A Day of Strike Action in Oxfordshire

There were demonstrations in Oxford today by many public sector workers who were taking action against changes to their pensions.   I was interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford along with the other two main political parties about my views both on Sunday's Bill Heine programme and today on the breakfast show with Phil Gayle.

I feel it was a shame that the strike was called whilst there is still a deal on the table to be negotiated.  Also only a quarter of union members backed strike action.  It will cost the economy £500m at a time when we are all feeling the pinch.  Many people who are either self-employed or working for the private sector already have to provide for their own pensions  and many of their schemes are also changing.   Through their taxes they also have to pay for public sector pensions.

Public sector pensions are a recognition of the dedication and hard work of millions of public sector workers. But because we are all living longer, the costs of public service pensions is increasing, and will keep going up unless we do something about it - asking other taxpayers to work longer and pay more so public sector workers don’t have to just isn’t fair.

Today there was a total of 72 per cent of Oxfordshire’s 291 schools which were closed or partially closed. Only 28 per cent opened as normal.  Locally, both primary schools in Grove were closed as was Wantage Church of England Primary School.  King Alfred's College was partially open and 2 classes were closed at Charlton Primary School.  Stockham Primary School remained open.  I hope that local families were able to manage their childcare arrangements if they were trying to get to work.

Let us hope that this can be resolved and that a deal can be struck which will bring everyone back together.  I am sure that we all want the best outcome in these difficult economic times. 

Superfast Broadband on the Horizon

This photo is 'The BT Vehicle for Change' parked for the day in Milton Park, nr. Didcot which was hosting a number of presentations on how to tackle the challenges of the future with new technology and faster broadband.  This is very much part of the OxOnline project which is being rolled out all over the county.  I went along to see what I could find out.

On 16 August Broadband Delivery UK announced that Oxfordshire would be allocated £3.86 million to provide faster broadband speeds in rural areas up to 2015. Oxfordshire will be able to draw down this funding on completion of an agreed Local Broadband Plan.  This means there will have to be a robust business and financial case for the building of superfast broadband infrastructure in our rural areas. £3.86 million is clearly not enough to provide the infrastructure required so the County Council and the private sector will need to provide additional funds in order to make the project viable. Work is on-going to identify where this additional funding is going to come from.

Locally, many people in Grove complain to me about their broadband and how slow the speeds are, indeed I suffer from this myself.  I have been told that this is because Grove is some miles distance from Wantage where the exchange in based.  I was informed today that the plan is to extend the network to the boxes in the various streets which should make for faster broadband locally.  It is also the case that we do have competition in the area so there are several providers who can supply broadband locally - it is a matter of shopping around for the best deal.

Another innovation I heard about today was regarding V Pods which are supposed to be a new way for the public to access services through a number of outlets via  libraries, colleges, schools and other public places.  This is an extension of the one-stop-shop - a virtual connection to a service provider basically - too complicated to explain here in detail, but I am sure it won't be long before we are all aware of this new idea! 

New Bus Timetables Online

I have reported previously that there are some changes to our local bus services.

These changes will come into operation from Sunday 12 December so it is worth familiarising yourself with the new timetables for the subsidised services.  The majority of services will continue at their current frequency, with some services improving.   The commercially operated Stagecoach services X30 and 31 remain the same.

Among the changes are  a new service A1 which will run between Ardington and Wantage to partially replace the 32 service removed by Thames Travel.

A summary of the changes, along with timetables for the new services, can be found on Oxfordshire County Council’s website in the Public Transport section.

Two new timetable booklets covering the Wantage and Faringdon areas and the Didcot area are also available from libraries, tourist information centres and other local outlets.

Building Progress in Wantage and Grove

It's always interesting to observe the progress of local buildings and features.  The first two pictures show the "before" and "after" of the extension to the Waitrose store in Wantage. I have shopped in there recently and the store is certainly much more roomy and attractive.

In Grove, the extension to the Methodist Church in Main Street has been completed. These new facilities will be of much benefit to the wider community, as well as to those who worship there. I particularly remember taking my daughter to the church for her ballet lessons. The final photo shows King Alfred looking down at the ongoing refurbishments in Wantage Market Square, which are due to finish next week.

Politics Morning at King Alfred's College

This morning I attended four "Question and Answer" sessions about politics at King Alfred's College in Wantage.  This gave Year 11 pupils the opportunity to ask the politicians about their views on a number of topical questions.  I was very impressed by the quality of the subjects which were raised and of particular interest to the students were the economy, tuition fees, future jobs and employment issues, binge drinking and the summer riots.

The panel consisted of myself for the Liberal Democrats as Leader of the Opposition at the County Council, Leader of the Conservatives at the Vale of White Horse District Council and a Green Party Member who stood as Parliamentary Candidate in the Banbury Constituency.  We had a good debate and opportunities to discuss areas where we agreed and disagreed.  The national situation where Liberal Democrats are in a coalition government with the Conservatives raised its head several times, especially where it has meant that the parties have had to compromise on some things to achieve a common goal.

As it came up several times about how to help young people to get jobs especially during these hard times, I was able to refer to the announcement made by Vince Cable, our Lib Dem Business Secretary who is trying to support businesses with apprenticeships.  You can read the article here

Remembering

This is the time of year when we remember both the contributions and sacrifices of men and women in times of conflict - particularly the two world wars. On Armistice Day, I attended the Ceremony of Remembrance at County Hall in Oxford. The date this year of 11.11.11 seemed to make it even more significant.

Today, I went to the Remembrance Sunday Service at Grove Parish Church. It is always great to see the Beavers, Cubs, Rainbows and Brownies march to the church and fill it with their brightly coloured uniforms. As usual, Professor Gary Sheffield provided some interesting insights into the conflicts and their relevance to Grove. One thing he pointed out was that the gate pillars at the entrance to St. John's church (see left and right photos above) are memorials to two soldiers. I must admit, until today, I had never paid them close attention and passed them many times without realising their relevance. This afternoon, I also attended the short ceremony at Grove Cemetry for members of the 9th USAAF and other allied servicemen from Grove who lost their lives.

Transport Symposium

Today, I attended a Transport Symposium organised by Oxford Civic Society held at St. Hilda's College in Oxford.  We had an interesting range of speakers as outlined below:

• Peter Headicar, former Reader in Transport Studies, Oxford Brookes University
• Steve Howell, Deputy Director of Environment & Economy, Highways & Transport, Oxfordshire County Council
• Ros Weatherill, previously Environment Secretary Oxford Civic Society and OxClean Chair
• Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Director of Hamilton-Baillie Associates, Bristol
• Louisa Weeks, Oxford Bus Co and Martin Sutton, MD Stagecoach
• Chris Aldridge, Principal Network Planner (West & Wales) Network Rail
• Professor David Bannister, Director of Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford

We discussed a whole range of transport issues, covering Oxford's past history right up until the present day.  We heard about the importance of creating space for pedestrians and cyclists and above all how good public transport is essential to make the whole transport planning system work.  Everyone agreed that creating a car-free environment can only benefit us all.

However, the challenge we face for the future is how we can manage the system to avoid total gridlock.  We can now see the benefits of the Smartcard Joint Ticketing and joint timetabling in Oxford and how it has helped to reduce congestion in the city.  I have been campaigning for this to happen for a long time - see my blog post here and I did ask the question today if this could possibly be extended to areas like ours.  Residents often contact me about this issue and indeed there was a comment posted on my blog recently here

The other issue I raised with Network Rail was about the re-opening of Grove railway station.  I was told that when Didcot power station closes in 2015 there may be spare capacity on the lines, however, there was also a suggestion that the company may switch to using biomass and therefore still need the trains.   The possibility of the station re-opening was resurrected after the ATOC report was published in 2009 which said that Wantage could be a viable station in the future.  I followed this up with a motion to the County Council. This was after planning permission was granted by the Vale of White Horse District Council in 2007 see here.  I will continue to campaign for this.

New Non-Emergency Police Number 101

Thames Valley Police is due to go live with 101, the new national single non-emergency number on 14 November 2011, which will replace the 0845 8 505 505 number. Both numbers will run side by side until the end of March, but if demand for the 0845 8 505 505 number drops it may be discontinued earlier.

Calls to 101 (from both landlines and mobile networks) cost 15 pence per call, no matter what time of day the call is made, or the duration of the call.

The routing will be based on the same system as 999 calls which link a caller’s dialling code to the police force that covers that geographic area. Calls from a landline will be routed to the nearest police force that covers the area’s dialling code. If the caller is using a mobile, the call will be routed using the location of the mast that the phone is transmitting from.

Anyone dialling 101 in England and Wales will be given the option to select an alternative force if the area they are in differs to the force they need to speak to. An operator will put the caller through to the requested force.

Further information regarding the national 101 project can be found here.

Have Your Say on Future Housing Development!

The Vale of the White Horse District Council has produced a draft Interim Housing Supply Policy (IHSP) document, which can be found here. This has apparently been prepared to "enable additional housing development by relaxing some current Vale Local Plan policies".

I know that Grove residents have strong opinions on this subject after conducting many surveys on local proposals. In 2007, villagers even organised a referendum on the looming airfield development and gave it the thumbs down amidst concerns over infrastructure, flooding and the sheer scale of the proposals. Just this week, the possibility of a further 350 homes near to Williams F1 was reported in the local press (see here). Of course, this is also taking place against the background of the Government commitment to "radical" reforms to planning law (see here), which are the subject of much debate in the national press at the moment.

Anyway, there is a consultation where you can have your say on the Vale housing proposals - here is the link. The consultation closes at 4pm on Friday 25th November and responses can be emailed to planning.policy@whitehorsedc.gov.uk.