Oxfordshire County Council & Cherwell District Council news
Updated 26th June 2008
Timothy T Hallchurch MBE
FCMI MBA
IIHHT MGPBT MIOD
Conservative for Otmoor
Ward Cherwell DC and Otmoor and Kirtlington Division, Oxfordshire CC
Following
the Boundary Commissions review, both
the Ward and Division will become part of South Oxfordshire (Henley)
Parliamentary constituency after the next General Election but will remain in
Cherwell District Council. Now that
Boris Johnson is Mayor of London, he has stood down as MP for South Oxfordshire
(Henley). As the by-election was before
the General Election, the people in Otmoor and Kirtlington Division did not
vote, as the boundaries have not yet changed. A candidate to replace Boris
Johnson was selected on 30th May from a shortlist of three, Cllr Ann
Ducker, leader of South Oxfordshire DC, Cllr John Cotton also from SODC and
Cllr Dr John Howell OBE, member of Oxfordshire CC and member of the Cabinet.
John
Howell was duly elected by the members of the South Oxfordshire Conservative
Association. He is a local man well
known in South Oxfordshire. He has in the past been a TV broadcaster and a
former partner with Ernst & Young and other organisations. John was made an
OBE in 2000, is the member of Oxfordshire County Council for Dorchester and
Berinsfield. He is also a member of the County Council Cabinet.
A parish
councillor in Warborough, he lists his interests as a local organist, choir
director and environmental campaigner.
At
the by-election on 26th June John Howell was duly elected as MP for
Henley with 19,796 votes.
3.46%
increase over 2005 General Election
The
other candidates polled:
Stephen
Kearney Lib Dem 9,680
Mark
Stephenson Green 1,321
Timothy
Rait BNP 1,243
Richard
McKenzie Labour 1,066
Chris
Adams UKIP 843
And
6 others
David Cameron attended
Oxfordshire Institute of Directors Dinner at his old college – Brasenose.
Rt Hon David Cameron MP discusses local issues with Bruce
Hunt (Chairman of Oxfordshire IoD) and Cllr Tim Hallchurch.
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Details of the
proposals
MPs News
Tony Baldry celebrates 25 years as North
Oxfordshire MP at Hook Norton Brewery
David Cameron was amongst the guests invited to beer band fish
and chips at Hook Norton Brewery on 4th April.
David Cameron addressing the visitors. Barry Wood, leader of Cherwell DC, discusses Eco Towns with David Cameron
Visitors had a tour of the brewery with its 100 year old
steam engine still in operation.
See details of Westminster debate on 22
April 2008 on Eco-towns.
THE PRE-BUDGET REPORT –YET ANOTHER TAX CON 9 Oct 07
Pre-budget Report
The Blair Brown
Legacy – What has been achieved during Blair’s 10
years as Prime Minister
Redwood Paper - Freeing Britain to Compete
Gordon Brown’s Conference speech – the truth
Shadow Chancellor promises Party Conference
Oct 07
Contact
020 7219 6465
I was elected to the County
Council in 1005 and since then have been Vice Chairman of the Corporate
Governance Scrutiny Committee and a member of the
Motion to Oxfordshire County Council full council meeting
17th June 2008
‘Weston – Otmoor eco-town. Council asks
the Cabinet to give careful consideration to:
·
the impact of the proposed
eco-town of 35,000 people on the successful economic development of Bicester
·
the impact of the proposed
eco-town on the transport network especially congestion on the A34 and M40 at
J9 and minor roads and lanes in the area.
·
whether the proposed new
railway station, tram system and modifications to the M40 J6 are affordable and
will provide the benefits claimed by the developer.
·
the impact of the proposed
eco-town on Oxford’s Green Belt as a quarter of the proposed site will be
within the Green Belt.
·
whether the proposed eco-town is
environmentally sustainable when it seems inevitable that there will be
substantial traffic growth.
·
the impact of concreting over 2000
acres of farm land to the flooding threat.
·
the impact on the loss of
wildlife habitats as part of the proposed development includes Woodsides Meadow
Nature Reserve, and other meadows owned and managed by BBOWT.
·
the fact that Oxfordshire has had
restrictions on water use, how will the eco-town impact on the water supply
and to other services such as sewage and electricity
·
the impact on Oxfordshire
schooling, hospitals, library services, social services ,waste collection
and disposal and other services provided by the local authorities.
The council also deplores the
lack of consultation with Oxfordshire County Council, Cherwell District
Council and other bodies by the Government before they short listed the
proposed Weston-Otmoor eco-town. ‘
We are restricted to 250 words and must obey the Council Rules
which restricts me from proposing a plain rejection.
The motion was carried with support of all political groups except the Labour Group.
Oxford Waste Partnership – latest news
2008 Settlement – Government allocation
to Local Councils
On 6th
December 2007, the government has decided in favour of northern, metropolitan
authorities – choosing to end the controversial ‘double damping’ policy for social
services from the local government finance system. Announcing the
first ever three-year settlement for councils, local government minister John
Healey has revealed the full effects of the social services formula would be
felt by authorities between 2008/09 and 2010/11. Visit LGCplus.com for full details of grant settlement and reaction.
Oxfordshire Partnership
The Oxfordshire Partnership (OP) brings together organisations
from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to focus their
efforts on those things that are important to people who live in, work in and
visit Oxfordshire and, more importantly, to do something about them.
Councillors, Council Officers, representatives from Town and Parish councils
and other interested parties have attended meetings to discuss how we can make
Oxfordshire a better place to live in.
On this website you can find out about the Oxfordshire
Sustainable Community Strategy, the Local Area Agreement, the structure and
activities of the Partnership and the Oxfordshire Data Observatory.http://www.oxfordshirepartnership.org.uk/wps/wcm/connect/OxfordshirePartnership/Home/
Cherwell District Council News
I have been a member of CDC Executive for the last 3 years but
have stepped down last year to give myself more time to concentrate on an
Oxford University course in Local History. However for 2008-9 I have taken on
Vice Chairman of the Accounts Committee.
Cherwell District
Council Election Results 2008. The results of the 2008 elections for Cherwell
District saw a two-seat gain for the Conservative party. Labour incumbents in
Banbury Neithrop and Banbury Ruscote wards were defeated by Conservative
candidates. Cherwell District Council is now made up of 44 Conservative
members, 4 Liberal Democrat members and 2 Labour members.
Overall turnout for the
District was 31.36%.
Full details of
individual ward and parish results are available on the Cherwell District
Council website, www.cherwell.gov.uk.
Cherwell DC has
awarded a contract to provide a Combined Service Centre, to improve the
services to the public. It is now on line providing better services to callers
with benefit and council tax payments questions. Work is on-going to
make other services available. This will
mean that in most cases the person that answers the ‘phone will be able to
answer your question or provide help. Note – this is NOT a call centre and the
system is manned by CDC staff based at Banbury and later at Bicester and
Kidlington.
Both local
sports centres are to be upgraded over the next two years, including a rebuild
of the Kidlington and Gosford Sports Centre. A new Graphical Information System
(GIS) has also been installed enabling people to view local maps and air
photographs on line. http://cherweb.cherwell-dc.gov.uk/localview/
Reorganisation
of Cherwell DC
Chief Executive Mary Harpley who was appointed in 2006, was tasked by
members to look at the organisation of the Council offices with the aim of
streamlining services, delivering value for money and making savings. This involves the appointment of three new
Chief Officers who report to the Chief Executive, to replace the eight previous
reports, and to delegate the day to day running of the Council to these three
officers. This will enable the Chief Executive to concentrate on improvements
and to talk to people in the District and to peers in other Councils. In
addition there is a temporary Chief Officer to oversee the changes. These changes coupled with the One Stop Shop
centre will bring major changes to Cherwell DC and will improve services as
well as making savings. The One Stop Shop at Bodicote was opened on 2nd
April and visitors will be able to sit with a member of staff in the new lobby
to obtain information rather than having to walk round the building only to
find that the person they wanted to see is out.
The latest Audit Commission inspection has already raised the performance
figures for the District Council in all areas and the Council is on course for
becoming an excellent (four star) council in 2008.
Cherwell
Meetings Web Casting
Full Council
and Executive meetings are web cast. That means that you can watch the meeting
live or a recorded version for up to six months after the event. Go to the
council “home” page (www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk)and click on 
Other meetings including planning will
eventually be webcast. At last, people from the South of the District will
not have to struggle into Banbury to hear discussions which affect their lives.
And for one ten-minute item, no one will have to sit through hours of
discussion as the agenda ploughs on -except
for the councillors, of course! In parallel, the website is also to be made more user-friendly. Go to www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk and follow the links.
Recycling
The collection
of waste is the task of the District Council while the disposal of that waste
is the responsibility of the County Council. The government has announced large
fines on councils who exceed their quota of waste that goes to land fill but
has not given councils time or the money to build recycling plants, effectively
imposing another stealth tax on council tax payers. The Chancellor slid another
stealth tax on councils in the March budget with an £8 increase in land fill
tax without mentioning it in his speech.
The County Council
has gone out to tender to industry to provide recycling facilities. These
services are likely to include In Vessel Composting (IVC) that will safely compost food waste safely in
sealed vessels; incineration to generate electricity and facilities to sort
glass from other waste.
The CDC
Executive has agreed a trial for food waste possibly in the Kidlington area as
soon as IVC is available. This will mean that we will be able to put food waste
in the brown bin but still allowing food to be put in the green bin to go for
landfill. It is hoped that recycling of food will be available from late 2008.
The County Council contract requires industry to provide recycling facilities
for all waste by 2012.
Cherwell DC
continues to be the lead council in SE England with 45% of waste recycled.
Compost
bins can be obtained from Cherwell DC from £8 for a 220 Litre bin to £20 for a
250 Litre bin with free delivery call 0845 077 0757 or order on-line at www.recyclenow.com/compost quoting
reference OXF04
Concessionary
fares
Concessionary Fares for the older and
disabled went national from April. Card holders can use any local service in
the country (up to 15 miles between stops). Finance for other Cherwell extras (travel tokens, carers travelling free,
use on Dial-a-Ride, later finishing) will be preserved. Current cards will have to be replaced with the new, nationally recognised, photo-cards, so expect a letter
about the change and make sure you have the
new one by 1 April.
I can be
contacted by email timothy.hallchurch@oxfordshire.gov.uk or
call 01865 377099
The Cherwell website is: www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk
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