Nuneham Courtenay Parish Council News

 

Buses

Let’s start with some good news. Oxfordshire County Council has kept its word about reinstating the 45 bus through Nuneham Courtenay that was suspended in January when the bus companies could not find enough drivers to run all the services they were supposed to.

 

The 45 bus is running again on Mondays to Fridays (excluding public holidays) between Abingdon, Berinsfield, Nuneham Courtenay, Rose Hill and the Cowley Centre. The first buses from the village towards the Cowley Centre are at 8.18am and 9.12am. They are then hourly from 10.22am to 2.22pm. The final two are at 5.11pm and 6.11pm.

 

Going towards Berinsfield and Abingdon the first bus is at 7.32am on school days and at 7.37 otherwise. The next one is at 9.15am. The bus is hourly from 10.13am to 2.13pm. The final two are at 3.19pm and 5.56pm.

 

The parish council is glad to have contributed in a small way to achieving this outcome and is now pressing the County Council to recommission the X38 to provide an hourly service into Oxford via the Abingdon Road.

 

If the proposed traffic filters come into existence, the Abingdon Road will no longer be a route to the railway station or even the Westgate Centre car park so it will be a really quick route into Oxford City Centre for buses.

 

Electoral register

Some of you may have received a yellow reminder letter from South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) asking you to confirm or update your details.  This Electoral Register will be used for the SODC and parish council elections due next May.

Being on the Electoral Register may not get you a direct say in who becomes Prime Minister but you do get a say in choosing your MP and your local councillors, so do make sure you’re on the register.

 

Parking bays

The parish council has contacted the County Council about the way bus bays have been repainted so parking spaces have been lost. 
The County Council has admitted its mistake and has undertaken to reinstate the parking spaces.

 

Solar Farm

South Oxfordshire’s Planning Committee is due to meet on 21^st September to discuss giving the huge solar farm between this parish and Grenoble Road an extra five years.

The Planning Officer is recommending that the committee approves the application on the argument it hardly makes it any worse. The Planning Committee originally approved the solar farm to run for 35 years and the applicants now want to be allowed to run it for 40 years.

 

20mph speed limit

A spreadsheet on Oxfordshire County Council’s website shows that the 20mph speed limit for the main road through the village requested by the parish council is not going to happen this financial year but is listed for next financial year, 2023-24, but there are no further details yet.

 

Science Park extension

The parish council is concerned to hear that all the construction traffic for the huge extension proposed to the Science Park beside the A4074 may be sent south through Nuneham Courtenay because our Sandford neighbours have argued, quite understandably, they don’t want northbound lorries going through Sandford to reach the A4074.  Is there an alternative? Could not the lorries go along Grenoble Road instead to the B480?

 

Playing Field

What a joy it is to be able to walk on the Playing Field again. I can’t actually remember when it last looked so tidy. If you have not seen it, take a look. It’s a very welcome sight.

 

Records

I had to go to the Oxfordshire History Centre at Cowley to examine some old records for another council so, while I was there, I checked this Council’s original minute book has been correctly catalogued and is available to read. And it is.

This Council only came into being in 1973 and the first minute book covers the Council’s first 69 meetings, up to July 1985. In that time, it had just three different chairmen and two different clerks. The present Council deposited the minute book with the Oxfordshire History Centre over four years ago so it would be safe and at the same time available for anyone to see.

 

Meetings
The Council met on Tuesday 6th September and discussed lots of things, many of them already mentioned above. No one has yet come forward to fill the vacancy on the Council, so do contact me or any of the four existing councillors if you’re interested.

 

The next ordinary meeting of the Council will not be until Tuesday 1^st November.