The Hook Norton Village Newsletter
April 2003 Series 28 No 2

Parish Council and Cherwell news





PARISH COUNCIL NOTICE BOARD, FEBRUARY – MARCH 2003

  TRAFFIC CALMING

Oxfordshire County Council is to install new village name signs incorporating 30mph restriction plates on both sides of the road at the Station Road, Chipping Norton Road and Sibford Ferris Road approaches to the village. These will be accompanied by gates and dragon's teeth road markings which should alert motorists to the fact that they are entering a residential zone and must obey the speed limit.

  PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Anybody interested in becoming a Parish Councillor should contact the Parish Clerk, Ken Porter, 01295 758352, as a matter of urgency as nomination papers need to be completed and sent to Cherwell District Council by Tuesday 1 April at the latest. Hook Norton is entitled to elect 11 councillors to serve on the Parish Council and if there are more than 11 valid nominations a poll will take place on Thursday 1st May between the hours of 8am and 9pm.

      VILLAGE SKIP SERVICE

As parishioners will probably know the last skip will be placed in the village over the weekend of 29th and 30th March. Cherwell District Council have reluctantly had to discontinue the service due to changes in legislation, which no longer make the service practicable.

 
PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS

The date of the monthly Parish Council meeting is to change and with effect from June will take place on the first Thursday of each month. Parishioners are reminded that they are welcome to attend all such meetings.
April 10 7pm Annual Parish Meeting to be followed by Parish Council Meeting.
May 8 7.30pm  
June 5 7.30pm  
July 3 7.30pm  
Aug 7 7.30pm  
Sept 4 7.30pm - Norman Matthews Community Hall
Oct 2 7.30pm  
Nov 6 7.30pm  
Dec 4 7.30pm  

  ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

The Annual Parish Meeting will take place in the Memorial Hall on Thursday 10th April 2003 at 7pm. There will be a guest speaker, Roger Davis, of the Oxfordshire Playing Fields Association, who will be discussing the Play Area and recreational facilities in general. All parishioners are welcome to attend.

NORMAN MATTHEWS COMMUNITY HALL The room used by the Youth Club adjoining the Library has been leased from the County Council by the Parish Council and redecorated. Other improvements have also been made. It will shortly be used by the new Out of School Club as well as by the Youth Club, and as a reading room for the library. It will also be available for other meetings. In memory of the late County Councillor, Norman Matthews, who did so much to bring this about, it will be known as the Norman Matthews Community Hall.  



WIRED-UP VILLAGES

COMMUNITY COMPUTERS IN RURAL OXFORDSHIRE
CONFERENCE 9th APRIL 2003, 9.30-3.30
EAST HANNEY VILLAGE HALL (near Wantage)

Hosted by Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Rural Learners Project, the conference will be FREE to delegates, though places must be booked. Details and bookings from: David Fisher, ORCC, tel: 01865 883488 fax: 01865 883191, email: david.fisher@oxonrcc.org.uk

WHY THIS CONFERENCE?
ICT (information and communications technology) can open doors to learning, leisure, advice and information, democratic involvement, and other services. But there is an increasing 'information gap', particularly in rural areas, between those with access to ICT and those without.

"WIRED-UP VILLAGES"
Several villages have taken the initiative to set up websites and other community ICT services. There are also new opportunities and funding to set up facilities. We need to make sure that these opportunities match the needs in rural areas, and that the best advice is given to interested groups. This conference will look at existing community ICT in Oxfordshire villages, and opportunities for developing new projects.

WHO SHOULD COME?

DOUBLE CLICK FOR COMMUNITY TRANSPORT
Oxfordshire a2b is a new website that is specifically designed to provide people in Oxfordshire with a quick and convenient way of finding out about community transport schemes in the county. www.a2binfo.net/oxfordshire is an Internet based version of the printed ORCC Community Transport Directory and aims to be user friendly, accessible and comprehensive. Oxfordshire a2b is accessible to anyone who can use the internet and will benefit those who live in rural parts of the county, cannot use conventional public transport and are looking for an alternative means of travelling from a to b.
If you have any queries about the a2b website or community transport, please contact Katharine May, Rural Community Transport Worker. Phone 01865 833488 or email: kath.may@oxonrcc.org.uk


THE LATEST COUNTRYSIDE EVENTS IN OXFORD LEAFLET
has been published by the City Council's Countryside Service. This leaflet gives details of events in Oxford from February to July and information about the groups who organise them. It features a varied programme of activities catering for people of all ages. If you would like to be sent a copy of the leaflet please send an email to countryside@oxford.gov.uk giving your postal address.


An initiative to raise awareness of just how much the British countryside has to offer will take place on May 3-11. National Outdoor Week (NOW!) will be a celebration of the British countryside and give an opportunity to try a new outdoor activity or pursuit. Hundreds of events from walking to canoeing and from cycling and mountaineering will take place over the NOW! week. More than ten national organisations, representing more than two million people have already signed up to NOW! 2003 and anyone planning an outdoor event from May 3-11 can take advantage of national publicity on the NOW! website at www.outdoorweek.org.uk. For further details visit the website or contact Andrew Maxted on 020 8842 1111 or email info@outdoorweek.org.uk.


And finally: Having declared its support for wind turbines to help reduce global warming, the Government is turning its attention to another manifestation of wind power– it's giving scientists a £150,000 grant to try and reduce cows' burping. Well-fed western cattle apparently release an average of 400 litres of methane a day – a far greater factor than carbon dioxide in global warming. The world's cattle and sheep are thought to produce a quarter of all atmospheric methane, and are responsible for five per cent of the entire global warming effect. No figures are available however on the impact of emissions from humans.