The Website
The Baldons Parish Council serves the villages of Marsh, Toot and Little Baldon in Oxfordshire.
This is our website. We hope you find it useful.
Please contact us if you have questions concerning the work of the Parish Council, if you have any concerns that you feel the Council should be aware of or where it can help or support you.
You can use the navigation menu to find your way around the site.
The Baldons Community website is the place to come for information about our parishes.
Looking for an interest group or upcoming events? Need to know the times for the Mobile Library or Fireworks Night? You're in the right place
Using the Baldons Community website you can stay up to date in the areas that you care about. Just look down the menu on the left to see what is going on in the Baldons. Click on a section to see more. A plus sign means there are sub-sections to go into.
Content & Contacts
We rely on local people to help keep content up to date. Ideas and suggestions? Please contact Peter Burke
Newsletters.jpg)
You can find an archive of newsletters going back to 2014 by clicking here
Covid-19
This is a crisis time for the community. A good source of up to date information from the 
Government is here.
We need to support each other in the Baldons through this unusual period.
We need to identify those who might need help in the Baldons: people in self isolation because they have or have been exposed to the virus and those in isolation because they may be vulnerable to coronavirus.
We also need to identify a list of volunteers and how they might help. The most important skill is a willingness to help and a can do attitude.
To this end, we would like to create a more accurate database of who is in the village, including contact details and age. We also want to know if you are willing to help and how. In parallel we are looking into the GDPR aspects of this, but you can be reassured we will not be misusing your data. If you wish to take part in this exercise, please email:
More information about the local group is here
Update (24 March 2020) is here
Parish Council update (1 April 2020) is
here
An update on Waste arrangements is here
Peter Day
We are sad to announce that Prof Peter Day, a much-loved local resident, died on 19th May. He had a distinguished career as an inorganic chemist and his many honours included being Director of the Royal Institution. Obituary here. He will be greatly missed by his family and many friends. RIP.
New Solar Farm Proposed At Nineveh Farm
This is a significant proposal which is likely to impact on the village. See here for details of the proposal, and here for the Parish Council's Response.
NB If you want to make your views known, please do so by 29th May.
There was a public exhibition webinar on Friday 22 May and the outcome of this should soon be published.
Full details from the developers:
https://www.ensoenergy.co.uk/proposed-projects/southoxfordshire/
Recycling Centres reopening for essential items
See here for details
New Baldons and Nuneham Courtenay Facebook Community Group
This Community group has now been set up. It is a closed group. Local people can apply to join by following this link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/649072455902829/.
This is a useful resource for those who want to communicate with neighbours to offer or request help at these difficult times.
Pandemic Scammers
Beware! Here is a warning from the County Council about unscrupulous people who are taking advantage of the pandemic to swindle the public.
Painted Stones Around The Villages
Seen them? More here
Cockadoo Closure
Sadly our beloved local pub/restaurant, the Cockadoo at Nuneham Courtenay, has been forced to close. The statement from the management can be read here:
http://www.baldons.org.uk/news.php?template=2&id=631
The two local pubs in the Baldons, the Seven Stars and the Mole, remain in business, though they are subject to national requirements on pub opening arising from the coronavirus outbreak. Details are on the websites:
https://www.sevenstarsonthegreen.co.uk/
https://themoleinn.com/
Seven Stars Take-out service and shop
We have added new takeaway menus and changed the current ones, For details click here
We are offering a convenience store for: eggs, bread, milk and other commodities. Details here.
The Team thank you & the village for all your continued support at this hard time
Alistair
Seven Stars, The Green, Marsh Baldon, Oxford, OX44 9LP
Tel: 01865 343337
Email: info@sevenstarsonthegreen.co.uk
Website: www.sevenstarsonthegreen.co.uk
Baldons waste Collections
Details here.
Local Plan
There is a revised SODC Local Plan with huge implications for this community. See here for details. This is currently a subject of dispute between the new LibDem / Green Council and central Government.
Gravel Extraction
There is a proposal from Oxford County Council to develop a large gravel extraction site north of Nuneham Courtenay, between the A4074 and the Thames. This is being opposed in the strongest terms by the local community and by the Brahma Kumaris, who will be greatly impacted. The consultation period ended on 14 March but is is still no harm to let your views be known.
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Or you can do so online at:
Proposed Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.png)
This has become a huge issue locally.
Latest Update (26 Nov 2019):
In advance of next month's general election, last week the Expressway Action Group (EAG) conducted a survey of all 27 prospective parliamentary candidates in Oxfordshire asking them whether they support or oppose the proposed Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.
Of the 20 that responded or indicated a position, from the Conservative, Lib Dem, Labour, Independent, Green, Brexit and other parties not one supported the scheme. All were against, reflecting the county-wide opposition to the scheme.
Full details and comments from all candidates can be seen at www.expresswayactiongroup.com.
The general consensus in detailed responses was that the investment would be better spent on improving the rail infrastructure and sorting out A34 congestion as this would cause least harm to the environment and reduce travel times.
The Previous Update (24 July 2019) can be accessed here.
The Expressway Action Group now has has in excess of 35 parishes involved including the Baldons Parish Council The steering group lead by Peter Rutt has Elizabeth Gillespie, Dawn McGiveron and John Clark as members and the group is a stakeholder representing the various villages and providing information to support the evaluation of the route option The group are not opposing the road in principle but by providing information on biodiversity and ecology and the views of local communities aim to help Highways England make the best possible evaluation of the scheme taking account of practicalities, problems and costs. We still hope to provide enough information to ensure that the recommended route goes north and west of Oxford. For full details see here.
Follow this link to see a Google map of the proposed corridor. You can zoom in and out to get a better idea. At the moment maps from Highways England are poor and we are chasing them for more accurate boundaries.
You can find Highways England's detailed "reasoning" for their choice here. There is a summary booklet here.
The Expressway and its 1 million new houses is therefore going ahead - and where the road is placed will determine the housing developments.
The plan is to accommodate 300,000 more homes in Oxfordshire and ~900,000 more residents. This is double the existing number of houses and will, needless to say, profoundly change the nature of the county, never mind our immediate environment.
Highways England will now start a 12 month program of on-the-ground studies of potential routes within the corridor, and by Autumn 2019 they will be ready with a shortlist of 5 or 6 ‘best options’ routes which they will take into a Public Consultation.
This will be via a series of open meetings across the area where residents, businesses and environmental groups can express opinion on each route option, point out errors and omissions and generally participate / feed back to the Highways team. Our understanding is that the Consultation will be led by Highways’ routes team rather than via our local Councils.
We believe that one of the key deciders in final route selection will be the relative environmental and wildlife harm each route would cause - and during the 12 months that Highways are studying the two branches of the corridor for routes, they have said they will be looking not just at the ‘known’ wildlife reserves like Otmoor and the SSSI’s but also at unlisted sites with rare and special wildlife and habitat. We can help with this!
Highways have told us that all the wildlife / heritage and environmental data you all supplied to them via EAG’s portal has been added to their maps, and will influence the routes: but this extra 12 month field study gives all EAG member parishes and communities a new ‘window’ to send in more and better wildlife and other data to the Highways technical teams, so they know where to look for special sites and high-risk areas.
The earlier we can get this to them the better: Waterstock has been gathering wildlife evidence in their wetlands and river areas using static wildlife ‘trail’ cameras, and in Cuddesdon we’re doing the same, using low-cost cameras we found on Amazon for less than £60... Why not ask your local wildlife people where the best spots are, and join in? Let us know if you can help, and we’ll co-ordinate and submit to Highways’ team as before.
The Parish Council will be sending out further information in due course.
The Expressway action group (EAG) are seeking more information from the Highways about the route planning to give a better idea of those communities likely to be most affected by the options and those less so.
It is also likely that villages will have to undertake substantial fundraising and campaigning in preparation for and the during the consultation period in 2019.
Dawn McGiveron and John Clark are on the committee of the Expressway Action Group.
The Baldons Neighbourhood Plan
The Neighbourhood Plan is important because it will give residents a say on future development in the Baldons. The Parish Council shares the view that people will want to take the opportunity to influence the future of the place where they live or work and that the Plan for the Parish should be written by the Parish rather than by Planning Officers.
Latest update here
For full details read here
Please contact us on: baldonsplan@gmail.com.
The Baldons Neighbourhood Plan Referendum Result
The Baldons neighbourhood plan received an overwhelming majority ‘YES’ vote at referendum on the 4th October 2018. The official results are:
Electorate eligible to vote: 320
Votes Cast: 154 or 48.1%
Votes Yes: 140
Votes No: 14
Details have been posted on the SODC website
http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/planning-policy/neighbourhood-plans/baldons-neighbourhood-
Reports will now go to members of the Cabinet and then Council to formally adopt the plan.
Newsletters
Click here to see an archive of parish newsletters
Teenagers for tennis?
I would like to guage interest in the idea of a simple youth tennis tournament as a way of the under 18s in the area to meet one another in a fun way.
If enough people are interested to get critical mass, we can start to think about date, courts and format.
Please send me an email at domnewland@yahoo.co.uk if you are interested in hearing more or getting involved.
Dom Newland
Baldon Runners
The Runners hope to be out and about
again soon, at 8 am on Saturdays.
Click here for details
South Oxfordshire Local Plan
The Council which was elected in May 2019 has decided not to adopt the Plan developed by the previous Council. This decision has been overruled by The Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick. SODC is challenging this decision. Watch this space.
Defibrillator on the Village Green
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Grenoble Road and the Green Belt
There is still a threat to the Green Belt. Details here
Upcoming events
See bottom of page
Fast broadband
This is now live in most parts of the villages. Contact your internet provider or look on www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when for details.
Upcoming Events
