharland Close. We met some residents along the way and finally ended up back at the parish council. It started pouring with rain on our way back, so we got pretty drenched.

I have passed over a preliminary copy of the report I am compiling on the flood in Grove on 20th July (see previous blog) so that issues raised by residents can be dealt with. Questionnaires are still coming back and so it needs constantly updating, but hopefully we shall get there in the end!

We are preparing to have a meeting for all residents in the Grove and Wantage area on Friday 5th October. More details on this will be made available nearer the time, but we are looking to have representatives from a number of the relevant authorities to be able to answer some questions and give advice. Do watch this space.

Litter picking in Grove

This morning, I joined local volunteers in the village for a litter pick. We began at 9am and were joined by the Vale of White Horse District Council's new Environmental Wardens, Colin Marshall and Sadie Broadbridge. The wardens can arrange for litter picking kits to be deliverd to local communities to use in cleaning up their own areas, and it can make a really big difference.

Some of us went to Millbrook Square and others went to Grovelands Shopping Centre by the Co-op and we hoped that by the end of the morning, Grove would be a cleaner place. It was amazing how quickly you can fill a black rubbish sack (all provided free). It is heartening that Grove is fortunate to have willing volunteers doing this on a regular basis and thanks to the parish council for giving their support to this scheme.

Unfortunately, too many people throwing away their crisp packets or soft drinks cans makes everywhere look untidy, but the new litter wardens should be able to put a stop to this. They can issue fixed penalty notices to those caught dropping litter or letting their dogs foul.

So this is welcome news and we hope will act as a deterrent in the future. Anyone interested in holding a litter pick do call the Vale at 01235 520202 or email:
environmental.protection@whitehorsedc.gov.uk

Environment Agency Flood Surgery in Abingdon

This evening I called in at the Guildhall in Abingdon to see what was happening at the Environment Agency flood surgery. There were a number of stands and displays with many staff on hand to discuss issues and offer advice. I took along the feedback questionnaires which residents of Grove have been sending back to me, and a number of themes have been coming in. Some of these include adequate warning systems, management of the Letcombe Brook, drainage, various sluice gates and the sudden surges of water that came upon us on 20th July taking everyone by surprise.

I was able to discuss some of these issues with the Flood Risk Management team and they have promised to contact me so that we can share the details of my report with them. What is clear is that it would have been difficult for anyone to have forseen so much rainfall in such a short space of time in the middle of summer. We all hope this was a freak event.

I was given the following telephone number: 0845 988 1188 for flooding advice, or you can visit:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/floodline

Keep Our NHS Public Campaign

Tonight I attended a meeting in Wantage organised by the KONP (Keep Our NHS Public) campaigners. There was a discussion relating to the current Wantage Hospital campaign and what the current plans are by the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust for our community hospitals. Everyone was delighted at the success of the Horton Hospital's campaign and how they have won the first stage of their battle in getting proposals to downgrade hospital services referred to the Secretary of State (see here).

6 beds have been closed temporarily at Witney Community Hospital as well as potentially 2 beds closing at Wantage, and it was felt that this needed closely monitoring to ensure these don't become permanent closures. Staffing levels have been blamed for this which is not unexpected at holiday time, but can set alarm bells ringing.

The Horton hospital had support from the local GP's and it was suggested that it may be a good idea to seek our local GP's views. The meeting had not been publicised widely, but I thought still had a good attendance and it was interesting to listen to what local health workers had to say.
Please check out their website at: http://www.keepournhspublic.com/index.php

Grove Poll Result & Local Community Grants

The result of the Parish Poll which took place last Friday 27th July in Grove is now published on the Vale of White Horse District Council's Website here. I believe the Parish Council was going to discuss the matter at its meeting this evening, but unfortunately I was unable to attend because I was at the Vale's first meeting of the South East Area Committee. We considered applications for various community grants and have been able to award money towards the following applications:

Wantage Diving Club
East Hendred Community Centre
Wantage War Memorial
Milton Community Centre
The Farmoor Reservoir Pontoon Project

The Vale Community Strategy was also discussed in preparation for the new white paper on the future of local government 'Strong and Prosperous Communities'. This is also going to be a topic to be discussed by the County Council at its meeting of Full Council in September.

Flood Feedback

Today, I have been visiting residents in Grove who were affected by the recent flooding to deliver forms asking them for feedback on their individual experiences. It will be useful to have as much information as possible, whilst memories are fresh, to ensure that Letcombe Brook does not flood so easily again and the effects of any future flooding are minimised.

I was very conscious of the fact that when I visited people last Sunday after the flooding, many had either left to stay with friends or relatives or were busily dealing with the aftermath. However, everyone was keen to share their dilemma and appreciated my call. It is clear that some houses in Denchworth Road, Kingfishers, Bosleys Orchard, Cane Lane, Sharland Close and Vale Avenue suffered badly.

During this week, floods have hit many other parts of Oxfordshire, including Abingdon and Botley, making my journeys into County Hall each day very difficult. One thing that has come out of all this is the need to have a better co-ordinated response next time. For example, having local supplies of sandbags on hand for residents would have helped. Preventative measures, such as better maintenance of waterways, is another hot topic.

The Vale of White Horse District Council will collect bulky items damaged from flooded homes free (instead of the usual £28 charge). Click here for further information. BBC Oxford and the CSV Action desk have also set up a Good Neighbour Appeal for volunteers to help people who have suffered from the floods. Further information, whether you need help or can provide help, can be found at this link or by phoning 08459 311 222.

If anyone would like to pass on their comments to me who has not received a form, please either email me at zoe.patrick@oxfordshire.gov.uk or leave a comment here.

Role of local councillors

Yesterday, I visited Warwick University for a regional event organised by the Councillors' Commission. This has been set up by the government to look into the role of local councillors. It is chaired by Dame Jane Roberts, former leader of the London Borough of Cambden and she was there to lead the debate.

We had some interesting workshops where we could all share our ideas and experiences and see if we can help find ways of improving the system. The key function of the commission is to make recommendations on incentives to help, and also explore barriers which prevent, people standing as councillors. The aim is to encourage more women, ethnic minorities and younger people to come forward.

Only 29% of councillors are women, according to the latest surveys and even less are from ethnic minorities so more must be done to make our elected councillors more representative of their communities. The task of the Commission is to submit a report to the Secretary of State by the end of November 2007.

Anyone who would like to submit views to the commission can be emailed at:
councillorscommission@communities.gsi.gov.uk

Water, water everywhere....

What a day of rain we had yesterday! This picture shows the road between the Bay Tree and the village green at 9pm on Friday. I do hope that it has not caused too much damage and trauma to those who have been flooded.

Flooding information can be found on the Vale of White Horse District Council website at http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/. The Vale Duty Officer can be contacted out of hours on 01235 524886.

Further information is also available on the county council website at: http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/portal/publicsite

Updated travel news can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/local/oxford.shtml

Grove Parish Poll

A parish poll is to be held in Grove following a request from residents for a vote on housing plans for the village. This will be held on Friday 27 July. The question being asked is "Should Grove Parish Council oppose all housing developments on the former Grove Airfield before agreement is obtained from a majority of Grove households."

I welcome this initiative by residents taking an interest in the future of Grove, especially with major housing development being planned.

Polling is between 4pm and 9pm in the Old Mill Hall in Grove.

Further information can be found at: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_news/DetailPage11767.asp

Diamond Light Source

Yesterday, I visited the open day of the Diamond Light Source at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

This was a fascinating event where the public could walk around part of the electron synchrotron and see how X-rays are produced by "wiggler" magnets. This giant machine produces light which is around 110 billion times brighter than a hospital X-ray machine and 10 billion times brighter than light from the sun.

The light source is being used to study a wide variety of things ranging from potential cures and treatments for diseases such as cancer, to testing aircraft components. It is a wonderful opportunity for us in Oxfordshire to have the largest UK funded scientific facility built in the last 40 years right on our doorstep. This has happened thanks to investment in science by both the public sector and The Wellcome Trust. Now whenever I drive past the shiny 'doughnut' ring at the front of the Chilton site, I will be heartened to know what is going on inside!

Horton Hospital

Today the County's Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee met in Banbury to discuss the proposed change in services at the Horton Hospital. The proceedings were recorded by BBC South Today and we heard statements from GP's, the Oxford Radcliffe Trust, Oxfordshire PCT, clinicians, midwives, South Central Ambulance Trust, Tony Baldry MP, the 'Keep the Horton General' action group and many more.

It was clear to us all by the end of the meeting that this was a downgrading of services which would have an impact on patients in the area. The main areas of contention were around services for children (including new born babies) and maternity services. The committee was concerned about transporting women in labour or sick babies and children to the JR. The ambulance trust unfortunately could not give us assurances that travelling time from Banbury to the JR in an emergency could be guaranteed, especially during the rush hour. We also heard how the training needs of junior doctors under the new working directive appeared to be driving much of the agenda.

We decided to refer the matter to the Secretary of State.

Grove School

Good news for Grove to start my blog! On Tuesday, Liberal Democrats on Oxfordshire County Council received an apparent commitment from the Cabinet member for Schools Improvement, Michael Waine, that the new school destined for the village will become an 11-19 school of 1,250 pupils after all.

We can now get on with the important business of ensuring that this is properly planned in right from the start with developers in time for the new housing. The date of delivery was given as 2012, so we shall look forward to seeing progress on this front.

What a pity these assurances were not dealt with in the first place at the Cabinet meeting on 20th June and thus avoided the call-in to the Childrens' Services Scrutiny Committee.

Submissions to the meeting:

http://www.oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk/speeches/000035.html

http://www.oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk/resources/index/Additional%20Material