Emergency Planning

On the day that the US declared a state of emergency in several states, including New York, as Hurricane Sandy caused devastation across the east coast, I went to visit the Emergency Planning bunker at Woodeaton Manor near Oxford.  This was the second time that I have made this visit and I was keen to update myself with all the latest information.

The last time I needed help in an emergency was when we had flooding in Grove and Wantage during July 2007, and I wished to make sure that I was up to speed with what currently happens in Oxfordshire to help our communities in times of emergencies. 

The County is eager to help parish councils prepare an emergency plan and I know that Grove Parish Council have been keen to work on this.  It is also a matter of ensuring that all residents are aware of where to go for help and the County Council's website has a wealth of information available .  A booklet entitled 'Are You Ready?' is particularly useful and I do have some hard copies of this, but you can download one from the website here.

We heard that emergencies can take many forms; fires, road traffic accidents and chemical spillages are the most likely ones, but no one can predict what may happen next.   We learned about the evacuation during the summer at Little Tew when fire broke out in a workshop.  This was a major event in the village, but was handled well by all involved. 

I am more confident today that with the excellent co-ordination our emergency planning officers have with the police, fire and rescue and the NHS services, we should be much better prepared.  However, we can never be complacent and lessons are being learned all the time.   Watching the scenes on TV this evening in America makes you realise that we are all vulnerable to the giant forces of nature.

The Future of Day Centres

This afternoon I attended the Abingdon Health and Wellbeing Centre for an event with stakeholders to discuss the future of day opportunities for adult social care in Oxfordshire.  The County Council is currently consulting on the future of day centres and new increased charges could be introduced, including transport costs.  You can take part in the consultation here which ends on 31st October.

In April this year, my Opposition group had a motion agreed at Council which called for a fair and affordable easy-to-access transport service to day centres in Oxfordshire which would ensure that the elderly continue to attend their local day centre at a cost they can afford.  A transport review has been undertaken and should the current consultation lead to increased charges the future of some day centres could become unviable.

I used to work for Age Concern Oxfordshire (now Age UK) and I know how much older people enjoy socialising and being able to get out of their own house, even if it is for only one or two sessions a week.   Personalised budgets now mean that people are responsible for their own financial arrangements and if the costs of attending day centres increase too much then residents may chose not to go any more.  I am hoping that this will not be the case.  We are fortunate in our area to have both the Wantage Day Centre which has been recently refurbished, and also our own volunteer Grove Day Centre.  Both of these are excellent and well-established local facilities which are greatly valued by our senior citizens.

Now, county councillors have a say in where grant funding is allocated within their divisions and Cllr. Jenny Hannaby and I were keen to support both the October Club in Wantage and the Grove Day Centre when they put forward their bids to the County Council for funding.

Local Grant Funds Awarded

I am delighted to announce that two funding requests from the Councillor Community Budget scheme have been awarded to local organisations.  Cllr. Jenny Hannaby and myself have both been awarded £10,000 each to spend on community and/or voluntary projects in the Grove and Wantage division which we both share.  We decided to pool our funds to the following organisations who serve both communities.

The Independent Advice Centre (IAC) has been awarded a total of £4,995 towards their project 'Accommodating Our Community' which is to expand their premises to include the upper storey at 16 Market Place in Wantage.  This is to provide more space to operate all of their services which include their well respected Transport Admin team who provide voluntary drivers to enable elderly and vulnerable people to access hospital appointments and other necessary journeys.

Wantage 'not just' Betjeman Literary Festival has been awarded £3,000 towards funding children's, youth and other community-based events in the Festival, which is taking place from 28th October until November 4th 2012.  The Festival is now in its second year after a very successful start last year and it is hoped that this will become an annual event.  Some of the popular events are already sold out, but there are still tickets available if you check their website.

There are still some funds available if other groups wish to put their project forward.  Details are available on the County website here.

Highway Enquiry Problems

Several residents have complained to me that they have sent their highway enquiries into the County Council email address at  highwayenquiries@oxfordshire.gov.uk and despite receiving an automated response promising a reply within 10 working days, they have been waiting weeks to no avail.

I took the matter up at the Cabinet meeting in July where I was also taking issue with the Customer Services Centre because residents who had applied for their primary school places by email were not getting a reply.  I was told that this was due to the service being outsourced to Capita and it was their failure to send out confirmation emails to about 6,500 families.  My supplementary question was to ask about similar problems with the highway enquiries email where  I have personally experienced problems despite being told I would have a reply within 10 working days.  In one particular case it was over 2 months before I got a response.  It was minuted at the meeting that the Cabinet members responsible would respond to me on the issue.  Sadly, to date there has been no response at all.

The matter has recently been compounded by the fact that we were all told that as councillors we would now be given a dedicated email address to which a priority would be given to our highways enquiries.  However, on using this address, there is no automated response, and no way of telling if the email has been received, or if it will be attended to.  To date, no reply on this one either.

The Deputy Leader of the Council has now assured me that he is looking into these problems.  I await further news.

Meanwhile if any residents are continuing to have problems reporting highways matters to the County Council please let me know.   I do have a small amount of money still available through the Area Stewardship Funding which might be available to tackle some issues.

Out of this World!

This blog is called "Local News and Views". Well, here is a very special view, but it is not very local to Grove or Wantage. It is the view that Felix Baumgartner had from 128,000 feet above the Earth just before he jumped.

What an amazing event - I sat enthralled all afternoon. Well done to Felix for the incredible records he achieved today and all at Red Bull Stratos for the live coverage on the Web.

Local Bus Service Update

Residents may have heard in the news that an Oxfordshire bus company R H Transport based in Witney has gone into receivership leaving some of the school bus routes and local bus services to be renegotiated with alternative providers.  Thanks to the hard work of officers in the public transport department at Oxfordshire County Council the current situation is that services will run normally over the weekend and indeed, will be free to passengers on Monday.

Full details of the affected routes and the alternative bus companies taking on the services are available on the County website.  Do check before you travel.

Tubney Wood Quarry

This morning I visited the Tubney Wood Quarry at Appleton to see the recycling and restoration work, which is taking place.  This site is now nearly completed and a new site is being worked on the other side of the A338.  The quarry has produced high quality mortar sand and various grades of crushed rock.  It is also a source of secondary aggregates which is produced through recycling and recovery and it was interesting to watch this process taking place (see photo above).

Walking above the site we were then shown the restoration which has been completed as the site will be eventually planted with broadleaf woodland (photo above).  The land is owned by Magdalen College and is leased to The Hills Group Ltd. who have been working the site for a number of years.

The County Council is responsible for the planning of minerals and waste sites in Oxfordshire, so it was a useful lesson to hear about the work which goes on and equally what happens to the sites once the quarrying is complete.   There will always be a demand for our raw materials and as a county we have an obligation to produce a set amount every year.   The latest Minerals & Waste Plan was agreed at the County Council meeting in April 2012 for submission to the Secretary of State.

Proposals for minerals extraction are usually accompanied by objections from local residents who are concerned about the impact on their locaL area, but I have to say that I was reassured to see what is taking place just down the A338 where it connects with the A420.  It is a journey I do many times a week as I travel to County Hall, so now I know what is going on in the woods nearby!