News Update no 103, November 24th

A number of residents reported this week a very confusing ‘Road Closed” sign situated on the Launton Road approximately 300 meters outside the village. There was and has been no road closure so a mystery has been unfolding. The Parish Council initially took photos and sent them to OCC Highways, who were equally baffled and confirmed that there had been no scheduled closures that they were aware of. They suggested it might have something to do with East West Rail, however they in turn confirmed it had nothing to do with them but suggested that an identifying feature of the offending sign might have something to d o with BT Open Reach. The sign has now gone but the mystery continues….

Whilst on the subject of signage, Highways have been asked to collect the no-parking cones left in Church Street together with the signage around the Chestnut tree outside the church. Additionally, East West Rail have also been asked to remove a number of  ‘No EWR Traffic’ signs in and around the village which are now unnecessary and unsightly.

A Flasher in the Woods!
Reports of a Flasher in a cape on the edge of the woods in Mill Road beyond Pool Farm, have caused some alarm. If you saw him or have heard about this third hand, there is no need for further concern as there individual, who has learning difficulties is now back safely where he belongs.

Stratton Audley Church

The Following is from Beckie Adams:

“The next service in Stratton Audley Church will be a service of Holy Communion at 9.15am this coming Sunday 27^th November – It will be Advent Sunday and all are welcome, as ever.
Please check the Shelswell website for details of services on other Sundays and in other parishes in the benefice http://www.shelswellparishes.info/services.php

‘Little Lambs’ baby and toddler group continues on Wednesdays in term time in Stratton Audley Church, starting at 9.30am and finishing at 11am. Just turn up or for more information contact Alice  at rector@shelswellparishes.info“.

Stratton Audley Barn

The following is from Richard, Sara and the team:

“31 Sleeps til Christmas, it is most definitely coming!!
It’s been a busy week here at the barn, Christmas Trees arrive this week & will be on sale from Saturday 26th November. Our popular spinning carousel lights have also arrived this week adding more festive cheer to our shop. Times are tough for us all but we bring some cheerful festive news; we’ve worked extra hard to hold our prices both across both our Cafe and on our Fresh Christmas Trees for this season, order this years tree at last years prices! Pop down from Saturday to take yours home or if you want something a little bigger, the order book is still open. For any tree requirements over 9ft, get in touch via info@strattonaudleybarn.co.uk and we can provide a quote to supply & deliver to your door.

Over in the Cafe our hearty daily soups and winter warmers are proving popular, pop on in for a catch up over lunch with your friends & family or enjoy a coffee and cake after a brisk winters walk!
Hope to see you soon”

What’s on at The Red Lion
The Following is from Dillie:

“What’s on at the pub…
24th November  Quiz Night and Play Your Cards right.
17th December Christmas Party with music.
22nd December Christmas Quiz and Raffle

Otherwise Opening hours, no change.  Fish as usual on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday lunches as usual.  If you’re hungry on a weekday lunch and Sapphire is around, she’ll make sure you get something nice to assuage your hunger!”

Bicester Heritage January Scramble
The next scramble takes place on 8th January, 9am to 2pm. The special local residents discount code is BristolBoxKite

Porsche Christmas at Bicester Heritage Sunday 11th December                                                             
Kick-off the festive celebrations with a car show that includes 3000 cars of all makes and models on display, several hundred vendors in the indoor Christmas market and other entertainment including a visit from Santa with his real Reindeer. It will be one of the the biggest Christmas event in the area. For tickets click this link: https://www.porscheclubgb.com/shop/tickets/all-tickets/ticket-cars-christmas-%e2%80%93-local-residents

Carols by Candlelight December Friday 9th, 7.30pm
Another delightful Christmas concert is planned in Newton Purcell this year. The venue is St Michael’s and All Angels Church with the Phoenix Singers directed by Peter McMullen.
Tickets are £10 each, payable on the door but please contact ann_maltzahn@yahoo.com to reserve as places are limited.

Next Village Road Sweep 15th December
Arrangments have been made with Cherwell District Council to sweep the roads in the village on Thursday 15th December from 8am. This is the big one of the year when all the leaves have fallen, so please  make a note of it in your diary and keep the roads clear. It is the one exception to the rule, where we encourage residents to park on the verges where necessary or alternatively just to move cars when you hear the road sweeping vehicle, which usually makes several passes down each road during the morning. Thanks for your continued co-operation.

Help for the Hungry!
“A Foodbank Donation Point can be found in the church porch. If you can, please support this with your donations of tinned and dried goods, toiletries, and so on.  Urgently needed are tinned tomatoes, tinned fish, rice pudding, tinned meat, tinned fruit, and juice / squash.  (They have plenty of cereal and pasta)  Thank you very much to all those who have dropped donations into the box in the church porch – Please keep them coming!
If you need to, you are very welcome to take whatever you need from the box, and any leftovers will be taken to the Bicester Foodbank on a regular basis.
The Rector, Alice Goodall is now a ‘Local Referrer’ and can refer you to the Bicester Foodbank. She would need a few basic details from you, and then will be able to give you a referral number.  You can then go into the Beacon in Bicester and collect a bag of food to keep you going for a few days, or you can phone them and they will be able to drop off a bag to you. Contact:
Alice Goodall, The Rectory, Finmere   01280 848192  alicegoodall313@gmail.com
The Beacon is situated in Wesley Lane, Bicester OX26 6JU (off Sheep Street – not the Market Square end but the other end!).  As well as the bag of dried goods, you may be able to collect some fruit and vegetables and a meat voucher.  Someone from Citizen’s Advice is there on a Tuesday from 10 – 12 am, and there is a wellbeing café on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, 1 – 4 pm”.

Padbury Brook Solar Farm Academic Study and Questionnaire
Ronan Goss, a resident  of the village who lives at Elm Farm met with the Parish Council on 2nd November to request help with a dissertation he is writing, as part of his studies. He is a  third-year student at the University of Cambridge studying Land Economy, where he studies planning and development, among other modules. The following is from Ronan and outlines his plan:
“As you may be aware, JBM are expecting to submit a planning application for the Padbury Brook Solar Farm scheme  in the next couple of months. I understand this has caused a lot of interest within the community, with both negative and positive outcomes of the project being voiced. For me this has been really interesting, and I am intending to write my undergraduate dissertation on these exact local attitudes to the development.
For context, I have received permission to prepare a short questionnaire for the community, asking about attitudes towards the development. This will be distributed  door to door throughout the parish, hopefully sometime in late November/early December. These results will help myself and the parish council understand the views of the community (both positive, negative and everything in between) which will ultimately help the Council in deciding the best course of action that reflects everyone’s views. The questionnaire will be anonymous and will follow the strictest rigour in regard to data ethics, so please be assured your responses will not be used inappropriately.  I am also going to be conducting some short interviews afterwards, so if you would like to be considered for this please let me know on the initial questionnaire. These interviews which will be conducted face to face will be entirely confidential and anonymous when published.
If you have any worries or questions regarding this project, please reach out to me via my email or my number. I would love to hear any thoughts you had that may help my research. Please also keep an eye out for the questionnaires in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your time”.
Ronan Goss 
Email: rg641@cam.ac.uk  Phone: 07521518686
100 Club Winners

The Winners in the 100 club draw for the month of November 2022 are:
£30                      Jeff Wakefield (117)
£20                      Good Family (68)
£10                      Flack Family (154)
£10                      John James (126)

Great News -Two New Vehicle Speed Signs for the Village
With the support of OCC Highways, the Parish Council put forward an application for HS2 funding to purchase two vehicle activated signs, one for the Launton Road and the other for Mill Road. Despite only a slender chance of success as we are not directly affected by the construction, it has been approved and the new solar powered signs should be installed prior to Christmas. The actual cost including installation and service contracts is in the region of £10,000 but thanks to the grant will cost the Parish Council and local residents absolutely nothing.
This means that each of the approach roads to the village will now have a permanent speed warning sign which will act as a reminder to reduce speed in the village.

Don’t Forget – Fresh Fish every Thursday 
Jack from Grimsby continues to come to the village on Thursday’s between 6.30-7pm and parks his van outside the Red Lion. He has a wide selection of fresh fish and shellfish. You can just turn up or place orders in advance by text and his mobile number is 07535 935119.

Fish & Chips Van in the village on Saturdays
For those new in the community, a Howe’s Fish and Chip van comes to the village every Saturday lunchtime from 1.30pm to 2pm. You will hear a bell (like a school bell) and his first stop is in Cherry Street. He then drives along Cavendish Place and stops again at the junction with Mill Road.
Howe & Co was established in 1930 and now has over 100 vans serving villages. You can track each van by going to their website and you need to look for van no 4:
https://howeandcofishandchips.co.uk/#findvan
They also have a general number you can call 07809 901761.

Bird Bath Water
Recently a resident found a baby owl on a lawn in Cavendish Place and sadly, despite valiant efforts by a local vet the bird died a few days later – some  unpronounceable disease passed between birds sharing water. The vet suggested it is a timely reminder for people to give their bird baths a clean in an effort to try to decrease the chance of our beautiful birds contracting the infection.

Collection Point for Disposal of Ink Jet Cartridges
The collection service in the Glen Close bus shelter is no longer in operation. Thank you to those who regularly deposited cartridges.

Bad Parking in Church Street

We have previously reported on parking issues concerning the entrance to The Manor and their grounds which are private, but recently a number of vehicles have partially blocked the entrance gates for the cottages to the left hand side of the pub. There are clear signs indicating that this entrance is in constant use and it would be much appreciated if more care is taken when parking on the road.
Parking on Grass Verges
A number of comments have been relayed to the Parish Council about cars being parked on more than one occasion, on the grass verges in the village in particular in the Bicester Road. This is sometimes unavoidable, however it can be a danger for pedestrians especially where the verges are used by pedestrians in the absence of footpaths. It is also a problem when the grass is to be cut which is done on a frequent basis.
The verges are an attractive part of the village and we are lucky to have such greenery, especially in the absence of a proper village green and not only is it unsightly, some verges are slowly being eroded.
It has long been the convention to keep the verges free of vehicles and the Parish Council respectfully wishes to take this opportunity to bring this matter to the attention of everyone especially those new in the community.

Access to The Manor Grounds in Church Street
From time-to-time residents of the Manor have legitimate cause to remind everyone, especially visitors to the village and those who are new in the village, that the grounds of the Manor are private. This is not necessarily obvious as the gates are kept permanently open for ease of access by residents. Situated next to the pub, it means vehicles of people visiting the pub are frequently identified as parking in the Manor grounds. Likewise a few Manor residents have recently seen an increase in dog walking, pushing prams and generally using the grounds as either a recreational area or as a cut through to Mill Road.
The Management Committee of the Manor are looking at new signage to install at the entrance, but have asked for it to be pointed out that the grounds are private for the use of the residents and invited visitors.