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.