The Return of the Church Street Sign!

In case anyone hasn’t noticed the junction sign is back and in situ in Church Street. One of the fingers of the sign was broken sometime ago by an HGV picking up rubble from the Mallories. Mick Long very kindly agreed to cover the cost of repairing the sign and can be seen here putting it back in its rightful position.

Thanks Mick and by the way, the general feed-back on the cottages is that they look really good, so well done to you and your builders.

New Gates to Replace Old Stiles

In the process of carrying out the works in the Pound a number of residents expressed delight at being able to access the path at the start of the Cross Bucks Way via a kissing gate but pointed out that there was still a stile between the first and second field on the path and asked whether it would be possible to replace it, in order to allow less able people to use the path for a short circular walk.

Whilst maintenance of footpaths is not really the responsibility of the Parish Council, this was seen as an excellent idea and a discussion took place with the land owner who was happy for the stile to be replaced. The new self closing metal gate was paid for and installed by the Parish Council.

Additionally it was decided to make the same agreement with the landowner of the field behind the church in order to allow easy access to the public footpath and an alternative route to access the entrance to the back of the church yard.

The installation of these gates was carried out by Stewart Hopkins ably supported by other village volunteers in particular Paul Roberts and Adam Willmore.

Gate between first two fields on the Cross Bucks Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Gate at back of church yard

Come and check out the new circular bench around the oak tree!

And now a picnic table has been added….

We have completed the dry stone walling and have received nothing but praise for the excellent craftsmanship. The area is now secure with gates added to the front and furniture is in the process of being ordered and fitted. The information panel is in production and an additional notice board has been ordered which  will be specifically for displaying the public footpaths in and around the village and the village walk leaflet.

It is  too dry to sow seed at this stage so this will be carried out in September. Grass seed and wild flower seed will be laid together with more daffodils and snow drops and a couple of fruit trees.

The project will be completed on time, enabling the full grants from both the ministry of Housing and Cherwell District Council to be claimed.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT FERRET FRENZY A SELL-OUT SUCCESS!

£4000 raised for local funds

Building on the successful Ferret Racing evening held nearly 2 years ago, the Village Fund Raising Committee decided to repeat the event making it bigger and better. The event held in the Hunt Paddock, was attended by over 300 people including some 37 children, all eager to join in the fun on what turned out to be a gloriously warm and sunny evening.

The Feisty Ferret Bar was the first port of call for many, serving beer, wine and soft drinks and a separate Gin Bar proved to be very popular. For the children there was an old fashioned sweet counter and also delicious locally made ice cream courtesy of Stratton Barn.  With music and a master of ceremonies making regular announcements, everyone was kept informed of proceedings which helped move the race programme along at a steady pace.

The first of 8 sponsored races got underway at 6.30pm with 4 ferrets taking part in each race (from a pool of 16). Everyone joined in with brisk betting on the Tote. At the interval tasty hot Fish and Chips were served courtesy of Barberry’s of Bure Park and a Heads & Tails game plus a draw for the Grand Raffle took place. Between races children and adults got up close to hold these cute little animals who seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as everyone else.

The event proved highly successful in doubling the amount achieved over the previous occasion and raising just over £4,000 which will all be distributed between The Church Fund, The Village Improvement Fund and Sobell House.

Our thanks once again to all the volunteers and sponsors of each race plus the overall co-sponsors Glebe Leisure Caravan Park and Finders Keepers for their support.

Anthony Flack & John Honsinger (On behalf of the Stratton Audley-CLP -Village Fund Raising Committee)

 

See us also on facebook https://www.facebook.com/StrattonAudleyParishCouncil/

 

Ferret Racing Event Now Sold Out!

This event  is now sold out for anyone wishing to buy tickets at the full price which includes a meal of fish and chips.

However anyone wanting to attend may just turn up on the night and pay a £5 entry price (£5 per person) children under five are still free.

There will be soft drinks and ice cream on sale and a cash bar but no food vendors.

Doors open at 5.45pm and the first race is at 6.30pm

“Last Night of the Proms” returns. ALL SOLD OUT BAR ONE TICKET!

Enjoy a special event supper and drinks in Stratton Audley Church whilst watching live coverage from the Royal Albert Hall, on Saturday 14th September, 2019 at 7.30pm

After last year’s successful event, we are again hosting “ Last Night of the Proms” in the unique atmosphere and surrounding of St Mary & St Edburga Church, whilst enjoying a delightful 2 course meal with wine and soft drinks for just £25.00 per person (dietary options available on request). On arrival you will be given a glass of sparkling wine or a soft drink prior to dinner. Individual ticket sales are welcomed but why not book a table for 10 by inviting friends and neighbours to join your party?

 This event has limited places and is already selling out quickly so you need to buy your tickets now. To make a booking for this popular fun event please called Anthony Flack directly on 01869 277 511 or email strattonaudleyclp@gmail.com 

All money raised will go towards the Church Fund to improve community facilities.

Bright clothes to be worn to celebrate the end of summer!

Ferret Racing on Friday 5th July – Now SOLD OUT

This event  is now sold out for anyone wishing to buy tickets at the full price which includes a meal of fish and chips!

However anyone wanting to attend may just turn up on the night and pay a £5 entry price (£5 per person) children under five are still free.

There will be soft drinks and ice cream on sale and a cash bar but no food vendors.

Doors open at 5.45pm and the first race is at 6.30pm. Further details below in the original post:

 

Friday 5th July, 6.00-9.30pm,  The Hunt Paddock, Stratton Audley, OX27 9BT

In 2017 Stratton Audley held a sell-out success ferret racing evening and by popular demand, it is once again staging the event with one of the country’s few remaining professional teams returning with their feisty ferrets.

The first of the 8 races will start at 6.30pm with gates open from 6.00pm. Food and a bar, raffle and a Tote plus other supporting activities will make for a great fun-filled-family-friendly-ferret-evening.  All tickets must be purchased in advance to allow for catering. So book now to avoid disappointment. AMPLE OFF ROAD FREE PARKING.

Tickets cost just £10 for adults to include entry and a meal of fresh fish & chips, £7 for 5-12 years of age (for entry plus the exact same meal as adults) and kids under 5 are free (excludes food). Note: you can request a sausage instead of fish.

The event has been made possible by our wonderful sponsors – we are extremely grateful to them!

Finders Keepers

Glebe Leisure

Bicester Hunt with Whaddon Chase

CNC Solutions

Nash Bakeries

Stratton Audley Barn

Thomas Merrifield

Also thanks to Mr J O’Neill, The Jenkinson Family, Mr M Hackney

All monies raised will be split between the Village Improvement Fund, the Church Fabric Fund and Sobell House.

For updates see also:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StrattonAudleyParishCouncil/

Instagram: @strattonaudleyvillage

View this clip from the last event held in 2017.

https://www.facebook.com/lise.honsinger/videos/10102226202888729/?t=0

Pound area dry stone walling taking shape!

THE POUND DEVELOPMENT: UPDATE FROM YOUR PARISH COUNCIL

With work now well underway at The Pound, and significant progress made so far, we have taken the opportunity to provide a brief update for residents, including details of some modifications that we have made on-site during the works.

Progress Report

We are on track for completion by the end of July, as planned. As often with these types of project, there have been some issues to overcome, but to date they have all been managed successfully, and we are all looking forward to having our new community resource completed and in use.

One important part of the scheme was to make it an enclosed safe area. To achieve this we are  building/rebuilding a traditional dry-stone wall around the Pound, which will mirror other walls in the village, using a mixture of old and new matching stone. The building of the wall has been progressing well with nothing but praise for the quality of the work of our stone mason. If you haven’t seen the work so far, it’s worth a detour to take a look.

Following initial concerns expressed over its height when viewed from the road and potentially how it might interfere with sight lines from Pound House, it has been agreed that the front wall will be slightly lower than originally planned. Once the front wall is completed, a 1 metre wide path will be created on the roadside where none previously existed, making it safer for pedestrians along this stretch of the road. We also considered moving the wall further inwards to improve visibility further but a pre-existing electrical supply pipe was uncovered during the preliminary digging which made this more complicated. Scottish and Southern Electricity identified it as one of theirs (although they did not have it on their plans) and have confirmed it was entirely safe for work to continue as planned. So, after taping it to help identify it as an electricity feed for any future works, it has not caused any significant delay to the works.

Scope and Design

It has been great to see the community get involved with shaping the plans – after the initial proposals (and funding application) was in place, the Parish Council circulated details to all households, held a special meeting in March to display the plans and then again at the Annual Parish Meeting in April, the plans were put forward. With some 60 residents attending, the plans were well received and no issues raised, with residents being invited to comment on some of the inclusions for the area.

 Planning

The work is being done as Permitted Development as a Parish owned piece of land under our control following consultation with Cherwell District Council. They have been involved throughout in helping us obtain funding and are financially supporting the project too. They are keen to see this new amenity for the village and continue to be actively involved monitoring our progress.

Funding Update

With grants available for improvement to local amenities, the PC have successfully obtained full funding for the project which is excellent news. The scope of the work has included an additional 2m strip from the neighbouring field to make the area slightly larger, generously sold to the village for the princely sum of £1 by John O’Neill. We should also thank the volunteers who, in October last year, spent time clearing the site which was such a big help.

Feedback and Questions

If anyone has queries or comments as we progress with the project, please speak to any Parish Councillor. We believe that this development enables a disused piece of historic public land that has been overlooked for far too long to be brought back to life and serve as a safe green usable community space – something our village does not currently have, and we look forward to our having many years of enjoyment from its use, for this and future generations of village residents.

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Update as of 17th May

A couple weeks into the build stage and the back wall is up and work has commenced on the side wall. Our dry stone wall craftsman receives daily compliments as to his workmanship, skilfully blending in new stone with that of the stone from the previous existing wall.

 

Update as of 3rd May

Ground works commenced on Saturday 27th April with clearance of the scrub land and excavation channels for the walls being dug.Work progressed quickly thanks to the village volunteers who gave up time to help prepare the site and make it ready for the stone wall works to begin in the coming week. Special thanks to Paul Roberts and his family, Ian Brent-Smith, Henry Pappenfus, Alex Smith, Simon Goss, Stewart Hopkins and Jon Hill plus the author of the event!

Watch this space for more pictures as the works progress

PUBLIC COMMENT

A public meeting was held on 12 March which was attended by 11 people who provided their views on the initiative and the items of furniture proposed. This was followed up at the Annual Parish meeting attended by 59 residents who were all asked to fill in an anonymous survey indicating their preferences for items proposed for the area. No one raised any objections to the overall scheme and all appeared to be supportive of the initiative.

Overall 37 seven responses were gathered although in a few cases not all the boxes were completed. The results below are clear, although a significant number of people were against or just did not know if it was a good idea to plant fruit trees.

YesNODon’t Know
Stocks made from old wood2467
Circular seat around oak tree3322
Wild flower area to the right hand side2447
A few fruit trees planted on the right17812
Bench on raised ground to overlook the field3411
An additional notice board2465
Other (see below)

Other things mentioned were: a public toilet, boules lane, no dogs allowed, a better footpath, more historical information, easy gates.

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Previous Report

Green light to develop the Pound area at the start of the Cross Bucks Way into a usable green community space.

In October 2018 the Parish Council undertook clearance work on the piece of ground at the entrance to the Cross Bucks Way on the Launton Road opposite the church with a view to making the area more usable. In December we became aware of grant funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop green spaces in villages and towns known as Pocket Parks. The Parish Council took the decision at the January PC meeting to prepare a submission and had less than three weeks in which to do it.

As such, it wasn’t possible to have the degree of consultation that we would normally seek with the village. However, all households have since been sent details of the plans and an event was held on 12th March to provide more information to those attending. There will be a further opportunity for public comment on the proposals at the Annual Open Meeting in the church at 7pm on 9th April. Comments received to date have been unanimously in favour of the project with observations and questions restricted to items to be included in the available space and some additional new thoughts.

The funding agreement requires work to start quickly, so this is now scheduled for the second half of April with a completion date of 31st July.

The plan illustrated below, will enable a disused piece of historic public land that has been overlooked for far too long, to come back to life and serve as a safe green usable community space. Restoring the existing dry stone walls and adding a new traditional stone wall to the front was fundamental to the success of our application. The area will be easily accessible through a large gate suitable for mobility vehicles and will mean that children are able to play safely, protected from the vehicles on the road.

Apologises about the size of the drawing which for some reason can’t be enlarged.

Comments received to date have been unanimously in favour of the project with observations, questions and suggestions restricted to items to be included in the available space and some additional thoughts. Verbatim responses received thus far:

  1. Enclosing the area is a good idea
  2. Setting walls back from the road is important
  3. Replica Stocks – good idea. We favour foot stocks
  4. Kissing gates – we welcome the inclusion of these
  5. I just think the idea of the replica stocks is a mistake. Maybe it is seen as a nostalgic nod to some quaint custom from the past, but to me it is a quite unnecessary reminder of a humiliating form of punishment which has quite rightly passed into history
  6. Glad to have all the parish news well done. My late husband would be so pleased about the stocks as he was always on about them, so on his behalf thank you, the pound area looks great
  7. Stocks area good idea given historical precedent but would be concerned if they looked too modern
  8. Could the Cross Bucks Way public right of way group fund part of the information board?
  9. Not convinced by the stocks. A bit cheesy perhaps. The plan works wonderfully without it
  10. Kissing gates are a great improvement
  11. Stocks – Good
  12. Stocks – good idea but not new looking reproduction
  13. Latrines? for children and elderly
  14. Stocks – good idea. Park very much needed for this lovely village
  15. Gate on road in general a good idea but make sure a person in a wheel chair can operate it easily
  16. raised platform for bench – not too high please
  17. stocks – perhaps move a little to the right away from the wall
  18. relocate dog waste bin to nearer the wall
  19. Nice to see enough seating

Comments may also be submitted by email to the Clerk of the Parish Council strattonaudley.parishclerk@gmail.com  or to the Chairman  jhonsinger@btconnect.com

Full House for Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Open Meeting of the Parish was held in the church on Tuesday 9th April and attended by 59 residents.  The meeting was chaired by the Parish Council and attended by speakers from the Conservation Area team at Cherwell District Council, Bicester Heritage and both District and County Council Officers. Being an open meeting questions flowed from the floor and you can read the full reports here.

If you are interested in knowing what is going on in the parish and were not able to attended the meeting then I urge you to read these reports.

APM Draft Minutes April 2019

Clerk Report about the year 2019

 

Village Emergency Plan Update

In 2016, the Parish Council introduced a Community Emergency Plan so that in the event of an emergency there were guidelines to help deal with it. This has now been updated  and the map and names of contact  can be viewed in the attachments here:

SA Emergency Plan 2019 Map Page 2

SA Emergency Plan March 2019. Map Final P3 

Part of the plan is to assist in identifying households with priority people.

As part of the Community Emergency Plan (CEP)  the village is divided into ‘zones’, with each zone having a primary and secondary point of contact who would be able to assist in an emergency. A robust CEP requires the village to be aware of those with priority needs when an emergency happens to ensure that they receive assistance at the earliest opportunity.

Who is likely to fall into this category?

The parish council do not believe that it is appropriate to automatically define any individuals in such a way; instead, we rely on the village’s residents to recognise if they are likely to require assistance in an emergency.

Generally this could include: Anyone who is less able to deal with the effects of an emergency situation by virtue of frailty, age (old or young) illness, convalescence or any other limiting reason either permanent or temporary.

It can also include a range of other reasons and, if you are in doubt, please do let us know.

Will my private details be shared?

No. To ensure that your privacy is maintained, we only ask that you provide your house number/name rather than your name and medical details. That way, should an emergency occur, your zone coordinators will be able to simply visit the house as soon as possible to offer any assistance.

How do I register as someone with Priority Needs?

Please contact the Parish Clerk with your house number/name to ensure that the respective zone coordinators can add your household to their list. If you would like your zone coordinator to visit to discuss any particular requirements that you have, please include this request and contact details to arrange a suitable time.

If you would like to nominate a ‘safe word’ or phrase for coordinators to use when visiting we are happy to arrange that with you.

 

 

Parish Clerk: Anne Davies, tel: 01865 379645

Email: Strattonaudley.parishclerk@gmail.com

Or alternatively, contact your zone coordinator.