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Elles pushes for
speedy flood relief for local councils
With the European Commission
announcing approval of a grant of £115 million for flooding
disaster relief for Britain, South-East European MP James
Elles has spoken to senior colleagues to ensure that the
money will be distributed as quickly as possible.
Mr Elles, who in a speech to the European Parliament in
September gave a graphic account of the seriousness of the
Thames Valley flooding, said today (Wednesday, 12 December
2007): “I have raised this issue with senior colleagues to
make sure that a speedy decision will now be taken to
distribute these funds to local authorities in the UK. I
know that councils in the Thames Valley, the area most
affected in the South-East region, worked tirelessly to help
those whose homes were damaged by flooding. Through no fault
of their own these councils are out of pocket to the tune of
millions of pounds at a time when their budgets are being
strained by other pressures.
“Whilst Gloucestershire and parts of the North of England
were seriously flooded, the Thames Valley bore the brunt of
the flooding in the South-East. Across Oxfordshire more than
2,600 homes (1,650 in West Oxfordshire alone) were flooded
and there were 2,500 homes flooded in West Berkshire. I have
examined the flood damage for myself and sympathise with
many families who still will not be in their homes for
Christmas.”
The European Commission is preparing an amending budget
proposal to be agreed by the Budget Authority (The European
Parliament and the Council) early in the New Year.
The grant will go towards reimbursing part of the cost of
emergency measures such as rescue services, cleaning up
after flood damage and restoring basic infrastructure.
Call for St Mary's
plans to be debated in Wantage
Wantage Conservatives today
called for the Vale of White Horse District Council to
re-consider its decision to hold the meeting that will
determine the future of the former Wantage school St Mary’s
in Abingdon.
Developer Berkeley Homes who
own the site have now applied for planning permission to
build 229 homes on the site, meaning there will be almost no
other facilities on the site.
Campaigners in Wantage,
supported by the local MP Ed Vaizey have been asking for the
music building to be kept as an Arts Centre, for use by the
towns people. A petition with 2,500 signatures has already
been submitted to the Council calling for the building to be
retained.
In addition a further campaign
is being run by District Councillor Bill Melotti to improve
access to the Church Primary School in Newbury St. He is
working with Governors and parents to establish a footpath
through the development to open up a new entrance to the
school, thereby easing its travel problems.
However when a request was made
by Bill for the public planning meeting to be held in
Wantage as this is clearly of such importance to the town he
was told there were no special reasons to do so.
MP Ed Vaizey said “This
really is an outrageous decision. The Arts Centre campaign
has been very much in the public eye because of the support
of many people in the town. Only a couple of months ago I
personally delivered a large petition to the Council in
support of it. I just despair if they cannot see the special
reasons to hold this decision making meeting locally.”
District Councillor Bill
Melotti said “The loss of St Mary’s to the town is a big
blow and it is not just the size of this development, just
under a 6% housing increase in one stroke, but the other
aspects that have caused such interest, such as the Arts
Centre and footpath.”
He added “I suspect the real
reason behind this decision is the cost of holding it in
Wantage and the dire state of Vale finances. We have been
encouraging the ruling Liberal group for years to keep most
meetings in one place to save money, but they’ve left it so
late to take our advice, it appears they can no longer
afford to do anything else. What price do we put on
democracy?”
James Elles
welcomes green light for new fusion project
The European MP, who put more
money into the European Parliament’s 2007 budget for
research and development, has welcomed the news that a
British-led team of scientists has won European Union
approval to seek to make nuclear fusion – the physicist’s
dream - a reality.
James Elles, the Conservative
European MP for the South-East region, as the rapporteur
(the person appointed to steer legislation through the
Parliament) for the 2007 budget, was the architect of many
budgetary innovations. One of these was increasing
expenditure on research and development so that Europe can
more effectively face the challenges and opportunities of
globalisation.
At the time the 2007 budget was
approved Mr Elles argued: “Promoting top-quality research
and development and innovation is the key to improving the
competitiveness of the European economy.”
Speaking at a breakfast meeting
of businessmen and women at Grant Thornton’s Oxford office
today (Friday 14 September 2007) Mr Elles said: “It is
excellent news that the European Union money has just been
granted for a feasibility study for the HIPER project.
“The HIPER project is laser
driven and its approach is a different technology to the one
used to harness fusion at JET (the Joint European Torus)
project at Culham, where powerful magnetic fields are used
to confine a much larger hot gas.”
Nuclear fusion has the
potential to solve the world’s energy crisis with
carbon-neutral technology by harnessing the process that
drives the sun.
The European Union money will
be used over the next few years to determine a design for
HIPER. This will involve scientists all over Europe,
including the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in
Oxfordshire – who are one of the lead parties in the
project.
If funds are provided to build
HIPER, it may be running in 10 years (with a £500 million
cost) and the location of the facility could be at RAL,
although it could go elsewhere in Europe.
On a similar timescale to HIPER
(in the next 10 years), the new international magnetic
confinement experiment – ITER – the successor to JET will be
operating at Cadarache in the South of France. The path for
ITER towards a (magnetic confinement) fusion power plant has
been intensely researched from an engineering and
technological perspective. In contrast, HIPER is more a
physics proof-of-principle experiment and the path from
HIPER to a (laser driven) fusion power plant has not been so
closely studied.
Mr Elles has been closely
involved in the JET project and fought successfully for
British scientists to receive pay parity with their European
counterparts who previously received higher salaries. He
is also extremely active in securing the future of the
European School at Culham.
Council considers
flooding response
At an extraordinary meeting of
the Vale of White Horse District Council, held last night
(Wednesday), members of the public were able to tell
Councillors the problems that they experienced during the
recent flooding emergency.
The meeting, called by members
of the Conservative Group was attended by a large number of
members of the public, many of whom addressed the meeting
and explained how they had been affected by the floods.
Conservative Leader, Councillor
Melinda Tilley said, “When we called this meeting the Lib
Dem Leader criticised us for acting rashly. I think the
public attendance at the meeting, and comments made by local
residents both at the meeting and afterwards make it clear
that this meeting was welcomed.”
Other Council’s in Oxfordshire
have held meetings since the flooding, it was only in the
Vale that the Opposition Conservatives had to call an
extraordinary meeting as the ruling group refused to allow
residents a public forum.
Conservative Parliamentary
Candidate for Oxford West & Abingdon, Nicola Blackwood
commented, “I think it was a very valuable and worthwhile
meeting. The debate was constructive and I am confident that
tonight’s meeting will help the Council develop better plans
to deal with future flooding incidents.”
Conservative Councillor and
Shadow Cabinet Member for Planning, Terry Cox, supported two
motions calling on the Council to think again about future
building in the flood plain, and supporting ‘Save Radley
Lakes’ in their call for a review. Cllr Cox said, “These are
important decisions and although they will be discussed by
the Council at a later date it is disappointing the Lib Dems
could not agree them on the night.
Councillor Matthew Barber,
Conservative Finance Spokesman added, “The tone of the
meeting was generally constructive and it was good to see
Councillors of both parties working together. It was
regrettable however that at least one member seemed not to
recognise the problems faced by residents.” When a member of
the public explained that she felt she had been treated like
a criminal by the Council, Cllr Jenny Hannaby comment, ‘this
was for her own good’. Matthew Barber concluded, “This is an
unfortunate example of process being put before the good of
local residents, and exactly what should be avoided in the
future.”
Tory anger at 'even
more' benefit failings
Elles pushes for
European relief for flood victims
European MP James
Elles gave a graphic account of the seriousness of the Thames
Valley’s flooding when he spoke in the European Parliament in
Strasbourg yesterday (Monday).
The debate had largely
centred on the how the European Union’s Solidarity Fund should
help Greece, where more than 60 people have perished in forest
fires.
Mr Elles said that
whilst he accepted Greece had experienced one of the most lethal
fire disasters to have occurred worldwide since 1871, parts of
Britain – particularly Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and
Oxfordshire – had seen one of the wettest June and July’s since
records began. In some areas of the Thames Valley the damage
caused was worse than the notorious 1947 floods.
Across Oxfordshire
more than 2,600 homes (1650 in West Oxfordshire alone) had been
flooded and businesses were also affected. In West Berkshire no
less than 2,500 homes were flooded internally and the damage to
homes varied between £10,000 and £50,000.
With predictions of
more heavy rain and flooding in Britain this winter, Mr Elles
emphasised the need for better flood defences. He also
mentioned the real prospect of flashfloods.
Mr Elles said that had
river water levels been reduced by earlier dredging certain
areas would have avoided being flooded. The EU should review
its directive which prevents the spoil from dredging rivers and
streams being left on the banks of rivers.
He sought assurances
from Vladimir Spidla, the European Commissioner for Employment
and International Assistance, that flood damage would be
included in the budget for natural disasters and that the monies
will be dispensed efficiently and effectively and as soon as
possible. In reply, the Commissioner said every effort would
be made to secure the funds and, once allocated, would
distributed speedily.
No expansion
without infrastructure
Following the
publication of the Examination in Public Panel Report on the
South East Plan Nicola Blackwood, Conservative Parliamentary
Candidate for Oxford West & Abingdon has hit out at the
Government for not providing the necessary infrastructure for
new homes.
Whilst welcoming the new affordable housing that is much needed
for key workers and those on low incomes, Nicola has condemned
Gordon Brown’s plans to increase building in Oxfordshire by more
than the national average.
Commenting, Nicola Blackwood said…
‘Our key workers in Oxford West & Abingdon need more affordable
housing so I am pleased to see that Conservative calls for this
have been heard. I am concerned, however, about the impact of
the City Liberals’ plan to build an extra 4,000 houses on Green
Belt land and will be asking Gordon Brown what measures the
government will take to ensure that there is enough investment
in local schools, medical centres, transport links and other
infrastructure. We also need to make sure that all building
programmes will include a full flooding impact assessment and
integrated flood defence measures. What we need is an ‘I before
E’ strategy: Infrastructure before expansion.’
Nicola Blackwood is
launching a campaign to petition Gordon Brown to think again
about the provision of infrastructure for the new homes. The
campaign, to be launched this Saturday in Summertown, will
encourage members of the public to sign letters to the Prime
Minister calling on him to review the Government’s approach to
housing. Nicola Blackwood will be personally delivering the
letters to Downing Street during the consultation period.
Vallis Alley
Tories call special
'flood' meeting
NO NA NA!
A building too far
Post flooding
evaluation
Stile Road Success
Going underground
Blackwood condemns
Campsfield chaos
Nicola Blackwood,
Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Oxford West & Abingdon,
has attacked the Government for the mismanagement of both the
prisons and immigration system.
Nicola spoke out on the conditions at the centre earlier in the
year when riots broke out at the Immigration Removal Centre in
Kidlington. It has emerged over the weekend that twenty-six
detainees escaped during rioting on Saturday night. This follows
a hunger strike which was only brought to a conclusion last
week.
Nicola Blackwood comment, “The conditions at the centre have
been inadequate for some time and the Government have failed to
put in the necessary investment.”
The Centre is intended to hold asylum seekers whose applications
for asylum have been turned down and are awaiting removal to
their own countries, but is has become overstretched. Campsfield
has suffered from the Government’s mismanagement of the prison
service. Foreign prisoners who have served prison sentences in
the UK for crimes committed here are sent to Campsfield whilst
arrangements are made to deport them.
Nicola added, “It was the failure to deport foreign criminals
that forced Charles Clarke to resign as Home Secretary. It is
clear that the problem is still unresolved. Campsfield is not
designed to hold criminals, and the staff are not trained as
prison officers. The Government must start deportation
procedures earlier in foreign prisoners’ sentences to ensure
that they are not held in these centres.”
It has emerged that 60% of inmates at the Centre are in fact
convicted criminals who are only in Campsfield because the Home
Office has not improved its procedures.
Nicola supported Shadow Immigration Minister, Damian Green who
said, "We need immigration detention centres as part of the
process of removing people who have no right to be here, but
what we should not be doing is mixing up immigration offenders
with other criminals. That's where the big failure lies."
Nicola concluded, “The conditions at Campsfield have
deteriorated due to mismanagement. People are being held there
indefinitely in poor conditions. This is no way to run our
immigration service.”
Opposition to new
hall of residence
Both Councillor Tia
MacGregor and Councillor Paul Austin Sargent have opposed
applications made by Oxford Brookes University for two sites in
Headington. If the application had been successful it would have
resulted in the demolition of houses at 88 and 90 Windmill Road
and 1a Mattock Close and the erection in their place of two new
halls of residence housing 49 students for Oxford Brookes
University.
The City Council have been putting pressure on the University of
Oxford and its colleges and Oxford Brookes University to build
more purpose-built student accommodation. This policy ensures
better support and accommodation for the students, but it also
helps to relieve the pressure on the housing stock in the City.
Paul Austin Sargent said, “As a councillor involved in the
planning process you have to weigh up the pros and cons of every
application. At our last Strategic Planning meeting we gave
permission for the demolition of two blocks at Morrell Hall so
that a new student block housing 170 students could be built.
The difference between that application and these current two
are huge.”
“170 student rooms added to the Brookes Campus at Morrell Hall
can be absorbed without making much of a difference. Whereas, 49
student bedrooms imposed upon a small residential cul-de-sac is
just asking for trouble.”
Councillor Paul Austin Sargent has been nominated to represent
the Council’s case at an appeal if one is made.
Application
06/2539/FUL refused on the following grounds: -
-
Adverse
impact on the balance of dwelling types and the residential
character of the area
-
Over
development and increased density of use
-
Noise
nuisance from students travelling to and from the site
Application
06/2540/FUL refused on the following grounds: -
-
Adverse
impact on the balance of dwelling types and the residential
character of the area
-
Over
development and increased density of use
-
Noise
nuisance from students travelling to and from the site
-
Overbearing
blank wall facing Mattock Close
-
Poor design
unrelated to residential character of the area
Royal Mail
Oxford City
Council meets this Monday to debate the current postal strike.
The meeting was requisitioned by IWCA and Green councillors who
want the Council to adopt a motion supporting the strikers.
Conservative
Group Leader, Cllr. Paul Austin Sargent said, “This is a waste
of Council tax payers money, calling a meeting to debate
something we have no working knowledge of and no jurisdiction
over. This is the very worst kind of Party political
grandstanding.”
Sustainability in motion
Conservative
City Councillor Tia MacGregor has been campaigning for the use
of renewable energy sources to run City Council vehicle stock.
The Labour & Liberal councillors at a recent meeting of the
council voted down a motion put forward by Councillor MacGregor.
In proposing the motion councillor Dr. Tia MacGregor said:
“It's
probably harder than you might think to change your motoring
habits to help to save the planet. Several related but distinct
subjects become hopelessly mixed up - saving money, energy
security and the need to contain or reduce CO2 emissions, for
example. Detailed data on tailpipe emissions for different
models are available but it's difficult to find information
about the overall environmental impact cars have over their
lives, including manufacture and disposal. And not only
consumers are confused; the muddle is reflected in official
policy.
The
transport sector is the third largest source of carbon dioxide
emissions in the UK, and the only sector, according to the
Tyndall Centre,
where
emissions are expected to be higher in 2020 than in 1990.
Despite the rise and rise of air travel, by 2010, 85% of these
emissions will still come from road transport.
One thing is
clear, there is no one clear solution that will meet our
transport needs and combat the effects of global warming and
climate change. A raft of solutions is required. In a small way
this motion goes some way in developing this in terms of Oxford
and its Council.
Traditionally, environmental organisations have not had much to
say about cars, except to try and persuade people not to use
them, and more recently not to buy 4x4s. But realists are
acutely aware of our dependence on the private car. This
country’s transport infrastructure is currently based upon the
car or more accurately the internal combustion engine. Oxford
has had its part to play for some time in the UK motor industry
and many of our citizens still have jobs in or associated with
the BMW Plant at Cowley. This should be our starting point, not
some unobtainable idealist utopia that people will not buy in
to. We pragmatists realise that despite the seriousness of the
situation, it is still very much a battle of hearts and minds
that has to be won.
Petrol and
diesel vehicles of about the same size in the same class vary
hugely in efficiency: the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders has worked out that if everyone switched to the most
efficient car in the same class, emissions from cars would fall
by 30%. Exciting new developments in fuels, engines,
aerodynamics and ultra-lighting all have the potential to make
cars much more efficient… and they’ll be here all the quicker if
we demand them.
The one
that's getting the attention at the moment is E-85; 85 per cent
bio ethanol, a renewable fuel made from, say, rapeseed or wheat
or sugar beet, and 15 per cent petrol. E-85-capable versions of
the Ford Focus and the Saab 9-5 are on sale, and Morrisons has
opened the first dozen E-85 pumps in East Anglia and Somerset.
New technologies that exploit E85 and B20 are already available
such as bio-diesel and flexi-fuel vehicles.
A Flexi fuel
engine senses the combustion pattern of the fuel — ethanol,
petroleum or any mixture of the two — and automatically adjusts
the piston speed accordingly. If it's ethanol, which burns more
quickly, the pistons slow down. If it's petroleum, they speed
up.
The
flexi-fuel engine is already in 90% of all cars and light
commercial vehicles sold in Brazil; and by next year, it will be
almost impossible to find a new car there without one. Toyota's
new line of flexi-fuel engine cars hits the showrooms next month
and VW (Brazil) has already announced it's ceasing production of
all
petroleum-only
cars.
Here in the
U.K., Swedish carmaker Saab is turning competitors green with
envy because its entire model line, including the flashy Saab
9-3 Convertible, is offered with its new "Bio Power" flexi-fuel
engines. Ford too is in on the action by providing a flexi-fuel
version of the Focus range.
But as I
said earlier, this motion is not purely about sourcing
flexi-fuel vehicles and retrofitting existing vehicles for fuels
derived from plants. We need to be investigating the
possibility of sourcing vehicles that use stored electricity
derived from renewable sources and also in the future vehicles
that use emerging technology such as hydrogen fuel cells.
Other councils have
already taken the steps that this motion proposes and accepted
their responsibility to set the example for public and private
organisations and individuals who live and work in their area.
I commend this motion to Council.”
Ever the pragmatist
Tia has pledged to bring back the motion, for as she said, “It
was plain that Labour and Liberal councillors didn’t understand
the issue and had seized on one aspect – a problem in South
America, to rule out implementation, here in Oxford.
The
Liberal Democrat run City Council last week
announced plans, first proposed by Conservative city
councillor, Paul Sargent to replace the crumbling
Oxford Ice Rink in Oxpens Road and the partially
defunct Temple Cowley Pool.
The ice rink
would be Olympic size, while there could also be room for a
skate park. However, the new centre would not include an
Olympic-size swimming pool - just a facility of "competition
standard". The City of Oxford Swimming Club, said that there
should be a dialogue as the needs for serious swimmers should be
taken into account
Long-standing
City Council leisure critic and Conservative city councillor
Paul Sargent said: "Something has to be done. It makes absolute
sense to build a swimming pool and ice rink together because you
get the environmental benefits. The Liberals are proposing a
centre located on the ring road, demonstrating that they do not
have a real understanding of, or commitment to, environmental or
community sustainability "But we need a competition standard
pool – Lib Dem proposals for flumes and leisure pool facilities
pander to fads. We need facilities that cater for the community
that they serve and the serious sportsperson. The Liberal
Democrats understandably have failed to understand the needs and
aspirations of the people of Oxford”
Parliamentary Spokesman for Oxford West & Abingdon,
Nicola Blackwood, has praised the efforts of Council
workers and member of the Emergency services who
have been helping those affected by the recent
flooding. Over 10,000 sandbags were distributed in
the Vale of White Horse alone, and many people will
be suffering the consequences of this disaster for
months to come.
Nicola
Blackwood said, "The commitment of workers and
volunteers has been much appreciated by those
affected and it shows the strength of our
community." she added, "This emphasises the
importance of protecting flood plains from
unnecessary building that will only make future
disasters even more devastating."
Anne
Dreydel who was a long-standing, active and much
respected member of the Association died on 3rd July
2007. The following obituary appear in the Daily
Telegraph.
Anne
Dreydel, who has died aged 89, co-founded the Oxford
English Centre, which later became St Clare's
international college; paralysed by a wartime bomb,
she spent almost all her adult life in a wheelchair.
Known affectionately as The Rolling Throne, Anne
Dreydel struck staff and students alike with the
power of her personality, her arresting good looks
and above all her consummate charm.
Anne Dreydel was born on May 27 1918. After what she
confessed was an inadequate education, she had no
future plans other than to be a debutante and make a
good marriage.
Aged 22, she barely survived a German bomb which
fell on her London home, killing her stepfather.
After 15 months in hospital and accepting that she
would never walk again, she embarked on a tough
personal programme of study which would qualify her
for entry to Oxford University.
Her mother, who up to the end of her own very long
life was to have a key role in supporting her
daughter, pushed her through the London streets to
catch a train to the Oxford interview, sat with her
in the luggage van and had to bellow down the line
at Oxford station when the van stopped short of the
platform.
After the interview to study English, she was
offered a place to study History because "English
was upstairs". A year later she was able to transfer
to English and consequently spent four years at St
Anne's College.
She was to live in Oxford for the rest of what was,
considering her physical disability, an
extraordinarily long and vigorous life, crowded with
unusual achievements.
Central to her career at Oxford was a love-affair
with foreign languages and other cultures, started
before the Second World War on an exchange visit to
Germany; Anne Dreydel famously believed that:
"There's no point in speaking four languages if you
haven't got anything interesting to say."
In 1947 she was one of a group of students at Oxford
who, through Christian Action, raised funds for
books for German schools and for a conference of
British and European students, including Germans and
Austrians, to discuss mutual understanding through
education.
Soon she was visiting Germany and helping with the
foundation of the Oxford-Bonn Universities
Committee, from which the twinning of the two cities
developed. A few years later she was a founding
committee member of the Anglo-German (now
British-German) Association with which she was to be
actively involved for the rest of her life.
Germany honoured her with the award, first, of the
Bundesverdienstkreuz (1958) and, in 1981, with the
Commander's Cross of the same order, the equivalent
to the British CBE.
Early in her teaching career Anne Dreydel was
fortunate to meet a like-minded and equally vigorous
fellow-teacher, Pamela Morris. In 1953 they founded
the Oxford English Centre for foreign students, with
a kitty of £5 (for postage stamps) and office
support from the British Council.
To her early, mainly European, students, Anne
Dreydel became known as a gifted teacher and
counsellor.
From this modest start, she and Pamela Morris
gradually built up not only the foreign student base
of their school, in EFL (English as a foreign
language) programmes and in a junior year abroad for
American university students, but also a group of
British students studying A-levels.
In 1962 the school became a charitable trust. After
Pamela Morris retired in 1972 Anne Dreydel became
sole principal.
In 1977 she took the courageous and visionary step
of abandoning A-levels in favour of the
International Baccalaureate, a sixth-form programme
in tune with her own ideas of the importance to 16-
18-year-olds of study across the boundaries of
language, race and religion.
In 1981 she was appointed OBE for services to
education and retired two years later.
In 1985 she became for a time head of the American
International School of Florence, and at various
times was governor of several Oxford schools.
Anne Dreydel, who died on July 3, never married.
Conservative Councillors at the Vale of White Horse
District Council have expressed their anger at the
"Hypocrisy" of Liberal Democrat Executive Member Bob
Johnston. Cllr Johnston who lives in Radley, which
is situated on one of the Best bus routes provided
by Oxford Bus Company (35 & 35A) is the author of
the Councils Green travel plan. According to copies
of Cllr Johnston's Travel expense claims obtained by
the Conservative Group Cllr Johnston claimed car
allowances for 82 separate journeys to the Council
offices in Abingdon in the last 12 months. in the
forward to the Green Travel plan Cllr Johnston says
"With the help of the new Green Travel plan the
Council is in a better position to lead by example"
The Document also includes the phrase "It's not
about feeling bad when using a car its about feeling
good when you don't" Its another embarrassing
revelation for Cllr Johnston who was recently
embroiled in a row regarding the value of the Old
Gaol site.
Cllr
Matthew Barber said, "You really couldn't make it
up. On the one hand we have Cllr Johnston telling
all of us how we must ensure we use public transport
for as many of our journeys as possible, then
producing a glossy document ordering the councils
staff to do the same, and on the other hand he
submits an expense claim for over 980 miles despite
living on one of the best bus routes in the Vale. He
even has a concessionary fare buss pass! It
certainly falls into the "Do as I say, not as I do”
Cllr Barber continued, we all support the reduction
of emission and support green travel wherever
possible Executive members should be exemplary not
exempt It appears that the only people that are
exempt from the Liberal Democrat war on the motorist
are the Liberal Democrats"
Leader of
the Conservative Group Cllr Melinda Tilley said,
"This is just plain hypocrisy and another example
of Cllr Johnston's arrogance and contempt for the
Staff and residents of the Vale of White Horse. In
light of this latest outrage Cllr Johnston should
seriously be considering his position as an
executive member of the Council
 After
years of Labour and Lib Dem poor management Oxford
City Council is officially one of the worst run
council in England according to the Audit
Commission. This is reflected in basic services like
our children’s play areas. Across the City play
areas that should have been maintained by the
previous Labour administration, are now being closed
by the Lib Dem-run Council. Councillor Tia MacGregor
has opposed the closure of playgrounds in her ward
and was rewarded for her efforts this month when it
was announced that Quarry Hollow Play Area had been
reprieved.
Tia had tabled a public question addressed to the
Healthier Environment Portfolio Holder:
“It is recognised that there is a huge backlog of
maintenance in the maintenance of play areas which
goes back almost twenty five years
In Quarry & Risinghurst Ward we have two play areas
designated to close. Many people feel that one of
these; Quarry Hollow should be saved and
re-designated for the use of older children and
young teens. Although not earmarked for closure,
Ridgeway Road play area in Risinghurst will need
£73k to bring it up to standard.
I welcome the Lottery money secured to fund work on
play areas at Wood Farm and Barton. What, if any,
approaches have been made by the Council to
charitable trusts and/or commercial organisations to
secure funding or sponsorship for specific play
areas or groups of play areas in order to deal with
the maintenance backlog?”
On hearing the news about Quarry Hollow Tia said,
“Of course I’m delighted that one of the play areas
has been saved but we must continue the campaign to
ensure that those play areas in the ward that are to
remain are brought-up to the highest standard but
also regularly maintained in the future.”
Cllr MacGregor was congratulated by both Nicola
Blackwood and Shadow Minister for Children, Tim
Loughton MP. On a recent visit to Oxford Mr Loughton
praised Cllr MacGregor for her hard work for the
local community and emphasised how vitally important
such play areas can be to young people's lives.
Following a shock decision by Liberal Democrats on
the Vale to refuse planning permission for this
successful small business in Wantage to move to new
premises, Conservatives have been campaigning for
the decision to be reversed.
Madison's Tea Room is much loved by the people of
Wantage and now faces closure. At a recent planning
meeting all 8 LDs voted against allowing a change of
use on empty premises elsewhere in town, effectively
blocking the owners plans to move to keep their
business going.
All 5 Conservatives on the committee voted to allow
the change, but we do not have the majority on the
committee. However the local MP Ed Vaizey has now
joined new Councillors Bill Melotti and James McGee
in calling for the decision to be reversed. James
and Bill were helping collect signatures on a
petition that will be presented to the Council
shortly showing support.
Only one LD Councillor on the planning committee
supported the measure, Jenny Hannaby from Wantage.
However she had to be excluded from the debate and
vote because of a procedural error, a mistake
criticised by Bill Melotti.
He said 'Jenny Hannaby has been on the Council for
years and knows all the rules. To let herself be
excluded on a technicality like this and not be able
to support a vital small business in town is an
unforgivable mistake.'
Recent comments by Zoe Patrick Lib Dem Councillor on
the lack of consultation were branded an ‘Own Goal’
by Wantage and Grove District Councillors James
McGee and Bill Melotti.
The comments referred to the poor response to a
survey conducted by Ms Patrick in Grove. Just over
1% were returned and of those, most indicated there
had not been enough residents’ consultation.
The issue at stake is the planned development of
2,500 houses to take place from 2011 onwards in
Grove, as part of the local plan, which was adopted
by the District Council last year and whether there
has been enough consultation.
At the second stage of the local plan, a long
process to determine planning priorities for the
next ten years, only about 4,000 responses had been
received. The deadline for those responses was June
2004 and formed the bulk of activity to influence
the local plan.
‘This is a spectacular own goal’, said Bill Melotti.
‘At the second publication of the local plan, way
back in 2004 the figure for people responding was
less than 4% and dominated by vested interests,
often national lobby groups. It was clear that the
people living in Grove did not want the development,
yet the Lib Dems agreed it anyway and added insult
to injury by expanding it from 900 to 2,500 homes.
Bill continued ‘It is Zoe Patrick’s party that is
responsible for this. To talk about consultation now
is frankly insulting. The developer has been chosen
by the Council and when they apply for planning
permission is it largely a formality. The Council
cannot legally stop this development now.
James McGee said ‘It is clear form the low response
that people are fed up with meaningless Lib Dem
surveys. However for once Zoe Patrick’s comments are
spot on. The Council which her party is running has
not been listening to the people of Wantage and
Grove ! If she is starting to question her own side,
perhaps she should join us on the Opposition, like
her colleagues in Oxford City have recently done and
together we could hold the ruling Lib Dem group to
account "
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