DIY waste charges to increase
The cost of getting rid of non-household (DIY) waste at our recycling centres will be changing from Saturday 1 April.
Residents can find all the price information on the OCC website
Activities over Easter will have children hopping for joy
/in News/by clerkThis Easter the holidays are going to be jam-packed full of activities for children in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.
There’s something for everyone whether your child loves being outdoors, is interested in theatre or likes to get stuck into a bit of craft. South Oxfordshire District Councils’ Active Communities teams have a range of free and low-cost activities for children and their families to enjoy.
The popular orienteering Xplorer activity, where children and their families follow a map to hunt for different themed markers around a park, returns at the following locations:
Cholsey: Monday 3 April at the Recreation Ground
Faringdon: Monday 3 April at the Folly Sports Park
Kingston Bagpuize: Tuesday 4 April at Millennium Green – the morning will also include multisport activities.
Chinnor: Tuesday 4 April at Whites Field
Harcourt Arboretum: Wednesday 5 April at 10.30am-12.30pm, anyone attending will need to book online before they arrive.
Henley: Tuesday 11 April, Makins Recreation Ground
Unless otherwise stated all Xplorer activities take place from 10am-midday, and children under the age of 16 need to be accompanied by an adult. Families can turn up on the day or book via the online booking form.
Sporty kids will love multisports in Sonning Common from 3-13 April in partnership with Active Leaders. Children aged 7-12 years old can play a variety of sports including netball, cricket and rounders.
Booking is limited to 3 sessions per child. To book a place please email amanda@activeleaders.co.uk.
There’s also the chance to book a place on our free beginners skateboarding and scooting sessions on the 11 April in Cholsey and Sutton Courtenay with Team Rubicon, and families can take part in family Yoga in Didcot on Friday 14 April at Fleet Meadow Community Hall, YouMove card holders can book using their membership details.
There’s more information about times, dates, booking details and other activities on the South Oxfordshire school activities webpage and the Vale of White Horse District Council holiday activities webpage.
The council’s Better Leisure centres will also have a timetable packed with Easter activities. The sessions will vary from centre to centre but include the Kids Swim for a Quid scheme, tennis camps, toddler world, inflatable pool sessions and toddler world.
There are more details about these activities and others available for children and families at the Better UK centres, on their website.
For those into the theatre and crafts the districts arts centres, The Beacon in Wantage and Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot have a great line up too.
The Beacon For children who love science the Easter holidays start with a great show the whole family can enjoy on Saturday 1 April, with Morgan & West: Unbelievable Science.
Morgan and West are magicians, time travellers who also have a secret past, they are also qualified scientists! Expect captivating chemistry, phenomenal physics, and bonkers biology in this fun for all the family science extravaganza! Tickets are £12 and £10 those under 16.
Tickets can be booked through The Beacon’s Box Office or via The Beacon website
Cornerstone Arts Centre Cinderella is reimagined as a magical new ballet for the whole family with the Let’s All Dance Company on Wednesday 5 April. There are two performances combining stunning dancing, storytelling, and beautiful costumes designed to enchant and dazzle young and old. Prices are £11.50, £10.35 concessions and £44 for a family ticket of four.
On Thursday 6 April book your tickets to see Bossy – a hip hop children’s show celebrating both black and deaf culture. The Multi-award-winning Zoo Co presents this show to a Caribbean soundtrack, and it’s performed both in BSL and English so both hearing and deaf audiences can enjoy. Tickets are £9.50 and £8.55 concessions.
Youngsters can get their craft on with “Decorate Your Own Flowerpot” on Wednesday 12 April. A one-off workshop for school years 1 to 6. Children will get a chance to design and paint their own hanging flowerpots in time for spring! All materials are provided for this simple arty session to let your inner gardener grow. Price for this session is £10.
And to end the Easter Holiday activities The Munch Mission comes to Cornerstone on Saturday 15 April. A quirky family comedy from the award-winning theatre company Brave Bold Drama. Help Agents Kahli and Dali find the missing piece of art as they decipher clues and interrogate suspects in this interactive mystery show. Tickets are £12.50, £11.25 concessions.
More details about these shows and workshops including booking information can be found on the Cornerstone website.
Communications South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
01235 422400
www.southoxon.gov.uk | @southoxon
Emergency Alerts system launched – test on 23 April
/in News/by Adam BernsteinA message from Oxfordshire County Council:
On 19 March, the Cabinet Office launched a new system that will give the government and emergency services the capability to send an alert directly to mobile phones when there is a risk to life.
The Emergency Alerts system will allow the government to get urgent messages quickly to nearly 90 percent of mobile phones in a defined area. The system is now ready to be tested across the country following successful tests in East Suffolk and Reading.
The alerts will only ever come from the government or emergency services, and they will issue a warning, the details of the area impacted, and instructions about how best to respond.
Emergency Alerts will be used very rarely – only being sent where there is an immediate risk to people’s lives – so people may not receive an alert for months, or even years.
Emergency Alerts will be used across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and their initial use will focus on the most serious severe weather-related incidents, including severe flooding in England.
By broadcasting from cell towers in the vicinity of an emergency, the alerts are secure, free to receive, and one-way. They do not reveal anyone’s location or collect personal data.
Some vulnerable groups may want to opt out of the emergency alerts system. However, the government strongly recommends that people do not opt out of the service, as it is intended to warn people when lives are in danger.
The government has produced a toolkit to help councils communicate key messages as part of the Emergency Alerts campaign.
A UK-wide alerts test will take place in the early evening of 23 April which will see people receive a test message on their mobile phones.
Announcement:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/launch-of-life-saving-public-emergency-alerts
More information:
https://www.gov.uk/alerts
Spring Litter Pick
/in News/by Adam BernsteinSpring Litter Pick in association with Great British Spring clean will take place over the weekend of March 25th and 26th.
Meet 10.00am in Cherry Tree Car Park on Saturday 25th March to litter pick in Kingston Blount.
Meet 10.00 am in lay-by by Lambert Arms on A40 on Sunday 26th March to litter pick on B4009 in Aston Rowant.
Please bring gloves.
For more information, contact .
Local elections
/in News/by Adam BernsteinPlease see the two documents below that give notice about the forthcoming elections for the parish and district councils on 4 May 2023.
Household waste recycling centres partial closures
/in News/by Adam BernsteinThose planning to use Oxfordshire’s household waste recycling centres next month are being warned about a series of short closures to enable essential work to be carried out.
For safety reasons, Oxfordshire County Council will be shutting each of its centres for two days – although never at the same time – to allow for deep cleaning and essential maintenance to take place. This includes jet washing the sites and structures, repainting lines and safety areas, as well as other general work to improve the customer experience.
The closing dates are:
- Alkerton, near Banbury: Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 March
- Ardley, near Bicester: Thursday 23 and Friday 24 March
- Dix Pit, Stanton Harcourt: Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 April
- Drayton, near Abingdon: Thursday 30 and Friday 31 March
- Oakley Wood, near Wallingford: Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April
- Redbridge, Oxford: Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 April
- Stanford, near Faringdon: Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 March.
All closures are on quieter weekdays to minimise disruption and sites will reopen at 8am the following day. Residents are asked to plan ahead, ideally holding on to their waste until the site reopens or, if that is not possible, visiting one of the neighbouring sites.
More information can be found on Oxfordshire County Council’s website, including details of alternative sites during the closures.
Residents with van or trailer permits can use these at any of the HWRCs.
Poll clerk positions
/in News/by Adam BernsteinPlay your part in the local elections.
Would you like to earn money, meet lots of people and play a key role in our local democracy?
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils are looking for people to work as poll clerks at the local elections on Thursday 4 May.
If you sign up, you’ll receive £168 for the day, working from 6am until the finish around 10.30pm.
If you or someone you know is interested, please get in touch as soon as possible by emailing .
For more information, visit southoxon.gov.uk/electionjobs.
Please note, the councils cannot offer these roles to people that work for or are connected with a political party.
Spring Litter Pick
/in News/by Adam BernsteinSpring Litter Pick in association with Great British Spring clean will take place over the weekend of March 25th and 26th.
Meet 10.00am in Cherry Tree Car Park on Saturday 25th March to litter pick in Kingston Blount.
Meet 10.00 am in lay-by by Lambert Arms on A40 on Sunday 26th March to litter pick on B4009 in Aston Rowant.
Please bring gloves.
For more information, contact .
Chinnor is now 20mph
/in News/by Adam BernsteinAll of Chinnor is now a 20mph zone following OCCs placing of roundels with the new lower speed limit.
FTTP update
/in News/by Adam BernsteinIt’s been a while since the last FTTP update and the news from my contact is mixed – some good, some bad.
I started this project in 2021 with the goal of it being funded by the Department of Community Media and Sport (DCMS). That’s why there was the rush to get numbers to pledge and validate Gigabit Voucher Scheme vouchers. You’ll recall that we crept in under the barrier as a round of funding closed.
However, while the project has been running in the background, Openreach has also been announcing direct investment commercial schemes. One such scheme covers us. But with this commercial scheme running the DCMS has decided that we no longer need funding. This is in direct response to competitive providers such as Trooli and Airband being active in the area thus eliminating the need in the eyes of DCMS for funding.
As a result of this commercial investment by other providers, DCMS no longer deem this area unviable and requiring government intervention funding in the broadband market. This, to say the least, is irritating to both myself and my contact.
All is not lost though. I’ve been assured that FTTP is still coming to us, but that (a) the timescale will possibly slip and (b), because the scheme is commercial, Openreach may decide that some outlying properties may not be economic to build to. This matter has been raised and Openreach are trying to include all properties in the original scheme. Any properties that are not commercially viable would likely remain as voucher eligible (as an intervention area subject to DCMS approvals) therefore this can be considered as an option to fund the build of these non-commercially viable properties.
My contact is sourcing a list of properties that under the commercial arrangement will be included (or excluded). The plan is to seek funding for those properties.
I’m sorry this is less than ideal; under the voucher scheme we should have had a completion within a 12-month period from handover to delivery, that is, by May ’23. This target may not be met now but I’ve been told that FTTP is still anticipated later this year.
Ultimately, I can organise the scheme but cannot control its rollout so please don’t shoot the messenger.
Cllr. Adam Bernstein