Happy Christmas and New Year 2016

On my return from Midnight Mass at Grove Parish Church, I should like to wish all residents of Grove and Wantage a Happy Christmas and healthy New Year 2016.  This photograph (above) was taken earlier in December when I attended Maggies Christmas Carol service at Christchurch Cathedral in Oxford.  Maggies provides support for all those touched by cancer and is based at the Churchill Hospital site in Oxford.  All monies raised from this concert went to this very worthy cause.

Oxford Mail Hospital Heroes Team Award

Last night, I was delighted to attend the Annual Staff Recognition Awards ceremony for the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust at Oxford Town Hall.  As you will see from the photos shown above, the Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) Ward of the Churchill Hospital won the Team Award for the Oxford Mail Hospital Heroes.

I nominated this magnificent team due to the excellent care they gave me during my 3 week stay on the ward whilst recovering from major surgery in May this year.  This was the icing on the cake following my recovery over the summer months, which allowed me to resume some of my council duties in September.  You can read the full story here.

Remembrance Sunday

This photograph (above) was taken in June at Court Hill, Wantage near Letcombe Regis and seems a beautiful and fitting display of wild poppies to commemorate today when we remember our fallen members of the armed forces.

This morning, I attended the Remembrance Day service at St. John's Parish Church in Grove, where we paid tribute to those who died in service during both World Wars and beyond.  It was a full house with many young Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides all presenting their flags and standards in the church.  It was also good to catch up with members of the community after the service.

Budget Consultation and Children's Centres

The County Council is currently consulting on its budget proposals for 2016/17 until 2019/20 where £50m of savings will have to be made on top of those already announced in previous years' budgets.  This consultation has started on 20th October and details can be found at the County website at

www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/budget

Public events are being held from 7 - 8.30pm on the following dates and venues:

27th October at County Hall

2nd November at Banbury Town Hall

5th November at the Regal Centre, Wallingford

However, one of the proposals which I need to alert residents to, is the potential threat to our Children's Centres, especially those which are run locally to support families in the community.  Our Grove and Hanneys Children's Centre meet at St. John the Baptist Church meeting rooms and in Wantage meetings are held at the Butler Centre in Church Street.  If you wish to have your say on these services and how they will affect you please go to the following link.  

All details on the options proposed are available to read at the above link.  As you will see if you click on the appropriate file for our local centres, there are a considerable number of families using these services managed  by Action for Children on our behalf.  I am sure that these services will be sorely missed if we lose them now, especially as new families move into the area due to the housing development planned.  Please make sure you send in your comments whilst this consultation is live.

Cow Lane Closure

I should like to notify residents about the forthcoming closure of Cow Lane which is coming up on 13th October.  The duration of the closure is expected to be for about 35 weeks, which the notice (shown above) claims takes up until 15th June 2016.  I expect much will depend on the weather and the other works going on in the area by Network Rail.  

This work aims to replace the railway bridge at the Hanneys crossing because of the rail electrification project.  As I previously reported here, some time ago, the replacement bridge at the A338 is currently going ahead and due to be completed at the end of this year.  

As this by-way is currently only used by horse-riders, cyclists, dog walkers and pedestrians, I hope everyone manages to find alternative recreational routes in the area during the time of the closure.

Back to work!

I have been recuperating over the summer months after major surgery in May, and have returned to my duties at Oxfordshire County Council.  I made a commitment to attend Full Council  in September and last Tuesday I managed to do so (see photo above).  It was good to be welcomed back with a cheer and I was able to thank everyone for their good wishes and flowers which had been sent to me whilst recovering at home.

Main items for discussion at the meeting were the re-organisation of senior management after our Chief Executive leaves this month, followed by a debate on the Local Transport Plan 4.

We also saw a demonstration at the front of County Hall regarding the future of Children's Centres which is due to go out for public consultation after the Cabinet meeting yesterday.  I shall provide further details about these plans in a further post.

Some residents may be interested in the Local Transport Plan and the Connecting Oxfordshire document which was the subject of meetings around the county last year including one held in Wantage.  You can see my previous blog post of the event here.  Although Grove station got a mention in the latest transport plan, improved bus services in the area didn't.  Also, more cycling measures were included for urban areas, but nothing which helps us here in the more rural parts of Oxfordshire.

However, my main issue locally, regarding both LTP4/Connecting Oxfordshire and the recent bus subsidies consultation, is the lack of any connectivity between Grove and our main employment sites at Didcot/Milton Park and Harwell by public transport.  I did speak about this subject at the council meeting last week, and felt very strongly that although I had sent in my responses to all of these consultations, nothing appeared to have been taken on board in the final documents.  Very woolly references are made in the 'responses received' part of the document, which appear just to be added in as an afterthought, but whether or not anything will be done is yet to be seen.  I called for all comments made at the full council meeting to be taken on board.

I was pleased to see the Wantage and Grove Campaign Group making a statement at the beginning of the meeting, making similar points: that we are taking much of the new housing in the area, but without any added public transport infrastructure which is required, especially if we wish to see less cars on our surrounding congested road systems at peak commuter times.

It was also good to hold my first council surgery last Saturday after my illness.  Many old customers wished me well and lots of casework to keep me busy!  Next surgery will be held on Saturday 10th October in Grove Library from 10.30am - 11.30am.  As usual, no appointment necessary, just come along to discuss issues of concern.

Verdant Grove

As I won't be blogging for a while, I thought I would post this nice green and verdant view of Letcombe Brook near to Grove village green that I took on one of my recent walks around the village.

New Defibrillator for Community First Responders

I was delighted to provide a donation of £2,000 from my County Councillor Community budget fund towards a new emergency medical kit and defibrillator for the Wantage and Grove Community First Responders.  The photographs above show the new kit on display on Grove Green.

The community first responders are a group of local volunteers who provide emergency life support to the local community, dispatched by the South Central Ambulance Service to '999' calls whilst an ambulance is also en route. The group currently consists of 12 responders, but there are currently only 6 medical kits which have to be constantly moved round.  This new kit means there will now be an extra one available to respond in an emergency, helping to save more lives within the local community.

The group currently respond to 40-50 emergency calls each month and rely solely on the generosity of local fundraising to support the group and buy new equipment and replace old kit. I was pleased that I was able to use funding from my last year's community fund before it was curtailed this February due to the current budget pressures at the County Council.

St Ives Footbridge Repairs

I reported the repairs which needed doing to the bridge over Letcombe Brook on St. Ives footpath (shown above) after a resident came to my surgery to report it in December.  As you will see, it has now been done.  I used FixMyStreet, which is a good way of reporting problems as you receive updates and can check on their status. Alternatively, you can use Street Maintenance A-Z  on the County Council website.

I will only be posting sporadically to this blog for a while for health reasons, but will resume normal service as soon as I can.  Meanwhile, I hope to have my next surgery at the Library on 11th April, but after that I shall have a break from surgeries until further notice.  I shall inform the Libary once I know when I shall be able to come back again.