Olympic Sojourn

I have just returned from three days at the 2012 Olympics where I watched three different weight categories of both the men's and women's judo. These were held at the ExCel Centre in London Docklands, which is hosting  seven of the Olympic events and I have to say that everything was organised superbly. Particular mention has to be made of the soldiers who provided a lot of the security cover at the Excel and who did it efficiently, with courtesy and smiling faces - despite being billetted in underground car parks!  

Some great news on the medals front so far for Team GB with an excellent result for the Equestrian team today which I had tried to get tickets for, but was not one of the lucky ones so had to suffice with TV coverage this morning!  Let's hope for some more successes for our other teams and individuals in the days to come.

I used national rail from the fringes of London plus the underground and DLR in the city and they all coped well, with plenty of staff on hand to help. The new Thames cable car - the Emirates Air Line (see photo below) - linking Greenwich with the Royal Docks also seemed to be very popular.  Excellent organisation from TfL.

New Shop in Millbrook Square

A new baker's shop has just opened in Millbrook Square in the unit that was previously occupied by Supa Fruits. As well as cakes, bread and savouries, the shop serves coffee and snacks and there is even outside seating, which will be welcome now that we finally have some glorious weather. It is good to see the main units in Millbrook Square occupied and good luck and every success to Parsons!

Clipper Round the World Race

This looks to be an exciting sporting weekend with the Olympic flame now in London and Bradley Wiggins expected to be the first Briton to win the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday. The same day will also see the finish of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race at Ocean Village in Southampton. This is the conclusion of 40,000 miles at sea and 51 weeks of ocean racing. Crowds of people are expected to turn up to welcome the yachts back and you can look here for the full programme of events for the day.

The photos above were recently taken in the Ocean Village marina of a completely different yacht and race. They show the ICAP Leopard yacht preparing for the 2012 Round the Island Race held on 30th June.

Councillor Community Budgets

I am pleased to announce that as a County Councillor for Grove and Wantage I have been allocated £10,000 to spend on projects within the community.  This is the new process which the County Council has agreed to spend the Big Society Fund, which has been the route for allowing start-up funding for community and voluntary projects in the past.  Residents may remember the successful bid for the re-launch of the Sweatbox in Wantage some time ago.

Details of the fund and how to apply can be found here, but I would be happy to discuss any potential ideas for using this allocation of funds.   There is a criteria which has to be met but this is all set out in the guidance on the County website link above.  The budgets cannot be used to fund activities whose primary purpose is religious or political.

You can email or phone me if you wish to discuss in the first instance (my contact details can be found here).  As Grove and Wantage is a two-member division, Cllr. Jenny Hannaby has also been allocated £10,000 so we are fortunate to have a joint total of £20,000 to spend this year.

Smoke on the Water

Yesterday, saw the sad news that Oxfordshire resident Jon Lord, of Deep Purple fame, had died. His most famous song is "Smoke on the Water", which actually tells the true story of a fire in 1971 that destroyed the casino complex in Montreux. The smoke drifted out on to Lake Geneva - hence the title of the song. In those days, the Montreux Jazz Festival was hosted in the casino (the 2012 event actually only finished last Saturday and was the 46th festival).

As it turns out, I was in Montreux a couple of months ago and took the photo above, which captures the beautiful water scenery... without the smoke.

Local Transport Plan

The Local Transport Plan for Oxfordshire was agreed at the Full Council meeting yesterday.  This has been consulted on and reviewed in the light of comments which have been made.  I had already sent in my own comments to the plan calling for improvements to be made locally to our bus services and to push for re-opening Grove station.

The Conservative ruling group have recorded their opposition to the High Speed Rail link (HS2), which is interesting as it is the coalition government who are promoting the scheme.   However, the East West Rail link has now been given the official go ahead which is certainly good news and something Liberal Democrats have campaigned for.  

Yesterday, some amendments were approved to the Plan, which should benefit the local area on the basis that with Science Vale UK on our doorstep and cited as a major employer as part of the Local Enterprise Zone, improved public transport is needed to get there.  This should include better bus services and the long-term aim of re-opening Grove railway station. 

I spoke on these issues yesterday and said that it is absolutely essential if we are to have more housing development on our doorstep, then better public transport is a must.  As  local residents know already, we have tremendous problems in the village with car parking as many households have two or more cars.   The County Council is now supposed to be making a business plan for the station, which is something I had proposed in our alternative budget in February.

The photograph above shows a train hurtling under the bridge on the A338 by Williams F1.  Let us hope that sometime in the future they may be stopping!

Olympic Torch in Oxford

Today, the Olympic Torch came to Oxfordshire passing through Bicester, Kirtlington, Woodstock and Kidlington before finally appearing in South Park in Oxford around 6:45pm carried by Malcolm Fretter from Wantage. The photos above give a flavour of the event and it didn't rain!

Later in the evening, there was a spectacular performance of the Tree of Light with many local schools and community groups taking part. Tomorrow (Tuesday) the torch proceeds from Oxford to Reading passing through Abingdon, Wallingford and Henley. More details can be found here and here.

Reserve Forces in Oxfordshire

Last evening I was invited to a presentation given by the South East Reserve Forces and Cadet's Association at Edward Brooks Barracks in Abingdon.  It was inspiring to hear from a young woman who gave us all an insight into her operational deployment experience in Afghanistan.  She found this was a great benefit to her both personally and professionally, but obviously it was important that her employer was supportive and realised the benefits for them too.  A young cadet from Oxfordshire also shared his experience and showed how much he enjoyed his role, especially in relation to the Citizenship programme in schools.

The rest of the evening was devoted to briefing us all on current operations which are happening in the Navy, RAF and of course on land.  Some of this work will cover the Olympics over the summer.  All this happening alongside the announcement yesterday in the news regarding the reduction in our armed forces by around 20% gave it all a sombre note.  It also looks like there may be more of a call on our reserves during these austere times.  The challenge will be ensuring that employers are well compensated and see the rewards of allowing their employees to serve for their country. 

Sunday Politics and Young Carers Festival

Today, I was one of the guests of the day alongside presenter Peter Henley on the BBC Sunday Politics South show.

One of the topics discussed  was the welfare of young carers. I am sure we all agree that it must be incredibly tough for children to take on the role of carer when one of their parents falls ill and has a long term condition. It is not clear exactly how many young carers there are in the UK - the 2001 census put the figure at 175,000, but there are certainly many "hidden" carers and the figure could be as high as 700,000.

It is very important that as well as obtaining assistance with their caring role, as much as possible is done to ensure that the young person gets help and understanding at school and also is allowed some time to socialise with friends. I was therefore very interested to learn that a Young Carers Festival is organised each year by The Children's Society and YMCA Fairthorne Manor near to Southampton. The 2012 event has just taken place over this weekend and, with the Olympics on the horizon, this year's theme was "Champions for Change". The festivals have now been organised for 13 years and provide an opportunity for around 2,000 young carers in the UK to get some respite from their responsibilities at home and relax with friends and act like children and teenagers for a weekend. This is an excellent example of how help and support can be provided to these young people who themselves give so much.