Thames Water – flood alleviation works

Thames Water are about to start work on their £7m scheme to alleviate flooding. It will involve the upsizing of the sewer along North Hinksey Lane and an upgrade of sewers on Cumnor Hill and Eynsham Road. The work will be completed in three phases.  First at the junction of Cumnor Hill and Eynsham Road, next section around West Way, and last, starting in January 2012, the building of a storage tank at the south end of North Hinksey Lane and upsizing the existing sewer for 1.7km along the road.

The upgrades are due to be completed in the autumn of 2012.

Drop-in sessions with further information are to be held on Tuesday 4 October between 6.30 and 8.30pm at St Peter & St Paul, Church Hall, West Way, and on Thursday 6 October between 1 and 5pm at Botley WI Hall, North Hinksey Lane.

Botley Air Quality

(This is from the Vale Website)

Part of Botley has been declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) to help address air pollution problems affecting residents.

The AQMA was declared following an assessment of air quality in the area which identified levels of nitrogen dioxide above the Government’s national standards next to a stretch of the A34.

The assessment and a summary of air quality issues in Botley can be downloaded from the right of their website page. Maps showing the area covered by the AQMA and the monitoring locations in Botley can also be downloaded there.

A further assessment of air quality in the Botley area has been carried out to give more information about air quality. A report on this will be available shortly.

Last reviewed: 01 – 06 – 2011

Report to North Hinksey Parish Council – 15 Sep 11

Brown bins: The Vale has recently revised the terms and conditions of their garden waste service (brown bins). They want to make it clear that the fee is a contribution to running costs and that collections will be suspended for two weeks over Christmas, to enable Biffa to collect the extra household waste produced at this time of the year, when very little garden waste is created. In the past when they’ve tried to manage the two it has resulted in lengthy delays to collections of rubbish and recycling.

Extra collection: There will be an extra collection of garden waste (brown bins) during a week in spring, which they’ll publicise nearer the time.  Plus, to increase efficiency and effectiveness, new customers will only be able to pay via direct debit, and existing customers will be switched over before their service is next renewed. They hope some customers will switch now but gives all customers up to 12 months notice of this change.

Delayed collection message: You can sign up for a free waste text message to let you know if your collection day has changed due to bank holidays or bad weather. To register send a text message with the word “waste” and your collection day to 07797 870371. For example, “waste Thursday”.

Unvlaed scrapped: The cabinet member for communications has announced: “We decided to stop publishing the council’s residents’ magazine Unvaled in order to save £39,600 a year. Instead, the council will be making better use of other ways of communicating with residents, including via its annual leaflet in March with council tax bills and the tags that are left on all bins in the district to let residents know about revised waste collections over Christmas and Easter. This year the distribution slot that had been booked to deliver Unvaled in late November will instead be used to deliver next year’s waste calendar as the current calendar runs until December. The following year we will include the waste calendar in the booklet we send with council tax bills. We will be reviewing the way we communicate with residents in two years time.”

Yarnells Hill coaches: Residents in Yarnells Hill approached me about the coaches that take children to Matthew Arnold School. They understood coaches were supposed to use the main approach via Cumnor Hill and Arnolds Way, rather than Yarnells Hill and Lime Road. Queries to the school and transport service providers, via the Oxfordshire Highway & Transport steward for our area, Laura Hutchins, found no contracts or agreements regarding the route to be taken by the coach drivers; they can take whatever route they like.

Metal theft: An increase in the cost of scrap metal has meant that thieves have been targeting lead on buildings and vans with catalytic converters.  Thames Valley Police advise businesses and van owners  to take some simple steps to help prevent these kinds of thefts:

  • If you own a van with a catalytic converter, get a catalytic converter marking kit (these are available on line at http://bit.ly/mYPpJj ).
  • If you have lead on the roof of your business or property, use anti-climb paint to prevent access to the roof and put up signs to say that the paint is being used.

Electoral Review: Local Government Boundary Commission for England has confirmed that it has included a Further Electoral Review (FER) of Vale of White Horse in its work programme. The goal is to reduce the number of councillors from the current 51 to around 34. The FER will commence in March 2012 and should last no more than a year allowing for the implementation of any new electoral arrangements prior to the next district council elections.

Local emergency plans: Oxfordshire County Council encourages all parishes in the Vale to develop community emergency plans. The county intends that these plans would identify key contacts within a parish or town that should be notified by emergency services in the event of an incident, as well as buildings that could be used if residents need to be evacuated. This information will also be shared with the district council. The county is also holding a series of events for parish about emergency response and winter, to which your parish councillors have been invited.

    Thames Water work: The Vale council has welcomed plans from Thames Water to start work improving the drainage problems in Cumnor Hill and Botley. Thames Water has written to the council to outline its plans to carry out work to upgrade the sewerage system in Botley. This work is due to start in January 2012 and should be completed by the end of next year. This also means that planning applications, which have been on hold because of the sewerage problems, can be determined now that the drainage improvement works is due to start. Since October 2007, the council has been unable to permit any planning applications for new housing in the OX2 0, OX2 9 or OX1 5 postcode areas because of a holding objection raised by Thames Water due to the ongoing drainage problems. Thames Water has confirmed that as the planned work will be carried out shortly, it has no objection to the council permitting applications for new housing in the area subject to a condition being imposed on planning permissions stipulating that no new houses can be occupied until the drainage improvement works have been completed.

      Contact Stuart Walker, (01235) 540505, stuart.walker@southandvale.gov.uk

      Community Payback: Is there a public area in your neighbourhood that could do with being cleared, cleaned or painted? If so, Thames Valley Probation could help. They run the Community Payback scheme, where offenders who have been sentenced to an Unpaid Work Requirement are given jobs that benefit the local community. For example, placements could involve:

        • clearing overgrown public areas
        • removing graffiti (on public rather than private property)
        • conservation work
        • painting and decorating (especially schools and other community/charity facilities)

        This scheme is particularly keen to take on placements where offenders work alongside volunteers from the community. This helps offenders to understand the value of the work they are doing.

        If you know of an area where you think Community Payback could assist with, please email the details to Karen Brown, Community Safety Projects Officer, Karen.Brown@southandvale.gov.uk .

        Town and parish council forum 2011: The Vale has invited town and parish councils to attend a town and parish council forum to be held during the evening of Wednesday 23 November 2011 at Wantage Civic Hall. This is the first of its kind in the Vale. It’s expected to be a well-attended event providing town and parish councils the opportunity to meet with other parish councillors, councillors and officers from the district council and local public sector representatives.

          The evening includes a buffet and networking session, service information stands, an address from the chief executive and an opportunity to discuss current issues and how organisations can work together to tackle them.

          If you’re interested in attending the forum or would like more information contact Anne Hall,  Corporate Strategy, 01491 823311, anne.hall@southoxon.gov.uk

          August 2011 Bank Holiday Waste Collection

          Waste collections in the Vale will run a day later than normal next week following the bank holiday on Monday 29 August.

          The Vale service will collect recycling and food bins plus brown bins.

          Collections on Saturday 3 September will start from 6am, an hour earlier than usual, so if this is your collection day, make sure your bins are out the night before.

          Collections will return to normal on Monday 5 September.

          Full details of collections can be found at www.morerecycling.co.uk or by calling 03000 610610.

          You can sign up to get a free text message to remind you when to put your bins out when the day changes due to bank holiday or bad weather. To register, send a message with the word ‘waste’ and your collection day (eg, ‘Waste Thursday’) to 07797 870371.

          Unvaled is scrapped

          The cabinet member for communications, Cllr Yvonne Constance (email yvonne.constance@whitehorsedc.gov.uk), has this week decided to stop publishing the council’s residents’ magazine Unvaled in order to save £39,600 a year.

          Instead, they say, the council will be making better use of other ways of communicating with residents, including via its annual leaflet in March with council tax bills and the tags that are left on all bins in the district to let residents know about revised waste collections over Christmas and Easter.

          The decision to stop Unvaled will be communicated via the local media, and we will also be informing key partners including parish councils. You can continue to find out about council news and services, including by:

          • Sign up for a free waste text message to let you know if your collection day has changed due to bank holidays or bad weather. To register send a text message with the word ‘waste’ and your collection day to 07797 870371. Eg Waste Wednesday.
          • Follow the Vale on Twitter for news alerts, details of events, links to press releases and other useful information. Go to www.twitter.com/WhiteHorseDC
          • Visit the Vale’s website at www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk for detailed information about services and to find out the latest council news. You can also make payments, report problems or register for services via the Vale’s website.
          • Visit the Vale offices at Abbey House, Abingdon, or call on 01235 520202. Offices are open Monday to Thursdays 8.30am-5pm and on Fridays from 8.30am-4.30pm. You can also write to the council at Abbey House, Abbey Close, Abingdon, OX14 3JE; email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk or fax 01235 540395.

          It’s not clear whether they considered that many residents do not use the internet regularly, nor how they will replace the sort of ‘push’ communications that Unvaled has delivered so well over the years.

          I would have preferred that it continue to be produced, and perhaps published on the website rather than be distributed in physical hard copy. That way I could check for it or sign up for an alert to come to me when a new issue is published.

          For more information, contact Vicky Tilley
          (01235) 540528
          victoria.tilley@southandvale.gov.uk

          Botley Drainage Work

          The Vale of White Horse district council has welcomed plans from Thames Water to start work improving the drainage problems in Cumnor Hill and Botley.

          Thames Water has written to the council to outline its plans to carry out work to upgrade the sewerage system in Botley. This work is due to start in January 2012 and should be completed by the end of next year.

          This also means that planning applications, which have been on hold because of the sewerage problems, can be determined now that the drainage improvement works is due to start.

          Since October 2007, the council has been unable to permit any planning applications for new housing in the OX2 0, OX2 9 or OX1 5 postcode areas because of a holding objection raised by Thames Water due to the ongoing drainage problems.

          Thames Water has confirmed that as the planned work will be carried out shortly, it has no objection to the council permitting applications for new housing in the area subject to a condition being imposed on planning permissions stipulating that no new houses can be occupied until the drainage improvement works have been completed.

          For more info, to ask questions or voice your concern, contact Stuart Walker
          (01235) 540505 stuart.walker@southandvale.gov.uk

          Government grants available – Safer Communities

          New government funding is available to help communities build safer neighbourhoods

          The Home Office is inviting organisations from the voluntary sector to apply for a share of £10 million to enable communities tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

          The ‘Community Action Against Crime: Innovation Fund’ aims to bring together active citizens and encourage new ways of working with communities to build safer neighbourhoods. £5 million is available this year and a further £5 million has been set aside for 2012/12.

          For further information about the new Home Office funding, please visit http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/partnerships/innovation-fund/.

          This funding will support voluntary organisations in getting on with the job of building strong and safe communities in their own innovative way, working alongside Community Safety Partnerships and other agencies.

          The South and Vale Community Safety Partnership (of which the district council is a lead member) supports local voluntary organisations to help reduce crime and the fear of crime in the Vale of White Horse. For example, the partnership gave funding for a project in Abingdon to help young people stay out of trouble and build self-esteem, whilst developing a sense of worth and making a positive impact on the community.

          You can find out more about South and Vale Community Safety Partnership on our website.

          Contact
          Katharine Doherty
          01491 823615
          katharine.doherty@southandvale.gov.uk.

          Message from Thames Valley Police 9 Aug 2011

          Message from Thames Valley Police

          Most of you will have heard in the news about the recent disorder in
          London. I would like to reassure you that we will be doing all that we
          can to ensure that this type of behaviour does not take place in your
          area.

          You may notice an increase in the number of police officers at this
          time and this should not cause alarm. These officers are there to
          provide reassurance, prevent any incidents from happening and tackle any
          criminal activity that may occur.

          There have been a lot of rumours circulating on social networking sites
          about ‘riots’, some of which are untrue or greatly exaggerated.
          However, there has been some disorder across the force area.

          These are copy cat incidents of those that have been happening in
          London, although involving far viewer people. Obviously, we are aware
          that these incidents and the images people will have seen from the
          problems in London and other areas of the country will be causing
          distress and anxiety.

          I would also like to appeal to the community to let police know of any
          suspicious looking gatherings of young people and any information they
          may have about people who may have been involved in disorder.

          If you see any suspicious behaviour contact Thames Valley Police on
          0845 8 505 505. Alternatively, if you do not want to speak to police, or
          leave your name, please contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555
          111.

          Chief Inspector Andy Boyd
          Deputy Local Policing Area commander – South Oxfordshire and the Vale
          of White Horse

          Advice for businesses

          Thames Valley Police offer the following precautionary advice to
          businesses:

          – Ensure staff report any suspicious activity to security officials and
          police.
          – Consider regular checks of the building and surrounding areas.
          Identify any areas that are vulnerable and remove loose objects that
          could be used as missiles.
          – Make sure all service doors are kept locked and secure when not in
          use.
          – Ensure your CCTV system is fully operational.
          – Consider removing high-value goods from display windows overnight.
          – Keep as little cash as possible in the building overnight.
          – Where possible, retail premises should be suitably staffed with
          security guards.
          – Landlords need to ensure that residents living above commercial
          premises are aware of risks and ensure that all fire alarms, smoke
          alarms and fire escapes are fully functional.
          – Does your alarm company have the latest keyholder information? If
          not, call them now.
          – Does your business have an emergency business plan?
          – Petrol stations should avoid selling petrol in small containers.
          – In the event of an emergency, call 999.

          Olivia Bucknall
          Shared Communications Officer

          Corporate Strategy
          South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
          Tel: 01491 823022
          Text phone users add 18001 before you dial

          Visit us at:
          www.southoxon.gov.uk
          www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk