Dear town and parish councils,

We recently announced some measures aimed making district council car parks in the Vale of White Horse more sustainable to manage.  We can now confirm that we’ll be introducing these changes on Monday 4 April.
 

• Free parking will still be available but reduced to one hour a day*
• New fees will apply for parking for up to two hours
• All other charges will go up by 40p
• New and renewed permits will be valid for the specific car park they are issued for and will not be transferable.

 
*except for Southampton Street car park in Faringdon, which will continue to offer two hours free parking a day. Faringdon’s main supermarket is out of town so we hope that by offering two hours free in this town centre car park we will continue to encourage people to support local trade.

To ensure people know that the changes are coming, from today we’ll be carrying out a public awareness campaign.  This will include information via the local press and our usual communication channels to parishes, residents and businesses.

Special notices will go up in our car parks around two weeks before the changes are introduced.  We’ll also be running messages on our social media channels - so please do help us spread the word to residents throughout the district.

We’ve also put together this information<http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/parkingchanges> to help explain what’s happening.

We have also prepared some posters, should you wish to print them off to display on public noticeboards.
 

• Abingdon<https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/Abingdon.pdf>
• Faringdon and all Vale district<https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/Faringdon-and-all-Vale.pdf>
• Wantage<https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/Wantage.pdf>

 
Many thanks
 
Communications
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
01235 422400
www.southoxon.gov.uk<http://www.southoxon.gov.uk>
@southoxon<http://twitter.com/southoxon>
www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk<http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk>
@whitehorsedc<http://twitter.com/whitehorsedc>
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Documents have been added to the website for the upcoming meetings. 28th Feb 2022

The following documents have been added to the website:

Parish Council Meeting Minutes December 13th 2021

The following documents have been added to the website:

Parish Council Meeting Agenda December 13th 2021
District Council Report November 2021
County Council Report November \ December 2021

We are pleased to be able to reopen the Reading Room after a very difficult time. While it has been closed, we have carried out extensive repairs to the building following a major water leak, the effects of the subsidence to the south wall have been repaired and we have installed a replacement boiler. There have also been substantial improvements to the kitchen, new storage cabinets built in the main hall and repairs completed to the toilet facilities and to the fire escape. The Council wishes to acknowledge and thank Richard May for his hard work and carpentry skills in achieving a lot of this repair and renovation work.

As part of reopening, the Trustees have renewed the risk assessments and carried out a review of our insurance policy. To comply with the requirements of our insurance and the terms of our risk assessment, all users must now please book their use using a booking form available online or from [email protected]. This will enable us to demonstrate that we have provided users with appropriate information for their safe and proper use of the Room and that they have agreed to those conditions.

Insurance is not automatically in place for regular users of the Room, so please discuss this with us before arranging such events.

We have also reviewed and updated the hiring fees. In the interests of simplicity, fairness and transparency, all events will now be charged by the hour with a refundable cleaning deposit required for some events.

The charges will apply to all users to enable the Reading Room to cover some of its costs, however, it is not our intention for the Reading Room to be fully funded through the hire fees and it will continue to receive financial support from the Council. 

Our intention in setting the fees was to try to make the Reading Room as accessible to all village users as possible and the prices have been maintained very close to the those set in 2005. Events run for community fundraising or community benefit, can apply to the Council to fund the hire of the room for such purposes, for example the weekly Drop-in.

Higher hourly charges will be applied for non-parishioner use.

The charges are shown on the Reading Room page.

We understand that it has been inconvenient not having the Reading Room available and hope that it can now be used as much as possible.

Great Coxwell Parish Council
26th October 2021
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​The following documents have been added to the website:

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

 Garden Waste

The garden waste service will return to its normal fortnightly collections from next week. 
The normal garden waste collection schedule in Vale will resume on 25 October and so from that day onwards, customers can put their brown garden waste bins out on their normal collection day in their recycling week every fortnight.  
As mentioned last month, to make up for the disruption to the service we are extending customers' current subscription to the service by three months. 
The councils are emailing and writing to their garden waste customers this week letting them know the good news. 
Vale garden waste customers will also benefit from the scheduled Extra Garden Waste Week next month (week commencing 8 November) when customers are entitled to put out one extra bin's worth of garden waste that week. 
There is more information at: whitehorsedc.gov.uk/gardenwaste

White Horse Community Lottery 
The White Horse Community Lottery had its first draw on Saturday 18 September, with many supporters winning a variety of prizes including £25 to 3 extra tickets. In the first draw, one good cause had multiple winners.  In addition to this, players of the first five tickets drawn have won £100 to donate to a good cause of their choice.

Since the launch, many good causes have joined the White Horse Community Lottery and can now benefit from vital unrestricted funds and players can support the causes they care about the most.  It’s predicted that over the next year, the lottery will raise just over £30,000 for good causes in the district.

Please spread the word to good causes in your area and encourage local voluntary groups and charities to register.

For more information please visit whitehorsedc.gov.uk/communitylottery.

Organisations that want to register for the lottery please visit whitehorselottery.co.uk/good-causes/apply

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).
​

The following documents have been added to the website:

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

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/
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