Connecting Oxfordshire

The Leader of the County Council is arranging a consultation on his vision for transport in Oxfordshire with a series of meetings around the county.  Last night, I attended the one for the Wantage area at The Beacon (formerly Civic Hall) where a number of residents expressed their views. 

There was a lot of support for the re-opening of Grove station, but unfortunately the Leader seems to have given up on the idea because he claims Network Rail do not have it in their investment plans.  Well, it would be helpful if the leadership at County Hall actually showed some enthusiasm for the project.  Residents will know that I have campaigned for many years for this to happen, especially in view of the extra housing numbers projected for the area,  but there does not appear to be the political will to move this on.

There was also concern expressed about the lack of buses in the area, particularly serving the employment sites at Harwell, Didcot and Milton Park, and we were told that we have to wait for the commercial market to pick this up, rather than pump-priming services ahead of future housing development.  

Cycling was mentioned several times, and the lack of a good cycling network - again between Harwell and Wantage, and despite housing developments being approved, no money appears to have been put aside to improve this for our area.

This is an opportunity to make sure you have your say as it is important that residents' views are listened to.  You can do this online at this link, but it must be done by 1st August.

Network Rail Drop in Sessions on A417 Bridge Closure

This is to alert residents that Network Rail will be holding drop-in sessions shortly to answer questions and discuss their plans for the forthcoming closure of the A417 Challow bridge for electrification works on the railway due to go ahead in September this year.  The dates and venues are as follows with both sessions taking place from 4 - 7pm:



           Thursday 26^th June – Faringdon Corn Exchange, Faringdon

Wednesday 2^nd July – Stanford in the Vale Village Hall, Stanford in the Vale
 


 

Neighbourhood Action Day in Grove

This morning I joined forces with other members of the Wantage West Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) to try to recruit more Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators and new members to sign up to receive Thames Valley Police Alert messages in Grove.

These alerts are an excellent way of finding out about criminal activities in the area and what is happening with the police team locally.  To register click here.    The alerts can be sent to your mobile 'phone, email address or to your home telephone.  We had a very good response on the doorstep with many people wishing to get involved.  We plan to do more days in the future in other areas.    Today we were focussing on old Grove.

New Harwell/Didcot Bus Service Includes Grove

Thames Travel have announced that their new timetable for the A1 beginning on 9th June will include serving Grove at the beginning and the end of the day.  I hope that this is because they have now seen how the impact of losing bus services to Grove has disadvantaged  the village.

I have been calling on them and the County Council to help restore the services we lost at the end of last year so let us hope that this is just the beginning and more will follow. The A1 service change which will begin next week will stop at Mayfield Avenue in Grove at 06.58am before calling at Wantage and continuing the service to Harwell, Didcot and beyond. On the return journey it will drop off at Mayfield Avenue at 18.55pm for those returning in the evening.

I appreciate that this will still not suit everyone and we are still lacking the continuity of the services we received before, but this does go some way to helping early commuters and those wishing to get home in the evening.  To view the complete timetable see Thames Travel's website, where you can download and print off a copy if you wish.

May I also remind residents that there is still a direct service from Grove to Didcot on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Millbrook shopping centre.  I have placed a copy of the timetable at the bus stop so that passengers can see this. You can also view the times here.