Grove Airfield Development Planning Committee

The outline planning application for the Grove Airfield development is scheduled to be determined at the next Vale Planning Committee on Wednesday 4th December at Grove Parish Church at 6.30pm.  I am not sure how the meeting is going to work considering this will be the first time that the committee has met in a church as far as I am aware!

Some of my comments already form part of the agenda which is here and a more fuller pack of responses is to be found in the appendices.  I shall be at the meeting and have submitted my name to speak.  However, I understand that all speakers will have to share 20 minutes, so the more people registered to speak, then the less time we shall have.   The recommendation is for the committee to permit the development subject to a list of Section 106 agreements for necessary infrastructure and many other conditions which have to be met.

This proposed development for 2,500 houses has been on the horizon for many years since first identified in the Local Plan in 2002.  Meanwhile, a number of other housing developments have now come on stream in the area, which puts even greater pressure on our roads, schools and local facilities.  The problem with the airfield is that it is very difficult to access from any of our main roads, so any route into the site involves either going all through the existing village or doing a loop around Mably Way.

Refusal of Care Home at Mably Way Upheld

Excellent news to report today that the appeal to build a residential care home on Mably Way behind the health centre has been dismissed.  As I reported here earlier in the month, I attended the hearing at Abingdon and took part in the discussions with the Planning Inspector who was very keen to hear all sides of the debate.   The refusal by the Vale planning committee is therefore upheld.

The decision notice concludes:

"Notwithstanding the conclusions on design, parking, flooding and employment, it is the detrimental effect the proposal would have on the provision of future Health Care provision in the area that is the determining factor in this appeal."

We can now look forward to the future expansion of the GP surgeries on the site and to more local healthcare being provided for the community.

County Council Conference in Chester

At the beginning of the week, I attended a conference in Chester for the County Councils Network (CCN).  This organisation is made of of all County Councils in England and is a lobbying forum for ensuring county council's have a voice in central government.  The Annual Conference this year was hosted by Cheshire West and Chester Council and had key speakers including Rt. Hon. Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Lord Heseltine, who talked about his report  'No Stone Left Unturned', which is a review of UK economic growth.

At the end of the conference I was able to take part in a Roman Tour of Chester which included a walk round the city walls (left) and the old amphitheatre (right) where we were accompanied by a Roman centurion guide to learn all about the history of the past.  It was a refreshing break from spending several hours listening to discussions on the woes of the forthcoming spending review.

Grove Parish Newsletter - 400th Issue Celebrations

This afternoon, I attended the tea party organised to celebrate the 400th Issue of the Grove Parish Newsletter. I managed to secure funding from my County Councillor community budget fund to help the editorial board and volunteer deliverers to celebrate this milestone with a big 'thank you' to all those involved.

As can be seen from the photos above, issue number 1 of the current version of the newsletter appeared on March 1978. The intervening 100th, 200th and 300th issues appeared in June 1986, September 1995 and October 2004. The story on the front page of the 200th issue is interesting because it concerns the prospect of county council subsidies for local bus routes being reduced or cut. This has again been in the news recently and I am working with the County Council to find a solution to this. Some things never change!

The Grove Parish Newsletter finds its way through every door in the village, thanks to all the hard work of those involved on the editorial board putting it all together and their stalwart team of local volunteer deliverers.   I find the community news and events diary very helpful as well as being able to contribute myself every month with my County Council report where I can update residents on the work I continue to do on their behalf. Congratulations to all involved and long may it continue!

More Health Matters

This is to inform residents that there is an important consultation taking place at the moment with the NHS Oxfordshire Joint Commissioning Group.  This group has over £612M to spend on commissioning health and care services for residents in our county and this is an opportunity to have your say.  The full document 'Improving the Health of Oxfordshire' sets out the direction of travel and can be downloaded from their website (see link above).

A public meeting to discuss ideas and views is to be held next Tuesday 19th November in Wantage Civic Hall from 1pm - 5pm.  If you are keen to participate please telephone

01865 334638 or email cscsu.talkinghealth@nhs.net

Appeal Hearing for Residential Care Home at Mably Way

Today I have attended the Appeal Hearing at Abingdon for the proposal to build a residential care home behind the Health Centre at Mably Way.  This has been causing concern amongst both GP surgeries and local residents because of the restriction this would cause on future expansion of the health facilities at this site.  You can see from the photo above where the proposed building would sit, and there is not much room as it is.  Car parking is one of the biggest problems, and when the mammography unit and other mobile facilities come on site, this is even more important for people arriving for appointments.

When I was a district councillor in 2002 on the Vale planning committee, the proposals for the original health centre were approved, but this was only because the safeguarded land could only be used for health purposes.  This is part of the strategic gap between the communities of Grove and Wantage and an exception was made due to the provision of a brand new health centre where both GP surgeries could combine and work together for the benefit of both Grove, Wantage and the surrounding villages.   

Space was made available at that time for the relocation of the Wantage Community Hospital which was under threat of closure, and since then the original doctor's practice in Wantage has  been given over to a residential care home instead.  Meanwhile, the communities have expanded with more housing developments, more planned in the future and the prospect of even more health facilities being needed to support those residents.  It would therefore be a huge problem for us if this care home is allowed to be built and so prevent any future expansion on this site.  It would also deprive the current community of continuing to enjoy local health provision where specialists and services can come to us, rather than travelling out to those facilities in Abingdon or Oxford.  An opportunity gone forever.

You can see a previous blog from last year when this care home proposal came to light.  I sent in two submissions of objection to the proposals and we were all pleased when the Vale planning committee turned it down.  Today, however, the appeal from the developers has been heard and we were able to address our concerns to the Planning Inspector.  We did undertake a site visit after the meeting, and now we shall await his decision.  I shall keep you informed.

Remembrance Sunday

Today, I attended Remembrance Sunday service at St. John's Parish Church in Grove, where along with other councillors and residents we were able to pay our respects to those who have died on our behalf, both in the Great Wars and in current conflicts in Afghanistan.  There were many more Rainbows, Brownies and Beavers, Cubs and Scouts than I can remember, so it was a fully packed congregation.

This afternoon, I have just walked back from Grove cemetery where I joined parish councillors to lay the wreath on behalf of the community for the USAAF soldiers who served in Grove during the war.  Again, this is something we do every year.

Many others all over the country will be doing the same thing for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  Long will they be remembered.

Rail Electrification Plans Put Station Back on Track

This week I have some good news regarding plans for re-opening Grove Station on Wantage Road.  On Monday,  I attended a presentation at County Hall given by Network Rail where they are seriously considering making sure that when the rail electrification project goes ahead next year, enhancement for the bridge over the A338 by The Volunteer will ensure work to facilitate the future station platform will be done at the same time.

On Tuesday, at our full County Council meeting, Liberal Democrats proposed a motion to council which called for the Cabinet to use all possible means to ensure that electrification facilitates the construction of a station at Grove/Wantage.  It was also agreed to ensure proper co-ordination takes place with bus companies and diversion routes planned early to help ease the upheaval caused by alterations to many road bridges all over the County.  In my speech, I was able to emphasise how important this will be to the area in the face of proposed housing developments.

The Great Western Electrification Project has been a government commitment for some time and the works have already started.  The plans for bridges in Oxfordshire was one of the main themes of our presentation and we all know that these works will bring disruptions to our area, as road closures will have to take place for some time to allow the enhancement to happen.  Diversions will have to be in place and negotiations with bus companies need to ensure that passengers and motorists are aware of the routes and the potential extra time needed for their journeys.

On the present timetable, the A338 Wantage Road bridge is due to be programmed for next March/April 2014, and the Denchworth bridge during March.  The sensible solution will be to complete the Denchworth Road bridge first, so enabling diversion traffic to take this route round to pick up the A338 at Hanney and vice versa.  I will keep you posted as more information on this becomes available.

My blog has shown a history of my commitment to this project, so rest assured I shall continue to be on the case!

Future of Schooling in Grove and Wantage

Today I attended the County Council's Cabinet Member decision on the future of primary and secondary school provision in Grove and Wantage. I went along to speak as local member and to give some of the background history of the previous consultation when the first decision was made to locate a stand alone secondary school in Grove. This was supposed to come on stream as soon as the Grove Airfield development went ahead. However, as we all know now, this has taken much longer than expected, and indeed other housing developments have been given planning permission in the meantime which has added to the pressures on school places in the area. 

Today, it was agreed that the strategy to provide a secondary school for Grove still continues, but of course, we await further news about the proposals for the airfield and when the developers plan to go ahead. A tentative date has been set on 4th December for the Vale's planning committee to consider this.  I am still awaiting confirmation of this however.

The uncertainty for the Grove Church of England primary school in North Drive has also been addressed today, when the Cabinet member decided to approve the expansion of the school capacity on the current site. Previously, the plans had been to move the current school onto the new airfield development, but with the timing of this still unknown, it was deemed logical now to allow the school to remain where they are, especially as the Monks Farm development has  come into the frame.

The public consultation earlier in the year only received 36 responses, all online, which was actually quite disappointing.  However, 22 of those responses stated a preference for a standalone academy secondary school, as opposed to an extension of King Alfred's.  The head of King Alfred's came along to the meeting today to express his concern about how the school can expect to plan for the future, given the fact that the school currently provides 310 places per year group and that number is growing.

I am sure that this is not the end of the story and the saga will continue.  Since those early days over twenty years ago when I campaigned after losing our school bus from Grove to Wantage, I have continually fought for Grove to have our own stand alone secondary school.  I was delighted when this aim then became Cabinet policy at Oxfordshire County Council.  Today the commitment has been confirmed and I shall keep my watchful eye on the brief and update on any further news.