District Council March 2022 report

Published: 11 March 2022

SODC Monthly Briefing - March 2022

Cllr Caroline Newton, Haseley Brook Ward

A slim report this month.

Ukraine

SODC has confirmed its sympathy with the people of Ukraine and its readiness to respond should it be asked to support refugees in this district. It lists on its website official routes for donating money to help the efforts.

I know many residents in this ward and elsewhere are keen to do more than ‘merely’ to donate money, and feel frustrated that there seems to be no way to give more active support at the moment. I share this frustration, but recognise that valuable officer-time can be diverted by uncoordinated local efforts, particularly when it comes to individuals offering spare-rooms etc.

Nonetheless, I am looking at how, in this ward, we might be able to bring our resources and goodwill together to offer some possible small-scale solutions.

Parking

From Monday 4 April, new charges will be introduced at SODC car parks across the district, including Thame, Wallingford and Henley.

There will be a new charging period from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and an increase in parking fees.

In the meantime, work is due to start shortly on the installation of electric vehicle charging points in the car park at Southern Road in Thame. Several bays will be fended off temporarily and there will be some short-term disruption to the car park. The work on installation of EV points in all SODC car parks is due to be completed by the end of March, and the chargers will be available for use once they have been fully tested.

Councillor Community Grants

I am delighted to have been able to support a range of valuable local initiatives through this year’s Councillor Community Grant scheme which gave me £5000 to distribute to schemes designed to benefit residents in the Haseley Brook ward.

I have allocated money to refurbish the skate ramp at Tetsworth, to install new bins in Postcombe and Little Milton and some new picnic benches at the playground in Lewknor. As we watch the horror of the war in Ukraine, it is particularly moving to have been able to contribute to restoring the War Memorial in Great Haseley and to buying trees in Little Milton recreation ground to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War II.

I am pleased also to be funding a First Aid course for residents in the Haseleys - and, across the ward, an awareness campaign about urology cancers, activities for elderly people delivered by Age UK, and support from Wild Oxfordshire for communities seeking to regenerate nature.