Village Hall ‘in jeopardy’ without a Chairperson
A few weeks ago, Richard Preston made a heartfelt appeal for someone to step up and take over the role of chairperson of the Village Hall from Barbara Brewer who retires in May.
To say the least, he was very disappointed with the response from villagers. So, he is trying again!
He writes:
It is always easier to “leave it to someone else”, especially when you think it might incur some effort. We have all been in this situation and spare time is becoming so valuable these days that it is not always possible to “volunteer” for something. On saying that, following my plea for help a month ago via both SAL and the village website, the response to find a new chairperson for the Village Hall served up a ZERO response.
It might have been the way I wrote the article, or maybe you guessed someone else would jump at the opportunity. Whichever it might have been, it leaves the Village Hall in real jeopardy. Can it continue? Does the village actually want a Village Hall? These are just a couple of questions that could be asked.
The position of chairperson for the Village Hall is not that demanding. It will enable you to meet other community volunteers and be part of a team that enables this wonderful old building to continue in its present form and we are able to retain a Village Hall. I can promise you, the amount of work involved is entirely down to you and with a wonderful team working alongside, it does not have to be in any way demanding.
If you think you might be able to help, give me a call and I will try and answer any questions you might have. Absolutely no obligation!
Richard Preston – a Village Hall trustee and retired VH chairman.
Richard.preston5@btopenworld.com or telephone 01869 340512.
Poppy Cascade update – over 1,000 made already
A group of villagers are creating a commemorative cascade of poppies to tumble down from the church tower to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
The WI got started making poppies before Christmas and they have now been joined with enthusiasm by other village groups. Their first big count up has shown that over 1,000 poppies have already been made.
The Poppy Committee reports:
The first big count up at the end of February has yielded a magnificent 1,105 poppies of various sizes shapes materials and all consistently red with the black centres. Absolutely magnificent!
We have had hundreds of poppies from the WI – (well they did start first) a steady flow from the Church – a colossal bag from the Valentine Club, a bag from the Brownies and miscellaneous bags simply donated anonymously in the box at the back of Church. A very big thank you!
Thanks to all of you who have donated so far. Lots more Please – keep them coming…….
Those not yet started – do please have a go we need your poppies too! Patterns available in the Poppy box in the Church or design your own.
We had an impromptu Poppy making session at The Grain Store on the Chatty Table – (first Monday of the month). Definitely chatty, but we had a crocheting learning session and of course some more knitting. We will go again on Monday, 7th April 10am – care to join us?
If you need any help advice or information about how to get started, please contact us and we can help.
Eileen – eileen@baglinjones.com Hildy, Kay or Merrill – 01869 347802, merrill.bayley@gmail.com
Time to report those pesky potholes
Graham Porcas, our local pothole expert, writes:
Now the weather is starting to improve we can get on with tidying up after winter and fixing potholes again.
In Steeple Aston we use the Fix My Street system and as your Parish Council was an early supporter of the scheme we are well established with the Highway Authority and are very fortunate to have excellent support from them to get defects fixed quickly. But how does it work?
The FMS system is very effective, either go online and enter details of any potholes yourself or contact Cathy, our parish clerk, with details which she will pass on to me.
I am what is referred to as an FMS SuperUser and can then carry out the necessary checks to make sure the pothole can be repaired using what is now the standard cut and fill repair process. Provided it complies with the criteria then I can directly action the repair by council contractors without requiring a highways department inspection making the process quick and simple.
Repairs will then be made within 28 days, usually much less, the record is same day!
When filling in the FMS report please try and keep the details concise and most importantly accurate, exaggerating the severity of the problem does not help, nor does making extravagant claims or wild accusations, short and simple is best and will ensure the quickest response.
The minimum criteria for a fault to be actioned on the FMS system is that it must be more than 40mm deep and at least 150mm across, if less then it will not count although we do have other facilities for filling less severe defects in special cases. If you believe that yours is one of these special cases then please let Cathy know rather than wasting an FMS report as if it does not comply it will be rejected immediately.
Let’s get reporting!
Contact Parish Clerk, Cathy Fleet on 07989 398 838 or email parishclerk.steepleaston@gmail.com
South Side parking stops bus again!
The village bus being held up by cars badly parked on South Side has been a long-running concern in the village. It got particularly bad a while ago when there was a lot of building work going on.
But the problem hasn’t gone away. One villager tells us of a recent incident and her worry that we will lose our bus service if it’s impossible for the bus to travel freely through the village. Others have expressed their concern about other vehicles including ambulances and fire engines getting through in an emergency.
But if cars park on the pavement to leave more space for the bus, then there’s a problem for pedestrians, especially those with buggies or wheelchairs. One villager suggested a one-way system round the village. Perhaps the Parish Council might need to consider drastic measures.
Marion Ganthony has written to tell us of the latest incident on Thursday, 20th January:
“I know – yet another letter about people parking on South Side without leaving enough space for buses and other large vehicles to drive down the road.
“I was on the bus from Oxford this lunchtime and had just signalled the driver to stop at the Red Lion bus stop, when we came to a halt in front of Staithe Cottage. The driver said he did not think he was able to get through, past a silver car parked with its nose out from the kerb. He sounded his horn to no avail, then managed to get out of the bus to knock on some doors. Fortunately, two residents came to see if they could guide the bus through the narrow space, and succeeded. The way past was bumpy as the bus had to mount the kerb and drive partly on the steep embankment. The grass will soon look a mess because of the heavy tyre tracks.
“Can I please be another voice asking people to take care and park thoughtfully, especially at the narrowest parts of the road. When we first moved to Steeple Aston, our criteria for a good village to live in were: a school, a bus service, and a shop. I am sure many other people have a very similar list. I don’t want the bus service to be the first service we lose because buses can’t make their way through the village.”
Council responds to criticism around Emergency Plan
Steeple Aston Parish Council has responded to criticism from villagers about their lack of response when there was a power cut in the village of over 24 hours.
Former council chair John Coley wrote to Steeple Aston Life magazine asking whether the village’s Emergency Plan was activated, as intended, to help elderly and vulnerable villagers to keep warm and safe in the event of a prolonged power cut. In particular John and two other villagers who responded to his letter were concerned that SSE provided hot food from a van in the Village Hall car park but villagers, some without phone or internet access, were not informed about it.
The Emergency Plan is out of date as you can see on the homepage of this website. Now the council says it will be updated and are asking for villagers to volunteer to help out if it needs to be activated in future.
Here is the statement from the Parish Council:
At the January meeting of Steeple Aston Parish Council one agenda item was a conversation around the current emergency plan. We wanted the chance to discuss this as a group before responding to recent letters printed in Steeple Aston Life.
In the past year our village and surrounding area has suffered from multiple power outages and even a water shortage. These have ranged from short periods across a handful of houses, to longer stretches such as the recent power cut caused by Storm Darragh. This affected approximately 15 per cent of the population in and around Steeple Aston. That population included more than Steeple Aston residents impacting both Middle Aston and local businesses. In total 75 households and businesses were without power for approximaately 29 hours.
Having reviewed our Emergency Plan against those supplied by the Joint Oxfordshire Resilience Team, the processes outlined within it are in line with common practice. The plan does however need updating in terms of contacts and roles and responsibilities which the Parish Council are now working through. One such improvement is a notification system whereby, in this case, SSE should have contacted the PC, which did not happen, and in turn the PC would activate its network of local residents to check on neighbours.
As a village we are powered (pun intended) by our community, the Parish Council are one small part of this giving of their time to help maintain and improve our spaces and community. Whilst we navigate updating the Emergency Plan, we will be keen to hear from those within our community who are willing to take their small role should an Emergency Plan need to be actioned.
Your Parish Council
Community Land Trust members meet for the first time
The new Community Land Trust for Steeple and Middle Aston held its first members’ meeting on Wednesday, 29th January. The Trust was set up following a public meeting last April. Villagers have been invited to join the trust for a token payment of £1.
Julia Whybrew reports:
The Steeple Aston and Middle Aston Community Land Trust has a lot going for it, except for the length of its name. For simplicity this report on its first members’ meeting will refer to it as our CLT. All the members and others who had at some point expressed an interest in the scheme were invited and there were 36 of us there. Martin Lipson, the chairman of our CLT Board, explained that the meeting had been called for two reasons. First it would provide an opportunity for the committee to explain to members what they had done already and secondly for members to discuss and tell the committee where they would like to see the CLT going.
Martin explained that the CLT members had been extremely generous with their initial donations, and that the organisation had now become a legal entity. The intention now was to see if it might be feasible to develop both affordable homes for local people and some wider objectives which could benefit villagers now and in the future. The CLT is hoping that its structure may enable a different sort of tenure to normal so that affordable homes for locals can be created now and stay available in the future. These homes could be for sale, rent, co-ownership, co-operative housing or self-build. Many CLTs in other areas got going earlier than us and so far CLTs have built 2,000 affordable homes with a further 7,100 in the pipeline.
We know there is a shortage of housing around here, especially of one and two bedroom properties because there was a recent survey of local housing needs. Two local sites have been identified by the Neighbourhood Plan for development and it is hoped that there might be further sites suitable as Rural Exception Sites. The point of the latter is that they are highly unlikely to get planning approval for market housing but might get approval as a Rural Exception Site as long as the development is mainly affordable housing. The CLT committee is approaching local land owners of the potential development sites around the villages to discuss if, and how, the CLT may be able to take forward these ideas. These discussions are at a preliminary stage and members will be told if and when anything develops from this.
Questions were invited and one person said he understood that the property should be affordable and for locals in perpetuity, but he was unsure how this could be achieved in practice. He asked if he could give or bequeath his CLT home to a family member who did not live in the village. Someone asked where the CLT would find the finance for developing affordable housing. Others suggested single storey dwellings for the elderly and starter homes for the young which one person pointed need not be at each other’s expense. Some wanted to be certain any affordable homes could be confined to those with genuine local connections.
At this point the participants divided into groups and were asked to identify both housing and non-housing issues where our CLT might contribute. There were lots of ideas and the ones that came up the most in relation to housing were:
- If houses had few bedrooms the idea of communal spare bedrooms made sense
- Houses should be built to encourage social cohesion by designs such as homes facing into a courtyard
- Large extensions should be prohibited to prevent small houses becoming large houses
- Working locally might be sufficient to be considered for an affordable home.
There were lots and lots of other suggestions not related to housing such as:
- The desirability of a footpath between Fenway and Northside near the stables
- A smaller bus so it might be able to negotiate Fenway and Water Lane
- Sustainable shared power generation
- Community facilities such as a room for medical appointments.
The full list of questions and suggestions can be found on the CLT website . If you would like to become a member and influence the future of the villages the details of joining are on the membership page of the same website.
Council agrees to fund Blandford Fly initial spray
Steeple Aston Parish Council has agreed to fund a pilot project to spray the larvae of the dreaded Blandford Fly. At their meeting on Monday, 20th January councillors agreed to spend £5,000 on spraying at a single site this year in the hope of encouraging other councils to contribute towards a much bigger project along the Cherwell Valley in future.
Researchers from Bournemouth University will visit the River Cherwell in March to assess optimal time and location to treat the water in the following weeks. The location is likely to be well upstream of Heyford Bridge where it will be of most benefit to the village.
But be warned! Though this pilot is expected to reduce the number of flies this year, it will not eradicate the risk of bites anywhere nearly as effectively as the full project.
Parish Councillors and project leads Mat Watson and Greg Elphick explain the plan:
The Blandford Fly (Simulium posticatum) is a small species of black fly found in Europe and has commonly been prevalent in the Stour valley in Dorset. Or at least it used to be. It is now endemic along our stretch of the River Cherwell from Clifton (Deddington) as far south as Kidlington. It’s most common during May and June, flying low to the ground and normally biting ankles and legs. The painful bites can lead to swelling, blistering, joint pain and occasionally a high temperature, as many villagers have found to their cost. In severe cases the bite can cause ulceration and secondary infections. It is a public health nuisance.
Its larvae thrive and develop to maturity on the particularly accommodating, undulating, long river weed, ranunculus, that looks so beautiful as you walk across Heyford Bridge. The fly’s name derives from a major outbreak of people being bitten around the town of Blandford Forum in Dorset, in the 1960s and 70s. The town straddles the River Stour.
Researchers at Bournemouth University (BUG is the name of their commercial environmental programme team) developed a solution which for over 30 years has reduced the population of Blandford Fly by up to 98 per cent in affected areas along the River Stour. They spray the larvae in their breeding grounds amongst the weeds in the water course before they become flies and start to bite humans. Control is effected by targeting the filter feeding larval stage with a specific larvicide Vectobac AS, which is an aqueous solution of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) – a group of bacteria used as biological control agents for larval stages of certain dipterans. Bti produces toxins which are effective in killing various species of mosquitoes, fungus gnats, and blackflies, while having almost no effect on other organisms. This is a link to their 2024 report on last year’s treatment.
The total cost of the first year’s treatment is £23,000 with subsequent years costing around £18,000. These costs have been derived from an initial scoping project last year with multiple visits and testing by BUG scientists during June 2024 in various locations along the river course. Thanks are due to local OCC councillor Arash Fatemian for sourcing the funds for these investigations. Full approval has already been gained from the Health and Safety Executive as a result of the longstanding evidence from the River Stour and contact over the autumn with the Oxfordshire offices of the Environment Agency and Thames Water has secured their go ahead approval as well.
It had been hoped that Oxfordshire County Council would provide all or part of the £23,000 require for the first year of treatment and get the project underway in the spring of 2025. But as this money has not been forthcoming, the council decided to approach local parishes to see if they would share the cost between them. Unfortunately, at this stage in parish budget cycles, gaining sufficient commitment has proved impossible. Dorset County Council funds the spraying programme on the River Stour.
It is hoped that a publicity drive involving a widely shared video podcast produced by Mat Watson (of Car Wow fame) demonstrating the treatment process and impact of the spraying will create the level of interest and support needed to secure the required initial funding and ongoing spending in subsequent years. To that end, on 20th January Steeple Aston PC voted to release £5,000 from reserves to fund a pilot project on a single site close to the village. If you have views on the proposal please let Cathy Fleet, Parish Clerk, know of these, email parishclerk.steepleaston@gmail.com. We have already received a handful of comments, some positive and some understandably seeking further reassurances over potential impact on the wider ecology. These are being responded to by sharing the detailed academic follow up study papers from which the project draws its high level of confidence.