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The Census is being held on 31 March and will be the first run predominantly online, with households receiving a letter with a unique access code, allowing them to complete the questionnaire on their computers, phones or tablets. Paper questionnaires will be available for those who need them.
All information is held securely for 100 years. Statistics are only compiled based on anonymised data. Personal information is not shared with any organisation and is never sold.
In recognising the vital contribution that community and voluntary groups continue to make in the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, Supporting Communities Through COVID-19 is open to funding applications from small informal groups as well as established organisations. Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA) and Community First Oxfordshire (CFO) are managing this grant scheme on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council.
Organisations can apply for a maximum of £10,000 for community action projects and a maximum of £50,000 for collaborative, broad reach projects.
Click here for an application form
If you require any further guidance about completing the application form or ask any questions about this grant scheme please contact .
Grant applications must be received by 10am, Friday 12 March 2021.
SODC’s garden waste service is to resume week beginning 22nd February.
The crews will be working to complete the rounds but are expecting more garden waste bins to be put out than normal, so please be patient.
Please ensure all the garden waste fits into the bin with the lid closed. If you can’t fit everything in the bin, please keep anything extra back (except Christmas trees) until the next collection.
You will all, no doubt, have been aware of a gradual increase in the speed of traffic passing through Aston Rowant on the B4009, and on the roads within the village itself, with many drivers regularly exceeding the statutory limit. Your parish council has recognised that traffic calming action must be taken and, together with Oxfordshire County Council (OCC), are now addressing this problem head-on with proposals that are intended to make our roads safer for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic alike.
Following Cllr. Matthew Day’s successful installation of a chicane at the southern approach to Kingston Blount, it’s now Aston Rowant’s turn to control traffic speeds.
The council’s traffic calming project for Aston Rowant will include (a) reducing the speed limit within the old village roads from 30 MPH to 20 MPH, and (b) feasibility studies to install traffic speed reduction measures along the main highway, especially at the junction of the old village road and the B4009. OCC have also recognised that the current electronic Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS) on the B4009 south-eastern entrance to the village, is badly positioned. It triggers a “30 MPH Slow Down” warning prematurely for traffic arriving from the motorway and therefore will be relocated further north to become more effective.
The speed limit change within Aston Rowant will be implemented this spring, so may I suggest that now is an opportunity for everyone to practice observing the coming 20 MPH limit while waiting for replacement signage.
We trust our efforts will create a safer environment for all.
Cllr. John Wyatt
Aston Rowant Parish Council Traffic Calming Coordinator.
After an approach by the parish council to Airband with an enquiry as to the latest position, the company has issued the following message:
“We cannot confirm timelines for delivery of our demand led projects at this time as we are focusing on the delivery of the contracted fibre currently which needs to be completed to then extend to additional projects.
Aston Rowant requires a minimum of 24 more expressions of interest/pre orders to qualify for build, with an estimated consideration for build start at the earliest Quarter 4 2021 subject to approval.”
As Airband told the council in a telephone conversation, an expression of interest is not a binding contract.
South Oxfordshire District Council is to extend the support it is providing to help working age people who are struggling to pay their council tax as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In June the council provided up to £150 discount off 2020/21 council tax bills for residents on lower incomes who qualify for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
With Covid-19 continuing to impact many people financially, the council has now agreed to increase this support and will be providing an additional discount for these residents on top of the one they received last summer.
This means that those working age people who qualify for the means tested Council Tax Reduction Scheme will now receive up to a further £270 off for those in South Oxfordshire. The discount will be applied automatically, meaning that those entitled to the discount will receive a revised bill, but they will not have to apply or contact the council first.
The discount is being paid for by a government hardship fund which was announced last year.
The government hasn’t suspended council tax during the pandemic and so it still needs to be paid. If you are struggling to pay your bill please visit southoxon.gov.uk/counciltax to find out about the support available or call 0345 302 2313.
The February / March issue of the Parish Notes is now out. It can be found under Your Community > Parish Notes.
A copy should be posted through letterboxes any day now.
Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice – S14 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
Temporary Emergency Road Closure at Aston Rowant, A40 Between Junction of Kingston Hill heading North to bottom of Aston Hill
In the interests of public safety it will be necessary for Oxfordshire County Council to temporarily close the A40 whilst tree felling works are carried out for public safety reasons.
A temporary Emergency Notice is being made to implement the temporary closure and will operate from 1 February 2021.
The anticipated completion date is 18 February 2021. The closure will operate between 08:00 and 16:00 each day.
A single Temporary Emergency Notice can last for 21 consecutive days maximum.
Access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles and for those frontages within the closure area, subject to the progress of the works and liaison with the works supervisor.
Further information regarding the works may be obtained by contacting Andy Lederer ,Oxfordshire County Council on 0345 310 11 11 or 07860453603. Email:
Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice – S14 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
Temporary Emergency Road Closure at Aston Rowant, A40 Between Junction of Kingston Hill heading North to bottom of Aston Hill
In the interests of public safety it will be necessary for Oxfordshire County Council to temporarily close the A40 whilst tree felling works are carried out for public safety reasons.
A temporary Emergency Notice is being made to implement the temporary closure and will operate from 1 February 2021.
The anticipated completion date is 18 February 2021. The closure will operate between 08:00 and 16:00 each day.
A single Temporary Emergency Notice can last for 21 consecutive days maximum.
Access will be maintained for emergency service vehicles and for those frontages within the closure area, subject to the progress of the works and liaison with the works supervisor.
Further information regarding the works may be obtained by contacting Andy Lederer ,Oxfordshire County Council on 0345 310 11 11 or 07860453603. Email:
Action Fraud is raising awareness of another coronavirus vaccine scam after it received a high volume of reports relating to a phishing email on Monday 25 January.
The email, which attempts to trick people into handing over their bank details, was reported more than 1,000 times in 24 hours. It appears to come from the NHS and asks the recipient to click on a link to accept or decline an invitation to receive the coronavirus vaccine. If they click accept, they are asked to input personal information and their bank card details.
The national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime has previously warned about coronavirus vaccine scams, with many people reporting receiving fake text messages purporting to be from the NHS.
In the UK, coronavirus vaccines will only be available via the National Health Services of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. You can be contacted by the NHS, your employer, a GP surgery or pharmacy local to you, to receive your vaccine. Remember, the vaccine is free of charge. At no point will you be asked to pay.
The NHS will never:
If you receive a call you believe to be fraudulent, hang up. If you are suspicious about an email you have received, forward it to . Suspicious text messages should be forwarded to the number 7726 which is free of charge.