The NEWSLETTER BRlZE NORTON PARISH COUNCIL

BRIZE NORTON

September 2017

Issue no. 154

Chairman's Report

The summer holiday period is rapidly drawing to a close, I trust that that those of you who holiday at this time of year have had a good relaxing break with family and friends. For those involved in A levels and GCSE’s I hope your results have at least matched your expectations, we wish you well for the future.

As you will see as you read through this newsletter you will see it has been a busy three months for the village with the NGS Open Gardens and the Space themed Village bash, both of which were well attended and successful. Thank you to the organisers for making the events happen, to all the attendees who made them successful and to the report writers who have done their bits later in the letter.

The Neighbourhood Plan is progressing at pace. You will see from the next section that you will be a getting a formal survey asking for your views and ideas for development in our village. This is really important and I would be grateful if you could lend your support to the Steering Group by reading the section below and responding to the survey when it is delivered through your door.

I am told by our Solicitors that the various supporting documents that underpin the S106 Agreement for the West Brize Norton Development (WODC/OCC/Christchurch/Bloor/Savills/BNPC) are now in their final form and should be ready for signature. We have yet to see those that we are due to sign in final form so I am not holding my breath!

We have also recruited a new Parish Clerk. I am pleased to welcome Alison Risely from Glebe Farm House, Burford Road into the role. I am sure that with all our support she will grow into the role. On your behalf, I would like to thank Carolyn Peach for all her hard work over the last 6 years; thankfully she will still be on hand for support over the next few months. We wish Carolyn well in her future endeavours.

The next quarter is no less busy than the last, please read the rest of the newsletter and support the various village activities for later in the year.

One last thing before I sign off for this edition. There have been a number of complaints recently around leaving bins out for prolonged periods after the “bin men” have been on a Friday morning. I know events sometimes overtake us and the empty bins have to stay out a bit longer than necessary, but if we could all make a concerted effort to retrieve our empty bins as soon as possible after the “bin men” have been, the village will be tidier and there won’t be any complaints. Thank you.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Pip

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

BRIZE NORTON NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

As you will have read on the front page of this newsletter, your household will be receiving a survey document in September asking for your views about the future of our community. Our Neighbourhood Plan is probably the most momentous moment in our village's history since its inclusion in the Domesday book all those centuries ago! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our village to make itself heard, reaffirming its boundaries, objectives and stating its importance and place in the district.

Your answers are extremely important and will be reflected in our Neighbourhood Plan. We hope you will take this unique opportunity to give us your views on how you would like to see the way our community develops.
But what is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A Neighbourhood Plan steers development and land use in a local designated area (in our case, this is the Parish of Brize Norton) by setting out policy and proposals against which local planning applications will be assessed.
Policy and proposals in a Neighbourhood Plan may inform:

* Where new housing or employment might be located in the area
* Types of development, including materials to be used for new development
* Opportunities for Green Infrastructure in the area (open spaces, pedestrian paths etc.)

To put this into context, developers have recently submitted speculative plans for as many as 2,000 additional houses in our parish, so it is important that we get this implemented as soon as we can and regain control over development in Brize Norton.

To have our Neighbourhood Plan adopted, it must be verified by an independent planning inspector, approved by West Oxfordshire District Council and finally, receive the majority approval of our community in a local referendum.

We would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that your completed survey is confidential, anonymous and does not link your response with your address. The data will be collated by our professional advisors Community First Oxfordshire.

As you can imagine, this is a massive and time-consuming undertaking but we now have a team of ten villagers on the Steering Group working tirelessly to reach our goal.

The members of the Steering Group and Parish Councillors look forward to meeting you when we distribute the surveys and please keep in touch via our web site www.brizenortonplan.org.uk

Thank you, the Brize Norton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

BRIZE NORTON DANCE CLUB

We meet in the Elderbank Hall every Thursday evening 7.30pm-9.30pm. We dance ballroom, Latin and sequence dances to CDs. We have tea and biscuits in the interval. Any information - please ring Joy on 01993 842373.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AND 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF THE GREAT WAR

We are looking forward to 2018 and the 100th Anniversary of the end of The Great War. In planning for events for 2018, as a starter we have put our village forward to light a beacon on November 11th 2018 and it would be good to involve various organisations in the village on this day, so ideas would be welcomed. In addition a family New Year’s Eve party 2017/18 is at the planning stage. Please get in touch if you have ideas or would like to help, contact tonyshillingford@yahoo.co.uk or 01993 847009.

BRIZE NORTON – NGS GARDEN OPEN DAY SUNDAY 18 JUNE 2017

We had a very successful day with 163 visitors attending the Open Gardens. We also managed to raise an additional £245.50p from the proceeds of the Wacky Hats sales, which was donated directly to the Cancer Research Charity. It turned out to be on one of the hottest summer days for the year, therefore it was surprising that we sold any woolly hats or beanies, so thank you to all those village members that supported this worthy cause. Also, thank you to Phil & Mary Holmes and the volunteers for arranging the St Britius Church Flower Festival, who gave up their time to create such wonderful flower displays.

The WI also had a hectic afternoon providing teas and cakes to the many visitors at the Elderbank Hall, so thank you again for your continuing support. Plant Sales and Lucy’s Teas at Grange Farm also did exceptionally well with all of the funds raised going directly to our Local Village Charities.

Next year we will be opening later on the 24th June. By making it later in the month, those of you that have been unable to attend in the past because of family commitments on Father’s Day will now be able to come and support our Charity Event. Also, next year there will be even more delightful village gardens to visit, a total of 11 in all, plus the Church Flower Festival. It is a very pleasant way of spending a summer Sunday afternoon, possibly making new friends and neighbours you may never have met because everyone has busy life schedules.

So please make a date in your diary for Sunday 24th June 2018. Remember your support helps contribute to the funds of our village charities. With 25% of the ticket sales from this NGS Event donated to our village charities. These nominated charities are the Brownies, Over 60’s Club, Horticultural Event and the Church Funds. Therefore, please come along because we need your support to make this a successful annual Village Charity Event along with all of our members who work so hard to make this a very memorable village day.

I am sure that all of the new visitors will be surprised at what lies behind those high stonewalls and garden gates. So we are all looking forward to seeing you all next year. The NGS Open Gardens Group

ST BRITIUS CHURCH

Thank you to everyone who supported us by taking part in the Open Gardens day in June; the Church was beautifully decorated with the flower arrangements. At the village bash in July we provided tea and cakes. These events combined raised £380 for our general funds.

Saturday 9 September The annual Oxford Historic Churches Trust ‘Ride and Stride’ event. This is a sponsored event raising funds for St Britius and OHCT. 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 Jacquie Griffin – 01993 841616.

Look out for details of the village bonfire event. We hope to be helping out again serving homemade soup and hot dogs with proceeds towards our general funds.

We will be celebrating Harvest at our Festival Family Service in church on Sunday 1 October at 10.00 am. All harvest gifts (non-perishable please) brought to church will be donated to The Besom project. This local charity accepts gifts of non-perishable food year round to help local people with food parcels. Food gifts are necessary while people are waiting for benefits to come through, or ill health or a family crisis means there isn’t enough money for food. A store cupboard box or a few days of meals can really help someone to bridge that gap.

If you haven't been to church recently, why not join us on Sunday 5 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 invite 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 12 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
 

T4U – Give love in a box this Christmas. This year we are supporting the initiative T4U (www.teams4u.com) that gives shoebox gifts to vulnerable children or families in Eastern Europe bringing joy and excitement into an often bleak existence. Look out for further information on the notice boards or contact Carolyn on 01993 844102.

BRIZE NORTON PRIMARY SCHOOL

As I write, it is the school summer holidays, a good time to look back and reflect on the busy year we have just had.

I am really pleased to be able to report that our children’s results have been excellent this year. Children do assessments which we can use to compare ourselves to national averages in the Foundation Stage (aged 5), 2 (aged 7) and 6 (aged 11). In almost all areas and ages, and in all of Reading and Maths, we have done better than the national average. Our more able children have done particularly well, more than doubling the national average for more able children in some areas, and we are particularly proud of our achievements in Maths: 100% of our eleven year-olds reached the national standard for the second year in a row, and we had a letter from the Schools Minister saying we were in the top 2% of schools for doing it just last year!

As you know, Brize Norton School is about much more than results. After discussions between staff, governors, parents and children, we have come up with a new mission statement for ourselves: “Inspiring Learning for Life”. This sums up that we believe learning should be exciting, and that what children learn should be useful to them throughout their lives and not just for passing tests. It is for this reason that we have such a focus on values and developing character: all of our children can tell you what terms such as “perseverance” and “co-operation” mean and why they are important. We focus on a range of life skills outside English and Maths, which is why all our children go swimming every year and everybody has the chance to learn risk-taking and outdoor skills in our Forest School.

In the spirit of being inspiring and of giving children experiences beyond the ordinary, we have had a range of special events in the last term. Our school website (www.brizeprimary.org) has pictures of most of them – please go along and have a look. We were particularly excited by our PE wow day, which had the children in mixed-age groups taking part in six different sports: archery, team building, golf, tennis, orienteering and BMX trick cycling. This was all linked to the concept of “flearning” (learning from failure by keeping trying). We have also had a wow day connected to Maths, with children, again in mixed-age groups, doing a range of practical problem-solving challenges, all led by our older children. The end of term was filled with events, including our traditional (and great fun) sports day (ending with egg-throwing between Year 6 children and their parents) and two high-standard concerts. All the children took part in singing and recital, with many also showing their talents on musical instruments. The Key Stage 2 concert was a particular hit, finishing with a “battle of the bands” of Queen and Abba songs, including all the older boys in drag performing “I Want To Break Free”. They showed chutzpah and great humour: it will not be forgotten. We also had the village summer bash, which brought village residents, parents, children and staff together in a really fun day which also raised a large amount of money towards our new laptops: thank you to everyone who came.

So, we are now looking forward to the new school year. Over the summer we are having some major work done to the building, with the replacement of the windows in the Victorian part of the school and a repainting of many of the rooms. This will help our building look smarter and be more energy-efficient in the future. We have said goodbye to a really confident, mature and kind group of children as well as to
Mrs Barker, a long-standing teacher who will be much missed. However, we are looking forward to welcoming our new children and to Miss Harris, an enthusiastic young teacher who will be teaching Year 3.

Thank you as always to everybody who supports the school in any capacity. We are lucky to have so many kind helpers from our school and village community. Possible future parents are always welcome to visit: please contact the school office. In the meantime, please look at the school website, keep an eye out for the Christmas bazaar, and I wish you all a happy autumn.

Anna Fairhurst (Head teacher)

BRIZE NORTON SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

The summer term was all about the Village Bash. We lived and breathed it for weeks and it is hard to believe that it is already a distant memory!

The children’s PE lessons for the term were focused on their fabulous dance routines which we were all able to enjoy in the arena on the afternoon of the Bash. Year 6 children designed and ran their own stalls and lots of parents came out on the day to run stalls and help to set up and clear away. We were amazed and thrilled by the turn out from villagers and visitors alike; what a great way to bring everyone together. Thank you one and all.

It was lovely to see the senior members of the village, the VIPs, enjoying the afternoon. We witnessed a first for one of them, Dora Woodley, who at the age of 93 enjoyed her very first burger! Thanks to Castles Butchers in Burford for making it a good one! The VIPs were tasked with judging the scarecrows and the fancy dress which proved to be harder than we imagined because the entries were all amazing. It was fantastic seeing scarecrows popping up around the village in the days before the Bash. Thank you to everyone who made one, and if you didn't win a prize, please don't be disheartened, there is always next year!

We raised just under £2500 for the school. This is by far the most we have ever made in one event. The money is already earmarked to go towards new laptops and interactive whiteboards. And of course that means that we have to get busy and raise some more money! We have a date for our annual ball at Witney Lakes: Friday 17th November, put it in your diary now! The committee will meet again in September to organise all sorts of fun for the term and we will let you know as soon as we have more details.
Thank you for your continued support.

WIDOWS FUEL ALLOTMENT CHARITY

We are a charity which pays out small monetary gifts to Widows/Widowers
and pensioners at Christmas time. If you are one of the above and a resident of the village and would like some extra money at Christmas please let me know.
Fred Bellenger          841189        f.bellenger@sky.com

COFFEE MORNING IN AID OF MACMILLAN AS PART OF THEIR LARGEST COFFEE MORNING

Friday 29th September 9.00 a.m. onwards at The Chequers, Brize Norton. Coffee, tea and homemade cakes. All welcome and we would love to see everyone on the day.

‘COFFEE MORNING’ AFTERNOON

You are invited to a ‘Coffee Morning’ in the afternoon on Friday 29th September 2017 2.00pm until 4.00pm at the Elderbank Hall. There will be refreshments, tombola and fundraising competitions. Donated cakes to eat and sell would be welcomed as would items for tombola prizes. 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)

WITNEY AND CARTERTON HEALTH WALKS

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.

ALLOTMENT NEWS

The next half yearly meting for allotment holders will be on Monday 2 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 - clerk@brizenortonparishcouncil.co.uk to be added to the short waiting list.

YOUR VILLAGE POST OFFICE - AT YOUR SERVICE

Michael your postmaster attends the Sports Pavilion on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9.30am and 12.30pm. Your village Post Office provides all of the traditional post office services. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE

CHECKS TO ENSURE RESIDENTS SLEEP SAFELY

Free electric blanket safety checks are being offered to residents. The checks, part of a joint home safety scheme run by West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council, are taking place on 4 October in Witney and 18 October in Chipping Norton. Safety check appointments must be pre-booked and are done on a first-come, first served basis. To book call 01993 861000. Last year, 178 blankets were tested in the district and 34 (19 per cent) failed and in the last five years, of around 1,000 blankets tested, more than 20 per cent have failed. Old or damaged electric blankets cause more than 5,000 fires a year in the UK. Each year around 20 people are killed and 100 injured as a result of such fires. Research has shown blankets that are 10 years old or more are responsible for 99% of these fires. Danger signs include: worn or frayed fabric; scorch marks; tie tapes damaged; worn or damaged flex and damaged or displaced heating wires. It is advised to always buy new and look out for a European Certification Mark such as the BEAB safety mark.

BRIZE NORTON FOOTBALL CLUB

The Club will be running 2 teams again this Year with the 1sts in Division 2 and Reserves in Division 4. 

Rob Hook will be running the 1sts again this season with Kev Ridgway and Ryan Chapman taking charge of the Reserves. We would like to thank Mark Carpenter for his excellent work with the Reserve team. Oliver Puddle took over as Club Chairman at the AGM after Steve Carpenter stood down after a number of years as Chairman and before that many more as Secretary and player. Again we would like to say a Big Thank You to Steve for all his hard work. 

Pre-season training is well under way and has seen a lot of new faces which is very positive. We have a good selection of pre-season friendlies against teams from both the Witney & District League and further afield. Training is on Tuesday evenings from 6.30pm at The Rec until October before we switch to Carterton Artificial pitch from 8-9pm. 

The season starts on 2nd September with both the 1sts and Reserves in action at home on the same day. A full list of Friendlies and Septembers fixtures can be viewed on our Website.

BAMPTON PHYSIOTHERAPY

Gym ball classes at Elderbank Hall on Wednesdays 7.15pm – 8.00pm. All abilities and ages welcome. Contact us on 01993 851753 bamptonphysio@btconnect.com www.bampton-physiotherapy.co.uk

20 20 20:

20 minutes of three different types of exercise, £5 per session, Wednesday nights, Elderbank Hall, 8-9pm, Call Steph 07970 831061

BRIZE NORTON WOMEN'S INSTITUTE

We were suitably enthralled by the dexterity of our speaker in June who was Christine Green.  She told us about how she got into paper cutting and proceeded to show us how she cut paper with a scalpel into intricate words which had to be all joined up so as to not unravel. Our July speaker was Captain Kamran Irani who is a Blood Rider.  We were given a talk about how the idea of transporting blood and other blood products on motorbikes came about.  They are all volunteers and mostly work when the NHS are short of staff during the weekends and at night.  They also transport mother's milk to baby units.  Also in July we held our promotion table at The Village Bash and it was interesting to meet some younger ladies who were interested in joining the WI but unfortunately were not from Brize Norton. We went to Upton House in August on a very wet day but we were met by two lovely ladies who shadowed us all day and made sure we made the most of our day despite the weather. The Restaurant food and staff were also excellent. During the next few months we have the following talks to look forward to:- 12th September Hilarious Hats by Alexandra Stanbrook 10th October Ragbag and Cocktail by Julia Miles 14th November Christmas Crafts by Lottie Baxter We meet at Elderbank Hall on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm and all are welcome. Sue Calcutt

BRIZE NORTON OVER 60’s CLUB

We have enjoyed our coach trip to Stratford, meal at The Chequers and tea by the canal at Thrupp. The cream tea at The Chequers was in memory of Jean Chester and was excellent; thanks to the staff. We are a village group of 26 members. We meet twice a month with either an outing or a meeting on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month. We meet at 4 Squires Close at 2pm and enjoy sandwiches, tea and home-made cakes or scones, thanks to June, Connie and Benita. Our future programme is as follows:

Tues 5th September Cream tea and games Tues 19th September Meal at the Rose Revived Tues 3rd October AGM and Quiz Tues 17th October Coach trip to Cirencester Tues 7th November Sing along with Susan on Guitar Tues 21st November Coffee Morning 10.30am at Joy’s, Bring and Buy Raffle, Everyone welcome Tues 5th December Christmas table decorations Tues 19th December Christmas Meal at the Trout, Lechlade For more information, ring Joy on 842373

WILDLIFE TRUST LAUNCHES APPEAL TO BUY ‘MISSING PIECE OF WILDLIFE JIGSAW’ BESIDE THE RIVER THAMES.

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal to raise £220,000 towards the purchase price of farmland at Duxford Old River, one of the vital missing pieces of a vast jigsaw for wildlife. This will create the first nature reserve to cover both sides of the river anywhere along the Thames. The Trust’s Chimney Meadows nature reserve is just across the river from the farmland at Duxford, so the Trust will be able to create one of the largest nature reserves in Oxfordshire.
 
Neil Clennell, the Trust’s Director of Conservation & Education for Oxfordshire explains: “If the Trust’s appeal is successful we’ll let Mother Nature take the lead, with just a little bit of help from us to get things going. At 113 acres the Duxford Old River land is in many ways a vast blank canvas with so much potential for wildlife. We hope that Duxford Old River will develop into a wonderful, complementary mosaic of habitats to the meadows that we created on the northern bank of the river, completing this part of the upper Thames wildlife jigsaw.”
 
The Trust would allow the Thames to flood onto the land and hold water in ponds and pools, providing much-needed and undisturbed habitats for curlew and lapwing to breed, and large flocks of birds such as snipe and teal to overwinter here. New backwaters and a fish pass will give safe havens for fish to spawn and insects to thrive, providing more food for bats and birds.
 
BBOWT has applied to trusts and grant-making bodies for funds to contribute to the purchase of the land at Duxford Old River. The public appeal for £220,000 will also contribute to the purchase.
 
You can give to the Duxford Old River appeal via this website: bit.ly/DuxfordOldRiver

CALENDAR OF EVENTS – please refer to newsletter for further information

Sunday 27 August 44th Brize Norton Horticultural Show
Monday 4 September Parish Council meeting 7.30pm The Pavilion
Friday 29 September Macmillan coffee morning 9am onwards The Chequers
Friday 29 September Macmillan coffee ‘afternoon’ 2pm to 4pm The Elderbank Hall
Monday 2 October Allotment Holders meeting 7pm The Pavilion
Monday 2 October Parish Council meeting 7.30pm The Pavilion
Wednesday 4 October Electric blanket testing, Witney – pre-book
Friday 3 November Brize Norton November bonfire event. Watch out for more information, contact tonyshillingford@yahoo.co.uk for more information
Monday 6 November Parish Council meeting 7.30pm The Pavilion
Tuesday 21 November Over 60’s Club Coffee Morning 10.30am at Joy’s - All welcome
Monday 4 December Parish Council meeting 7.30pm The Pavilion
Sunday 31 December Family New Year’s Eve Party, currently in the planning stage, please get
               in touch if you have ideas or would like to help, contact tonyshillingford@yahoo.co.uk

 

All entries for inclusion in the December 2017 issue should be received by Garry Griffin
at garry.griffin@tesco.net by 14th November 2017.