VACANCY FOR A PARISH COUNCILLOR
The Parish Council needs a new member to help it to maintain and improve the services available in Great Coxwell.
This is an opportunity for you to make a contribution to the village by having a say on local issues, to represent the views of parishioners and to become involved for the benefit of our community.
 
If you would like to be considered or would like further information, please contact the Clerk or Chair Jacqui Russell.
[email protected]
[email protected]
https://www.greatcoxwell.com/parish-council.html
 

To be eligible to become a parish councillor you must be:

• At least 18 years old on the day of your nomination, and
• A British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of any other member state of the European Union

You must also meet ONE of the following four criteria:

• You are, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the parish in which you wish to stand from the day of your nomination onwards;
• You have occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the parish area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election;
• Your main or only place of work during the 12 months prior to the day of your nomination and the day of election has been in the parish area;
• You have lived in the parish area or within three miles of it during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election

Disqualifications from standing

There are certain people who are disqualified from being elected to a parish or community council in England and Wales.
You cannot be a candidate if at the time of your nomination and on the day of the election, any of the following are true:

• You are employed by the parish council or hold a paid office under the parish/community council (including joint boards or committees),
• You are the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order,
• You have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three months or more (including a suspended sentence), without the option of a fine, during the five years before polling day
• You have been disqualified under the Representation of the People Act 1983 (which covers corrupt or illegal electoral practices and offences relating to donations) or under the Audit Commission Act 1998

A person may also be disqualified from election if they have been disqualified from standing for election to a local authority following a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (formerly the Adjudication Panel for England or Wales).
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This Sunday will see the inaugural Great Coxwell Scarecrow Trail - join the fun.

You can pick up a ticket and a map from Scarecrow HQ which will be set up on the grass in front of Manor Cottage (right next to the Phone Box Library), there's a raffle too so get your raffle tickets at the same time.

Use your map and follow the arrows in the village to find and identify all the scarecrows, then drop your completed map back at Scarecrow HQ Room for a chance to win one of the fantastic prizes listed below.

The Scarecrow Café will running in the Reading Room from 11am to 5pm serving food and drinks, so reward yourself after all your hard work hunting down the scarecrows.

Reminder that Knife Sharpener, Neil Brooking, will be at :-
 
Highview
 
Thursday 21st October
 
11am until 2 pm 
 
Mary

Welcome to Bulletin 3, just over a week on from the last bulletin and the project is moving rapidly ahead. Again thank you to everyone who contacted us to show your support, completed the interest form on our Website or spoke to one of us on the doorstep. Apologies for interrupting your evenings and many thanks for some very interesting discussions. We are pleased to say that as of 15th October we have 57 households expressing support. We still need more support and, if anyone we haven't been able to call on yet would like to contact us or visit the website please see the links below. Our target is to have 70 supporters by the end of the month and to submit our application by 5th November. 

Expressing an interest is all that is required at this stage.  Your expression of interest does not imply any other obligation or commitment. 

Over the last week we have: 

• Attended the Oxford Low Carbon Hub AGM - we are a member of the Hub and they have been a great support, we hope to work closely with them on Solar Panels and Retrofit Insulation during the project.
• We completed our preliminary discussions with potential Consultants last week - and compiled a shortlist of 4 consultancies recommended by the Greater South West Energy Hub - the grant awarding body we will be applying to.
• We issued the Invitation To Tender for the Consultancy work on the feasibility study to the companies on our shortlist on 13th. The deadline we set is very tight (25th October) but we have had a positive response from three consultancies already.
• Approached the housing association that manages some of our properties and received a favourable response. 
• We are close to finalising our application to the Financial Conduct Authority to form a Community Benefit Company. This will give us the legal framework we need to carry out the first part of the project and manage the finances should we be successful in winning the grant. The company will allow us to open a bank account with an ethical bank and could be used more widely for qualifying projects. We hope to be sponsored by Energy4All, the company that manages the day to day operation of the Westmill Co-Op. When this is finalised we will submit the CBS application.
• Fact-Finding visit to The Cotswold Wildlife Park. 

The Park claims to be a UK pioneer in ground source heat pumps, installing the first in 2010 to keep the giraffes warm. It was so successful they installed a larger second system to heat their greenhouses and tropical houses in 2014. Nichola, the financial controller, kindly offered to show us their ground and air source heat pumps and solar installations and answer our myriad of questions. We were particularly impressed by their financial savings (the total financial benefit over 20 years as a result of energy cost savings and grants, and using 3% inflation a year, amounts to just over £490,000) and the reliability of their ground source system in needing no maintenance at all during its first ten years of operation. We took a few photos (below) showing the pumps and hot water tanks. Not exciting to look at but surprisingly quiet - they could barely be heard above their freezers! Also see the photo below showing the site of the groundworks - nothing to see other than the manhole covering the manifolds that collect the pipes. There are 18 x 200m pipe loops buried in the field. The water passes from here under the road to the pump house. Cotswold Wildlife Park is justifiably proud of their system and more than pleased to show it off. Many thanks to Nichola. 

​- Started a door-to-door leafleting campaign.
Apologies if we haven't managed to call on you yet. If you are at all interested in the Project please contact us to let us know - with no obligation or commitment - either : 
e-mail:  [email protected]
visit :     https://greenergreatcoxwell.com/contact-page/   
To find out more or to send us specific queries visit www.greenergreatcoxwell.com or e-mail [email protected].
For general information from Greener Great Coxwell please mail : [email protected].
You can find these Bulletins on the website at : https://greenergreatcoxwell.com/great-coxwell-community-energy-bulletins/
Thank you, 
Annabelle Zinovieff, Ken Hirons, Ian Mason, Karen Mason, Margaret O’Donohoe, Richard Benwell, Sophie Stainer, Jacqui Russell

Village Teas will restart on Sunday 31st October from 2 00. till 5.00.

Please join us for tea and a slice of delicious cake. All proceeds to go to the Community Fund.

For those of you who contributed to the collection for Paul the Postie he will be calling in to see us for tea, and this will be an opportunity to present him with his gift.
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​A few months ago, Neil Brooking a knife sharpener, came to the village to sharpen any knives and tools that needed it. He is coming again on Thursday October 21st between 10am and 1 pm. He will park on my drive, Highview, and you are very welcome to use his services if you wish. 

Mary Parfitt

The following documents have been added to the website:

Parish Council Meeting Agenda October 18th 2021
Reading Room Meeting Agenda October 18th 2021

Good News!

Open House Drop In coffee will be opening again in the Reading Room from this Wednesday, 12th October, 10.30 - 11.30 am.

News, views, walkers and talkers - all welcome on a Wednesday morning.
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Vale of White Horse District Council has launched the new White Horse Community lottery and is encouraging voluntary and community groups across the Vale to join.
 
Even better news, it is free to join and being part of the lottery will mean your group can generate unrestricted funds in a fun way that enables players to support the causes they care about the most in their community.
 
Next steps, if you are either..  

• A constituted group with a volunteer management committee with a minimum of three unrelated members that meets on a regular basis

OR

• A registered charity, with a board of trustees

and you…

• Provide community activities or services within the District Council boundaries (not necessarily based here) and
• Have a formal constitution or set of rules, and
• Have a bank account requiring at least two unrelated signatories, and
• Operate with no undue restrictions on membership.

then simply visit www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-white-horse-district-council/community-support/white-horse-community-lottery/
​

Many of us have concerns about traffic problems in the village. The Parish Council has received correspondence expressing specific concerns and we have discussed these at our regular council meetings, with our District and County councillors and with the Oxfordshire County Council Highways Department.
We are now at the stage where OCC has agreed to visit the village to discuss these problems and to offer advice on possible solutions. What we need now is to have as many views and suggestions from you as possible.
From the problems that we are aware of, we have chosen the following to concentrate on in the hope that we stand a better chance of success by starting with a short list. The ones chosen are:
·         Reducing the speed of traffic and tackling speeding with the possibility for a 20mph zone through the village. There are also other measures that we will seek advice on such as electronic speed monitoring and traffic calming infrastructure.
 
·         The problems from inconsiderate parking causing obstruction to passing traffic, driveways and pavements, particularly on the stretch of road in front of Cherry Orchard and beyond to the T-junction. These can result in delays, especially when lorries cannot pass by parked cars; slowing the passage of emergency vehicles; and the danger from, or to, vehicles coming around the bend into Cherry Orchard from vehicles pulling out around parked cars.
 
·         Concerns regarding people using the village as a short cut (‘rat-running’) have been raised for some time. Previous proposals to solve this by shutting the Holloway or making it one way have not been sufficiently supported in the past to take them forward. This and other possible solutions can be looked at again.
 
·         The S-bend just before Cherry Orchard and the curve before the entrance to the old golf course can be hazards from oncoming vehicles cutting into the opposite lane. Many of us will have experienced this, it is particularly dangerous when vehicles are going too fast around the bends.
 
Approval and implementation of any measures are in the power of OCC but would be at our cost. At this stage we are just seeking advice, nothing would be introduced without a proper consultation with the village.
The next meeting of the Council is on 18 October at 6:30pm in the Reading Room. We encourage anyone with strong views on this to come to the meeting and raise them in person* or to write to us at [email protected] so that your points are included in the discussion. Additionally, any of us would be pleased to discuss traffic problems with you informally.
Thank you.
Great Coxwell Parish Council.
*Unfortunately, there will be a limit on attendance given Covid-related restrictions for the Reading Room.