Category: News

The Bartons need your help. Did you know there could be no public transport serving our community from 2016?

You may not need it now but the young and old need it now and in the future.

You are invited to a public meeting at Middle Barton Sports and Social club to share ideas and to listen to speakers who will talk about the way forward. It concerns the future vitality of our village. Time is running out fast so please find the time to attend.

Saturday 28 November 2015, 15:00 – 18:00
Jubilee room, Middle Barton Sports & Social Club

FREE refreshments will be avalible

Details of Oxfordshire County Council’s budget savings consultation for 2016/17

As government reduces funding to local government, the county council has to continue to make budget savings. At the same time demand for our services is increasing, partly due to our ageing and growing population, and increasing demand for children’s social care services is going up.

The council has already saved – or has plans to save – a total of £292 million between 2010/11 and 2017/18. We now think we will need to save up to £50 million more in the four years between 2016/17 and 2019/20.

As a result the council will have to make some tough decisions. Some county council services will be reduced and some may stop altogether. The services left will be targeted at those who really depend on them – particularly children at risk of abuse and neglect, and adults who cannot look after themselves.

How to take part in the consultation

Please take the time to read through the consultation document and savings options (PDF, 68Kb) and feedback your thoughts in the context of the budget limitations the council is facing. You can comment on any or all of them. You can also give us your views on our overall priorities, Council Tax levels and the council’s budget in general.

Comments close on 30th November.

Savings options

Read savings options and comment on them using the links below. You can give your views on any or all of them.

• Adult Social Care
• Children, Education and Families
• Corporate Services
• Environment and Economy
• Fire and Rescue and Trading Standards
• Libraries & Cultural Services

Council Tax levels

Another way to protect frontline services is to raise Council Tax levels. How different increases in Council Tax would affect bills and lead to savings – give your views.

General comments

We are also seeking feedback on the overall purpose and priorities for the council and inviting general comments on the council’s savings options. Have your say.

Come to a public meeting

Find out more and share your views with the Leader of the Council. These events are free and open to all, but we anticipate that there will be a high demand for spaces at these meetings.

We are asking everyone to register in advance so we can manage numbers. All the meetings are from 7–8.30pm.

Tuesday 27 October
County Hall
New Road
Oxford

Monday 2 November
Town Hall
Bridge Street
Banbury

Thursday 5 November
The Regal Centre
9 St Martin’s Street
Wallingford

Respond on paper

You will also be able to pick up a copy of the consultation document at your local library or at a county council office shortly after 20 October.

What will happen to the consultation results?

All the feedback we receive will be collated and summarised and sent to the performance scrutiny committee when it considers the budget options on 17 December 2015.

All the feedback will be taken into account by Cabinet when it considers its budget proposals on 26 January 2016 and by all councillors at Councilwhen it meets to sets its budget on 16 February 2016.

The winter road salt has been ordered.

The Parish Council can supply a small amount of salt for private use.

If anyone is interested in having some salt for private use, please telephone Cllr Stranks on 01869 340644 or email: rogerstranks@talktalk.net

On behalf of the of the fete committee, a big thank you to everyone, both adults and children, who took part in the first ever Scarecrow Competition that we have held in Duns Tew. They gave much enjoyment to everyone who saw them and has been a talking point of village life especially after one was stolen!! We even made it into the Banbury Guardian.

I personally was impressed by how creative and inventive everyone was and in my eyes you were all winners.

A big thank you to Michael the Manager at the White Horse Inn for really getting behind the Fete and helping out in so many ways and particularly being brave enough to be the judge for this year’s competition. The winners were as follows:

• Adult Competition: H.R.H The Queen by Ann Osborne and grandsons
• Children’ s Competition: Foxy Locky by The Brookes Family Children

I am planning to use photographs of the scarecrows to create a Duns Tew Calendar for 2016. This will be available to buy for the first time on the night of the Progressive Supper in the Village Hall on Saturday 19th September 2015 and then throughout the rest of the year via the website.

Scarecrow Competition 2016

Plans for next year are already in progress so get your thinking caps on!!

The theme for 2016 with be The Circus and this will be incorporated into the fete and hopefully some other events in the build up to the big day. We hope to start the whole process off earlier and have a Scarecrow trail mapped out for everyone and also for visitors to the village. Look out for further details which will be announced in the coming months.

For further information about the scarecrow competition or how to get involved in helping out or being part of the planning committee responsible for all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make the fete such a successful event year after year, then please contact me . We work hard but we also have some fun at the same time.

If you have any further suggestions or would like to feedback about the fete in general then please do. This will help us in planning to make 2016 an even bigger hit. My contact details are below

Philip Giorgi
Little Steine, Hill Farm Lane
01869 347839
pwgiorgi@aol.com

Autism Oxford is delighted to be providing Oxfordshire’s first Autism Alert Card Scheme, which offers a card free to anyone on the Autism Spectrum in Oxfordshire.

For more information visit: http://www.autismoxford.org.uk/index.php/alert-card

For details of when to dial 101 click here; https://www.police.uk/contact/101/

Non emergencies can be reported to Thames Valley Police by using the new 101 number or online at www.thamesvalley.police.uk/reportonline.

To receive FREE crime alerts and info about where you live via, email, phone or text, register at: www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk