The Grapevine Magazine November 2008 Issue No 236 Other Issues Home

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Village Playground

A few months back we asked if there was interest in having a playground built near the village hall and the overwhelming response was “yes!”

It may seem that all has gone quiet and we have lost interest but in fact we have been working hard to research options and liaise with the Village Hall Trustees and Parish Council to gain approval to go ahead.

We are hoping we will have that approval in December at which point we can start to engage the local community properly on the actual playground design.

Watch this space for more information and ways you can get involved in the new year.

Thank you,

Shannon Heiberg	Heather Weston	Victoria Balls
01844 355 904	01844 350 040	01844 352 277

RECREATION GROUND
to be added

The Fantastic Fireworks at The Lambert Arms

The Lambert Arms, London Road, Aston Rowant, Tel: 01844 351496 www.lambertarms.com opened up its grounds inviting the local community to enjoy Bonfire Night on 5th November, an offer which was taken up by over 1,000 residents.

There was free entry for all, free entertainment and a complimentary, mouth-watering hog roast with toffee apples and marshmallow sticks for the children. This was The Lambert Arms’ way of unveiling its new look to the locals, showing its inimitable approach to good hospitality. Fire eaters, face painting and a bucking bronco, were just some of the exciting activities to enjoy, with spot prizes for the best children’s fancy dress. General manager Neal Tripp comments: ‘With the community at heart, we built a hardcore road to the bonfire site so that people could walk safely and in comfort. We erected a marquee, we built an outside bar and spent two days building the bonfire for everyone to enjoy. It was rewarding to see how much pleasure the young and the young-at-heart from the community drew from this event’.

The Lambert Arms spared no expense in ensuring that the fireworks display would be one to be remembered, lighting up Aston Rowant sky for a good 15 minutes. The Lambert Arms’ then invited spectators inside to warm up inside by the roaring fires

Letters to the Editor:

From Barbara Mullins.

“The grand amount of £338.45 was given to this year’s Poppy Appeal, £64.11 up on last year.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed, and thanks also to Eileen, Paul and Heather for their help”

From Christine Smith:

“After filling in my questionnaire in last month’s Grapevine about the church, I started wondering if, anyone out there shared my views, so I decided to publish my thoughts here, with the aim of promoting discussion and feedback!

1. Sunday School: Most churches have an area with carpet, small tables & chairs and supply an assortment of cuddly toys, games, crayons etc. It’s not necessary to spend much money to achieve this. What makes a good Sunday School is the quality of the person in charge, who must be liked by both the children and their parents. In the past the school rooms were used for Sunday School.
2. Toilet Facilities: I have no objection, but please don’t use lack of toilets as a reason for poor church attendance. I hope it would be solidly constructed, no cheap plastic or laminate. Who will clean it?
3. Seating: Am I the only person who actually likes the Victorian pews? Pews are more practical, they fit many more people, for example at a wedding or funeral or school assemblies. People can squash together in a friendly way, so many modern church chairs are ugly and the cost of new furniture far outweighs its usefulness.
4. Refreshments: There are already kettles and teabags in the church. Refreshments require people to provide them and people to consume them, not expensive kitchen facilities.
5. Other Uses for the Church: The church has always been available for functions. It is not necessary to spend thousands of pounds to make it so. We already have a village hall which is available for concerts, dramas and film screenings but nobody seems to want to organise them or attend them. People who want to watch a film either go to the cinema or rent a DVD. Do we really need two village halls in our small village?
6. Other Comments: The events/activities which the PCC want to promote – the new life which they want to breathe into the church all requires people – enthusiastic people – not thousands spent on modernization. They risk spoiling the beauty of this lovely building and its function as the only quiet spiritual haven in an increasingly noisy, secular community – somewhere quiet and peaceful, available to any individual in need of uccour, prayer or simple meditation and thoughtful silence.

It is not modern facilities that keep a church alive – it is people – they will spend thousands and the church will still be almost empty on Sundays. If the Parochial Church Council has spare time, energy and money why not use it to help people in our community – for example setting up a home visiting scheme for the lonely or elderly, a weekly get together for mothers with young children or spot/social activities for teenagers. They could provide transport between our villages or even train a part time youth leader. Initiatives like these could make people think that Christianity had some relevance in their lives.”

An Interactive Museum for Children!

Young people can now take an interactive step into the past thanks to a free series of activities at The Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. Boys and girls visiting the Children's Gallery can find out how their counterparts would have appeared in Roman, Medieval, Victorian and World War Two times by dressing up in costume.

Getting younger people involved:
Other attractions in the gallery at the Oxfordshire County Council-run museum include activity boxes with historical objects to handle, a display of toys from the museum service collections and a chance to make a magnetic picture of Jurassic Oxfordshire. Children can also delve into a trolley with items to make - such as a hedgehog mask and a Roman paper doll and view a display of drawings made by youngsters visiting the museum.

The new gallery is designed to get younger people more involved in understanding and enjoying museum collections through play. Family friendly: Oxfordshire County Council Museum Education Officer Christina Parker, who came up with the Children's Gallery idea after seeing similar rooms in American museums, said: "The whole museum is family friendly with lots for children to do throughout and I hope that children will see this as a special space for them "But at the same time, the activities encourage exploration of the rest of the museum as the gallery complements the other attractions here, rather than it being a separate entity. "I first saw children's activity galleries in museums in the United States and it's been an ambition of mine for many years to design one. I am thrilled to finally do so at The Oxfordshire Museum. "There's so much to do that the children can visit time and time again. It is already proving very popular." The Children's Gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 2pm to 5pm, the same times as the rest of the museum. There is no need to book to take part.

Online family history records now at all county libraries:
People wanting to find out more about their family history can now delve into the past online in all Oxfordshire libraries. History enthusiasts can use ‘Ancestry’, one of the most popular internet sources for family history, free of charge in the county's 43 libraries thanks to Oxfordshire County Council's annual subscription with the website's publisher and a £5,000 cash injection. The website gives access to records including censuses and information on births, marriages and deaths.

This service was previously only available in the county's five largest libraries.

Oxfordshire County Council's Principal Librarian for Information Services, Katharine Spackman said: "Ancestry is an excellent source of information for people wanting to find out more about their family's history "I hope that lots of people of all ages will take up this opportunity and enjoy the facilities that our libraries have to offer."

More historical information including a chance to view editions of The Times from as far back as 1785, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and hundreds of information books online are also available through the County Council's Reference Online service at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/referenceonline.
Marcus Mabberley:Communications Officer Oxfordshire County Council 01865810190

The Book club at Lewknor

In November we read “Redemption Falls” by Joseph O’Connor with high hopes it would match his earlier book the best seller “Star of the Sea”. It proved something of a disappointment but that might have been because it suffered by comparison. The book is mainly set in the Northwest Territory of 19th century North America in the aftermath of the Civil War but is narrated by a relative of one of the main characters in the early 20th century using letters, newspaper cuttings, and songs of the time. As a result the time frame tends to be disjointed and the first hundred pages are hard going. However, the descriptions of the harshness of the climate and the hardness of life in the post-war United States, with people displaced and coming to terms with a different life, are vivid and while the characters are rarely likeable, the story builds to a powerful climax and ends with the solving of one mystery but the introduction of another.

In December we are reading “The House Unlocked” by Penelope Lively and then in the New Year we are rereading the classic novel , “Animal Farm” by George Orwell,. then “The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher” by Kate Summerscales and after this “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” by Mark Herman.

We have seven regular members of the book club with guests from time to time. If you would like to join us for an evening of lively discussion which the book provokes, then you can contact me.

Elan Preston-Whyte.

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News from your District and County Councillors

County Councillor	Roger Belson	01491 612091
District Councillors	Rodney Mann	01844 281426
	Rev'd Angie Paterson	01491 614033

Councillors keep in touch with the Parish Council on issues relating to the different Councils and help work through local issues. We also try to attend Parish Council meetings on a regular basis. In addition we are happy for residents to contact us directly on specific personal issues whenever necessary.

COUNCIL CONTACT DETAILS

Council	Council Website	Main Switchboard	E-mail
Oxfordshire County Council	www.oxfordshire.gov.uk	01865 792422	online@oxfordshire.gov.uk
South Oxfordshire District Council	www.southoxon.gov.uk	01491 823000	info@southoxon.gov.uk

Join a new alarm database and stop alarms disturbing the neighbourhood...

South Oxfordshire District Council is encouraging local businesses and residents with loud intruder alarms installed in their properties, to join a new alarm database, with the aim of stopping alarms disturbing the neighbourhood if they go off by accident.

The council is responsible for stopping intruder alarms if they are causing annoyance. If an intruder alarm is set off accidentally, the owner not only risks annoying neighbours, but also paying the price if the council has to silence it. In certain circumstances, if the council can’t contact or locate the owner of the property where an alarm is sounding, it can obtain a warrant and force entry to the premise to silence the device, and then re-charge the owner the cost of the work to silence the alarm. This can cost in the region of £400 for officer time, cost of calling out an alarm engineer and locksmith.

The council has developed an online database where owners of loud intruder alarms can register their contact details, with the aim of preventing drastic action being necessary. If the council receives a complaint about an alarm, it can use the database to contact the relevant person in order to have the alarm switched off as soon as possible. To join the database, the owner of the premise needs to nominate two key holders who the council could contact 24/7 in the event of the alarm going off. The service is free and only the owners and authorised council officers can access the information.

Report Potholes!

Potholes are a regular topic of conversation. In order to try to keep on top of the repairs needed the County Council have set up a quick service for people to report them as they appear. If you see a pothole on the road or pavement you can either report it using the online form at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/potholes or by phoning 0845 310 11 11. The more information you can include about the location, size and severity of the potholes the better.

NEW HOUSEHOLD WASTE COLLECTION CONTRACT FROM JUNE 2009

SODC and the Vale DC are letting a joint waste collection and street cleansing contract which will become effective in South Oxfordshire in June 2009 (but not until autumn 2010 in the Vale).

The main driver for changing the existing services is the pressing need to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. There are three reasons for doing that – it is damaging to the environment; we are running out of landfill capacity – and we face huge fines from government if appropriate action is not taken. The selection process for the new contract is now well underway. Three companies have been short-listed and officers are now involved in detailed discussions about their proposals for the new service. All three are proposing similar solutions which will involve:

1. weekly separate food waste collections in kerbside bins
2. at least fortnightly collections of dry recyclables (including glass)
3. fortnightly residual waste collections in wheeled bins continuing with the (charged for) garden waste service in wheeled bins at least fortnightly collections of dry recyclables

Decisions on container types and sizes are still subject to negotiation, but officers will be consulting Town and Parish Councils and housing associations in order to identify those properties that may have difficulties storing and using wheeled bins and to devise alternative solutions. If you think that you might have a problem with wheelie bins, you should contact one of the Parish Councillors or the Clerk (Jeff Jefford on 01844 281449) to let them know

Free Christmas Parking:

South Oxfordshire District Council is providing free parking in all its pay and display car parks in the run up to Christmas. Starting on Saturday 6 December, all council car parks will be free in the afternoons from12.00 midday, every Saturday up to Christmas day. There is no need to buy a ticket, although the maximum stay still applies.

Advice on new planning rules for extensions to homes:

In October new rules from Central Government came into effect for people wanting to extend their homes. In many circumstances you can now carry out minor extensions and alterations to your home without the need to apply to the District Council for formal planning permission. The new rules, which place an emphasis on the impact of a development, should support people's aspirations to improve their homes, while retaining safeguards on noise and size to protect neighbours. However, in some circumstances, restrictions would remain, for example, in conservation areas there are tighter controls on paving over driveways, to help reduce water run-off contributing to flooding. Building regulations will also still apply, so people will still have to show that their development meets health and safety standards.

You can find out more about the changes using an interactive house guide on the Planning Portal which is the Government's online planning and building regulations resource. You can access this at www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/hhg/houseguide.html

Information on planning permission can also be obtained from the District Council by visiting the planning and building control section of the website or by contacting a Planning Enquiry Officer on 01491 823272/01491 823663.

District Council reports good CCTV results for towns : CCTV in the district has helped support over 340 incidents in local towns over a recent period of three months. The council’s latest CCTV report shows that monitoring staff supported 47 incidents in Thame, 72 incidents in Wallingford, 153 incidents in Henley and 81 incidents in Didcot, between July and September this year. They also produced a number of evidence packs for court proceedings, carried out searches of CCTV footage and operators supported arrests.

My South Oxfordshire:

The District Council has launched a new search feature on its website, called My South Oxfordshire. The new search facility aims to make it easier for people to find information on council services relating to a property – such as rubbish collection days and planning applications, all in one place, rather than having to hunt around the site. People can search using a postcode (or enter a town or village name and filter down to find the right property), and it will show information on council services relating to that property and the local area. The facility was developed in response to feedback from its website customers and from sessions testing the website with residents. A particularly useful feature pulls all the planning applications on the property into one list, offering an overview of the property’s planning history – as well flagging if it is in a conservation area or has listed building status. This is particularly useful for people moving to a new home, or thinking of buying a property and wanting more information about it.

New children's rights website

A website that gives children and young people a voice and a chance to find out more about their rights has just been launched. Big Voice Oxfordshire (www.bigvoiceoxfordshire.com) is full of information about how people from birth to the age of 21 can get involved in all manner of decision making processes across the county and how they can have a hand in improving the services that they use. The site was officially launched on 14th November with members of the Children's Trust Board including representatives from the District Councils and Primary Care Trust present.

CHANGES TO THE PLANNING SYSTEM

In October 2008 some significant changes were made to the planning system with the aim of making it more user friendly. As a result, under some (but not all) circumstances it will be possible to make minor extensions and alterations to your property without the need to apply for formal planning permission. The new rules change the emphasis from a ‘volume’ based approach to an ‘impact’ based system, taking into account distances, depths and heights of a development.

While it is possible to regard this as a relaxation of ‘permitted development rights’ it does not mean that you can just go ahead and DIY a loft conversion, because there has been no corresponding relaxation in ‘Building Regulations’ and any work done will still have to conform to those. Furthermore, while there may be more flexibility in some cases this will not apply in Conservation Areas and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Up-to-date advice on these changes can be found from Central Government at (access to this interactive facility requires ‘Flash’): http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/hhg/houseguide.html If you do not have ‘Flash’ on your PC (and do not wish to take advantage of the offer of a free download)an alternative text-only version may be found at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/hhg/textonly.html

If in doubt – and you probably will be – it would be wise to seek advice from SODC before embarking on any scheme.

RECENT LOCAL PLANNING APPLICATIONS

Entries in the LPC (Lewknor Parish Council) Comment column will normally be confined to one of four options: ‘Current’ (ie recommendation still pending), ‘Approve’, ‘Object’ or ‘NSV’ (No Strong Views); the latter is the most usual and is often amplified by specific observations and/or reservations. Entries in the SODC Status column will be ‘Current’, ‘Appeal’, ‘Withdrawn’, ‘Granted’ or ‘Refused’; all of which are self-explanatory. Further details of individual Planning Applications are available on-line, as follows. Open SODC’s Home Page here
In the box on the right, click on ‘Planning’. Then click on ‘view applications via the Planning Application Register’ and follow the instructions to find the specific application that you seek.

Ref No	Remarks	LPC Comment	SODC Status
P08/E0300	6 High St, Lewknor – complex extension	appeal	Awaiting decision
P08/E0805	Church Farm, Lewknor – modifications to buildings plus four newbuilds	Approve	Granted
P08/E0806/CA	Church Farm, Lewknor – demolition of redundant buildings	Approve	Granted
P08/E0807/LB	Church Farm, Lewknor – modifications to listed barn	Approve	Granted
P08/E0957	‘Highfield’, Lower Rd, Postcombe – newbuild 3-bed dwelling	Object	Current
P08/E1045	Land to rear of 1-3 Salt Lane, Postcombe – erect pair of semi-detached houses.	NSV	Current
S.15/08	Lewknor School – erect ‘Group Room’ to rear	NSV	Current

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SCHOOL NEWS

To be added

News From Krakatoa

Everyone at Krakatoa was busy in November with lots of fun and learning at the preschool as well as three fundraising events: a Coffee Morning held at St. Margaret’s Church, participation in the Village Hall tabletop sale as well as the Designer Clothing, Jewellery & Accessories Evening. We would like to thank everyone who participated in all of these events.

We hope everyone can join us for the annual Christmas fancy dress disco on Saturday December 6 from 5 to 6:30pm at the village hall. We will be celebrating the holiday season with refreshments and mince pies for the adults and endless fun for the children with dancing, fancy dress competition and many other exciting games and activities! Tickets include a hot dog and drinks for the children at are being sold for £5 per child in advance or £5.50 at the door.

Tickets can be purchased by contacting:
Anna Ottery on 07891112635
Louise Barrell on 07808064660

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas and to thank you once again for your ongoing support!

Krakatoa Pre-school 07919081088

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News from Newington Nurseries

Christmas Crackers: Celebrate Christmas with plants this year! Use them as decorations inside and out; give them as gifts to friends, family and neighbours. Most of all, enjoy plants and nature this winter, and if your garden falls a little short of perfect, plan some planting now that will lift it for next winter. Using plants as living decorations helps us to get back to some of the roots of the Christmas celebration. Our ancestors understood the symbolic and practical significance of foliage and berries in the bleak mid-winter and the deep-seated responses that we still have to plants means that wonderful displays awaken in us feelings of comfort and well-being. Considering plants as ‘Christmas crackers’ also includes giving them as gifts; A beautiful shrub in a stylish pot is a fabulous way of showing you care and anyone with outside space (even a balcony!) will benefit from a gift like this.

What qualities does a plant need to make it great for winter interest or as a living decoration or gift? It must be hardy and attractive, even during the most hostile weather of the year. It must exhibit exciting visual features like colourful foliage and it helps if it’s a low maintenance plant because the winter garden really needs to be able to look after itself. Evergreen Leucothoe species, including Leucothoe SCARLETTA ‘Zeblid’, are an excellent choice. ‘Zeblid’ has beautiful foliage – long, slim, glossy leaves that turn burgundy and bronze in autumn and winter. Although it can reach to between 1 and 2m in height, if it’s kept trimmed, it will form a lovely dome-shaped mound and can work very well as a ground cover plant. It thrives in acid soil so if you want to grow it in pots and containers, make sure you use ericaceous compost. A small evergreen shrub such as Leucothoe SCARLETTA planted in a container is excellent for use on a patio, roof terrace or small garden. It can work well as a focal point or as part of a group of containers.

So whether it’s to brighten up the dash out of the house in the morning, improve the view from the window or make those forays into the garden on fine days more enjoyable, let’s all get more winter interest into our gardens this year. Whatever plants you choose to help you do this, Leucothoe SCARLETTA will get you off to a great start.

Newington Nurseries, Newington, Nr Stadhampton, Oxon, OX10 7AW TeI 01865 400533
www.newington-nurseries.co.uk

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