Remembrance Sunday

Today, I attended Remembrance Sunday service at St. John's Parish Church in Grove, where along with other councillors and residents we were able to pay our respects to those who have died on our behalf, both in the Great Wars and in current conflicts in Afghanistan.  There were many more Rainbows, Brownies and Beavers, Cubs and Scouts than I can remember, so it was a fully packed congregation.

This afternoon, I have just walked back from Grove cemetery where I joined parish councillors to lay the wreath on behalf of the community for the USAAF soldiers who served in Grove during the war.  Again, this is something we do every year.

Many others all over the country will be doing the same thing for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  Long will they be remembered.

Rail Electrification Plans Put Station Back on Track

This week I have some good news regarding plans for re-opening Grove Station on Wantage Road.  On Monday,  I attended a presentation at County Hall given by Network Rail where they are seriously considering making sure that when the rail electrification project goes ahead next year, enhancement for the bridge over the A338 by The Volunteer will ensure work to facilitate the future station platform will be done at the same time.

On Tuesday, at our full County Council meeting, Liberal Democrats proposed a motion to council which called for the Cabinet to use all possible means to ensure that electrification facilitates the construction of a station at Grove/Wantage.  It was also agreed to ensure proper co-ordination takes place with bus companies and diversion routes planned early to help ease the upheaval caused by alterations to many road bridges all over the County.  In my speech, I was able to emphasise how important this will be to the area in the face of proposed housing developments.

The Great Western Electrification Project has been a government commitment for some time and the works have already started.  The plans for bridges in Oxfordshire was one of the main themes of our presentation and we all know that these works will bring disruptions to our area, as road closures will have to take place for some time to allow the enhancement to happen.  Diversions will have to be in place and negotiations with bus companies need to ensure that passengers and motorists are aware of the routes and the potential extra time needed for their journeys.

On the present timetable, the A338 Wantage Road bridge is due to be programmed for next March/April 2014, and the Denchworth bridge during March.  The sensible solution will be to complete the Denchworth Road bridge first, so enabling diversion traffic to take this route round to pick up the A338 at Hanney and vice versa.  I will keep you posted as more information on this becomes available.

My blog has shown a history of my commitment to this project, so rest assured I shall continue to be on the case!

Future of Schooling in Grove and Wantage

Today I attended the County Council's Cabinet Member decision on the future of primary and secondary school provision in Grove and Wantage. I went along to speak as local member and to give some of the background history of the previous consultation when the first decision was made to locate a stand alone secondary school in Grove. This was supposed to come on stream as soon as the Grove Airfield development went ahead. However, as we all know now, this has taken much longer than expected, and indeed other housing developments have been given planning permission in the meantime which has added to the pressures on school places in the area. 

Today, it was agreed that the strategy to provide a secondary school for Grove still continues, but of course, we await further news about the proposals for the airfield and when the developers plan to go ahead. A tentative date has been set on 4th December for the Vale's planning committee to consider this.  I am still awaiting confirmation of this however.

The uncertainty for the Grove Church of England primary school in North Drive has also been addressed today, when the Cabinet member decided to approve the expansion of the school capacity on the current site. Previously, the plans had been to move the current school onto the new airfield development, but with the timing of this still unknown, it was deemed logical now to allow the school to remain where they are, especially as the Monks Farm development has  come into the frame.

The public consultation earlier in the year only received 36 responses, all online, which was actually quite disappointing.  However, 22 of those responses stated a preference for a standalone academy secondary school, as opposed to an extension of King Alfred's.  The head of King Alfred's came along to the meeting today to express his concern about how the school can expect to plan for the future, given the fact that the school currently provides 310 places per year group and that number is growing.

I am sure that this is not the end of the story and the saga will continue.  Since those early days over twenty years ago when I campaigned after losing our school bus from Grove to Wantage, I have continually fought for Grove to have our own stand alone secondary school.  I was delighted when this aim then became Cabinet policy at Oxfordshire County Council.  Today the commitment has been confirmed and I shall keep my watchful eye on the brief and update on any further news. 

Choral Concert in Wantage

Last night I attended an excellent choral concert at Wantage Civic Hall in memory of Barbara Cooper which raised funds for Helen and Douglas House. We heard songs from the Newport Male Voice Choir (above left) and Wantage Male Voice Choir and for some pieces we heard joint choirs sing together (above right).  There were some new songs paying tribute to Betjeman as this  was the last weekend of the excellent Wantage (not just) Betjeman Literary Festival which has been another success.

The hall was packed with many friends, family and colleagues of Barbara's who were able to come along to remember her and the excellent work she did both at King Alfred's College and within the community.  We were told that £2700 was raised last night to go towards the work of Helen and Douglas House.  A very enjoyable evening, despite the wet and windy weather.

A34 Closures Coming Up!

This is to warn motorists of closures on the A34 in both directions so that the Highways Agency can undertake essential maintenance work to refurbish the College Farm Bridge at Beedon.

Works are scheduled to take place from Monday 28th October until the end of November 2013.
To undertake these works safely, it will be necessary to close the A34 at this location at various times, and have in place narrow lanes and a temporary 50 mph speed limit.

TWO WEEKEND CLOSURES ARE CURRENTLY PLANNED FOR:

Friday 15th November (10pm) through to Monday 18th November (6am) - Southbound carriageway closure between the A4130 Milton Interchange and M4 Junction 13

Friday 22nd November (10pm) through to Monday 25th November (6am) - Northbound Carriageway closure from the M4 Junction 13 Interchange

Significant delays are expected, so please allow extra time or avoid this route where possible.

Full details can be found at the Highways Agency website here or contact Highways Agency Information Line (HAIL) at 0300 123 5000

White Lines Refreshed in Grove

I have arranged for the white lines to be refreshed on the Denchworth Road in Grove from Newlands Drive (shown above left), including the mini-roundabout at the end of Brereton Drive (shown above right) all the way down to the mini-roundabout, which joins Main Street and Oxford Lane.

This has come out of my Area Stewardship Fund with which I was able to secure several schemes in the village last year, and which I am continuing to use this year, but with a decreased budget.  The white lines were refreshed at the end of Vale Avenue and in Oxford Lane last year as you will see from these blog posts.

I am hoping to improve some of the footpaths around the village, have provided funding for weedkilling and have had vegetation cut back on the cycleway and footpaths between Grove and Wantage.  I will update residents on these projects as soon as they are completed.

Public Meetings on County Council Budget

We have been told that we have another £60 million of savings to make on top of over £120 million already saved on the County Council's budget.  There will be tough decisions to make in the forthcoming spending round this year and the budget proposals which have to be set next February 2014.

There are a series of public consultation meetings coming up around Oxfordshire where the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive are to hear your views.

For the Vale area, this will take place on Monday 21st October at Wantage Civic Hall from 7.30 - 9pm.  All welcome to attend.

For details of the event, click here which also gives other venues if you are unable to attend locally.

Mill Street Closure in Wantage

This is to inform everyone that Mill Street in Wantage will be closed on Monday 30th September for three weeks due to sewer repairs.  I am sure this will be an inconvenience to many of us during this time, but essential that these works go ahead for obvious reasons!  I am hoping that diversion notices will be put in place, but best to avoid if possible. 

Access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles and those residents within the closure area, subject to the progress of the works.

Hole Finally Repaired at Wick Green

 

This is a photograph of a hole next to a drain cover in Wick Green which a resident reported to me at my last surgery.  He had reported this over a year ago and it has taken this long to eventually get repaired, but meantime the original markings had worn off.  I have spent a lot of time this week trying to chase up on a number of casework issues like this and thankfully it has now been dealt with before there was an accident. These new multi-coloured markings were a  sight to behold, so I had to take this photo!

The Highways contract at the County Council has now been taken over by a new company called Skanska, and we are all hoping that there will be some improvements made to the poor service we have been receiving up until now.  We shall wait and see, but if residents do have any potholes or pavement repairs they need to report, you can either do it directly at the website here or let me know and I shall report it for you

Crab Hill Exhibitions Coming Up in Grove and Wantage

This is to alert residents of two exhibitions coming up regarding the Crab Hill housing development proposals north east of Wantage. These will take place as follows:  

Thursday 12th September 5 - 8pm at Old Mill Hall in Grove 

Tuesday 17th September 5 - 8pm at Wantage Civic Hall 

I hope that people will be able to go along to one of these events to see what is planned and to ask questions of those involved.

New Footpath by Old Mill Hall Completed

This is a photo of the new footpath which has been reinstated by the side of Old Mill Hall in Grove which is very well used by all our residents going to the school, library, the hall itself and all the facilities in School Lane by the car park.  I was able to fund this improvement with £5,000 from last year's Area Stewardship Fund.  You can see my previous post and photo here.

We have funds to spend this year, though not quite so much as previously, and I have put forward some proposals for improvements based on residents' local concerns.  Once I have these costed and approved I will post on this blog.

A reminder that my monthly surgeries will continue tomorrow (Saturday 7th September) after the summer break, so I shall be in Grove Library from 10.30am until 11.30am, if anyone would like to come along to discuss any issues of concern.

Councillor Community Budget Available

Readers of this blog will know that last year I had a budget of £10,000 to spend on voluntary and community projects in Grove and Wantage. Many local organisations benefitted from this including the Independent Advice Centre, Grove Challengers, Grovelands Playgroup, Sweatbox, Wantage Air Training Corps, The Vale and Downland Museum, Wilts and Berks Canal Sackhouse project, Friends of Grove Library toddler computer, South and Vale young carers and the Wantage Betjeman Literary Festival.

I now have another £10,000 to allocate this year and I would like to take this opportunity of raising this possibility again.  So far, I have given a small grant to the Oasis project which ran a fun day for local autistic children at the Sweatbox in July. The photo above shows the displays on offer for the 'Bright Sparks' hands-on science part of the afternoon, where I went along to see the event in progress. It was a great success and I would like to ensure that any organisation working locally to support our community is aware that funding is available to help make things happen. 

To apply, you can do so online at this link  http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/councillor-community-budgets or otherwise you can contact me at zoe.patrick@oxfordshire.gov.uk to find out more.

WaGCG Garden Party at Ardington House

This afternoon, I attended the excellent Garden Party arranged by the Wantage and Grove Campaign Group (WaGCG) in the beautiful grounds of Ardington House. This was a fund raising event and in the marquee by the lake we were treated to tea, cakes, a raffle and entertainment by Catherine Bulpitt, Flower of the Quern, Shotgun Weather Ferret and Laura Manning & David Lyons. Congratulations to Julie Mabberley and the whole team for the organisation of this fantastic event.

Back to Business - Grove Footpath Repairs

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I have just returned from holiday and have been trying to catch up - not helped by my broadband not working both before and after I was away!  Apologies for being unable to post to this blog for those of you looking for updates.

I was at Grove Library yesterday afternoon to do the storytime session and noticed that the diagonal footpath by the Old Mill Hall (above) is being repaired at long last.  I was able to secure £5000 funding from my Area Stewardship budget towards this well-used path to ensure that it was brought up to a good standard, having received many complaints from residents about the poor state it was in.  The path is the responsibility of Grove Parish Council, so they were able to go ahead and get a contractor in to do the work.  I was pleased to see them on site yesterday starting the repairs.  I look forward to seeing it completed, hopefully before the end of the school holidays.

Housing Infrastructure Needs Urgent Solutions

Yesterday my motion to the County Council regarding housing development being planned in a sustainable way with infrastructure in place at an early stage was passed unanimously. I had hoped that this would happen in May before the County elections, but unfortunately the meeting ran out of time and it had to wait for the next Council meeting to be debated. 

Having been delighted to retain my seat as County Councillor for Grove and Wantage, it has been the first opportunity to bring this issue back on the agenda. At the Council meeting yesterday, the Wantage and Grove Campaign Group also presented a petition on the same subject which was very timely. A resident from Woodstock also came to speak to the council in support of my motion.

As residents will be aware, the Grove Airfield development has still not yet started, but more housing developments are being given planning permission in the area by the Vale of White Horse District Council.  We are all aware of the challenges we face regarding the transport network and the demand for local school places continues to grow.    My motion to the Council is "urging the Cabinet to take heed of these problems and to work with officers to find urgent solutions to this issue. This will include closer working with district planning officers and improved liaison with local members."

I shall continue to press for this at every opportunity to ensure our concerns are heard.

Denchworth Road Closure Anticipated

This notice has been in place for some time in anticipation of a road closure sometime this week.  Today I went out to investigate, but there is no activity about.  I expect work to be carried out on this part of the highway soon.  I have also asked that they do the white line refeshment at the junction and the 'Keep Clear' markings and the mini-roundabout at the junction with Brereton Drive.

Stockham Farm Housing Exhibition

Last night after a busy day, I managed to call in at the Dandara public consultation exhibition regarding another 100 homes on the Stockham Farm site.  The exhibition is taking place at Stockham Primary School and will open again tomorrow if you wish to have another chance to take a look.  It will take place from 10am until 12pm.  You can see the website here.

There were a large number of residents there to discuss the planning issues.  As many people are aware, 200 homes have already been given approval and work to clear the site has begun.  I do hope that there will be some contributions from developers towards highways and transport improvements.  I could not see any evidence of this whilst I was there asking the questions.  I shall be following this up.  300 new homes in this area is not going to come without added cars to our busy roads.  This should certainly be taken into account.

Raising the Flag on Armed Forces Day

Yesterday it was time to celebrate Armed Forces Day at Oxfordshire County Council, so along with many dignitaries, representatives and councillors, we went along to watch the 'Raising of the Flag' ceremony which was held at the Oxford Castle complex next door.  We all came out of the first meeting of the Performance Scrutiny Committee which was taking place next door.

In the afternoon, I went along with some of my council group to visit the University of Oxford Department of Oncology at the Old Road Campus in Headington.  This was an excellent opportunity to see the innovative and inspiring work which is going on in cancer research and treament.  It is the centenary of the Medical Research Council this year, so a good time to celebrate the work which has been undertaken so far.  We have gone a long way over the years and todays' pioneering research will hopefully go even further in the future.  Of course, a lot of this would not happen without generous donations from Cancer Research UK.

Oxford University Encaenia

 Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the University of Oxford Encaenia at the Sheldonian Theatre (see photo above).  Honorary degrees were presented to The Honourable Andrew Li Kwok Nang, Dame Anne Owers, Professor Anthony Grafton, Sir Tom Stoppard, Professor Ingrid Daubechies, Baroness (Tanni) Grey-Thompson, Mr. Colin Smith and Mr. Murray Perahia.  This was followed by lunch at Rhodes House and a Garden Party at Trinity College. 

It was a beautiful sunny day and it was a wonderful occasion which I am sure many of us will long remember.  

Wantage Summer Festival Opens

This weekend kicked off the start of the 18th Wantage Summer Festival which brought with it some sunny weather too!  Last night,  I attended the Evening Supper Concert in the New Band Hall (see photos above) on Tugwell Field in Wantage where The 12th Street Brass Quintet played some well-loved numbers which everyone enjoyed.  An excellent evening all organised by Wantage Silver Band.

Today was the Ray Collins' Wantage Carnival in the Market Square where the funfair and many  stalls were on display.  There seemed to be a good turnout again, I am sure because of the lovely sunshine.  Money was being raised for Wantage Church of England School, Charlton Acorns pre-school and several other charities.

There are lots of events to go to over the next few weeks so do check out the programme which can be seen here.  Tickets can be booked at the Vale and Downland Museum (Tel: 01235 760176 or 771447).