The Chairman of the Parish Council, Peter Biggs, started the meeting with a minute’s silence to remember Dr Verjee who had died in a tragic accident a few days before the meeting.
The meeting continued with a presentation from Cynth Napper of the Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum. She was informing the members of the Parish Council about their responsibility for ensuring they consider biodiversity when commenting on new planning applications and working on other projects in the village. The Parish Council has been offered the services of an ecologist at a reduced fee. He will advise the Parish Council about how the biodiversity of the village may be improved. If you are interested in this topic please contact the Clerk.
The Chairman welcomed the newly elected County Councillor Cllr. Arash Fatemian.
There was an update on the Playfield Road Play Scheme development. Following a successful exhibition on a very wet Saturday, the designer was now working on the plans ready to go out to tender. If there are any residents who have connections in the play equipment installation industry in particular relating to BMX dirt tracks and would like further details of the project please contact the Clerk.
The Clerk had written to the County Council informing them that the Parish Council was interested in having the street lights in Kennington Road and The Avenue dimmed at night time. The County Council’s engineer had replied to say that as the use of dimmers was new and the technology was changing rapidly they were looking for a partner to sponsor the installation. The Parish Council would be kept up to date with developments.
The Parish Council would be discussing the possibility of developing a Community Emergency Plan at the next meeting. The Clerk had obtained the guidance notes and template from the County Council’s Emergency Planning Unit following a talk at the Oxfordshire Association of Local Council’s Annual General Meeting.
The Clerk had received the schedule for the bus shelter cleaning for the next year from the new contractor. Please be aware that the shelters are planned to be cleaned on 15th September, 15th December and 15th March subject to the weather.
