NOTES FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL

The village playground

Both the playground and recreation ground are open, with cautionary advice to residents, following government advice on parks and open spaces. Please respect social distancing at all times, use hand gel regularly and wash hands on returning home.

Exercising round the fields

A reminder from our local farm manager, Simon Beddows, that people are encouraged to exercise out of doors and around our lovely countryside. Please, however, do stick to the approved footpaths and do not just wander off-piste round the field edges. A lot of damage has been done to the crops by walkers tramping across them to take short cuts or to avoid muddy patches. Simon says:

"You can all help by staying on dedicated public footpaths and bridleways and not wandering across crops and disturbing the flora and fauna that we are working so hard to protect. Due to the understandable desire for people to get out and about to enjoy the countryside during lockdown and the wet winter we have had, our footpaths are under enormous pressure. The legal width for a footpath is 1.5m, but some of ours are now over 4m wide where walkers have moved further into the field and killed the growing crop. Please try to avoid this, that is our livelihood you are walking on, it feeds us all and gives us an income, some of which we then use to look after the wider environment like the hedgerows and wildlife. Thank you and enjoy your walks."

In covid times...

Need help? A reminder that if anybody is shielding or vulnerable, there is a network of people in the village who can help with groceries, prescription pick-ups, telephone chats if you're feeling lonely, or help with any other urgent errands or concerns you might have. Please contact Amanda on 07799 038492 to be put in touch with a friendly neighbour who can help.

Modified Local Plan adopted

South Oxfordshire District Council adopted the South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2035 on 10 December 2020.

The Plan had been submitted to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for review and examination in March 2019. An independent Local Plan Inspector held examination hearings in July and August 2020. A six-week consultation on the proposed main modifications took place between September and November. The Inspector’s report concluded that, with his recommended main modifications, the Local Plan satisfied the requirements of Section 20(5)(a) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and was sound. The South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2035 now forms part of the statutory development plan. The Adoption Statement can be viewed on SODC website, alongside the adopted Local Plan 2035 and the Inspector’s Report. If you have any questions, or require the documents in an alternative format, please contact the Customer Services Team by telephone on 01235 422600, or email planning.policy@southoxon.gov.uk

Coppid Cross Roads

The council welcomes comments on the changes to the road junction at Coppid Crossroads. Changes include:

• A new entrance Gateway feature – ‘Coppid crossroads’
• A new advanced crossroads map sign
• Enhanced advanced stop signs
• New dragons teeth road markings
• An additional length of centreline
• Additional slow markings
• Refurbishment of slightly worn road marking

Neighbourhood Watch

A police presence is now visible every couple of weeks in the village, to deter drug use.

There have been a number of ‘professional’ burglaries in the village in the last month. These were not random or opportunistic and the culprits had specific objectives in mind. Villagers are reminded to take care of their premises and to be watchful.

VILLAGE MATTERS

Newsletter

Marina Hart would like to hear from anyone with news or information of interest to local residents, on marina.hart@virgin.net. Most of the newsletters are emailed to save printing and delivery, so do let her have your contact details if you would like to receive one. Privacy information is available from her and on this website. Newsletters are uploaded to this site. We hope you enjoy reading them and find them useful - and please do contact her with contributions for the next one if you have any news to share.

Reporting issues round the parish

Fly-tipped rubbish continues to be a problem locally and has to be collected by District Council contractors at considerable extra cost to the taxpayer. If you see fly-tipping - or the results of it - please report it online to admin.southoxford@biffa.co.uk Similarly, potholes have been a big problem this year. If you are aware of one locally please contact fixmystreet.com and tell them the area, address if possible and postcode. It's the fastest way to get results.

Security

Do make sure your home and outbuildings are securely locked and tell your neighbours if you are going away. Report anything suspicious to Thames Valley Police on 101 or in an emergency call 999.

Keep up to date

From this page you can see diary events in the village at a glance, with a link to more information if you need it. Check which bin is going out this week and look up the bus timetable or report potholes in our roads. You can comment on planning applications direct with SODC at the click of a button, without knowing the application number. Receiving occasional news mail-outs from the Parish Council on matters that affect you is the fastest and most efficient way to find out what's going on in your parish. If you change your email address just sign up again with the new one - you don't have to delete the old one. If you no longer wish to hear news from us in this form please let us know and we will delete your email details. Visit the village Facebook page to connect with friends and neighbours and join in the chat. If you would like to contact the Parish Council direct please write to the parish clerk, Mandy Sermon at clerk@binfieldheath.org.uk

Data protection

Regulations concerning data protection have changed. The Parish Council has prepared documents which reflect and clarify these alterations and how they affect you. Please look at the information, on the Parish Council page, which explains how the council uses and stores any information concerning you. (See also Parish Council minutes May, June and July 2018.)