New Bus Services for Grove and Villages in the New Year

I am pleased to announce that Grove and other local villages will benefit from additional journeys on the A1 bus service on Tuesdays and Thursdays from TUESDAY 7 JANUARY. 

 

This new facility will be financially supported by 'Big Society' funds from myself and Councillor Stewart Lilly.  It will provide a direct link from West Hanney, Grove, Lockinge and Ardington to Didcot, enable access to Wantage and Mably Way Surgery on Monday to Friday in conjunction with the existing A1 journeys, and give East and West Hendred a direct service to Mably Way Surgery on Tuesday and Thursday. The timetable for the A1 service in its entirety is shown above with the new journeys covering Grove highlighted in red.

The service will operate until June 2015 and will be operated by Oxfordshire County Council's Integrated Transport Unit.  As with the existing A1 service on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, no fares will be charged.  Subsidised bus services in the Wantage and Didcot area will be reviewed from June 2014 onward, and this service will be included in that review along with that already provided on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  

I hope that Grove residents will be able to benefit from this new service which goes some way to providing a direct link to Didcot for two days a week.  Unfortunately, Thames Travel have completely abandoned Grove in their new service provision, so although this is not a replacement, it does at least help to give us something.  Meanwhile, I am still working on a long term solution to provide a commuter link for those residents who need a direct service to Didcot and Milton Park on a daily basis.

Happy Christmas and New Year 2014!

Wishing all residents of Grove and Wantage a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a Prosperous 2014.  The photo above was taken in Portsmouth when I was there last year just before Christmas and enjoying shopping in the lovely Christmas market.  This year, it has been mild so far after recovering from the wet and windy start.   However, I believe the blustery weather may return at the weekend.

New Dropped Kerbs at Charlton

I have been able to secure funding from my Area Stewardship Fund to provide the dropped kerbs shown above outside Charlton Primary School in Wantage.  The one on the left is by the patrol crossing and the one on the right is opposite the footpath into the school.

Some parents had complained that it has been difficult for pushchairs and wheelchairs to safely cross the road outside the school, so I hope that this will now make it a lot easier especially at busy times. 

 

Resurfaced Footpath for Minns Road in Grove

I am pleased to report that the footpath at Minns Road in Grove has been resurfaced at long last.  This has been done with money from my Area Stewardship Fund which can now only be used for maintenance and repair work.  I have also programmed Linden Crescent to be done next, which should happen in the New Year.  Others on the list are parts of Mayfield Avenue and the path by Meadow Close, but we shall have to wait and see how much money is left in the pot after the current projects are complete.

Public Meeting on A338 Road Closure for Rail Electrification Process

Just to alert everyone to a public meeting which is being held on Tuesday 17th December at 6pm at the St. John's Parish church hall in Grove to hear the plans for the closure of the A338 road bridge at The Volunteer early next year.  Representatives from Network Rail, County Council and bus companies will be there to answer questions.

I must emphasise that the date and the length of closure for this work is currently not confirmed.

Wantage Junior Showstoppers - Showtime

Tonight, I attended an excellent performance of "Evolution of Music" put on by Wantage Junior Showstoppers at the Old Mill Hall in Grove.  This was an evening of song and dance of hits through the decades and the production was a credit to all those young people who took part.

The clothes rack (above) and the microphones for this community group were provided by a grant from the County Councillor Community Budget fund donated by both myself and Jenny Hannaby.  We have pooled our funds on many occasions to make sure several voluntary groups can benefit for local good causes.

There are still some grants in the pipeline, but if you think you know of any similar worthy causes who would like to apply for this fund, please get in touch with me or via the website here.

Grove Airfield Given the Go Ahead

Last night I attended the Planning Committee held in Grove Parish Church to discuss the Grove Airfield development as previously flagged here.  The church was full with at least 100 people in attendance, and there were 12 of us on the list of objectors to the proposal.  I had to share a 20 minute slot along with several others, but thankfully by going first, was able to make sure all my main points were made in the first 3 minutes!  I had hoped that as an elected County Councillor, I would have been given my own time, but sadly  this is not within the Vale's constitution.

The committee agreed to permit the development subject to a £49 million package of Section 106 agreements (developer contributions) and a whole list of conditions attached to ensure that the infrastructure is provided in a timely fashion.  The village will only be able to cope with such a huge housing development if roads, schools, leisure and community facilities are all provided alongside families moving onto the site.  There will be a huge challenge ahead to make sure this happens and it is not going to be easy.  

When the building starts, there will be disruption for years, and it will change the face of Grove as a village.  The hard work to manage all this is only just beginning and there will be many key people involved.  There is going to be a Project Delivery Board set up to deal with this, so it will be vital that residents get what they have been promised and deserve. 

The Big Christmas Sing in Oxford

Tonight I went along to the Big Christmas Sing in Oxford Town Hall and as you will see from the photo above, this was a great setting for some of Oxfordshire's primary schoolchildren at the start of the festive season.  We had a good mix of both traditonal carols and other songs which were excellently presented.

It was all in support of Christian Aid who are raising money for the victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines, so all for a good cause.  Grove Church of England School at North Drive sang 'The Donkeys Christmas Carol' and Stanford in the Vale C of E Primary sang 'Stille Nacht' (Silent Night), the Traditional German carol in both German and English. 

There were ten primary schools taking part altogether which was very impressive.  There will be another concert tomorrow evening at the same venue with another set of schools on stage.  A very enjoyable evening.