Vale residents' survey - have your say
I have launched a new residents' survey on my website to ask people in the Vale about the local priorities that you think the District Council should be focussing on. It only takes a few minutes to complete and your responses will be really helpful in shaping future policy. Please click the link below to go straight to the survey, you can also add your own specific comments about whatever subject you think we should be doing more on. Thank you in advance for taking part and helping to improve local services.
Take part in my Vale residents' survey now...
First new waste and recycling trucks hit the road
The first of a new £6.5 million pound fleet of waste and recycling trucks will set out this week - ahead of schedule - marking the start of improved collections in southern Oxfordshire.
Residents will begin to see some of the new trucks out collecting their recycling from today.
These are the first of an entire new fleet of vehicles to provide improved waste and recycling collections for all 115,000 households across South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, replacing old trucks that have become unreliable.
Residents can stay informed about waste and recycling collections via the councils’ websites and are reminded of the change to collection days following the Bank Holiday on Monday 28 August. See www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/recycling
Planning permission 2,500 New homes at Grove airfield
After 20 years of talk building work on the long-awaited Grove Airfield development could get underway soon as planning permission has finally been issued.
Plans for up to 2,500 homes on the old airfield at Grove have been officially granted outline planning permission after Persimmon Homes and Taylor Wimpey signed a legal agreement with Vale of White Horse District Council and Oxfordshire County Council that sets out the infrastructure the developers will provide to support the new housing.
Cllr Matthew Barber, leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “We are very pleased to have got to this stage – a lot of work and effort has gone into this from all parties. The expansion of Grove in the 60s and 70s gave thousands of families the opportunity to find a home of their own, in a good neighbourhood in the Vale. The airfield development will provide that opportunity to their children and grandchildren.”
Funding for community groups
Vale of White Horse District Council will be offering two grant schemes with £175,000 available to support the local community.
The Capital Grants scheme and New Homes Bonus community grant scheme opens on 20 August and will run until 15 October for people to apply.
The Council was highly successful with both schemes last year, with the Capital grants scheme awarding £94,544 to organisations and the New Homes Bonus scheme awarding £98,066.
For more information on both schemes, please visit www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/grants.
Plastic bags for food waste
Residents in the Vale of White Horse can now use plastic bags to line their food waste bins and caddies. Food waste is collected every week and taken to Agrivert’s anaerobic digestion plant near Wallingford to be recycled into gas for electricity and fertiliser for local farmland.
The processing plant is now able to accept thin plastic bags, such as carrier bags, bread bags, paper wrappings, or normal pedal bin liners. Residents can also continue to use compostable bags or newspapers to line their caddies and bins, or put food straight in without any liner. Any bags used as liners will be removed at the processing plant and sent to an Energy Recovery Facility to be turned into energy.
During 2016/17, 10,024 tonnes of food waste was collected and sent for recycling in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse.
For further information about food waste recycling and other household waste and recycling collections, see the council's website: www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/waste or call 03000 610610.
Lodge Hill junction on A34 gets go ahead
An announcement of government funding of more than £9 million towards major improvements to the A34 in Abingdon has been welcomed by Vale of White Horse District Council.
Council Leader Matthew Barber said the funding, announced today by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid following a bid by Oxfordshire County Council, is a huge step forward in securing a much-awaited scheme to create two new south-facing slip roads at the Lodge Hill Interchange.
Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, says it will work with the Highways England, which manages the A34, to deliver the scheme as soon as possible.The district council will be seeking to secure further funding through legal agreements with developers of housing schemes.
See Oxfordshire County Council’s website for more information about the Lodge Hill Interchange.
New pay and display machines for district council car parks
Motorists using district council car parks in the Vale of White Horse will soon benefit from the use of new pay and display machines.
Following a successful trial, the new machines will be installed throughout August, starting in South Oxfordshire. They will allow you to pay by credit and debit card and also accept coins, including the new £1. Old £1 coins will continue to be accepted until they cease circulation on 15 October. Motorists will also still be able to pay by mobile phone via the Connect Cashless system.
New independent shops scheme to boost Abingdon town centre
Vale of White Horse District Council is launching the Independent Shops Project which will see key partners working with the council to develop initiatives to support independent businesses in the town centre.
The Independent Shops Project will be managed by Iain Nicholson, a town centre specialist who has worked on a number of successful initiatives, including town team projects in Wantage, Banbury, Swindon and Wallingford. Iain’s work in 2014 to help fill shop units in Wantage was instrumental in the town winning a Great British High Street Award.
In addition to the Independent Shops Project, Vale of White Horse District Council continues to support businesses in the town by contributing funds and resources to the Abingdon BID. In year one (2016/17) the Vale contributed approximately £34,000 towards the scheme, in addition to ongoing support and advice from the council’s Economic Development team.
Free advice, events and signposting are also on offer from Vale4Business which works with developers and retailers who are looking to move to the Abingdon area.
St Helen’s Mill flood wall completed for Abingdon
The Environment Agency and Vale of White Horse District Council have built a flood wall at St Helen’s Mill in Abingdon. It will reduce flood risk to homes at St Helen’s Mill and help to keep the access road to the car park open. We will routinely check the wall over the next year, to ensure it is working as it should be.
The flood wall has been designed with input from the local community to blend in with the local surroundings.
Watch a short film of the St Helen’s Mill wall being built here: https://youtu.be/IEPnzy7-F1I
To find out more about this work visit:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/reducing-flood-risk-in-oxford-and-abi…