The NEWSLETTER BRlZE NORTON PARISH COUNCIL

BRIZE NORTON

September 2016

Issue no. 150

Chairman's Report

Welcome to the autumn newsletter, although at 24oC outside I hope you are enjoying the glorious weather, the Olympics and the summer holidays. Since the last newsletter your new Parish Council has been busy and a brief summary of the key activities is provided below.

In line with local government best practice we have prepared a “Village Emergency Action Plan” which you will find delivered with this newsletter. It details how the village should respond in the event of a local emergency and provides useful phone numbers and contact details in case you are faced with an emergency. Please read it and then keep it by your telephone.

As indicated in the last newsletter the 43rd Village Horticultural Show will take place on Bank Holiday Sunday as advertised below and described later. It will coincide with the Football Club’s charity football match. Thank you to all who are working hard to make this happen. I hope to see a good village turn-out to support these events.

We have been busy updating the Parish Council website, along with links to the Village Community website. More details are provided in the newsletter regarding both websites. The websites are there for you to use so please take the time to have a look at them and feed any comments/thoughts that you may have back to us. I would like to think that village organisations and businesses might like to have links to their websites/contact details provided on these sites, to help generate more interest - over to you.
We have responded, on behalf of the village, to the WODC consultation on waste management and there is an excellent article later in the newsletter on this subject.

Given the success of the Beacon/Bonfire night in April we are planning to hold another Bonfire night on Friday 4th November 2016 to coincide with the RAF firework display. More details will follow, so please put the date in your diaries so that we can see you there.

In addition to normal business we have had meetings with Cottsway Housing, Savills and WODC on planning proposals, West Brize Norton and updates to the Local Plan. The outcomes of these can be summarised as follows:

• We have submitted detailed comments and concerns in line with residents’ views on the proposed Cottsway development in Fosseway. These can be seen on the WODC Planning Portal.
• WODC anticipate that the final legal agreements between WODC/OCC/Bloor Homes for West Brize Norton will be signed in the near future. This will lead to Bloor Homes preparing the detailed masterplans for the new development so that they can submit the Reserved Matters Planning Application in the Spring for Approval before work can commence in late summer next year. We will keep you informed of progress and hope that you will join in any consultation meetings as they arise.
• Savills have advised us that, as part of their response to the WODC call for additional residential land, they are submitting proposals for a significant new development on the land they now own at Foxbury Farm. We are clearly objecting to this.

As a result of the above consultations it is becoming clear to us that we, as a village need a formal “Community Plan” to protect ourselves from the development pressures arising from the lack of a functioning Local Plan and to provide a mechanism for helping to integrate the new development into our community. We will be consulting on this during the autumn. This is not something that the Parish Council can do on its own so we are looking for your support and input to the process in the coming months.

We have discovered that the quickest way of getting potholes/road issues fixed is by reporting them on the “Fixmystreet” website. More details are provided later in the newsletter. Please use this tool to help get our roads fixed.

Finally thank you to all those who have contributed to this newsletter, run all the events that are described/summarised in the following pages and to all of you who make Brize Norton the village it is. Enjoy the rest of the holidays and I look forward to seeing you at the Horticultural Show on Bank Holiday Sunday.

Pip

43rd ANNUAL HORTICULTURAL SHOW

Theme – ‘Brush up on your Shakespeare’ On Sunday 28th August 2016, The Elderbank Hall Staging of exhibits 10.30am to 12 noon Closed for judging 12 noon to 2pm PUBLIC VIEWING 2pm to 3.30pm

Please support this village event by taking part – there are classes for vegetables, flowers, cookery, preserves, flower arranging and handicraft. Children’s classes include making a shield/coat of arms or a medieval crown. It is open to all villagers, Brize Norton allotment holders, children attending Brize Norton School and their parents and members of village organisations. Schedules are available from the post office, from Tony Shillingford (8 Chichester Place), Anne Green (7 Squires Close) or online (www.brizenortonparishcouncil.co.uk). Entry forms must be submitted by Thursday 25 August to Tony or Anne however children’s entries will be accepted on the day.

If you are unable to enter this year why not go along to view the entries between 2pm and 3.30pm, congratulate the prize winners and be inspired for next year.

In the words of the bard for all those involved in the show and looking to take part “I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.”  ~William Shakespeare
 

BRIZE NORTON FOOTBALL CLUB

	BOB WATTS CHARITY FRIENDLY – match fees and donations to Sunday 28 August – from 12.30pm at the club for 2pm KO
	Invitational friendly for the Bob and Margaret cup – Bar and BBQ ALL WELCOME

BRIZE NORTON PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE

The Brize Norton Parish Council Team have been working on the Parish website and we would like to receive your comments, ideas and notification of village events to be included on the Calendar. Go to:- http://brizenortonparishcouncil.co.uk and click on CONTACT US tab. If you are not a regular visitor to the Internet please take the opportunity to click on the COMMUNITY WEBSITE tab to find out more about your village including:- Access to Issues of the Parish Newsletter, Village History, More in depth information about events and organisations, Village campaigns Try these links and add them to your favourites – http://brizenortonparishcouncil.co.uk                                         http://www.bncommunity.org

NGS GARDEN OPEN DAY 2016

I would like to thank all of those Villagers who supported us in our annual charity garden event, especially the WI for their invaluable support over the years. Also for those who contribute their time and energy with the tasks that make this such a successful event. Thank you also to Mr Brian Barnett for the additional car parking facilities which he provided on the day at his farm, that are invaluable to the needs of our visitors on the Open Day.

Furthermore, I would like to also thank all of the members of the Garden Open Day Group who put on a glorious display this year, as always. Listening to the visitors comments they were all greatly appreciative of these fine displays.

Thanks to Lucy who raised £84.50 with her Farmhouse Teas, the proceeds of which were meant we made donations of £58.66 each to our four Village Charities, namely; the Church, Over Sixties Club, Horticultural Club and the Brownies. The National Garden Scheme (NGS) received a total of £450-45 in support of all of their Cancer Charities with the full amount of £685.10 being raised on the Garden Open Day.

So again, thank you all for another successful event and we now all look forward to next year’s event.

Finally, if there are any village garden owners thinking of joining our annual charity event and require some more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Jean Butcher on 01993 841347 or else by e-mail on prbutcher1@ btinternet.com

BRIZE NORTON WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

In June we welcomed Gill White who came and gave us a very interesting talk on the last 100 years of Teddy Bears.  This was both very informative and funny in places and we learned a lot about the origin of the name Teddy Bear and its progress through the ages.  Angela Panrucker came to talk to us about Sudely Castle as our August outing is there. This gave us an insight of what we might see and its history.  We invited friends of members who were going on the outing and it was a well-attended night. In May we visited Buscot Park which was a bit before the summer flowers had come out and a warm up in the lovely cafe was much appreciated.  Our trip to Aston Pottery was lovely and the flowers were amazing. Again we enjoyed the cake and tea and had time to have a look at the array of gifts in the shop.

The programme for the next few months is as follows:-

September 13th Peter Berry - Around the world in 80 images
October 11th John Turney - Hospital Chaplaincy
November 8th Russell Cherry - Nepal

We meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm in the Elderbank Hall and visitors are very welcome.

Sue Calcutt

ST BRITIUS CHURCH

Thank you to everyone who supported us in June; for creating and viewing the beautiful flower arrangements on the Open Gardens day and enjoying a cream tea or refreshments at the Queen’s Birthday Bash. We are grateful for the sponsorship from Rhodda Farm and Tiptree jams for the donated clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Saturday 10 September The annual Oxford Historic Churches Trust ‘Ride and Stride’ event. This is a sponsored event raising funds for St Britius and OHCT. This year we will be welcoming the Rt Revd Colin Fletcher, Bishop of Dorchester who will be visiting us in the afternoon as he takes part in the cycle ride. If you would like to support this initiative by taking part, sponsoring individuals visiting the churches, or even helping ‘man’ the church on the day to greet the cyclists please contact Rev Maddern - 841715.

Forest Church starts back on Sunday 25 September from 2.30pm to 3.30pm. Please gather at the metal horses in Kilkenny Country Park. Forest Church is a wonderful opportunity to encounter God in the wild places. All welcome.

We will be celebrating Harvest at our Festival Family Service in church on Sunday 2 October at 10.00 am. All harvest gifts (non perishable please) brought to church will be donated to The Carterton Community Food Bank.

If you haven't been to church recently, why not join us on Sunday 7 November for our "Back to Church" Sunday. It is a family communion service at 10.00 am to celebrate our Patronal Festival of Saint Britius. We will be inviting all couples who have recently married and families whose children have been baptised at St Britius to join us, and everyone else who would like to come. There will be refreshments afterwards.

Remembrance Sunday is Sunday 13 November; our service will start at 10.00am with the wreath laying at the War Memorial at 11 am.
For details of the church services refer to the notices on the church door or log onto the website www.bncommunity.org

SAMARITANS PURSE

We will once again be getting involved in Operation Christmas Child which is the world’s largest children’s Christmas project run by the Christian relief and development organisation Samaritan’s Purse. The boxes are sent overseas to children in need; each child receives a shoebox as an unconditional gift of love, based on need, regardless of their background or religion. You can fill your own shoebox gift or make donations of gifts (collection boxes in St Britius Church) that can be used to fill decorated medium sized shoe boxes. The deadline for the boxes to be made up is Sunday 7 November. Look out for further information on the notice boards or contact Carolyn on 01993 844102.

ELDERBANK HALL COMMITTEE – COULD YOU HELP PLEASE?

The Elderbank Hall Committee is looking for a Treasurer to take over next April. The position includes, keeping simple accounts, paying bills, banking, issuing invoices for use of the hall and to attend quarterly meetings. We are also looking for a person to take minutes at our meetings, and to deal with a small amount of correspondence. If interested please ring Julie Edwards -01993 841326

BRIZE NORTON PRIMARY SCHOOL

Mrs Anna Fairhurst (headteacher) has had a healthy little boy called Sebastian and she is enjoying motherhood. She is planning to return to work in January 2107. We would like to thank the residents of Brize Norton village for their continuing support.

BRIZE NORTON SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who supported the fantastic Queen's Birthday Bash and Fete in June this year. It was lovely to see the whole village together, enjoying the sunshine and joining in the various activities. We raised over £2,000 for the school, which is a fantastic amount and we are truly grateful to everyone. We hope to use the money to pay for a canopy to give some dry outside space to class 2.

Of course, the fun doesn't stop there. We are now busy organising our Autumn Ball which takes place on Friday 7th October at Witney Lakes. This is always a fun night out and very well attended. We have live music from ‘The JCs’, a local band who often entertain at the Mess balls, plus a delicious two course meal. Tickets cost £30 per person and are available now. Please contact Jo on 07554 443678 for reservations.
And then, of course, it's Christmas. But we won't talk about that now!

BRIZE NORTON SCHOOL ARCHIVE AND VILLAGE HISTORY

A number of items have been added to the Brize Norton School Archive which can be found at www.bncommunity.org/bnschool These include a description of ‘Life in Brize Norton’ written in 1953 by Joy Pinnigar (now Joy Douglas) which makes interesting reading. It includes a section about the school. The school also has a pictorial scrap book prepared to mark the centenary of the school in 1976. Thanks to Joy for searching out the newly added material.

For those who have not visited the website you will find more old pictures, a school magazine dating from 1922 and Dick Prints History Exercise Book from 1930, as well as the complete school register from its inception in 1874 to 1933 and attendance records for many of our village families. There is also a wealth of more recent material.

I am pleased to say that one of our oldest residents has kindly recorded some of her memories dating back to the nineteen twenties and thirties. These make fascinating reading and will hopefully encourage others to send their accounts and photos. You can find Dora Woodley's notes at www.bncommunity.org/dora_woodley.htm

Please contact me, Dr Phil Holmes (843856), if you can add to our village history and don't forget that there is a complete set of Parish Newsletters on the community website dating from 2003. It would be good to go back further! Visit www.bncommunity.org

‘COFFEE MORNING’ AFTERNOON
IN AID OF MACMILLAN CANCER SUPPORT

You are invited to a ‘Coffee Morning’ in the Afternoon on Friday 30th September 2016 2.30pm until 4.30pm. at the Elderbank Hall. There will be refreshments and fundraising competitions. Donated cakes to eat and sell would be welcomed. The money raised will help Macmillan fund specialist nurses, new cancer centres and grants to support people living with cancer who have financial problems. For more details contact Diane (843430) or Trudy (850200)

ALLOTMENT NEWS

The next half yearly meting for allotment holders will be on Monday 3 October at 7pm at the sports pavilion. The presentation of the ‘Best Kept Allotment’ will be made at this meeting. Please note that the allotments are private and entry is restricted to allotment holders, friends and family only. They are not to be accessed by non allotment holders, used as a play area or used as a shortcut or footpath for access to other areas. If you would like to be considered for an allotment when one becomes available please contact the clerk (01993 844102 or e-mail clerk@brizenortonparishcouncil.co.uk) to be added to the short waiting list.

WIDOWS FUEL ALLOTMENT CHARITY FIELD

We have a small charity in the village which pays out a small monetary
gift to Pensioners/Widows/Widowers (Brize Norton residents only) at Christmas.
The money comes from a field which was gifted to the village some time ago.
We have noticed over latter years that new people are not coming forward although we lose a few each year through natural causes.
If you are a resident Brize Norton Pensioner/Widow/Widower and would like some extra pocket money at Christmas please let me know before Monday 5 December 2016 to be on this year’s list. Fred Bellenger 1 Daubigny Mead Brize Norton OX18 3QE  
01993 841189 or f.bellenger@sky.com

BRIZE NORTON DANCE CLUB

We meet in Elderbank Hall every Thursday evening from 7.30-9.30pm. We dance ballroom, Latin American, and sequence dances to CDs. We have tea and biscuits in the interval. Any further information please ring Joy on 842373

CARTERTON NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING TEAM

The Thames Valley Police Non-Emergency number is 101 but always call 999 in an Emergency. E-mail the team at cartertonbamptonburford@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

THE OXFORDSHIRE COMET

This a new bookable transport service from Oxfordshire County Council. It is a not for profit service, created to allow people without suitable access to public transport to make the journeys they want from your door to any destination in Oxfordshire. The service is open to all including wheelchair users and those with mobility issues.

The Oxfordshire Comet can be booked for any type of trip. Whether it’s to meet friends in town, travel across the county, attend an appointment or pop to the shops. The service is available 10.15am - 2.30pm Monday to Friday (not Bank Holidays). Call 01865 323201 to register or for more information go to www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/comet.

WITNEY AND CARTERTON HEALTH WALKS

Witney - We meet at Witney’s Windrush Leisure Centre at 10 am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There is no charge. We do two walks; one is 1-2 miles long, the other 2-3 miles both ending up with a cup of coffee. For more information ring Joy on 01993 842373. Carterton - On Monday, Thursday and Saturday we meet at the Town Hall, Carterton at 10am. The walks are 1–2 miles long. For more information contact Barbara Goudal on 01993 845923.

WEST OXON WOODTURNING ASSOCIATION

West Oxon Woodturning Association (WOWA) meets on the first Tuesday of every month at the Elderbank Village Hall, Brize Norton. We start at 7.30 pm and finish about 10.00 pm.  Non-members are very welcome but members and visitors must be over 16.  Our meetings comprise of demonstrations either by one of our members or by a professional turner or its just ‘Hands On’.   All demonstrations are enhanced by the use of a video projection system that allows everyone to view the intricacies of the finer points of wood turning.  Please come along and enjoy an evening - your first visit is free! For further information please contact Dave Spittles on 01993 776036 or visit our web site at WOWA.org.uk

FIXMYSTREET

You can now report potholes or other damage to be repaired using ‘Fix My Street’. Go to fixmystreet.oxfordshire.gov.uk, enter an Oxfordshire postcode or street name, locate problem on a map of the area, enter details of the problem, confirm your report and OCC will investigate. You can attach photos of the damage and follow up on progress. You can continue to report damage online at Oxfordshire.gov.uk or phone 0845 3101111 or write to Highway Enquiries Team, Oxfordshire County Council, PO Box 842, OXFORD OX1 9LL

BRIZE NORTON OVER 60’s CLUB

We have enjoyed good weather for our outings so far this summer. The sun shone for tea by the canal at Thrupp, for cream tea and bowls in the garden, for the coach trip to Coventry, for the meal at The Rose Revived by the river and also for the cream tea on the river bank at Lechlade. We hope our luck lasts for our trip to Windsor! Our speakers at meetings have also been good; Jane from the museum and Jess of Age UK.

Our future programme is as follows:- Sept 20th Tom Smith to talk Oct 4th AGM and quiz Oct 18th Coach trip to Worcester Nov 1st Cream Tea Nov 15th Yarnton Nursery Dec 6th COFFEE MORNING – EVERYONE WELCOME 10.30am, 4 Squires Close, Brize Norton Dec 20th Christmas Meal at The Trout, Lechlade

We are a village group of 26 members. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month with either a meeting or an outing. Meetings take place at 4 Squires Close at 2pm. After the meeting we enjoy sandwiches, homemade cakes and tea - thanks to June, Connie and Benita.
The programme is also posted on the village noticeboard or for further information please contact Joy on 01993 842373.

Drop in and share your stories and experiences of Health and Social care services.   Bampton Town Hall 9.30am – 12 noon Saturday 24th September.

The Public and Patient Partnership for West Oxfordshire is run by volunteers and we have organised this event so that we can hear your thoughts, suggestions and stories about the health and social care services you have used in Bampton and surrounding areas. In addition, we want to hear about your experiences of the Oxford Hospitals. How easy is it for you to speak to someone at the hospital about your appointment? What is it like for you as a patient or a visitor there? We want to know what is working and what needs to be improved so we can let the commissioners and providers of Oxfordshire’s health and social care services know what is working well and what needs changing.
 
This is great opportunity to get your voice heard. All your ideas and views about shaping the NHS in West Oxfordshire will be included anonymously in a report prepared for Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) and Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) who commission your health and social care services.
 
If you leave your contact details at the event, then you will receive a copy of the report. These days, patients really do have a voice, and this is your chance to influence the decisions that OCCG and OCC take about your health and social care services, now, and in the future.
 
So, why not drop in, have a free cup of tea / coffee and have a chat with us. To find out more, please email: Jen.marks@healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk

YOUR VILLAGE POST OFFICE (AT YOUR SERVICE)

Did you know that your village Post Office provides all of the services listed below and lots more?

* Traditional letter and parcel posting including next day deliveries and eBay services. * Taxing of vehicles. * Banking – (Cash/Cheque/Bank card deposits and withdrawal) if you bank with the following banks: Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Cahoot, Clydesdale, Co-op, Lloyds, TSB, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Santander, Halifax, RBS and Smile. * National Savings & Investment including Premium bonds. * Bill Payment – Most household bills including BT phone bills can be paid free of fees. * Foreign currency – generally commission free with 3 days’ notice, MoneyGram. * Travel Insurance – Inland and overseas (provided on the spot). * Home Phone – Incentive to transfer your current home telephone service. * Household Home Insurance – Competitive. * Car Insurance – There is £50 cash back on take up. * Mobile phone Top-up. * Health Lottery * Groceries – limited quantity of snacks and groceries too.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE

We have an ageing cliental at present and would very much welcome young parents to use our facilities; at a time when the post office network is under threat we need your support. Michael your postmaster attends the Sports Pavilion on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9.30am and 12.30pm.

"ON THE BINS"

Well it’s that time of the decade again, when the West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) change the way we put out our bins. Some of you may remember that I wrote an article for the parish magazine 6 years ago describing the then NEW service that was being rolled out, but with budget cuts, council cutbacks and reductions in services provided, the council are at it again; for better or for worse? 

So what are the changes? Firstly WODC are going back to emptying our bins from October 2017; ‘but the council already empty our bins’ I hear you say. Well they do, but they don't - they pay a contractor to do it and as we have seen the contractor is doing a mediocre job (in my opinion), and WODC believe they can do a better and a cheaper job; more on this later.

A second change is that we will have to pay to get our green garden waste bin emptied. This will be about £30 per year and is due to the cut in funding from Oxfordshire County Council (OCC).  I know this will cause anger and upset to most residents (me included) but this is still cheaper than the other four district councils, Cherwell, Vale, South and Oxford City.  For the mathematicians amongst us that works out at 60p per week. I personally don't agree with it, but there is nothing we can do about it. In my opinion it seems OCC want us to ‘pay more for less’, never a good business plan.

Change three is that we are getting a wheelie bin for all our dry recycling, and a box for glass. I will give a more detailed report in the next newsletter on how this works, but basically the service we have currently is called "kerbside sort" – It ‘does what it says on the tin’, it’s sorted at the kerbside - a long, slow, laborious and thankless task. I think I mentioned 6 years ago that the bin men can clear Brize village from Chapel Hill to Viscount Court in just over 90 mins, but the recyclers take over 5 hours to do the same area! Why are they doing this? Because it’s faster, cheaper, and more efficient. A kerbsider can collect about 4 tonnes whereas a dustcart can collect in excess of double this amount.

‘But all the recycling is going in a dustcart, it’s not being recycled?’ – Yes, you’re right, it is going in a dustcart, but it is all being recycled; I liken this quote to people who shop in Aldi or Lidl but put their shopping in a Waitrose carrier bag! - Just because it’s in one container doesn't mean that’s where it came from. A brand new dustcart costs approximately £180,000 whilst a brand new kerbsider is in the region of £130,000; for £50,000 more you get a truck that can do twice the work in about 1/4 of the time.  

If you are interested in finding out more visit www.westoxon.gov.uk/residents/bins-recycling/household-rubbish/

Till next time, happy recycling – Stuart Guest

CALENDAR OF EVENTS – please refer to newsletter for further information

28 August Horticultural show/charity football
5 September Parish Council meeting, 7.30pm Sports Pavilion
10 September The annual Oxford Historic Churches Trust ‘Ride and Stride’
24 September Healthwatch drop-in, Bampton Town Hall, 9.30am to 12 noon
30 September Macmillan Coffee afternoon 2.00-4.00pm The Elderbank Hall
2 October Harvest Festival, St Britus 10.00am
3 October Allotment holders meeting, 7.00pm Sports Pavilion
3 October Parish Council meeting, 7.30pm Sports Pavilion
7 October Autumn Ball, Witney Golf Club, Downs Road BNPS fundraiser
6 November ‘Back to Church’ Sunday, St Britius 10.00am
7 November Parish Council meeting, 7.30pm Sports Pavilion
13 November Remembrance Sunday service 10.00am, wreath laying 11.00am
5 December Parish Council meeting, 7.30pm Sports Pavilion

 

All entries for inclusion in the December 2016 issue should be received by Garry Griffin
at garry.griffin@tesco.net by 15th November 2016.