ALL THE LATEST TOWN COUNCIL NEWS, EVENTS AND COMPETITIONS

For a full list of civic and public events, please see the events page

  Witney Schools in Bloom Awards 2010

This year, once again, local schools took part in Schools in Bloom. It’s a firm favourite in the calendar of events with both schools and judges alike. The competition promotes environmental awareness and encourages children to play an active part in improving their surroundings, demonstrating that schools don't have to be dull, grey expanses of concrete and asphalt.

Judges at Witney Community School admiring planted baths

Judge Cllr Chrissie Curry said,

"The Schools in Bloom competition is one of my favourite projects.  I have been involved with it for seven years now and have seen all the schools surroundings develop into areas of real beauty and for the most part all due to the tremendous efforts of the children together with amazing devotion of their teachers and, more and more, the involvement of parents. The competition is really proving to be turning into community projects and the knowledge, enthusiasm and pride that the children show is a credit to both schools and families. Many children tell us that they are busy at home helping and building their own gardens, and it is not just the Garden Clubs that become involved – many schools have started Environment Clubs, Eco-Clubs, Recycling Clubs (which take care of litter in the school grounds) and all have a hand in the gardens. 

We have an in-joke amongst the judges:  the judges can be bribed with food – which means we get fed with the most delicious fruit – strawberries and raspberries – just-picked vegetables – peas, carrots and on one occasion this year freshly dug potatoes which we apologised for the fact that we couldn’t eat them there and then! – but I have to tell you they were delicious.  The schools use their produce at lunch time, some manage to sell their surplus which go towards future garden funds, and all food waste (very little!) is usually composted.  One school even sells its surplus compost!

I know that all my fellow judges are looking forward to the prize giving on September 24 in the Langdale Hall and to booking the dates in our diaries for next year’s judging which now takes four full days of intensive visits.  We aim to give as much time as possible to each school and I feel that next year it may well stretch into five days as the schools’ garden projects become more and more ambitious! 

One last note: it is enormously impressive that there is no or a miniscule amount of litter at each school. As soon as a piece of rubbish is seen, someone picks it up immediately and drops it into a litter bin. We all hope that this attitude lasts the children throughout their lives – congratulations!"

Witney Town Council arranges for the schools to be given a grant towards seeds, plants and equipment and the pupils record their progress in a portfolio as their project unfolds. This portfolio is also assessed.

The judging is very thorough, with marks awarded for criteria including:

*Visual Impact     *Standard of Maintenance    * Seasonal Planting 
* Local Environment Quality including Anti Litter Initiatives

*Vegetable and Fruit Production   * Resource Management -Recycling and Reuse of Materials Including  Water

*Wildlife Conservation/Consideration    *Pupil Involvement    

This year judges included, George Bennett and Francis Newenham of the Rotary Club, Denis West of Witney Horticultural Society and (pardon the pun) perennial judges, Witney Town Councillor, Chrissie Curry and Amenities Manager, Janine Howells.

Every year the judging panel is struck by the enthusiasm shown by the pupils and staff and the judges are able to  see projects from previous years continuing to take shape and develop alongside the new initiatives.

                                                         
Planted wellies at The Blake School:     Carefully tended veg at Springfield School:         Ingenious bottle greenhouse at Our Lady
                                                                                                                                  of Lourdes

Amenities Manager, Janine Howells, remarked,

“It’s always apparent that a high degree of enterprise and hard work has been required of pupils, staff and parents to achieve such outstanding results from quite meagre resources. The inventiveness applied to creating surprisingly beautiful wind chimes and bird feeders from old materials is just amazing.”

                                                               
The sensory garden at Madley Brook:                 Tranquil borders at Wood Green:                The pond in the Dell at Tower Hill

Judging took place in the first week of July and winners will be presented with their awards in September.

Overall winner Witney Community School wowed the judges, scoring well with their ingenious use of old milk cartons as planted containers and their diligence in watering during the long dry spell. With no easy access to water even the little ones in the nursery were busy watering their colourful planting at playtimes. The knowledge and enthusiasm displayed by the Charlotte and Jordan, who showed the judges round was also very impressive.

Marigold '4 pint' planters at Witney Community School

For a complete list of awards and winners click the image below.

This year as always, Witney is entering the RHS 'Britain In Bloom' competition. Judging will be held on Wednesday 21st July. Britain in Bloom is one of the largest horticultural campaigns in Europe working year-round to create a cleaner and greener Britain through community action.

The Town Council maintains annual bedding of both summer and winter at various locations around Witney. This includes sports grounds, roundabouts, the cemeteries and on verges. The Town Council also maintains two war memorials within Witney, which are cleaned each year prior to Remembrance Sunday and planted with seasonal bedding displays and maintained to a high standard throughout the year.

The whole of Witney is taken into account by the judges, including public houses, front gardens, and displays such as hanging baskets. If your garden is particularly spectacular, it could catch the eye of the judges on their tour of the town.

On the evening of Thursday March 11^th Witney’s Town Mayor, Councillor James Mills and Witney’s Team Rector, Rev’d Toby Wright, will be performing a FIREWALK in the Market Square in Witney.

They will be raising money for the Mayor’s chosen charities; Helen and Douglas House and Base 33.

For more information on how to take part or sponsor others please contact Sue Partlett at the town Hall on 01993 777821 or email her sue.partlett@witney-tc.gov.uk 

OCVA Lend a Laptop Scheme

Are you a Voluntary or Community group looking for funding for your project?

Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA), working in partnership with Volunteer Link Up, are able to offer the loan of a laptop for your group to research funding sources.
The “Lend a Laptop” contains:
• Funderfinder software-a searchable database of over 4,000 grant making trusts.
• Information to help your organisation produce a business like plan to present to funders.It can be borrowed from the Volunteer Link up office in the Methodist Church on Wesley walk in Witney and retained for a week for a refundable deposit of £100.

To book or find out more information, contact Volunteer Link up on 01993 776277 or David Bates in the OCVA Development team on 01865 251946.

Thames Valley Police - Community Messaging

Oxfordshire Trading Standards has delivered a blow against doorstep conmen with the launch of a new trader approval scheme.

The Buy With Confidence scheme gives residents free and easy access to reputable businesses which have been individually checked for compliance with consumer laws, helping to promote honest traders and protect the public from cowboys.

To be approved each business must pass a tough assessment by the Oxfordshire Trading Standards Service. Once approved, the business is added to the directory and they can also use the "Buy with Confidence" logo to promote their services.

Residents can check the list for businesses in their area, and traders gaining accreditation can promote themselves as among the best around for customer care.
Visit: www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk

New: OCVA (Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary action)
Information point for Community Groups

If you have a bright idea for a community project but don't know where to start, or if you belong to a group that needs some guidance on funding sources or other issues, the new Information Point at West Oxfordshire Citizens advice Bureau in Witney may be able to help.

At the Information Point you will find a small library of books on group organisation and development issues, and a computer loaded with 'FunderFinder' software to help you identify appropriate funding sources. A volunteer is on hand to assist you in using the system or you can make an appointment to meet with one of the OCVA Development team to talk through your query in more depth.

Venue: West Oxfordshire CAB, The Old Print House, Marlborough Lane, Witney, OX28 6DY

Opening Times: Tuesdays 1.30pm-4.30pm (by appointment)

To make an appointment contact David Bates on the OCVA Development Team. Tel: 01865 251946 or email: david.bates@ocva.org.uk

Witney fights back….

At the full Council meeting of Witney Town Council on Wednesday 8 October a proposal to support the provision of the Cogges Link Road received overwhelming support.

It was pointed out that a recent leaflet claiming to state the facts about the new road was highly inaccurate and a motion was passed for the Town Council to produce its own leaflet clarifying its position. It is intended to have these delivered by Town Councillors and made available at the Town Hall and other outlets. Anyone interested in this can access the leaflet here and residents wanting to show their support can do so online at CLR@witney-tc.gov.uk.

The Town Council has supported the provision of the Cogges Link Road steadfastly since 1999. The Cogges Link Road should have been started years ago and all the expansion of housing and commerce in and around Witney has been predicated on its construction. Without this Link the whole North East Witney development and the North East Distributor Road are in the wrong place with all the traffic generated from the Madley Park development having to filter along Bridge Street to access either the centre of town or to go west on the A40.

The Cogges Link Road cannot be looked at in isolation and, with the growth in haulage and other industries to the west side of Witney, the Cogges Link Road is part of the whole North East Distributor Route and should be viewed in tandem with the possible four-way junction onto the A40 at Downs Road. As long as Witney is a “Growth Town” without any rail links it is inevitable that traffic pressures will increase for both private and commercial vehicles. The risk of Witney becoming gridlocked with the associated loss of commerce, jobs and income along with the increased health risks should not be underestimated.

If the Cogges Link Road does not go ahead, then we may find that no second river crossing comes to Witney at all with the increased misery of getting children to school or getting to work on time as we sit still in the traffic jams around Bridge Street, Newland, West End, High Street, Mill Street etc. Witney Town Council are backing this proposal for the people of Witney and urge you to make your support for the Cogges Link Road known to your Town Council.

St Mary's Church

RESTORATION APPEAL - £3,000,000

St Mary's has launched an Appeal for the much needed restoration.  Full details can be obtained from the Parish Church Office on 01993 703507 or download the latest Restoration Information Newsletter.