Archive for category: News

Voluntary and community sector groups can apply for funds to help people affected coronavirus. South Oxfordshire District Council has £45,373 to distribute to projects that are delivering essential services to vulnerable residents in the districts who are struggling to afford food and other essential provisions as a result of coronavirus.

Voluntary groups and organisations can now apply for grants of up to £5,000 to go towards:

• projects directly helping vulnerable people affected by the effects of coronavirus, such as providing access to food and other essentials e.g. toiletries;
• existing schemes supporting people struggling to afford food and other essentials, and where the need is greatest;
• projects advising and providing information to people to help them access longer term support they might need, such as benefits;
• projects that provide targeted support in areas of greatest need and deprivation, including rural areas.

Town and Parish Councils who are collaborating with un-constituted third-party groups e.g. coronavirus community response groups, mutual aid groups are also eligible to apply.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis. The first deadline for applications is midnight on Tuesday 15 September 2020.  Further rounds will be assessed every two weeks thereafter, and the scheme will remain open until the funds are spent, so early applications are encouraged.

To apply, please read the application guidance notes before completing the online form which you can find on the South Oxfordshire website.

The funding comes from £63 million of emergency assistance from the government for local authorities to support people who are struggling to afford food and other essential provisions as a result of coronavirus

For further information contact the Community Connector Team at  or the South Oxfordshire website.

The council will ask people to comment on a number of options which will form its new parking order and determine how it operates its car parks across the district.

Options that people will be able to have their say on include:

• Standardising the charging hours across the district so that all areas are treated equally;
• Introducing Sunday parking fees to help ensure spaces are available for people wishing to visit local shops and cafes;
• A full review of how permits work to ensure they are allocated appropriately, depending on the size and location of the car park;
• Offering discounted permits for users of electric vehicles;
• Introducing limited waiting to address parking issues in the Chinnor.

Comments will be considered as part of a formal consultation process with statutory organisations such as the highways authority, police, town and parish councils.  The council will look at all comments before finalising and introducing the new arrangements in 2021.

Changes to parking prices

At their meeting on 6 August, Cabinet also agreed two additional changes aimed at ensuring that parking fees will continue to cover the costs of operating the car parks, including public toilets, over the long term:

• prices in all charging car parks are to rise by 20p;
• the all-day fee in Edinburgh Drive car park, Didcot and Wheel Orchard car park, Goring will increase from £3.40 to £5. This is similar to the rates in the neighbouring Network Rail car parks and so should help to free up more spaces in the town centre for shoppers.

These are the first price increases to be introduced in 13 years and reflect the annual increase in costs of running the car parks.  These measures can be introduced without consultation and will therefore be implemented in the coming months once a public notice period has concluded and new signage is ready. The council expects to have these revised charges in operation before 1 December 2020.

The council is sending a yellow ‘Canvass Communication Form’ to every home requiring the residents to check and confirm the details of everyone over the age of 16 that lives in their property.  This is something many local authorities need to do by law each year in order to ensure the electoral register is up to date.

A change for 2020

In previous years all homes received the same letter and had to respond accordingly, however this year the process has changed slightly.

The letter people receive this August will depend on whether or not records indicate that there has been a change in the registered voters living at their property –  for instance, if a registered voter has moved into a property that address will receive a different letter from a home whose occupants have remained the same since the last election.

The letters explain exactly what occupants need to do – it is very important that residents read it carefully and follow the instructions to confirm any changes, by visiting housholdresponse.com/southandvale – they will need the two-part code on the yellow letter to do this.

By doing this as quickly as possible it will mean that the councils don’t have to send a reminder letter or try to make contact this Autumn to confirm the information.