A Beautiful Boxing Day

Today has been one of those beautifully clear (but very cold) winter's days. A good opportunity to work off some of the Christmas Day excesses on a walk. Here is a picture from the Ridgeway looking over the Diamond synchrotron at RAL towards Didcot Power Station.

Season's Greetings

I am just logging in to wish everyone in the Grove and Wantage communities (and all blog readers) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It has been an eventful year, but it doesn't seem to have deterred Christmas shoppers in the recession. Let us hope for some cheer in 2009.

It doesn't look like it will be a White Christmas, but here is a wintry Grove scene from February 2007.

Wishing everyone a relaxing and peaceful time.

Grove Residents' Survey

Residents in Grove have responded enthusiastically to a survey compiled by local Liberal Democrats to find out their views on local and national issues. They were quizzed on schooling, housing, the economy, social care costs, youth facilities, flooding, proposed railway station and roads and pavement maintenance.

Some of you will have seen us knocking at your door, but the overall results are consistent with what local people having been telling me for some time. Much of my casework is taken up with dealing with problems with roads and pavements neglected through lack of maintenance. Weeds all around the village have caused particular problems, so I am pleased that people have taken the time to resond to us.

To give you some more details on the results: 85% of those responding thought the County Council was not maintaining roads and pavements well. 88% of respondents supported the view that no large scale housing should be built in Grove before new roads are in place.

With the economic downturn, Liberal Democrats are proposing a package of measures to help those on low and middle incomes. 80% of those who replied supported this package which included cutting the basic rate of tax by 4p in the pound, cutting fuel bills for the less well off and bringing the financial institutions under control.

68% were opposed to the Conservative County Council raising the social care charges which have had an impact on the elderly and vulnerable. Nearly 60% agreed that provision of youth facilities for young people in Grove should be one of the county council’s highest priorities. 54% agreed with local Liberal Democrats that the County Council should increase investment in youth workers. On flooding, 63% of respondents did not think the Government is putting enough resources into flood prevention.

It was interesting to analyse the results and identify what the most important issues are and we hope this will help put pressure on the relevant authorities when dealing with these matters at local and national level.

This evening at the Vale's full council meeting, Liberal Democrats passed a motion calling on the County Council to reinstate its highways budget on weed control which has been regretfully lacking over the last two years. Let us see if things will improve next year in the run up to the County elections in June.

Charity Reception at Williams F1

Last night I was at Williams F1 Conference Centre attending a Charity Reception. This was organised by the Chairman of the Vale of White Horse District Council to raise money for her charities. Money was raised in aid of Help for Heroes and Abingdon and Wantage Community Hospitals' Leagues of Friends.

The main event was a charity auction which contained wheel rims from Williams F1 cars, a race day experience and a museum tour package. A few thousand pounds were raised and we all had an opportunity to visit the impressive F1 museum - I even managed to sit in Ralf Schumacher's car!

Children's Centre in Wantage

This morning I visited the Children's Centre in Wantage which is run from the Butler Centre next to the museum in Church Street. There is a whole range of activities happening here which can be seen from the Wantage Parish website. As regular readers will remember on a previous blog posting in September, I was at a meeting to discuss the Children's Centre coming to Grove next. At the moment, all children from the catchment area can visit the Wantage Centre, especially for the 'drop in' sessions.

Young mums were there this morning with their young babies and toddlers, and it was lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves (especially the babies). Healthy food was on offer for lunch and there was a health visitor to give advice when needed. This is an excellent local facility and I hope that this posting will help spread the word!

Turf-cutting at Fitzwaryn

This morning I had the pleasure of attending the turf-cutting ceremony at Fitzwaryn Special School in Wantage. We all braved the artic winds to watch headteacher Barbara Harker lift the spade as the first cut was made. Children and staff were there along with the builders Rok who are to start work on a £2M extension for the school. This has been long-awaited by everyone and it will be good to see the improvements once they are completed at the end of next year. Read this press release to find out more about it. We are fortunate to have such an excellent school in our community which has been recently rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted for a second time.

County Councils Network

I have just returned from the County Councils Network (CCN) conference which was held in Oxford this year. This tells you a bit about the organisation which represents all 37 County Councils in England. The event was held at the Oxford Barcelo Hotel at Wolvercote yesterday and today. We covered a broad range of topics not least the credit crunch and the impact of the financial downturn on local authorities. The theme of the conference was 'Counties in a Changing World' which is very apt at the moment considering the elections in the US, the global economy and the pressures on all authorities to continue to deliver high quality services.

The highlight for me was last night's dinner at Somerville College in Oxford, where our guest speaker was neuroscientist Professor Susan Greenfield (now in House of Lords). An excellent speech which highlighted education in our changing world. Briefly, she touched on how our brains react to learning and how more research needs to be done on the effects of children's brains where they are repeatedly exposed to games consoles and television. An interesting topic and one I am sure many of us would like to explore. Ironically, my son chose her book 'Brain Story' when he won a physics prize at school, so now I am keen to read this myself.

Of course, these events are always useful for networking with colleagues and catching up with events elsewhere in the country. I think visitors to the conference have enjoyed their stay in Oxfordshire.

Millbrook Thistlewood Felled

Delighted to see that at long last the unsightly 'Thistlewood' which had been growing abundantly at the side of McColls supermarket in Millbrook Square has been cut down. Now, the area has been turfed and a new tree planted, so hopefully this area will be restored to how it was before the metal compound was erected without planning permission. When the compound was removed the weeds took over and were left to grow profusely - until now.

The problem with this strip of land is that it is not owned by the same landowners who manage Millbrook Shopping Square, so when I wrote to ask them to mend the potholes (now mended), they were not able to deal with this too. However, happy now that this has been done and what a difference it makes!

Rememberance Sunday at the Eden Project

I was away this weekend at Fowey, Cornwall, and spent Sunday at the Eden Project. They were just assembling an ice rink for skating as we took 2 minutes silence to remember all those who have fought for us in the two great wars. Usually I would have been at the cemetry in Grove, but this time could not be there, but still took time to remember. We were not skating, but looking round the huge biomes which was a fascinating experience. The ice rink is used during the summer for concerts where there have been a number of famous names.

The Eden Project was worth the visit, all built in an old clay pit - reclamation at its best. It is a symbol of hope and very thought provoking on this particular day. It is a growing environment and will change every day with the seasons - very impressive and a place one can always return to. Nine million visitors have crossed the threshold since 2001, many of those coming back for more.

Communities and Money Matters

Today was another busy day at full Council in Oxford where a couple of things of interest came up in our Liberal Democrat motions.

Firstly, I had a motion to urge us to support the Sustainable Communities Act. This Act sets out a process to give local people more control over improving their communities by allowing a community panel to suggest ways local spending could be better used to improve services and quality of life. My motion would kickstart this process and get things moving. At the moment, there is plenty of talk and no action and as a councillor who is keen to get things done in my division I am keen that Grove and Wantage get a fair crack of the whip.

Unfortunately, Tories at County Hall didn't want this to happen, unable to see the advantages despite many of their MP's voting for the Act in Parliament. Julia Goldsworthy MP (Lib Dem) tabled the Act. Even more bizarre they voted for a similar Labour motion 10 minutes earlier - so what a muddle! Do they agree or not agree or maybe they don't know themselves? Doesn't give much confidence in them running the council.

I would also like to see devolved budgets to councillors where we could help our communities with real money if we want to see things happen. Unfortunately it now looks like this won't be on offer unless things change after elections next June.

At least one motion from our group got through today which was about improving the financial investment procedure at the County Council to help ensure that we don't get bitten again by the Icelandic bank situation. We had £5M invested, but many other councils and authorities had more. We are hoping that we will get this back in due course. We shall wait and see.

Halloween with Bill Heine

Whilst many were trick or treating this evening, I was invited, along with many others, to Bill Heine's book launch. This was held at the Ashmoleum Museum in Oxford with various entertainments and a table at each floor level where Bill was busily signing his books. Listeners to Radio Oxford will be familiar with his 4pm to 7pm slot where he and a chosen 'co-host' have a 'call-in' programme where listeners literally call in with their views. The programme has its regulars, and usually the topic of the day gets a good dusting over. I once helped to co-host a couple of years ago when I worked for Age Concern and we were promoting our Information Fairs.

Well, I did end up buying a signed copy of his book called 'Heinstein of the Airwaves' with the sub-title 'Discovering a Parallel World Within Oxford'. A weird title perhaps and appropriate to be sold on a cold Halloween. Until I have read the book I won't give a verdict on whether it is a trick or treat.

Incinerator Looms

Tonight there were protestors outside the Civic Hall as we arrived for a full Council meeting in Wantage. Firstly, we were to have a presentation by WRG on their proposals for an incinerator at Sutton Courtenay. This is causing huge unrest in the village as many residents are rightly concerned about the health risks and environmental impact in the area. I have to say that the presentation was not too reassuring, with many questions left unsatisfactorily answered. It would really be better if we were to have the Environment Agency or the Health Protection Agency to give their expert opinions on the proposed risks.

At our full Council meeting we received petitions, questions and public addresses on the subject and I was particularly interested to hear the views of the local GPs.

The proposals will go before the Vale planning committee on Monday who are consultees to the County Council who are proposing the application as the waste authority. It will be considered by them in January next year, according to the timetable we saw tonight.

Those readers who follow my blog will know that this came to full Council in January although the decision had already been taken to go down the incineration route. Liberal Democrats called for a break clause in the contract in case newer and more environmentally-friendly options came on the market, but this was thrown out. We await the outcome of this whole debate as the arguments for and against are weighed up. What do you think?

Community Grants

Last night at the South East Area Committee in Wantage, we had the pleasure of giving some well-deserved community grants. The organisations and the amounts given are below:

Childrey PLaying Field Trust £1750
Wantage Parish Music Guild £1250
DAMASCUS Youth Project £3500
White Horse Croquet Club £100

Two young people came along to tell us about the values of the DAMASCUS Youth Project which serves young people from the villages of Drayton, Steventon, Appleford, Milton and Sutton Courtenay.

Planning in the Vale

Last week I was looking at planning decisions past, present and future as we head for trying to decide where future growth should be in the Vale. This is part of the Strategic Local Plan Advisory Group where we are looking at all possibilities as pressure is put upon councils to find room for new housing in their districts. This all seems rather irrelevant with the present credit crunch, where we know that housebuilders are in difficulty. Indeed, we heard that as far as the new Grove development is concerned, Persimmon is looking towards the end of next year before submitting their planning application.

On Wednesday, I was involved with a members' tour of various sites which had in the past been contentious. Two sites in Abingdon and two sites in Cumnor were visited. These sites at the time had raised serious issues with the local community, so it was interesting to go back and have a look now the development was complete. All had settled down rather well.

At Kingston Bagapuize we visited what was known to be an 'affordable housing site', which was built to a high standard of quality and would provide much needed local houses for the village. This piece of land was made available as an 'exception' site, specifically to allow houses to be built for the local community - it worked well too.

We visited Limborough Road, to view the Sainsburys site, local shopping centre and the wharf. Grove Airfield was also noted on the tour and this is where we shall be watching carefully to make sure that when and if this site is developed, we will do our best to ensure it is as good quality as those sites we visited during the day. However, when we are looking at future housing growth, maybe we should look to some of our larger villages, like Kingston Bagpuize, where some extra houses are welcome for the sustainability of the community. What do you think?

My Monthly Surgeries

This is just a 'heads up' about my surgeries which many of you already know about, but at which I meet with local people over the months and years. In fact, I have counted up in my surgery notebook that I have seen nearly 150 residents since I started in January 2002. This does not count in all those who have contacted me via. email, letter or telephone - indeed my guess is that this could be hundreds.

My next surgeries for this year will be held on:

Saturday 8th November

Saturday 6th December

always at Grove Library and from 10.30am until 11.30am, but will always stay longer if we are busy.

Yesterday was quieter than usual, with just a couple of queries to deal with, but sometimes there is a queue! However, everyone is usually happy to browse the bookshelves whilst waiting.

Looking forward to seeing you over the next few months.

Children's Centre for Grove

I spent the morning as part of a 'visioning' group which has been set up to look into a new Children's Centre which will be coming to Grove next year. This is funded by Oxfordshire County Council and aims to give support for young children and families in the area.

There are currently 29 Children's Centres in Oxfordshire, and we heard about the success of the one in Faringdon which is linked to the family centre. You can read more about them here on the County Council's website.

The venue for the new centre has not yet been finalised, but I will keep readers informed of progress on this blog. There is to be an Advisory Group meeting next week. Anyone who is keen to be involved, contact Spurgeons, a charity for children and young people who will be running the centre (tel. no. 01295 690785).

Flood Fair Comes to Town

Another chance to have a look at the latest in products to help protect your house from potential flooding when the Flood Fair comes to Wantage on Tuesday 7th October at the Civic Hall from 3pm - 8pm.
The event is backed by councils, the Environment Agency, National Flood Forum, the Police and the Fire & Rescue Service.
Experts will be on hand to give practical advice to residents. Hopefully it will be a chance to see what is on offer to protect homes from future flooding. Read more here

Neighbourhood Policing

A lot of my casework involves police matters, and many people get frustrated when they report incidents to the police and have to wait before any action is taken. Well, the government may be trying to change all this with the latest Green Paper from the Home Office entitled "From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our Communities Together". Download your copy here

I have spent today at Thames Valley Police Authority where I represent Oxfordshire County Council on the Board, and we have been discussing what this will mean for us in the Thames Valley. For example, how do people feel about having directly elected Police Boards? At the moment the board is made up of independent members, councillors and JP's. Would it make the police more accountable?

I guess most people won't be interested in the make up of Police Authorities so long as they get the service they need when they need it. Like local councils, police authorities raise their income from a precept on the council tax, and year on year, this always goes up. The public like to see value for money so how do we ensure that money is well spent?

I would be interested to hear views if you have time to read the document, and of course, you may wish to take part in the official consultation on the website.

Environment Agency's Reservoir Response

This evening I attended a meeting at the Environment Agency's offices in Wallingford to hear their response to Thames Water's reservoir proposals in our area. The bottom line is that the EA have said very clearly that Thames Water has not yet fully demonstrated the need for such a large reservoir. Their recommendations include:

• improving water efficiency
• revising the demand and supply options
• increasing the use of metering
• improving leakage reduction.

This is all consistent with the Vale of White Horse District Council's response which I reported here last month. It is certainly reassuring to know that the Environment Agency has come up with the same views as many of us have felt all along.

Let us hope the Secretary of State will listen to these concerns and take note. The consultation period has now ended and we can look forward to reading all the responses and watching carefully how they will be dealt with over the next few months.

Olympics at White Horse Hill

With the closure of the Beijing Olympics today, the Vale of White Horse joined other districts around the country in marking the start of the countdown to the London Olympics in 2012.

A human formation of the Olympic rings took place on top of White Horse Hill in Uffington. This was captured by glider in the air, if all went to plan. The event coincided with the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Games and culminated with the raising of the Olympic flag.

The scouts had brought the flag along the Ridgeway in a sponsored walk for local charities, before handing it over to the Chairman of the Vale of White Horse District Council, Alison Rooke.

It has been an excellent Olympics this year, and no one could have failed to have been captured by our British team and their string of medals. I have particularly enjoyed watching the equestrian, cycling, sailing and swimming events.

Now we can all look forward to hosting the London Olympics in 2012 and hoping our young athletes will be able to reap the benefits in years to come. However, today was a day to remember and celebrate the highlights together.

You can read the full story from the Vale website here.

Thames Water's Reservoir

The debate on Thames Water's reservoir continued last night at a special council meeting of the Vale of White Horse district council in Abingdon. It was an opportunity to send a clear cross-party message that more needs to be done before the case for their huge reservoir at Steventon can go ahead. A number of people spoke about the need to continue to deal with leakage, more water efficiency measures like metering to be taken on board as well as researching their targets on consumption. Read the full submission from the Vale here in Appendix A. The Council also called for the Secretary of State to hold a public inquiry or hearing to enable a full and proper assessment of the need for the proposed reservoir.

The prospect of having this huge reservoir, 4 times the size of Farmoor does not go away, but along with pressure groups like GARD (Group Against Reservoir Development) who have also made an excellent case against the proposals, we can keep on making our case against this huge development on our doorstep and the disruption it will bring to all the towns and villages nearby.

Sir Hugo's Tea Party

This afternoon the County Council held a tea party for the outgoing Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Sir Hugo Brunner, who has held this office for 12 years. The Common Hall cafe was packed with around 200 people who had come to give Sir Hugo a grand send-off. He was presented with a book full of tributes and anecdotes all from many worthy and well-known faces of Oxfordshire. He will be a hard act to follow but we have been assured that his successor, Tim Stevenson OBE will be excellent. Read more here

I learnt today that in fact the office of Lord Lieutenant goes back to the times of King Henry VIII and in the past the position was held by those who were also Chairmen of the County Council. Of course, the role has changed as have the times we live in, but it is a great tradition and one we must feel proud to inherit.

Brook Projects

Today I met with the Letcombe Brook Project Officer and Emergency Planning Officer from the Vale to discuss and survey some of the suggested projects we can take forward to potentially try and alleviate future flooding. We visited the Mill in Wantage aswell as several sites in Grove to see what can be done with help and advice from the Environment Agency and local councils.

It is clear that de-silting the brook at several places should help with the flow and also proper maintenance of the balancing ponds in Grove need attention. These suggestions will be taken forward and hopefully programmed into future work in progress. We met some residents at Kingfishers who are still experiencing problems so we hope that we can help some local schemes to go ahead.

Footpath signage

At long last 'No Cycling' signs have been erected at both ends of the footpath through The Willows/Westfield Mobile Home park. There has been a lot of concern regarding anti-social behaviour in this area, and we have been trying to resolve the issue through the police Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG). The signs are to stop cyclists using this as a thoroughfare and being a danger to pedestrians.

Today the Vale Council Executive discussed re-routing the footpath to the edge of the site and will be writing to Oxfordshire County Council in the hope that this will hasten the process. Footpath diversions can take up to 5 years due to the complicated legal process and consultation, but it is hoped that things would be speeded up with the intervention of the district council. I went along to support this proposal and hope that we can get a satisfactory result for the residents concerned.

Catching Up!

One of the joys of going away on holiday is catching up when you get back home. Just to let my regular readers know that I am back at my desk dealing with the mountain of post, emails, and all the burning issues which are still 'live' on my return.

Well I must get on with the work, but will continue to keep you posted!

Putting People First

This well-used Liberal Democrat slogan was the subject of the annual LGA (Local Government Association) conference held in Bournemouth this week. I was there along with other colleagues from councils from all parts of the UK to learn the latest on offer from central government.

We heard speeches from Boris Johnston, the new Mayor of London, David Cameron and Nick Clegg aswell as an inspiring session from Richard Olivier (the son of Sir Lawrence Olivier and Dame Joan Plowright), directing us through a set of Henry V! We all felt ready to go back and fight for our causes whatever they are!

The final report from the Health Commission was launched, though the green paper on policing is not yet ready so we could only speculate that there will be more about neighbourhood policing. I now have lots of reading to catch up on to keep me busy.

Much is being made about devolving power, but still lots of talk with no action. As Nick Clegg said in his speech, we have wanted this for years but is local government really brave enough to allow us to be truly local? If we are to make things happen we need to be allowed to just get on with the job and be given the resources to do it well.

The weather was beautiful and it was lovely to watch the surfers on the beach in the sunshine, though couldn't help feeling envious that I had no time to join them!

Exploring Mars

Yesterday at the New Frontiers for Engineering and Science exhibition I was able to find out about some exciting and innovative projects happening right on our doorstep. This was held at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory right next door to the Diamond Light Source and was a chance to showcase what is going on here.

What particularly took my eye was the ExoMars exhibition stand which is due to send up a multitude of experiments to Mars with a Mission landing in around 2013. The 'rover' robot will search for past and present life on Mars, survey the Martian environment and carry out experiments to help define the interior structure of the planet.

Of course, there was a lot more to see and hear about so the whole day was a great learning experience. e-Science, the central laser facility and particle physics all had a lot to offer. We are fortunate to have so much local skill and technology which many of us can so easily take for granted, so Open Days like this one are very welcome.

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service

This prestigious award was presented at lunchtime today to the Independent Advice Centre in Wantage. There was a full house comprising volunteers, local dignatories and councillors to celebrate this occasion. The Award was announced by the Queen in 2002 to mark her Golden Jubilee which recognises excellence in voluntary activities carried out by community groups.

The IAC has many volunteer drivers who take patients for their hospital or surgery appointments, especially from the surrounding rural areas. They receive grants from various organisations including the Vale of White Horse District Council and Oxfordshire County Council to enable them to provide this service. There are also several volunteers who work within the office either giving advice or providing administration. This is a great tribute to them and the award was presented by Sir Hugo Brunner, Lord Lieutenant of Oxford. I was pleased to be able to congratulate him on his recent Knighthood especially after paying tribute to his work through my speech at County Council last Tuesday due to his impending retirement from office.

Check out the Independent Advice Centre's website here for further information about the services they provide.

Too Much Business

The County Council meeting today was just too much to deal with in one day. We started at 10am and only finished at 6pm and we still had more motions which didn't get debated. Why?

There were a number of members of the public to protest about the proposal for an Eco-town at Weston on Otmoor - two motions against this development were debated and agreed - a strong signal to government that imposing planning decisions from on high does not go down well locally.

We debated 20 mph speed limits for Oxford and the arterial roads, we supported lock-keepers cottages to be retained, should we restrict the use of the 'mosquito' in dispersing young people and should GP dispensing pharmacies be curtailed? All very worthy causes which affect residents in Oxfordshire. However, other motions will now have to wait until our next Council in September - not very satisfactory! Managing our Council meetings seems to be getting increasingly difficult. I think this shows signs of our unrest for what is hard about getting the right democratic balance - especially when in Opposition.

However, I was pleased that my motion to sign up the the European Charter on Equality for men and women in local life was passed before close of business, which covered a significant amount of work I have undertaken in my position at the LGA (Local Government Association) on the Community Well-being Board. During February this year I was part of a British delegation to Pisa where the Charter was signed and this will now mean Oxfordshire will be one of the first Councils to sign up as a result. The work on this has been done, some of it has to meet our statutory obligation, but it is a good thing that this will now be acknowledged. To be quite honest, I was quite astonished that I was not dismissed for once - it made for a contented bus ride home.

Visit to The Quadrant

Today councillors were given the opportunity to visit 'The Quadrant' which is simply described as 'home to a very significant proportion of the South East's scientific, R&D, high technology and other high value businesses. It is recognized internationally as a global hot spot for enterprise and innovation in science, technology and the application of knowledge.'

The area encompasses Milton Park, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot and Wantage and Grove. We visited the Diamond Light Source which I visited last July and reported here and this is now up and running providing an excellent research facility for experiments all over the world. The X-rays provided by this synchrotron are 100 billion times brighter than a standard laboratory X-ray tube. 4,500 employees work in 100 organisations on the Harwell Campus which is home to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Medical Research Council as well as Diamond.

Milton Park is Oxfordshire's largest mixed-use business community which is host to a wide range of organisations and has one of the UK's foremost science communities. 250 acres of landscaped grounds accommodates over 160 companies which employ around 6,500 people. There are a number of park amenities including restaurants, swimming pool and nursery.

The nearby town of Didcot has been transformed with its new Orchard shopping centre and cinema and is due to expand even more due to its proximity to all the above and hosting a main line station. However, Wantage and Grove need to have some fair share of the benefits, and we hope that this will not be forgotten in the greater scheme of things to come.

The North Wessex Downs

Today I have spent at the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Forum, which was held at Kingsclere near to Newbury. I represent the Vale of White Horse District Council on the Council of Partners which was set up to manage and protect this important heritage site for us all to enjoy. There is a fine balance between working with farmers and organisations to respond to the pressures of the 21st century at the same time preserving its unique beauty. Once a year, we all meet to review and celebrate the enormous efforts which have gone into conserving and enhancing this area.

The North Wessex Downs AONB is the largest in southern England and stretches from Devizes to Reading, and from Swindon to Basingstoke and includes our very own Uffington White Horse.

We spent the afternoon walking to the top of Beacon Hill which is near to Watership Down (now owned by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber) from where there is a magnificent view taking in the whole Highclere estate (the house has the same architect as the House of Commons) and the rolling downs of Berkshire and Hampshire. It makes you realise how fortunate we are living amongst such a jewel in the crown of England, which has managed to retain its historical past from the Bronze and Iron age right up to the present day.

To find out more, visit their website here and if you do feel at a loose end one weekend and have the urge to explore, please visit our ancient Ridgeway which is right on our doorstep and part of this whole area of outstanding natural beauty.

Flooding Again

Well, it is only our first week in June when many of us would hope to be enjoying the sunshine, but unfortunately not ... it has been rain and more rain all day. I had to cancel my meetings for the afternoon and evening due to local road closures caused by flooding. You can see the County road closures at this link. There is a Floodwatch on the River Ock, so those by Letcombe Brook can visit the Environment Agency website to check this out.

I was alerted this afternoon by residents in North Drive who are, once again, suffering from sewerage flooding, and what made matters worse is that the Fire Service arrived, but could not pump out the water onto the fields this time because the EA refused to give permission. When I visited this afternoon, they were still awaiting the arrival of Thames Water. Fortunately, the highways drains were coping adequately after work had been done there.

The problem is that much of the problems with drainage relies on riparian owners keeping their own drains clear. Today I received a message from the owners of Millbrook Square to say that the Pill Ditch Culvert is now complete and the Parish Council are happy with the work done. Whilst excavating, they also found and connected the storm water sewer from Bosleys Orchard, so that should not flood now. OCC Highways have inspected this work and are satisfied with their efforts.

Let's hope we get the sunshine back tomorrow as predicted by the weather forecast!

Race for Life

This takes place in June to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Visit the website here to find out more. There cannot be anyone who doesn't know someone who has had their lives touched by cancer and although treatment is much better and the outlook for those affected is now much improved, vital research is still needed.

I know there are local ladies taking part so good luck to them and anyone else who is going to do this, we wish them well!

Reporting on Oxfordshire

One of the tasks I undertook as part of trying to be a 'critical friend' to the ruling group today at County Hall, was to read through the Oxfordshire County Council's Annual report. This document aims to set out what has been achieved at the County Council over the past year that we can tell our residents and partners about?

Well this document was pretty much a hatchet job to be honest. Take a look here if you like. Although described as a 'working draft' on the Cabinet agenda for the meeting, I have to say it did not inspire confidence. 40 odd pages of what is pretty much happening in the north of the County with little emphasis on incorporating many of our market towns and what we have done to improve the lives of Oxfordshire's residents. Abingdon doesn't get a mention and Didcot and Wantage/Grove are mentioned only as being part of a 'hub' (buzz-word of the moment!) for the Quadrant (which is supposed to be where all the active work in the county is going on). The word "Quadrant" is supposed to conjure up an image of an area where scientists and technologists are busy doing research providing solutions to all our problems.

So, some nice photos (except the out-of-focus fuzzy pic of someone on p.39) but broadly a report lacking in focus - it needs some firm shaping up if you ask me. It is a pity a bit more effort hadn't gone into this. I did make these points today at the meeting, and as mention was made of the fact that I would be adding the story to my blog. I am doing just that knowing that at least someone is reading this - let's hope they take note!

Power to the People

This is the title of the conference I have attended in London today and the question we asked was "Will the White Paper Deliver?"

I am sure that the average person in the street would think I had gone mad if I were to stop them and ask if they are ready to take on 'devolved power', and even more so, if I were to ask them about the 'Sustainable Community Strategy'. Well, I hope my blog goes some way to help my constituents through the maze of 'government speak' and in some way I have to attempt to do this myself. Well, we don't wish to miss out on anything wonderful which might be coming our way do we?

The highlight of the day was the keynote speech from Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government where she gave us all a very rousing finale. During the morning session, we had listened to Julia Goldsworthy MP, the Shadow Secretary of State (Liberal Democrat) and both were saying very inspirational things about how people can get involved and try to change things for the better in the places where they live. We heard a lot about 'neighbourhood renewal'.

And because I think some of this is really good stuff if used correctly, and we really can involve people within their communities and give them money to do so - I want to find out more and hope you do too.

Believe it or not, there is a 'Community Power Pack' (I am not joking - read it here) and when you have read all 60 odd pages you will know where to start! Seriously though, we can only wait until this White Paper becomes a reality, and in the meantime gear ourselves up for it. There should be devolved budgets coming with it, so that should make a difference, and councillors are expected to take a key role in making it happen!

However, if the White Paper seems too far away and you have a burning ambition to get started on a vision or a project that would benefit the local community and need funds to help, why not pop along to a free funding advice surgery which is being held on Monday 19th May from 10am - 1pm at the Independent Advice Centre, 16 Market Place, Wantage.

This may be a quicker route to funding local projects - just in case the government White Paper may be too far away for us to plan for it yet! I won't hold my breath....

Your Vale, Your Future

This evening the Vale of White Horse District Council held a local forum in Wantage about how we can try and plan for the future. This will form part of a strategy called 'Your Vale - Your Future' which started its consultation last year. Quite a task to take on, especially how we can involve the public? It's a difficult challenge and tonight's showing of just 22 people made it feel quite a 'select few'. But we had 'voting pads' provided by Thames Valley Police - so actually it was quite an innovative way of showing people's preferences when it came to searching questions like how we can improve the quality of life for older people, or having access to good quality green spaces, sport, cultural and leisure facilities. Aspirational stuff indeed!

However, it was good to see a good mix of people there. At the table where I sat, young and older people together were very clear about what they wanted to see, and we agreed that having the freedom to enjoy leisure was a key in planning for the future. We all want space to live in harmony and respect each others' wishes. It was quite an enjoyable meeting, and I can only hope that in some way we have helped to shape things to come.

The next Forum will be held in Faringdon Corn Exchange on Thursday 22nd May and following that in Cumnor Village Hall on Tuesday 17th June. All start at 7pm and finish by 9pm.

Reservoir One Step Closer

Last night local district and county councillors were briefed on Thames Water's proposal for a massive reservoir on our doorstep. The argument is about preventing future water shortages in the wake of rising populations and increasing demands on our water supply. The story has hit the press here and many of us who tune into Radio Oxford will hear it there too.

The reservoir will serve customers in London, Swindon aswell as Oxfordshire and although the company claims to have spent millions in tackling leaks, the argument is that by 2010 they will have reduced leakage levels by about a third.

They are also bringing in the increased use of water metering and they are aiming to have all connected buildings metered by 2020. They will be focussing on greater water efficiency with new technology being on the market over the next 10 years. So where does this leave us?

Firstly, we are being offered numerous exhibitions in the area where people can view the proposals and talk to officials. Some of the local venues are listed below:

Grove Old Mill Hall (Dixon Suite) Wednesday 21st May 12pm - 9pm

Wantage Civic Hall (Ridgeway Suite) Thursday 29th May 12pm - 9pm and Friday 30th May 9am - 5pm

There are also exhibitions being held at Abingdon, Steventon, Drayton, Marcham and Hanney, but check out the website for full details of this latest proposal and how you can get involved in the public consultation. Here is the website link

You can also call freephone 0800 1078 001 to request information on the project.

May Day Mayhem

Today is the first time this year that we shall have the opportunity to see how the mood of the public is weighed up against the backdrop of local elections across the country. As the emergency services tried to prevent the usual morning mayhem of Mayday revellers plunging from Magdalen Bridge in Oxford, political parties across Oxfordshire were preparing for the polls.

In Oxfordshire, we have Oxford City elections, district elections in Cherwell and West Oxfordshire and a County by-election being fought in the division of Kidlington and Yarnton due to the resignation of the Conservative councillor.

It is usually a poor turnout in local elections as we have recently seen in the by-election for Grove and Wantage. It would be good to try and tackle voter apathy, but so long as people don't see anything happening in their area to make them think otherwise, why should they bother to vote?

We have a democratic process in this country we should be proud of, seeing what is happening in Zimbabwe at the moment is a disgrace. We have our rights and we should use them. We have a say who represents us locally and we should use our vote in the ballot box.

We shall see the results tomorrow; it shouldn't be mayhem I hope - but it could be a warning shot to the government perhaps?

Strike Action in Schools

Many people will have read in the news about the national strike over teachers' pay. There is a march taking place today in Oxford from the Town Hall to County Hall by members and supporters of the NUT. Some of our local primary schools are affected, so read this County Council link to check out your own situation.

We can only hope that this action will be resolved soon so that children and parents can get back to normal again.

Boost for Fitzwaryn

Excellent news for our local special school Fitzwaryn in Wantage who have received £2m for refurbishment. This is a long-awaited and much needed project which has been desperately overdue. Read the full story here.

Readers of my blog will recall my visit to the school at Christmas to see their wonderful production of 'Scrooge' and also the International award they received from the British Council. This is an outstanding school according to their latest OFSTED report and this boost to invest in their facilities is richly deserved. It was a real pleasure to attend the County Council's Cabinet today to support this decision which will benefit the children, parents, teachers and our community.

Praise must go to the efforts of the headteacher who has made such an huge impact on the development of the school. It was not so long ago that many of us feared for its future, but now the future is rosy with the prospect of more investment on the way, subject to the finances being available at the County Council.

No Easy Ride on the Buses

Many people have complained to me that since we have had 3 different bus operators running our local services to Oxford, Didcot, Abingdon and surrounding villages, there are problems with having to purchase separate bus tickets for separate journeys, and worse, not so easy to use season tickets. So after much thought, investigation and research, I put a motion to the County Council today in the hope that we may be able to introduce a multi-operator ticketing system which could enable passengers to travel within the area using a system which would enable them to use one ticket for their journeys.

Well, it sounds too easy doesn't it? One ticket in a plastic wallet is all it takes! Unfortunately, the Conservative administration at County Hall did not have the political will to promote this. They argued it was too difficult to do, or more likely they couldn't be bothered to give it a try. This is a party which promotes the motto "Can Do", however when it comes to public transport it is far easier to hop in the car and forget it.

What a pity that this opportunity has now been lost which could have enormously benefitted passengers who are using our local bus services, some of which are subsidised by the very Council which is not willing to promote it.

And this happened on the day that the government announced the Concessionary Bus Pass scheme for all those who are retired to travel free off-peak anywhere in the country. Look at Vale website here.

Lots of pensioners are now taking the opportunity to get out and about and we welcome this. Unfortunately, the government has not completely funded the scheme and some district councils are now suffering a shortfall in their budgets - but the good news is that we will keep lobbying to make things better.

Well it was April Fool's Day - but unfortunately this is no April Fool!

Learning lessons from the 2007 floods

Yesterday I attended an event in London on flood mitigation and adaptation where we saw case studies from Gloucester and Lincolnshire County Councils and also heard about the role of Regional Flood Defence Committees. However, the keynote speech came from Sir Michael Pitt who was able to give us a taster of his findings in the Pitt Review - Leaning lessons from the 2007 floods -which will be published in the summer. See the interim report here.

What is absolutely clear to us all is that flood risk is increasing and public concern is rising and these issues need to be addressed. The role of local authorities will be crucial in the co-ordinating role in the future and we will have to be prepared for this. There are 72 interim conclusions in the report and emergency planning and the drainage of new developments will be key factors needing to be carefully considered.

Managing flood risk, new building regulations and control of surface water flooding and drainage were all discussed as important areas which will need careful managing in the future. This has certainly come home to us here in Grove recently where even the rainy weekend just over a week ago, brought flooding into homes in North Drive as reported in the press today. See here.

Another keynote speech yesterday was from Sir John Harman, Chairman of the Environment Agency who talked to us about adapting to climate change. Key messages here were that we need to reduce our vulnerability to the current risks and plan and prepare for the future. The Government, the EA and Local Authorities will have key roles to play, but we all have to work together. This all costs money and what we need is for the government to ensure that resources are targetted where it is needed - the EA is currently underfunded and we cannot expect local authorities to pick up the tab - if we are to undertake more duties, then funding has to follow!

Success for Horton Hospital Campaign

Good news for Oxfordshire's Community Hospitals today as the Secretary of State announced that there will be no downgrading of maternity and paediatric services at the Horton Hospital in Banbury. Readers of this blog will remember last year that as a member of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny committee at the County Council, I, along with fellow members of the committee sat all day in Cherwell District Council offices giving evidence to this review. The Committee decided to call in this decision to the Secretary of State under our legistlative powers because we felt this was a sufficient change in service delivery which was not acceptable to the public. Well, our verdict has received the backing we require.

The Secretary of State for Health announced today that he has accepted in full the recommendations made by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) to reject proposed changes to maternity, paediatric, obstetric services and the Special Care Baby Unit at the Horton Hospital in Banbury. The response states:

“The IRP, like the local NHS, recognises the importance of the Horton Hospital to the local community in Banbury and have taken on board the views of local people. Their report rejects the proposals for changing services at the Horton Hospital, but acknowledges that changes will need to be made in the future. The report makes a number of clear recommendations for both the trust and PCT to take forward together. The SHA, working with the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust and Oxfordshire PCT, will ensure that the recommendations are fully implemented and will begin working through the implications of the findings of the report.”

The full letter from the Secretary of State to South Central Strategic Health Authority can be downloaded from the SHA website at: http://www.southcentral.nhs.uk/page.php?id=279

So the campaigners have won the day. A good day for democracy and reassuring that common sense has ruled. Sometimes some things are worth all the effort. But we will still keep a watching brief because 'changes need to be made in the future' may mean the decision will come back!

Awards for Volunteers

Tonight I attended a special awards ceremony at the County Council to celebrate some special people. Volunteer workers from five different categories received Oxfordshire Active Citizen Awards in recognition of their outstanding work and dedication to their communities. The awards were presented by the Chairman at her last ceremonial event of the year.

It is always uplifting to attend these ceremonies and see the enormous contribution Oxfordshire people have made and long may they continue to be recognised.

Anyone interested in volunteering contact the OCVA here, who are in touch with a whole host of different organisations to suit everyone's tastes. Young people in particular will find the work of enormous benefit, especially when it comes to providing information on their CV for future employment.

Drainage schemes approved

Today, I spoke at the County Council's Cabinet meeting in support of the drainage schemes which will be required in Grove to help alleviate future flooding. As reported on Sunday, North Drive was flooded due to the heavy rainfall - thanks to Fire & Rescue coming to pump out the water, residents were saved the misery they faced last July. However, I made the point that this is hardly a good use of our resources, when the correct drainage scheme should be put in place now.

I also called for the drainage works necessary for Cane Lane and Vale Avenue to be given urgent consideration and hopefully this will be dealt with as soon as possible. Full details of these have been passed to the County's drainage engineer.

Thames Water needs to play their part too. Any sewer flooding needs to be reported to them immediately so that they can get the works done as soon as possible. As we know, many of these old systems are now outdated and not fit for purpose and this must be sorted in the same way they are supposed to be addressing the water leaks.

Flood Watch

I have spent most of today watching and waiting with local residents as the heavy rainfall overnight threatened to make the Letcombe Brook overflow. So far, fortunately, this has not happened. The Environment Agency were out and about monitoring the brook and they say that the amount of rainfall is still only about half of what it was last July. However, every time it rains now, everyone is on the alert and rightfully concerned.

First thing this morning we had to alert the Fire & Rescue Service to come out to North Drive and to Cane Lane. Homes at the end of North Drive had to be pumped out again to avoid flooding like last July. Fortunately, only the road was flooded in Cane Lane this time. With so many people still displaced from last year, it all seems so worrying.

I went to Kingfishers twice to talk to the residents there, some of whom had not long returned to their homes, and gave them some emergency telephone numbers and for those who were unable to attend last week's flood meeting, some flood protection products advice.

Anyone in an emergency situation should obviously ring 999. However, for help and advice ring the Vale of White Horse District Council 01235 520202 (out of hours emergency number is 01235 524886).

Victory for Jenny

Good news in the County by election for the Grove and Wantage division with Jenny Hannaby topping the poll.

The results are as follows:
Jenny Hannaby (Liberal Democrat) 1901
Bill Melotti (Conservative) 1786
Jean Nunn-Price (Labour) 382

Jenny paid tribute to our former colleague Councillor Jim Moley who worked so hard on behalf of the community and pledged to continue to fight for us at County Hall. Thanks to all our supporters who came out to vote today in the rain. The turnout was around 22% - it is always low for a by-election.

Residents' Flood Meetings

Tonight has been the second of three individual flood meetings which I have helped to arrange for Grove residents affected by last July's floods. Last week, we covered the area by The Green and Denchworth Road. Tonight it was the turn of Vale Avenue and Main Street. The County Council's Drainage Engineer came along and was very helpful in explaining current problems and suggesting some improvements to the drainage system. However, Thames Water have got to play their part in this too.

The Vale's Emergency Planning Officer has been giving useful advice to residents about how best to help protect homes in the future, and I took along a range of literature about this for people to take away. Our Letcombe Brook Project Officer has given us an update about the Letcombe Brook and what is being planned for the future. The Environment Agency has now produced the latest flood report on last July and this is available on the EA website.

The last meeting in Grove will be on Friday, so this will be for the largest area for those affected including Cane Lane, Kingfishers, Sharland Close and we hope this will be the start of some action plans that residents can take forward. Feedback from residents so far has been excellent, so I am pleased that everyone's efforts have paid off.

Drainage in Grove

I am pleased to report that at last some of the drainage issues in Grove are being addressed as a result of problems raised from last July's floods.

We had a very useful first meeting of residents who were flooded last Wednesday evening and a number of practical steps are now being addressed or taken forward.

This drain (left) at the entrance to Denchworth Road has been pooling for years, and I have been pestering Highways for a long, long time to get it dealt with. Last week the work was completed. I shall be monitoring progress to see that the footpath no longer pools and drains properly.

I shall also be following up on a number of other drainage issues in Grove, too numerous to mention here - but be assured that I am on the case and will continue to pester where necessary!

Wantage Cinema

News has been announced that there may still be a future for a cinema in Wantage. The planning application to turn the site of the former Regent Cinema into 8 flats was refused by the Vale Planning Committee and was taken to appeal. However, that appeal has been dismissed by the inspector. Read more here.

The Inspector concluded that the proposal would have had an adverse effect on the diversity of uses in Wantage town centre and is in conflict with the development plan. My former colleague, the late Cllr. Jim Moley would have been delighted with this news and I am pleased that the fight continues for a local cinema.

Sweatbox Campaign

Two weeks ago, along with Jenny Hannaby, I visited the Sweatbox Youth Club in both Grove and Wantage to talk to the young people about what they would like to see in the future. We know that as the King Alfred's 3 to 2 project moves forward, the prospect of east site being sold in the future could lead to over 2,400 youngsters without somewhere safe to go.

The Sweatbox is run by Gary Kingett, the area youth worker for Grove and Wantage, and he works hard to improve and support services for our youngsters. However, what is vitally needed is a brand new state-of-the-art facility to take the club into the 21st century. Ideally, this would be situated between Wantage and Grove and would be a central meeting point for young people to get together from all of the local communities.

The money for this needs to be set aside now by the County Council so that we can start the ball rolling and ensure that the young people can take part in planning for the new project themselves.

Let's push this campaign right into the limelight so that we can make things happen.

Vale Budget

This evening the Vale of White Horse District Council set its budget for the next year 2008/2009 at a full council meeting in Wantage. Although the council tax increase will be 4.99% this represents £107.16 per year for a Band D property. Last year, the Vale's council tax was the 9th lowest of the 238 district council's in England. The lion's share of our council tax always goes to the County Council, with the Thames Valley Police, the Vale and the parish precept making up the rest.

However, what was most astonishing this evening, was the complete lack of any budget proposal from the Opposition Conservatives. No amendments, no alternative costed figures in the public domain, indeed they took the easy option of doing nothing. So although plenty of criticism about what we put forward, only hot air was provided from them. Hopefully the public won't be so easily fooled.

Maggie's Ridgeway Megahike

How about spending the late May Bank Holiday weekend taking part in this fundraising challenge event to raise money to support people affected by cancer? You can hike 15, 26 or 50 miles in just 24 hours walking our wonderful Ridgeway from Wallingford to Wantage depending on how much you wish to do. Read today's news story here.

Last year, I had the pleasure of visiting Maggie's Centre at the Churchill hospital site in Oxford to hear all about their plans. At the moment, this is a small support service operating from a portakabin, but needing to relocate to a purpose built Cancer Caring Centre by 2010. I was inspired by the work they are doing to help those in need and they have already raised over £400,000 towards making these Centres become reality.

This will be the third year that Megahikers will be able to strap on their hiking boots and families can all come out in force to support this valuable resource. There are not many of us who aren't touched by either knowing or losing someone dear to us from cancer and the support these Cancer Centres offer are invaluable.

Visit their website here and contact Kirsty on 0845 602 6427 or email kirsty@maggiescentres.org if you wish to find out more about signing up for Saturday 24th May!

Oxford Children's Hospital Campaign

Just thought I would flag up the fundraising campaign for the Children's Hospital, which opened on the John Radcliffe site in January 2007. This has raised an incredible £13.8 million out of the £15 million anticipated from public donations. An amazing effort.

Anyone who wants to help with fundraising and has ideas to push towards that final sum can find details here.

For those who like running, there is the upcoming 5 mile run (OX5RUN) at Blenheim Palace on Sunday 6 April and entry forms can be found here. (closing date 31 March).

Further Flood Relief for Vale

News in today that a further £24,449 of funding has been awarded to the Vale of White Horse District Council to help get back to normal following last summer's floods. A total of £300K has been allocated to four authorities.

For further details see here.

St Mary's and Wantage Arts Centre

A long day yesterday, with me substituting on the Vale Development Control Committee in the evening. The St. Mary's application was on the agenda.

I was hoping that we would be able to retain the former music and drama block of the school as an Arts Centre, which would have been very much valued by the community. Unfortunately, this could not be done and the application was approved.

After considering all of the facts and listening to all of the speakers, I did vote against the development on the grounds of it being too high a density for a small historic market town like Wantage.

It was, however, agreed, that a new footpath to the primary school should be put in place ahead of the development. More information can be found here.

Vote Jenny for the County Council!

Due to the sad death of Cllr Jim Moley, there will be a by-election for the Grove and Wantage division on Thursday 13th March. Voting will take place between 7am and 10pm. In Grove, residents will be able to vote in Old Mill Hall and in Wantage there will be polling stations at Wantage Civic Hall, Stockham School, Scout Headquarters (Springfield Road) and Wantage Cricket Club (Charlton Village Road). Applications for postal votes have to be made by 27 February.

One of the candidates is Jenny Hannaby who is well known in the local community for her campaigning on key local issues, especially fighting the threat to the Community Hospital and supporting the plan for the 50 bed nursing home, which will open soon. She has also worked hard to bring the Limborough Road development to fruition and campaigned for separate secondary schools for Wantage and Grove. I think it would very hard to find someone to match Jenny's commitment, enthusiasm and passion for the local communities of Wantage and Grove (she has lived in the area since she was a small child) and fully endorse her as the best candidate. Please vote for Jenny on 13th March.

An Alternative Budget

Today we debated the County Council's budget, but was it all worth it? The Tory ruling group had already agreed their budget at Cabinet and there was never going to be any turning back. The only differences between their budget and our Opposition budget is that ours put more investment into adult social care, vulnerable children and their families and highways maintenance, which includes our pavements and cycleways.

Most of my casework locally involves road maintenance, safety schemes for the village, the state of footpaths and more recently, flooding. Our Liberal Democrat budget put £4M extra for all this, including flood alleviation measures and re-instating routine weedkilling.

The elderly, the vulnerable and young people are the silent majority who rely on us to provide vital services. The demographic challenge which faces us in Oxfordshire is that as our ageing population grows, the pressures on our ability to deal with this is huge. We need the investment now. This is not helped by the government settlement which favours the northern and metropolitan areas in the country at the expense of those of us in the 'seemingly affluent' south east. We had put in over £5m extra to cover all this.

Surprisingly, all our local MP's with the notable exception of Evan Harris (Lib Dem), didn't help us either. All Conservatives, including our very own Ed Vaizey sat on the fence and abstained when it came to the vote on the local government setttlement in Parliament. What a shame they don't grasp the issues.

Whilst the government expects us to take on more responsibility to provide services, whether it is social care, education or maintaining our roads, with the complicated formula it uses to calculate how 'needy' we are - Oxfordshire loses out.

So in our budget today, we proposed a budget which would invest in all this, well into the future for just £3.93 a year extra on a Band D property or just over 7p a week (a penny a day). But this alternative was thrown out.

Some local schemes which were also thrown out were investment in a new library for Grove in time for the new housing development, and a new youth centre for the village. Both vitally needed. What a shame that whilst Conservatives at County Hall voted to bring more housing to Grove on top of what is already planned, they cannot even spare a little bit for our library or our youth. An opportunity missed, but we shall battle on!

Post Office Closures Announced

Today was the day that many people had been waiting for in trepidation. Would our local post office be saved from the axe of closure in the national network? The full report can be read here and you will see that thankfully our local post office branches in Grove and Wantage remain. Unfortunately, some smaller local villages are to lose out including Ardington and Childrey, but noticeably Charney Bassett and East Hanney are still to remain. It really makes you wonder who decides which village loses out where others have escaped - at least this time.

Now is the time for anyone who hasn't signed the petition to Save our Post Offices, to do it now. Sign up here

Flood Protection Products Fair

Further to yesterday's update, I would like to alert everyone to a trade fair of flood defence products, ideas, advice and solutions which is being held on

Thursday 7th February 2008 3pm - 8pm The Guildhall, Abingdon, OX14 3JN

This has been organised by the Environment Agency, the National Flood Forum and the Vale of White Horse District Council.

FREE ADMISSION

There will be a list of exhibitors available on the day.

For further information:

Tel: 01491 828606 (Environment Agency)
Tel: 01235 540356 (Vale of White Horse District Council)

I hope to see you there!

Floodwatch Update

I have received clarification from the Environment Agency, following local residents' concerns regarding Flood Warning Areas for Grove and Wantage area. If you check the Environment Agency's website you need to click on 'The River Ock from Little Coxwell to Abingdon and its tributaries' - the Letcombe Brook comes under the heading 'Tributaries'.

At the moment, there is not a full flood warning service to customers near the Letcombe Brook, however, there is a 'Flood Watch' service which indicates low lying land and roads which may be flooded. This does not include property flooding at this stage. A Flood Watch would be an early indicator that low level flooding is likely and so residents can keep extra vigilant in case the situation becomes worse. To get more in-depth information about river levels in the Ock catchment, phone 0845 988 1188 to stay in touch with local flooding and river conditions. After dialling Floodline, press 1 for local flooding information and then a second number for local information. This is called a quickdial code and the number for the Ock Catchment is 0112313.

I was also informed that the Letcombe Brook is on their priority programme, which commences in April 2008, to have a river level gauge installed. Once the new river level gauge is in place, the EA will be able to offer a full flood warning service. This means residents will be notified of a 'Flood Warning' which means that flooding of properties in the area is expected. Once this is in place and operational, then I shall pass this information on so that those who are interested, can be signed up.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Today was the Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration service at County Hall, Oxford where we paid our respects to those who died during the last war. For those of us who were born after the war, we may find it incomprehensible to believe in man's inhumanity to man. But I do remember that when I was a student at Birmingham during the 60's, we were shown a film about Auchwitz which I shall never forget. We saw real life footage about how everything started from the trains leaving Poland with people full of hope, to the horrendous reality where hope turned to despair and reality dawned. I endured many sleepless nights.

Two years ago, whilst I was on holiday in Jersey, we visited the war tunnels, and again, came face to face with what horror people faced during the war. The evacuation of the Channel Islands meant that some people were sent to concentration camps and never returned.

Today meant that we could spend some time reflecting on the people who lost their lives in what was nothing but sacrifice to a cause which will not be fully understood. Can we learn from this?

To quote from today's reading: 'This remains for me a double image of those years, the unbelievable cruelty and the courage, the callouseness and the compassion - the human capacity for evil, but also the reassurance of human nobility' .

We must never forget.

Two Funerals in Two Days

Today it was Jim Moley's funeral at the parish church in Wantage. It was a sad day, but it was a lovely service where the Mayor of Wantage and Chief Executive of the Vale of White Horse District Council both gave tributes to his memory. Other tributes made in the press can be read here. Many people had come along to pay their respects and the music by the Wantage Silver Band was wonderful. The collection from the service was donated to their cause. Jim would have liked that.

Yesterday in Sutton Courtenay parish church, it was the funeral of Margaret Mackenzie, another long-serving councillor who had also worked at all 3 tiers of councils, and who had dedicated her life to her community.

What these two elected representatives have shown us is how much they cared for the communities they served. Although their politics were different (Jim was a Liberal Democrat and Margaret was Labour), both will be remembered for the work they contributed on behalf of local people.

Youth Parliament announces MYPs

Last night in Oxford I saw three new young members of Parliament announced to represent South Oxfordshire, North Oxfordshire and Oxford city. It was great to see so many young people taking such an interest in politics and shaping their visions for the future in an event organised by the County Council's Youth Support Services.

The UK Youth Parliament provides young people aged 11-18 with a voice that make a real difference for our County. Oxfordshire's three candidates are voted for by their peers and elections took place in schools and youth centres across the County. Once elected, MYPs start representing their area and raising local issues that affect young people to local councillors, MPs and Education Officials.

If anyone would like further information they should contact Graham Phillips (South & Vale area) at the following email address: graham.phillips@oxfordshire.gov.uk or telephone 0782447516.

It would be good to see more young people taking an active interest in community life and see how they can help change things for the better. Check out these websites below:

UKYP Website: http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/

Youth Support Services Website: http://www.spired.com/

Letcombe Brook Water Levels

I know some people have been concerned at the water level of Letcombe Brook. Tonight, we visited Denchworth Road, Kingfishers, Cane Lane, Sharland Close and Mill Street in Wantage to keep an eye on things.

Here are two photographs - one taken on Tuesday and another taken on Thursday evening - by the bridge on Denchworth Road. These at least indicate that the water level has dropped for the moment, although obviously I can't predict future rainfall.

Anyone who is concerned about flooding and sandbags should ring the Vale Council on 01235 520202 (Office Hours) or 01235 524886 (Out of Hours).

Local Information for Local People

The comment from Sue yesterday on obtaining Grove specific information from the Environment Agency made me think about what other local information is available online.

I thought it would be useful to compile this information in one place, so I have added two new sections to the sidebar on this site. One is called Information (things like traffic news, local weather warnings) and the other is called What's On (theatre, cinema, youth activities, etc).

Please have a look and let me know of any other links that could usefully be added for the Grove & Wantage community.

Flooding Advice

With the torrential rain yesterday and some rivers on alert, many people must be worried about potential flooding again. The County Council has issued the following press release here and it is worth taking a look.

At the moment, most of the preparation is happening in Oxford as the Botley area looks most at risk, as shown tonight on the television news. I noticed the Letcombe Brook was quite high yesterday in the village and thanks to local residents, some debris was moved from blocking the low archways on the bridge.

Today, I noted that the remedial ditching and gullying works at the Hanney junction appears to have stopped the road flooding there like it did last time. The A417 was closed between West Challow and Stanford-in-the-Vale this morning, but I understand that it has now reopened.

Sad News - Councillor Jim Moley

I am sad to announce the sudden death of Councillor Jim Moley. Jim was a fellow County Councillor for Grove and Wantage, as well as a District Councillor for Wantage Charlton ward and a Wantage Town Councillor.

He will be sorely missed by the community and our sympathies are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Some Lottery Cheer

After a gloomy start to the year, I thought it would be nice to report some good news. Firstly, it was a relief to hear that someone has owned up to the damage done to poor King Alfred, and secondly that we are to see some funding for play projects in our area from the National Lottery. Readers will know that the Vale won some money last year through the People's Millions, so now The Big Lottery Fund has awarded £200,000 to the Vale of White Horse to support children’s play projects.

The full story can be found here but Wantage will be one of the three schemes which will benefit. North Hinksey Louie Memorial Field, the Memorial Park in Wantage and the Watchfield Play park are to have play improvements. We should hear more soon once public consultation starts and hopefully children will be involved with this.

The Burning Issue

Today on my way into County Hall I was met by protestors from Friends of the Earth, People Planet and Oxford Campaign against Climate Change who were coming to petition Oxfordshire County Council about the prospects of an incinerator in the county. This came about because the Cabinet will be making a decision next week regarding our waste disposal and there was supposed to be a council debate today in advance of this.

Well, the motion to discuss this issue was withdrawn at the last minute in the council chamber because we had put forward an amendment asking for (a) the best option for the environment, (b) a "break clause" in the 25 year contract and (c) consideration of the impact of future carbon trading schemes. As the Opposition, we have had no involvement with the tendering and procurement process, but hoped that all councillors would be able to influence the decision which will be taken next week. To lock ourselves into a contract for the next 25 years gives us no prospect of withdrawal should it prove that incineration is not going to be the best long-term option.

To avoid taking votes on our amendment, in an extraordinary move, standing orders were suspended and the public were denied the chance of seeing councillors formally express their views. All the papers have been on the County website for some time now. This should not be a done deal and we should at least have been able to debate the motion and the amendment under the rules of the constitution so that the electorate know the spectrum of views on incineration and alternatives.

I just hope this does not set a dangerous precedent, that basically, if there are unpalatable decisions to be taken then the ruling administration just throw out the rules and do what they want. No final resolution, no recorded votes.

Disposing of the County's waste is one of the biggest issues facing us for many years, and this decision is not easy, but we need to make sure that it is treated with the seriousness it deserves. We listened to the protestors, but like us, they have little influence over what will happen next week. In other words, today felt like a bit of a smokescreen.

A Sad Start to 2008

What a pity to have to report on my first entry for the New Year 2008 two mindless acts of vandalism. On the left is the statue of King Alfred in Wantage Market Square with its right arm and axe severed. Read the news story here to find out what happened.

There is a reward being offered by the Mayor of Wantage to help find the culprits and I also heard that police are searching CCTV footage. If anyone did see anything, please do report it because the repairs will have to be paid for out of the public purse - so we all pay! What a waste of hard-earned money.

Sadly, Grove also suffered. I noticed our BT phone box smashed over the weekend and reported it to the Oxfordshire Gateway. I received a reply today to say that this is now being passed on to BT. This facility was under threat some years ago, but thanks to protests including those from the parish council, it was saved. Let us hope that this is not a sign of a gloomy year to come.