Network Rail A338 Bridge Drop-in Session

Just a quick reminder for those who may have missed this on my previous blog post, on Thursday 2nd October Network Rail are holding a drop-in session for residents at The Old Mill Hall in Grove from 4 - 7pm.  This will be an opportunity to ask questions regarding the forthcoming works on the A338 bridge by the Volunteer (now an American Diner).

For some reason, the news that the A338 bridge work will not cause lengthy road closures like we are currently experiencing with the A417 has been recycled last week.  However, I reported it first here fresh from our county councillors' Network Rail briefing at County Hall in May.   It was also covered extensively in the local media. 

We had another briefing last week, where, the current programme has been updated, and then this news release was re-issued.  To keep up to date with the whole rail electrification programme, follow their website here.

Grant to Wantage & Grove First Responders

I am pleased to report that I have given a grant of £2,000 from my County Councillor Community budget towards a new medical kit and defibrillator for the Wantage and Grove Community First Responders.  This group of volunteers currently respond to between 40 and 50 life threatening '999' calls each month which can vary from cardiac arrests to breathing problems and convulsions.  

The group have to rely solely on the generosity of the community and local organisations who support them to help raise funds to buy equipment and replace old kit.  There are currently 12 responders, but there were only 6 medical kits to go around, so this grant will buy a complete new kit to be in use.  

The First Responders are a group of local volunteers who provide emergency life support to the local community whilst the ambulance despatched by South Central Ambulance Service is on route.  We all know how important it is to ensure that life-threatening situations are dealt with quickly and so I hope this will help this valuable cause.

I do still have some small funds available if there are any further community groups who would wish to apply.  You can find out more informataion and download a form via the County website here.

Newlands Drive Vegetation Cut Back

At long last, the vegetation alongside Newlands Drive in Grove has been cut back after months of chasing with the County Highways officers.  I ordered this work to be done right back in January this year, because we had hoped that it would be ready for the grass-cutting of the verge which was to start in the spring.  Unfortunately,  after chasing it some weeks later, we were told that it could not be done due to the nesting birds, but even after the birds had flown their nests, there was still no sign of anything being done!  

This week I went to visit the Highways Depot in Drayton to see how highways maintenance work is done, and we visited a number of areas including Ham Road in Wantage, where potholes were being repaired.   I reported how long this work had been waiting, and discovered that there does not appear to be a programme of works for vegetation cutback, so no wonder orders get lost in the system!  However, I was promised this would be done with immediate effect and that I should see it completed by Friday.  These photographs were taken on Friday evening, so it was clear that by leaving it so long it was a huge task to complete, as some of the brambles had been growing into the road.  This had made it dangerous, especially on the corners, where vehicles were swerving into the centre of the road to avoid getting scratched.

When attending my monthly surgery on Saturday morning in the library, I was alerted by residents to several other areas of vegetation cutback which are long overdue, so I will be chasing these again now.  I have been told that I have just over £12,000 to spend on highways works in the area, which is not much given the amount of projects which need completing.  This  includes gulley emptying, weed killing as well as vegetation cut back and footpath maintenance, so it will be a big task to try and prioritise. I have already promised the parish council that I will contribute to the village weed killing, as I have done for the past few years.  I shall continue to keep you posted on this.

A417 Closure Coming Up

I wish to remind residents that the closure of the A417 towards Faringdon is taking place this week on 6th September, so motorists need to plan their journeys well in advance.  I have reported on this here. This is to allow Network Rail to undertake the  work at Challow Bridge to enable the electrification project to go ahead.  You can read the county press release here

There is also a planned drop-in session on Thursday 2nd October at the Old Mill Hall in Grove from 4 - 7pm for residents to ask questions and see the work planned for the A338 bridge next to The Volunteer.   Preparatory  work is going ahead in November with the minimum of closures as already reported in my blog post here with the work to be completed in the summer of next year.