Have Your Say On The New Local Plan
On August 30th 2023 the WODC will be launching its Local Plan Consultation for 8 weeks closing the 25th October 2023. I recognise many of you are sceptical of consultations, but it is important for you to have your say. The Local Plan shapes our future and the decisions made for the future of West Oxfordshire and is key in developing the areas where we live and work ensuring the surrounding environment isn’t negatively impacted. The Local Plan legally has to be reviewed and updated. Many of you will be aware we currently don't have enough housing land supply to meet the current local plan which effects how we make planning decisions. Currently when planning applications are submitted refusal can only be granted if “substantial harm” is identified outweighing the benefits regarding that application. Aston Parish Councillors and villagers recently spoke at an appeal by Terra to build more houses in Aston. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful and could not stop the planning being approved as the benefits were considered to outweigh any harm despite presenting a very strong argument. It is important for those of us in villages to have their say. Within the consultation, which is all encompassing, they will be looking at where housing should be built. There will be several options for you to look at but two of the options focus on villages. Dispersed Growth - A more even distribution of growth with emphasis on small - medium scale development taking place in villages. Village Clusters - similar to above but with villages considered collectively in 'clusters' based on available services and facilities. We all recognise that there is a real need for housing and equally a huge demand for affordable housing. The question is are villages the right place? Villages will still play their part in regard to additional housing numbers but without your input it could be much larger and have a much greater impact on where many of us live now. Whilst this will be available online and will be fully interactive allowing you to make comments WODC will be engaging with Town and Parish Councils and will also be happy to receive written feedback on the consultation via email or post. Please register now to ensure that you can have your say. Your Parish Council are already working on this but will need your help! To sign up for more information on the forthcoming Local Plan consultation please visit https://yourvoice.westoxon.gov.uk/en-GB/ Lysette Nicholls (District Councillor) lysette.nicholls@westoxon.gov.uk This summer Thames Valley Police (TVP) will open its doors to the public for the force Open Day.
The event will take place between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 2 September and will be hosted at our training centre in Sulhamstead, near Reading. The Open Day provides a fantastic opportunity for you to get a behind the scenes look at what it takes to police one of the biggest non-metropolitan policing areas in the country. Our Roads Policing Unit, Forensic Investigations Unit, Contact Management team and Major Crime Unit are just a handful of over 40 exhibitors who will be there to showcase their work. Read more➡Thames Valley Police Open Day returns | Thames Valley Police Temporary Traffic Regulation Order – S14 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
Temporary Road Closure – at Bampton, Aston, Back Lane Due to collaborative works now taking place during this closure the dates have been extended and will now run from 4-22 September 2023. A request has been received from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks for a temporary road closure to apply to a section of Back Lane, whilst a new electrical supply is installed. A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) is being made to implement the temporary closure and will operate from 4 September 20234 up to and including 15 September 2023, 24 hours per day (The maximum duration of a TTRO on a road is 18 months and on a footpath is 6 months, or until completion of the works, whichever is the earlier.) Notice of intention to make the Order will be published in the local press. A copy of the drawing showing the extent of the closure and also the alternative route for traffic is attached. Further information regarding the works may be obtained by contacting Emma Owen at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks on email Emma.Owen2@sse.com T12291 / RAG Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team is encouraging caution if anyone knocks and offers to start work immediately, particularly if they are pushy or claim that urgent repairs are required. Each year, springtime and the start of the growing season results in an increase in offers to assist with gardening.
Here are some top tips from Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team:
More details and the full press release - Residents warned about rogue traders posing as gardeners and roofers in Oxfordshire Oxfordshire County Council are currently conducting a study to investigate the feasibility of area based weight restrictions.
In this engagement activity, we are inviting local stakeholders to share their views on where there are existing or potential future challenges with inappropriate Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) movements to help inform the study. Background The county council adopted a new Freight and Logistics Strategy alongside the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) in July 2022. The Freight and Logistics Strategy provides more detail about the challenges associated with the movement of goods in the county, key principles and actions. Work is currently ongoing to progress the actions in the strategy. The Freight and Logistics Strategy outlines that one of our priorities for local goods movement is to encourage use of the most appropriate HGV routes. In order to achieve this some action will be required, including restricting HGV traffic in exceptional circumstances. Traditionally, this has been through point based weight restrictions. These are weight restrictions on individual roads or structures such as bridges. However, we have found that in many cases this approach does not address the issues with inappropriate HGV movement. This approach often causes HGVs to move onto surrounding roads creating a new issue elsewhere. An example of this was the Burford Experimental Traffic Restriction Order (ETRO), which is set out on pages 30-31 of the Freight and Logistics Strategy. The Freight and Logistics Strategy therefore made the commitment to explore an area based approach to weight restrictions (action 10). This approach will consider how we can keep HGVs on appropriate routes across larger geographic areas to reduce freight traffic in our towns and villages and stop issues being moved from one road to another. The first step in this process is conducting an area weight restriction study. This will assess feasibility and set out a proposed countywide approach. It is important that we conduct this countywide piece of work first to set out a consistent approach and consider the potential impacts of any restriction. To help inform the study we would like to capture local stakeholder views about where there are existing challenges with inappropriate HGV movements. These suggestions will be one piece of evidence used, we are also analysing a range of data to ensure the outputs are evidence based. Have your say Area weight restrictions - stakeholder engagement | Let's Talk Oxfordshire |
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