Royal Visit to Wantage

Yesterday, along with hundreds of residents, I was in Wantage to welcome the Earl and Countess of Wessex who were visiting Oxfordshire as part of Prince Edward's 50th birthday celebrations.  As you will see from the photos above, it was rather a soggy occasion, with umbrellas as much on display as the flags and bunting.  However, this did not detract from the cheerfulness of all around as the Earl and the Countess seemed to enjoy mingling with the crowds.  Cllr. Jenny Hannaby and I were there as county councillors to represent our constituents and you can see us by King Alfred's statue on the right and under our umbrellas in the middle as we await the royal procession.  HRH seemed to be quite impressed with the statue and took a good look at the old King of Wessex standing over us all!

The visit had begun at Dorchester Abbey where they met Ride and Stride volunteers and cut a birthday cake.  They had lunch at Edward Brooks Barracks (Dalton) Abingdon and then went on to King Alfred's Academy to open the new £1m creative arts block.  They then went on to Crown Packaging on the Grove Technology Park before arriving back in the centre of Wantage.  Once in the market square they had a long walkabout and met the Wantage Silver Band (above right) who were playing throughout the occasion, as well as councillors, community groups, schoolchildren and members of the public.

Open Day at Lambourn

On Good Friday, I visited the Lambourn Open Day to see the local racing yards and the events programme in the afternoon.  Nicky Henderson's yard was a real treat where we could look at the wonderful heroes of the racing world, including Bob's Worth, Long Run, Shakalakaboomboom and many others in their stables.  

During the afternoon, we were able to see the parade of the horses including Kauto Star (above middle), Sprinter Sacre, Present View and Toast of New York.  The Household Cavalry (above right) gave a stunning display immaculately performed which was then followed by schooling sessions on the gallops.  The afternoon ended with a show jumping competition with top jockeys and soldiers of The Household Cavalry battling against each other.  Mick Fitzgerald was on hand to provide some of the commentary too.  The weather stayed fine and everyone seemed to enjoy the day.

Full County Council Meeting Webcast

On Tuesday this week it was our full Council meeting which was held at Bodicote House in Banbury at the Cherwell District Council Offices.  You can view the full recorded meeting at the following  link which takes you to the district council website.  Items I spoke on included paying tribute to the late County Councillor and Alderman Charles Shouler, the recent recommendations on the remuneration panel which pays councillors' allowances, questions on the lack of bus services to connect to Didcot, Harwell, Milton Park, infrastructure issues generally including Grove station, the poor state of our roads due to potholes not being repaired, and paying tribute to the emergency services giving us the help in Grove during the flash flood of the Letcombe Brook in Cane Lane.

One of the remarkable events of the afternoon, was our Lib Dem motion about improving air quality under our new powers of public health.  This was successful due to all political groups voting with us, recognising the importance of this issue for Oxfordshire - all except the Conservatives, including the Cabinet Member for Public Health, who voted against it or changed their minds and abstained!  You can see the Chairman's hand go up to vote against, then his face changes as he looked at his group in disarray and his hand goes up in the abstentions.  Remarkable!  Then the Cabinet member  for Public Health walked out of the meeting altogether.  Now there is no overall control at the council, the ruling group will find it very difficult to have their own way.  This is a victory for Oxfordshire residents, as the high pollution levels we are all suffering this week makes air quality a very important public health matter.