Baldons Parish Council News Oct 22
Baldons Parish Council News
Retirement of John Maskell
John’s attendance at his final meeting of the council was on Monday 12th September. A number of members of the village were present to hear John make a short speech and receive the thanks of the council for all his commitment and hard work for the community and Toot Baldon. He will be a hard act to follow.
The council is hoping to be able to co-opt a new councillor in the next few weeks to serve for the remaining duration of this Parish Council pending elections for a new council in May 2023.
Southern track renovations
Progress on the track renovations has been delayed by the company due to the recent rain. It is hoped to start before the end of September.
Drainage work
The Highways department have recently dug out drains in the Croft and Baldon Row in an endeavour to deal with flooding problems on the road during the winter. We were hoping for some drain repairs in Toot Baldon but it seems unlikely this is going to happen before the winter. The situation will be monitored and referred back to highways should we have heavy rain and flooding problems.
Oxford Traffic Filter consultation from Sept 5th to 3rd October
As part of its wider transport strategy Oxfordshire County Council in conjunction with the City Council are consulting on additional measures to control traffic in Oxford with the aim of reducing cars, improving air quality, encouraging more cycling, walking and bus use. A traffic filter is a short section of road which can only be used by some types of vehicles at certain times.
Six traffic filters are proposed on main roads in Oxford. When they’re operating, private cars will not be allowed through without a permit. All other vehicles will be allowed at all times.
The effect of the traffic filters will be to prevent car journeys through the centre of the city requiring drivers to find alternative routes via the ring road, an already busy and congested road These measures are proposed as temporary, initially for 6 months, from the summer 2023 and will be monitored.
They are in addition to other measures being implemented e.g., Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, (LTN’s) and the Zero emission zone about which much has been written for and against in the local media.
The plans can be seen at OCC letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/traffic-filters-2022. The survey and supporting documents are available from 5 September.
A Published leaflet on the proposals will it is hoped to have been circulated on Village email. The Parish Council will be submitting a response, but we would encourage villagers to be aware of the plans and respond if you wish to.
Classic Car Meetings
We have been asked to consider supporting the organisation of classic car rallies on the village green once a month next summer. A few villages already have a classic car meeting and a number of years ago a small number of cars did meet outside the pub occasionally. This might be a bigger event. The council have asked for more information about numbers, frequency and parking arrangements.
Planning applications
35 The Green P22/S2599/HH An Application for a side and rear 2 storey extension. The council has agreed to support the application.
2 Queens Barn, Toot Baldon P22/S2613/HH An application for a 2-bay garage and log store. The council will be expressing its concern at the details of the plan and are aware of SODC concern at the impact on neighbouring trees.
Hillfield Farm, Toot Baldon P22/S2800/HH An application for a Loft conversion on an existing barn conversion to create an additional bedroom . The Parish Council has agreed to support the application.
Now that the village hall has an internet connection it is hope that in future it can be used to view planning application on the SODC website during council meetings which could make decision making easier. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to successfully log in this month.
Date of next meeting 14th November, 7.30 pm, Village Hall.
