HNNL June 2006 page 3

June 2006

Series 31 No 3

Parish Council and Cherwell news

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT TO ANNUAL PARISH MEETING APRIL 2006
I had no real intention of taking on the role of Chairman again, but with Joe Williams deciding not to do a third year (who can really blame him) I had my arm twisted – not too much really – to take on the role. Joe Williams had done a tremendous job over the previous two years and had steered the council extremely well during a period of continual change. I thank Joe, not only on behalf of the Parish Council, but the whole village for his commitment and dedication as Chairman.
In addition to the change of chairman it has, yet again, been another busy one for the Parish Council. Firstly we had the resignation of Mike Terry who had given the Council valuable assistance and guidance over a number of years. Mike is a man of relatively few words but anything Mike had to say was always worth listening to. Mike was replaced by Melvyn Riley, who rejoined the council after a gap of many years, and filled the vacancy on the environment group. Unfortunately Joe Williams found the pressures of juggling work commitments and his other involvements becoming increasingly difficult and reluctantly he tended his resignation from the Parish Council. Hopefully Joe will find the time to rejoin the Parish Council in the not too distant future. Joe's replacement is Derek Brotherston, who has lived in the village for a number of years, and I am sure he will prove to be a worthy successor and help drive and direct the Parish Council in the 21^st century.
The football section of Hook Norton Sports and Social Club finally obtained the planning permission they had been seeking for a number of years, having previously been refused by Cherwell District Council and again upon appeal. As you can imagine this was extremely controversial within the village and led to a number of heated debates. However, having obtained the necessary approval, I believe that we should all now give our support to their endeavours to have a strong and vibrant club.
Work has now commenced on implementing the tree survey with the highest priority work having now been completed and other work will be phased in as funding permits. The sale of land on Ironstone Hollow was finally completed after several years of delay. The money raised is already earmarked for projects within the village, the major one being the complete rebuilding of the dry stone wall in Tite Lane. We are actively seeking further funding for this project and have applied for possible grant assistance. The Parish Council is also hoping to modernise the facilities at the Memorial Hall by improving and expanding the kitchen. This again is subject to adequate grants and funding being available. Due to pressure of costs the role of caretaker at the Memorial Hall was made redundant and I would like to thank Doug Marshall for his efforts over the past few years.
Due to changes in requirements, the Out of School Club has been forced to terminate their contact at the Norman Matthews Community Hall and Albert Walsham and his group are investigating other possible users and uses. Improvements have been made in the recreation area and ongoing replacement and repair to equipment and facilities will continue.
Affordable housing is very much on the agenda and dialogue is still on going between interested parties. Further discussion on this subject will be taking place in the Parish Council meeting which follows on from this meeting. Following two years of reducing the precept the Parish Council has been forced this year to increase it to help with our major expenditure requirements. Even so it only represents about 2% above the level of three years ago. I would, also, like to take this opportunity of thanking our clerk, Ken Porter, for his continued and valued assistance and excellent recordings of meetings, not forgetting the ongoing help to me. I have previously mentioned Doug Marshall, but again whilst Doug is not any longer caretaker at the Memorial Hall he is still doing a tremendous job involved with the environment and the recreation area on behalf of the Parish Council.
I, also, extend my thanks to Councillor Ray Jelf and Councillor Ray Gasson who continue to represent the interests of Hook Norton at County and District level. A big thank you to my fellow Parish Councillors, particularly those who chair the various groups, and not forgetting my vice-chairman Peter Fry, for their continued support and devotion of considerable time, all of which is performed on a voluntary basis, to ensure that the village services are maintained. Finally may I make an impassioned plea that the villagers give more support to the Parish Council by attending the meetings more regularly in greater numbers and by helping wherever and whenever possible to further improve our lovely village.

PARISH COUNCIL WORKING GROUPS
At the Annual General Meeting held on 11^th May Clive Timms was re-elected Chairman. Peter Fry will be leaving the village shortly and stood down as Vice- Chairman, Albert Walsham being elected in his stead.
As customary part of the work of the PC will be conducted by working groups and these are comprised as follows:

Environment & Open Spaces:	Derek Brotherston, Jem Hayward, Peter Millar and Melvyn Riley
Recreation:	Ray Jelf, Anne Swainbank, Albert Walsham, and Bill Young
Memorial Hall:	Brian Clay, Peter Fry, Ray Jelf, and Bill Young
Finance Committee:	Brian Clay [Chairman] and the elected chairs of the above committees

In addition the following have been appointed as the Parish Council's representatives on the Management Committee of the Norman Matthews Community Hall: Brian Clay, Ray Jelf, Clive Timms and Albert Walsham.
The Planning Co-ordinator is Albert Walsham. Parishioners who wish to see plans of any current application should contact either Albert [730381] or the Clerk, Ken Porter.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS
RECYCLING As residents are probably aware the new recycling scheme has been a tremendous success with Cherwell moving from being one of the least effective areas to eighth in a national league table. Cherwell District Council is keen to continue building on this success and one way of doing so is to recycle more plastic and paper products. The small blue boxes are somewhat limited and CDC would like more residents to buy the blue “wheelie” bins. These cost £20 each but, if you order through the Parish Council, 25% of the cost will be returned to the PC as a commission, thus helping us to fund projects within the village. Application forms for the blue wheeled bins can be obtained by contacting the clerk, Ken Porter, on 01295 758352 or kenneth_i.porter@virgin.net.			PARKING This issue has been raised on several occasions but the situation is getting worse and we recently had a case of gridlock on Netting Street caused by inconsiderate and careless parking. Everybody wants to park at the most convenient place but this may not be sensible. Nobody wishes to have the village spoilt by a rash of yellow signs and street furniture. Please have consideration for your neighbours when parking and please do not do so where you might create a bottleneck.
PLANNING Cherwell District Councillor Elizabeth MacLeod has informed the Parish Council that a recent meeting of the Planning Committee (North) had approved plans for a large site housing development in Bloxham contrary to local residents' wishes, and said that Hook Norton might expect “something similar”. The Parish Council's proposals for small-scale affordable housing have so far been turned down.		TREES Unfortunately we have had to take down a number of diseased trees within the village and, although we are planning to replace some of these in time, as usual finance dictates how much we can do. As such if anybody would like to sponsor a tree please contact the Parish Clerk, Ken Porter [01295 758352] or any of the councillors.
DOG FOULING We are surprised that we continue to receive complaints about dog fouling in the churchyard, the cemetery and the Play Area. Given the number of dog bins available there is no excuse for any such problem in the village and especially not on consecrated ground or where children are playing. It is an offence to allow your dog to foul and not clear it away and, if the problem persists, the dog warden will be asked to monitor and take appropriate action against those caught, which may mean a substantial fine.	GRASSED AREAS We note with concern that several of the grassed areas within the village are being spoilt by drivers carelessly manoeuvring over them or even driving straight across. Those areas which have suffered in recent weeks include the triangle opposite the Pear Tree, the triangle where Bells Lane meets Down End and the grassed area by the brook at the bottom of Bridge Hill/Burycroft Road. Please keep off these areas. We are aware that many of the offenders are visitors to the village, especially lorry drivers, and if possible they should be asked to respect our environment.

TRANSPORT

Free bus travel for the over 60s. Holders of the Cherwell District Council bus pass (available to all over 60 and to people with certain disabilities) can now travel free on buses within Cherwell, and also on the direct route 59 to Oxford (from Banbury) and to the Oxford hospitals. This does not apply to other journeys which go out of Cherwell, notably the bus to Chipping Norton. While this has always been the rule, it has been overlooked or ignored for many years by drivers on the 488, who have always given half fare to Chippy for pass holders. Now the rule is being enforced by Cherwell and Stagecoach, it is in fact costing more to get to Chippy than before! This has been taken up within Cherwell DC by Cllr Ray Gasson, and we wait to hear whether the free travel scheme could be extended to Chipping Norton. A decision may be taken shortly. In the meantime, it is cheaper for over-60s to buy a Senior Explorer at £4 than to buy a normal return ticket to Chippy at £4.40, and the Senior Explorer will get you all the way to Oxford if you wish. If you qualify for a bus pass but do not yet have one, go the Cherwell office in Bridge Street, Banbury. The Wednesday mini-bus service is also now free.
Shoppers' bus. The fortnightly Thursday shoppers' bus to Banbury is run by the Parish Council, and remains fare-paying. The fare was increased to £1.50 recently, following an increase in the hire charge by Jeffs, but the cost is still heavily subsidised by the Parish Council. Numbers of users have dropped from around 25 during the last winter to 14 and 17 recently, possibly because of the availability of free travel on the 488. The Parish Council is concerned that the bus may become uneconomic, and has decided that, unless numbers exceed 20 per week (so that the subsidy does not exceed half the actual cost), serious consideration will be given at its August meeting to ending the service. This bus has great advantages over the 488 bus in that there is much more room to spread out and park shopping bags. The driver will put trolleys under the bus. The bus is available to all, not just older residents. It is so much cheaper than driving into Banbury and parking a car. PLEASE USE IT. If the bus continues, there will be a need for one or two people to take over the task of collecting the fares. (See also below, but the two jobs need not be taken by the same person.).

Parish Transport Representative. As I expect to be leaving the village later in the summer, there will be a vacancy for the position of Parish Transport Representative. This person need not be a member of the Parish Council, but will liaise with the Clerk and the Council as necessary. Many parishes in Oxfordshire have a PTR, whose role is to take an interest in transport matters (in our case, mainly the bus service) to receive and pass on information from the County Council and other bodies, and to raise matters of concern with transport operators or the County. Matters of interest can be reported, or views sought, through the Newsletter or the weekly column in the Banbury Guardian. PTRs are invited to meetings with County Council Public Transport officers about three times a year in Oxford, where information is given and comments exchanged. The next such meeting is on 1 August. If you are interested, please ring me for more information.
Road closure. It was announced some time ago that the road between Hooky and Milcombe was to be closed again for two weeks, but there has been no further information at the time of writing. If this does take place, buses will go via Sibford Road and will not serve the stops at East End (The Green) and Austins Way.

Peter Fry, (retiring) Parish Transport Representative, 730509

OUT OF THE BLUE

Well the summer weather has certainly arrived with a vengeance or at least it had when I wrote this article! It is a lovely time of year when the grass is green and the blossom and flowers are looking a picture.
Together with that comes the thought of leaving windows and doors open for better ventilation. When you pop out to the shop, please remember that it only takes a second to enter a house and take a purse, wallet, money from the jar and anything else that is small and portable.
It has also been noticed that there has been an increase in people using their mobile phones while driving their motor vehicles. This is against the law and you could be fined by fixed penalty for the privilege of that extra conversation with a friend or work colleague. There is no excuse these days; all phones come with some form of hands free facility so use it!
Seat belts are another bone of contention. A fatal accident occurred in recent weeks just outside Chipping Norton. Of the four occupants of one vehicle only one was wearing a seat belt; guess which one walked away from the accident? It takes seconds to put on so please, belt up before you drive.
Crime on the whole in the Hook Norton area has been low, long may it continue but please be vigilant, and again, lock your windows and doors when going out. Sheds are being targeted in the southern part of our area so beware.
Any information received will be treated in the strictest of confidence; I can be contacted on 0845 8 505 505 and a message left for me to contact you upon my return to work.
I can also be contacted by e-mail on rosemary.dilsaver@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk.
Thank you and may The Force be with you!

Rosemary H. Dilsaver PC 818

FREE ENERGY SAVING LIGHTBULBS
Cherwell District Council informs us that they have secured a quantity of energy saving light bulbs from Phillips which they intend to distribute during the week of 10-14 July. They are 11-watt energy saver bulbs [equivalent to 60-watt normal bulbs] and will be issued on a first-come first-served basis and limited to two per household. They will be available to collect from Bodicote House or Banbury Town Centre.

CARING FOR CARERS INFORMATION DAY
THURSDAY 15 JUNE 10AM-2.30PM CORN EXCHANGE WITNEY.
Guideposts Trust will be holding an Information Day for National Carers Week (12 - 18 June 2006). If you are a carer, come along and enjoy a cup of tea and find out what services are on offer.

TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE
Towards Independence is a small local charitable trust which makes donations to learning disabled adults living in West Oxfordshire or Cherwell to help with anything that promotes their independence,
The charity was formed in 1993 following the closure of the Training for Life project in Witney and there are currently six trustees, including both parents of learning disabled adults and people who work, or have worked, with them. They meet four times a year to consider applications for funding. Although grants given are modest. simple things funded by the Trust can greatly increase someone's independence. We have given grants for a variety of things, which are not provided by the statutory services, such as equipment for a new home; a specially adapted exercise bicycle; support for 16 - 19 year olds in the West Oxon summer play scheme; expenses for a club for older learning disabled people in Chipping Norton; financial help towards an adventure holiday; for a special typewriter for a deaf and partially sighted person with a learning disability and. to buy a tape-recorder for a blind person to attend college. Once we paid for a suit for a young learning disabled man who had recently managed to lose a lot of weight and needed a new suit to attend his mother's second wedding!
There is no other charity in this area which provides this sort of support for learning disabled adults.
Funds are limited and are augmented by the fundraising efforts of the trustees. As the Trust has virtually no administration costs, all the money raised goes to those who need it. Urgent requests for grants can always be dealt with by phone or e-mail, if this is necessary.
Secretary: Geoffrey Groom 8 Courtlands Road Shipton-u-Wychwood Oxon OX7 6DF