Author Archives: admin

Free wifi for Botley

Or, well, actually, not yet. But any day now, really…

Do you remember when the Vale said they would install free wifi at the West Way Shopping Centre in Botley? Was it 2012? or 2013?

I asked about it in Dec 14, but that was the council meeting where the Tories refused to answer questions. When I did get a reply from the Cabinet member responsible, here’s what she said:

The free wi-fi is installed at West Way, Botley and is operational. However, there remains an outstanding issue of landlord’s consent for the placement of some of the equipment. Vale
officers are working with all parties to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and will not be
promoting the service until consent has been obtained.

Sometimes I feel like a royal nag. I’ve become a right nuisance to the Cabinet member for Economy Leisure and Property. I ask about this at every opportunity. (That’s usally when I’m inside Cafe Aloha, using their free wifi. Or when I’m in Wantage, using the free Vale wifi there.)

I asked about it last week, and got this reply:

The Wifi at Botley has been plagued with problems. Initially there were problems with obtaining a license. This was resolved and the system was ready to be operational. At that time the service provider had made repairs to cables which had been damaged following the system installation. These cables were then covered with a cabinet to protect them from further damage. Unfortunately the cabinet has since been removed, the power unplugged and the cables have been damaged. Why this has happened is not known but the service provider will be back on site asap to make the necessary repairs again.

Free wifi, coming soon. Any day now, really.

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Litter along the A34

In early Feb, it must’ve been, I was driving northbound on the A34 from Abingdon toward Botley, and noticed an amazing amount of litter along the roadside. Over the next few days, I decided it looked like a recycling lorry had driven that way with their back doors agape, strewing the plastic mess all over the road.

I went to the USA for three weeks, and visited Nevada, Arizona, California and Utah. The highways were pristine.

I got back home to the littered A34 and felt really angry and actually embarrassed that this is the first view many visitors to the country get of our part of the world. The next day I heard a heated discussion on Radio Oxford and learned I wasn’t the only one upset by this.

Now it’s been over two months since I first noticed the mess, and still nothing has been done.

Last night I spoke to the Cabinet member responsible for road cleansing and recycling. He’s a nice chap, and he tried to assure me. ‘It’s in hand.’ I asked (a few times) when it would be cleaned up, and he smiled kindly and said, ‘It’s in hand.’ So I asked again. We did this dance for a few minutes. At last, he offered to speak to the head of service and come back to me about when it would be cleaned up.

Hooray. I await notification. Do let me know if you notice anything, won’t you?

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Election imprints (Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and blog)

It’s required that all my digital communications have the legal electoral imprint on them.

I’ve not found any way to include the imprint in each thing I post or send. So I’m working at providing a link in each of Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter, on my account page, that links to this page here, where I’ve put them all. I have the best intentions and am just not having any technical success.

Gmail:

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Facebook:

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Twitter:

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Blog:

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Mace get a contract extention

In March, Vale council Leader, Matthew Barber, took a decision to extend the dates on the West Way contracts of sales, to give Mace another year or so to submit another planning application.

These are images of the actual decision. Click on each to make it larger and easier to read.

I’ll write more later.

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Goodbye to Doric?

If you haven’t heard, in March, Mace, speaking now on behalf of them and Doric, have promised to withdraw their appeal against the planning refusal the Vale handed down in December. (I haven’t seen anything that tells me they’ve actually DONE this yet, but they have publicly said that they will.)

Mace have taken over as the public face of the plan to purchase West Way Shopping Centre and revitalise it. They have promised to leave unmolested Elms Parade, the Vicarage, and Field House. Of course, the landowners of each of these properties is free to make their best deal with any developer, but now Mace assure us that there will be no seeking of Compulsory Purchase Orders.

But Mace want to submit another planning application, one that will redevelop the West Way sites 1 and site 2 only, and to work closely with the community to find a solution that meets everyone’s needs. In order to do that, Matthew Barber has to agree to extend the contract dates. As it stood in the orignal contracts, once planning permission was refused, and there was no appeal or the appeal failed, that was the end of the deal.

I was seated at the table next to Chris Church, one of the co-chairs of West Way Community Concern, as we listened to Matthew Barber tell us this nearly incredible news. We looked at each other, and whispered, ” We won!”

Lib Dems Launch their National Campaign in Abingdon

As of today, 2 April, there are 35 days til polling day. Fewer for potal voters!

This is a guest post by Emily Smith.

Nick Clegg came to Abingdon on Sunday the 29th of March, to launch the national Liberal Democrat election campaign.

Cllr Judy Roberts and I were there in the rain to check out the new yellow Battle bus.

Layla Moran (our Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate) talked passionately about the work of our local councillors to protect the Green Belt, and prevent flooding. She talked about the significance of the Vale District elections in this important work.

Then Nick Clegg set out the choices voters have in the general election and talked about why we need to really think about how we cast our vote. The mood was up-beat and full of excitement.

To find out more about Layla Moran and Liberal Democrat campaigns at a district and constituency level see www.laylamoran.com

Local Transport Plan Raises Further Concern for the Green Belt

Debby and Emily in Sunningwell

This is a guest post by Emily Smith.

Sunningwell Parish Council and SPADE (Sunningwell Parishioners Against Damage to the Environment) held a consultation event the last weekend in March, to find out what residents thought about the County Council’s Local Tranposrt Plan (LTP).

There was an excellent turn out and some very involved discussions about the potential impact of the LTP and the Vale’s Local Plan on our villages.

Ideas outlined in the LTP include building new Park & Ride sites outside of Oxford’s ring road and creating a ‘diamond’ junction at Lodge Hill to help ease congestion in Abingdon and Oxford. If all of the proposals in the LTP consultation went ahead alongside the housing development proposed in the Vale’s Local Plan, residents are concerned that Sunningwell and the surrounding area could change dramatically. While many of the plans in the consultation are very vague, local people took this opportunity to tell the County Council what they think.

Concerns raised at the event included;

Loss of Green Belt land between Sunningwell and Abingdon
Noise and light pollution from a Park and Ride and Lorry Park being too close to existing housing
‘Rat running’ through the villages to access the A34 and Park and Ride near Lodge Hill
Lack of traffic modelling to inform the Park & Ride strategy and lack of evidence that it would reduce congestion on the A34

Ideas to create cycle and ride facilities at Lodge Hill were discussed as well as alternative sites for a Park and Ride at Marcham or Milton interchanges and the need for Park & Ride services to complement local bus routes.

The consultation ends 2nd April. You can respond to the consultation via this link: https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/CO_LTP4/consultationHome

Debby adds: If you miss the deadline, you can still contact your county councillor to get your opinion into the decision makers. Contact me if you need help doing that.

A420 Closure Botley to Cumnor

Here’s the official notice: I have digital versions of the maps, so contact me if you want a copy.

Subject: FW: T2689 A420 Cumnor Bypass CLOSURE Tues 7th April 2015 – 8 to 9 weeks
Importance: High

Temporary Traffic Regulation Order – S14 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984

Temporary Road Closure – A420 Cumnor Bypass- between the A34 Botley intersection and the B4017 Wootton turn (Cumnor interchange)

In the interests of public safety it will be necessary for Oxfordshire County Council to close a short section of the road above to facilitate the rebuilding of a failed embankment and resurfacing works.

A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) is being made to implement the temporary closure.

In two phases for approximately 8 weeks – when appropriate traffic signs indicate:

1) Westbound will be closed for the majority of the time

2) Eastbound side will be closed – 3 nights (8pm to 6am)

The attached diversion will operate, initially, for the westbound traffic during the first phase and then the eastbound traffic during the second phase.

The maximum duration of a TTRO on a road is 18 months, or until completion of the works, whichever is the earlier.

Notice of intention to make the Order will be published in the Oxford Times.

Access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles and also overnight access for those frontages within the closure area, subject to the progress of the works. Please note that access routes will depend on exactly where the works vehicles are at any time and may need to be negotiated with the gang on site as necessary.

Further information regarding the works may be obtained by contacting John Beaumont, OCC Highways & Transport on 0845 310 11 11.

Council offices since the fire

Services are about back to normal after the fire in mid-january that destroyed the council offices.

The problem is office space. Only about half the staff have space to work inside Abbey House, and the rest are still working from home.

New temporary offices are expected by about the end of May, and that’s looking like it will be in Milton Park off the A34 at Didcot. It’s not finalised yet though.

Once staff have a place to work and all services are back up and running as (fairly) normal (and not from corridors and meeting rooms!), then the discuission begins about what to do in the long term.

Planning website is up and running. although some decisions were dealyed a couple of wek,s things are progressing now OK.

The night the car park lights went out in Botley

A resident contacted me to say all the lights had gone out in the car park behind Tesco. I determined to investigate and sort this out.

That car park, behind Tesco, SS Peter and Paul Church, and Barclays, off Church Way, is dark, dark, dark. It’s only lighting is overspill from street lighting, plus two spotlights on the side of West Way House (the tower over Tesco). West Way House is empty, and the owners are under no obligation to keep the lights on. So they’ve gone out, and the car park is dangerously dark.

First I contacted the management company for West Way (the shopping centre). they told me it didn’t have to do with them, but with West Way House.

I contacted the Vale Car Parks Team. They told me it didn’t have to do with them, but with the property team.

I contacted the Vale Property Officer, and pointed out that the Vale are probably at risk if something happens in the unsafe DARK car park. He agreed and said he’d seek a solution.

Happy are we that the management company of West Way House agreed to put the lights back on! This was last week some time, so the after dark experience there should be a lot better now. Or soon.

I notice Vale Tories have put some money into the budget next year for improvements in car park lighting. I hope it gets as far as Botley.