Singing Histories of Oxfordshire

This special new songbook was launched at Oxford's Westgate Library yesterday afternoon and I went along to take part in an enjoyable sing along with schoolchildren from St. Nicholas Primary School in Abingdon. The book will be available to download from the Oxford Inspires website soon. The songs in the book are written about historical events in Oxfordshire and is a great way to help children learn about their local heritage.

The project is a collaboration between the County Council, Sing London, Oxford Inspires, Oxfordshire County Council and The Oxford Folk festival. The songs were compiled by folk song expert Tim Healey from towns around Oxfordshire between the years 1521 to 1945. We learnt that these ballads were written to tell people about the news of the day. Without newspapers and radio, this was the way that everyday folk could inform everyone about a story that had to be told. So it's great to think they have all survived to be enjoyed by schoolchildren today.

Are We Making Progress?

At today's County Council Cabinet meeting, there were a number of items I raised. The first one was to welcome a new sound system for the committee rooms and council chamber, which is something I have been complaining about for a long, long time. Many members of the public who come to our meetings to hear democracy in action, often come away having heard very little of what is said. Let us hope this will change things for the better. It is due to be installed soon.

Another interesting item on the agenda was a scrutiny review of market towns, and I made a plea to the Cabinet to apply to the SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) for some funding of which £460,000 remains. Some of our smaller market towns like Wantage would certainly benefit from this, and having undergone a 'health check' is ready to make some progress.

Finally, I spoke about the Council's performance in a report on priorities and targets. We have recently been awarded a three star CPA rating, which although 'good' is not the 'excellent' we used to be. This is mainly because Children's Services have only received a two star rating for the second year in a row. One of the problems is our poor educational achievement, and I was keen to draw this to their attention again.

Other areas of concern include the under 18 conception rate which is on the increase not only in Oxfordshire, but all over the country. Some councils, like Gloucestershire have done some innovative work to turn this around, so I urged the Cabinet to look at this. Another area of concern is the delivering of our transport capital programme projects. This was raised at the meeting by one of the Cabinet members himself, who argued that often schemes in the capital programme simply didn't happen. So we have to ask ourselves - are we making any progress or are things taking too long to change? Well my bleating about the sound system fell on deaf ears for a long time - but they finally came round to it a few years later. There may be hope yet!

Vale Grants Awarded

At last night's South East Area committee, we had just £6,945.15 left in our pot to allocate. We had three applications from local organisations, so we decided to split the money equally into three. This meant that Wantage Town Football Club, Childrey Playing Field Trust and Wantage Air Training Corps all received £2315 each. The monies will go towards much needed equipment and make better facilities for these organisations who contribute to our local communities.

We shall be looking at our new budget at our next meeting in June. Anyone interested in finding out more about applying for grants at the Vale, contact the council's community grants scheme by clicking here or telephone 01235 520202 for more information.

Local troops off to Afghanistan

Yesterday afternoon, the Vale of White Horse District Council hosted a gathering in Abingdon for troops from Dalton Barracks who are departing for Afghanistan in the next few days. Around 30 soldiers were there along with their partners and it was good to meet them and talk about their role. We must all be proud to have such excellent young men and women who are willing to serve their country and make sacrifices on our behalf. They were also pleased to have the opportunity to talk to councillors and feel part of our community. Let us look forward to their safe homecoming once their six months' duty is over.

Reservoir on Hold

Last night I attended a meeting organised by Thames Water to inform councillors at the Vale of White Horse District Council about their latest plans for the huge reservoir proposed for Steventon. Basically, we heard that the original predictions for water usage across the London region and Oxford and Swindon had been rescaled to take account of new data which was emerging. According to their officials, many factors, including the economic downturn, two wet summers and residents being more prudent with their water usage, has meant that the huge reservoir will not be needed as soon as originally predicted. It will now be another five years away.

They shared with us some of the results of the recent consultation which is now available online here

The Vale is also celebrating what is seen to be a successful campaign against Thames Water's massive reservoir. Read the full story here. However, I do not think this will go away for a moment. There will be a delay, but it will come back. Also, let us hope they will scale down their plans to make the size of the scheme more acceptable to local residents. We will wait and see.