Harcourt Road Improvements

The photos above show the hardstanding laybys in Harcourt Road that myself and Cllr Jenny Hannaby have funded from our Area Stewardship grants at the County Council.  Residents and commuters have long complained about the poor state of the grass verges, which have become so badly damaged from parked vehicles that the whole area looks unsightly.

It would have been good to do more, but we only have limited funds, and this pot of money will come to an end now as the budget will only be used for road maintenance purposes in future.  Let us hope that it makes travelling through Charlton a little bit easier once the work has been completed.

Reminder - 2nd Crab Hill Exhibition

 

Just a reminder that there is a second opportunity to see the exhibition on the proposed Crab Hill development today - Friday 19th April. This will be held in Grove Methodist Church during 5 - 9 pm and is hosted by Lands Improvement.

I understand that the material will also be put on the website www.crabhillwantage.com from this Saturday.

Camel Progress

The left hand photo above shows the Camel roundabout after the repairs this week. It is obviously better than the previous cratered road, which risked damage to everyone's cars.  However, I am still concerned about the quality of the surface in the problem area, which has to survive a large amount of traffic pounding through it every day. We will keep an eye on this.

Also, the white lines still need repainting, so please take care when approaching the mini-roundabouts. Inexplicably, the white lines were repainted a little while ago and before these repairs when the whole road surface was crumbling away!

I also think it is a great pity that the opportunity was not taken to repair the potholes at the junction of Priory Orchard with Ham Road (see right photo above). Even if they are not priority holes, it would surely have made sense to deal with them whilst there were workmen, equipment and tarmac at this site?

Action on Camel "Craters" at last?

At long last, it looks like repairs will be made this week to the the Camel roundabout (the junction between Mill Street, Denchworth Road and Ham Road) in Wantage. Most residents will be aware of the appalling "craters" at this roundabout (there is no way they can be called mere potholes!) and, not suprisingly, some people have even reported damage to their cars. Followers of this blog will know that I have photographed and reported this dreadul state of affairs many times since 24 February (see here, here and here) and it is now mid-April. We also had the bizarre situation where the white lines around the roundabout were repainted a few weeks ago - a complete waste of money given that it was obvious that the road would have to be dug up and repaired.

Anyway, as you can see from the photos above, equipment was being dropped off on Monday evening to start the repairs on Tuesday 16 April.  There are planned to be 4-way temporary traffic lights in place for up to three days whilst the works go ahead, so please be prepared for disruption in that area.

If you think the pothole repair situation in the Wantage and Grove area has been unsatisfactory, please sign our petition at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P3BPP6P

Crab Hill Exhibition

Just a reminder that there will be two public exhibitions this week about the proposed development at Crab Hill in north east Wantage. These will be hosted by Lands Improvement and its team of consultants to provide information on the evolving proposals. The details are:

Monday 15th April - Wantage Civic Hall, 5 - 9 pm
Friday 19th April - Grove Methodist Church, 5 - 9 pm

Please go along. This should provide important background information ahead of making representations on the draft Local Plan (deadline 9th May).

The Continuing Pothole Saga

Amazing! The two deep potholes on the sharp bend of Newlands Drive in Grove were, at long last, finally repaired sometime last week! Readers will be aware of this continuing saga from my previous posts here, here and here. This means that it has taken almost 7 weeks for the repairs since they were reported! There can be no real excuse for this delay as the potholes were both deep and in a particularly dangerous position causing cars to have to swerve on a sharp bend.

Meanwhile, the potholes further down by the zebra crossing near to the Bay Tree pub still go unrepaired, despite being highlighted with red paint for some time. The repair team probably had to drive over these very potholes on their way to repair the ones further up the road. I first reported it on 25 March - almost 3 weeks ago.  I chased this up yet again this week to find out what was happening, but unfortunately received no reply.   Again, being close to a crossing, these potholes are also in what I would regard as a particularly dangerous position. 

The whole of the local community is fed up with the pothole situation in the Wantage and Grove area and across the whole of Oxfordshire. It is not the reporting system that is the problem, it is the lack of efficient and timely repairs. 

Please sign our pothole petition at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P3BPP6P 

Service of Institution and Induction of New Vicar

Last night, I was invited to St. John's Church in Grove to a special event. One part of the evening was the Induction and Installation of the Rev. John Durant as the new vicar of the Vale Benefice. There was also a Service of Institution for the newly formed Vale Benefice, which combines the parishes of Grove, Hanney, East Challow and Denchworth. The Wantage Deanery unites the four local benefices in the Wantage area of the Diocese of Oxford.

 

The Rt. Rev. Andrew Proud, Bishop of Reading led the service along with The Venerable Norman Russell, Archdeacon of Berkshire. The church was packed full and it was a very inspiring service with many local members of the community involved. Well done to all of the mission team and the Vale Benefice Churchwardens for the evening.

White Horse Harriers Half Marathon

Today, saw the Annual Half-Marathon of the White Horse Harriers take place. The race started in Cane Lane and as usual ended on Pound Green in Grove (see photos above). This year the event supported the 14 Club of Wantage, which is an independent social club at Fitzwaryn School for people with learning disabilities. It was a beautiful sunny day although still a little chilly. The very first White Horse Half Marathon took place on 10th April 1983 and it is still going strong.

Oxford Lane Re-painted

Yesterday, I took these photos of Oxford Lane which has been re-painted using some of my Area Stewardship Fund.  The top photos show the entrance onto the A338 including the hatched area which should make a safer exit from Grove onto this busy road.  The bottom photos show the mini-roundabouts, which have been re-painted at the junction with St. John's Road and North Drive.  The speed cushions (bottom right) are also done which will make them much easier to see, especially at night.

County Pothole Motion Voted Down!

I am sure that local residents will be amazed to learn that the motion of my group calling on the Cabinet of Oxfordshire County Council to require our contractors to meet their obligation on highways repairs and so ensure our roads are fit for the public to travel on was voted down today at the full council meeting. The ruling group seem to think that everything is fine across the county, but most Oxfordshire residents and especially those of us living in the Wantage and Grove area know just how bad the roads really are.

The top photo above shows the mini-roundabouts at the Camel junction of Mill Street, Denchworth Road and Ham Road in Wantage.  The surface shown by the yellow dashes is like a big dipper and it is so bad that drivers have reported that their cars have been damaged. The only action so far after many weeks is to put up signs (bottom photo) on the approaches to the junction!  A warning that you will get a bumpy ride is hardly reassuring!

Please sign our pothole petition at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P3BPP6P