Lifestyle

New Bus Service through Shipton

E:  info@woct.org.uk

W:  www.woct.org.uk

Facebook: @WOCTBus

 

New Bus Service for Crawley, Leafield and The Wychwoods to Witney and Chipping Norton

On Monday 12 February, 2018 at 07.45 a new bus service will start in Milton under Wychwood to Witney.  There will be 5 return services a day between The Wychwoods and Witney via Leafield and Crawley, 3 of which will extend to Chipping Norton and back.  The route within Witney will be via Range Road and Deer Park. This will be a Monday to Friday service.

This service is operated by West Oxfordshire Community Transport Limited: a community owned bus operator with a professional team of drivers and operations management.  West Oxfordshire Community Transport took over the operation of the Witney Town Service on 30th January 2017 and in the ensuing months has developed a reputation for reliability, punctuality and commitment to go above and beyond to ensure our passengers have the service they deserve and need.

It is thanks to the financial contributions from Oxfordshire County Council Communities Fund, the Parish Councils of Crawley, Leafield and Shipton under Wychwood that we have been able to buy a new bus to operate this service.

Everybody within the communities where we operate (and beyond) can support our services and be involved.

To find out more about the new service and how to become a member, contact Margaret Burden on:

T:  01608 646744      E: margaret.burden@woct.org.uk

 

Please click below for the timetable.

Bus timetable

 

January 25, 2018 in Community, Lifestyle

Garden Waste Licences

Sign up now for garden waste collections

Letters are being sent to all householders in West Oxfordshire encouraging them to sign up for this year’s garden waste collection service.

The new subscription year starts from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and costs £30 per bin a year for fortnightly wheeled-bin collection.

Householders that sign up before the 28 February can be sure of receiving their licence in good time for the start of the new subscription year and so be able to receive the maximum number of collections.

Cllr Carol Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Environment said, “Our garden waste collections service is very popular and over 27,000 householders signed up last year. We are writing to every household to remind them to re-subscribe this year. The price will remain the same at £30 and residents can be assured that all their garden waste will continue to be composted and put to good use.”

Signing up for garden waste collections is quick and easy, simply make a credit or debit card payment online or over the telephone by visiting  www.westoxon.gov.uk/garden or by calling 01993 861025.

The annual charge runs from 1 April until 31 March each year. Anyone signing up part way through the year they will be charged the full amount (£30) until the end of March.

After collection, the garden waste is delivered to a composting site near Chipping Norton. This large scale site enables faster composting as it reaches higher temperatures. The garden waste is first shredded then stacked in long piles, known as windrows, which are regularly turned to produce compost. The process is monitored and closely managed to quality standard. Compost is then spread onto agricultural land.

January 18, 2018 in Lifestyle

Raising the bar in recycling

Your chance to talk rubbish and recycling with Oxfordshire’s councils

Do you know that each household in Oxfordshire produces one tonne of waste each year? We are amongst the best in the country at recycling and composting for a few years now at about 60% but recycling rates have started to drop in Oxfordshire.

Residents are being given the chance to talk rubbish and recycling and tell Oxfordshire’s county, city and district councils how they can help them recycle more and create less waste.

This consultation will inform the review of the joint countywide waste strategy. This sets out shared priorities across Oxfordshire for waste and recycling until 2030, that will be approved by the Oxfordshire Environment Partnership over the summer. Then, each council partner will adopt changes later in the year.

We want to do better at recycling and the new joint countywide waste strategy is critical to this. We know that on average over half of the items put in the general waste bin could have been recycled by placing them in the other bins available.

Through this consultation residents are being asked what would help them to reduce their overall waste consumption and recycle more. This includes expanding the range of materials that can be recycled at the kerbside and tips and advice on left-over food, upcycling clothing or donating or buying second hand goods. The councils are also seeking views on more radical schemes that have been implemented elsewhere in the country, such as changing bin sizes and collection frequency.

Councillor Yvonne Constance, Cabinet Member for Environment at Oxfordshire County Council said:“We want to help residents to increase the amount they recycle and have looked around at what other councils are doing. This is a long-term strategy and we will not be making any immediate changes however we are interested in which of these the residents of Oxfordshire think may work for them as we seek to minimise the overall amount of residual waste produced in the county.”

Do you want to help us recycle and reduce waste? Take part in the online survey atwww.recycleforoxfordshire.org.uk. The survey runs for six weeks until 18 February.

We want to ensure that as many residents as possible know about the changes.  If your parish council uses social media we would also be grateful if you could like and share our social media posts, and post the following information and graphic attached:

  • Your councils want your ideas about reducing, reusing and recycling our rubbish. Help them shape the future of waste and recycling services in Oxfordshire and tell them how they can help you recycle more – complete their survey by 18 February www.recycleforoxfordshire.org.uk
January 10, 2018 in Lifestyle

Christmas Tree Recycling

Christmas tree recycling

West Oxfordshire District Council is encouraging residents to recycle their real Christmas trees.

Householders already signed up for garden waste collections can simply put them out on their next scheduled garden collection from Tuesday 9 January. Trees should be cut up and placed inside their licensed garden bin. However, if their garden waste bin is full, the tree can cut up and left next to the full bin for collection. Trees larger than 90cm / 3ft should be cut into manageable pieces before putting out.

Alternatively anyone, including those who are not garden waste customers, can take their tree along to one of the Council’s collection points on 13 and 14 January. All trees will be chipped at these locations for free.

Christmas tree chipping locations:

Saturday 13 January 2018

  • Witney: Witan Way Car Park , 9 – 11am
  • Carterton: Black Bourton Road car park, 1.30 – 3.30pm

 

Sunday 14 January 2018

  • Chipping Norton: New Street car park, 9 – 11am

All of the chippings collected will be taken to the composting facility that processes garden waste.

January 4, 2018 in Community, Lifestyle

Latest information about bin collections

Please note, we are keeping our website updated with the latest news about waste collections. For more information see: http://www.westoxon.gov.uk/news/general/snow/

Bin collections now resumed

Weather permitting, and where it is safe to do so, crews will be collecting bins as scheduled for the rest of the week. If your bin is not emptied, please report it as a missed collection.

Catching up on missed collections from Monday & Tuesday (11 & 12 December)

Depending on road conditions, we will empty the missed bins from Monday and Tuesday as follows:

  • Rubbish will be collected Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 December
  • Food waste will be collected on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 December
  • Recycling will be collected on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 December

Please leave your bins out.

Garden waste collections suspended

So that crews can concentrate on clearing the waste and recycling from Monday and Tuesday, garden waste collections have been suspended until 9 January.

Why collections were delayed

Although main roads have been gritted by Oxfordshire County Council, many of our collections are on hills and minor streets. Collection trucks are heavy and will be braking as they do hundreds of stops on each round – this can be hazardous in icy conditions. We delayed collections to take account of the safety of pedestrians, other motorists, property and our own crews.

December 13, 2017 in Community, Lifestyle

Bin collections cancelled – Tuesday 12 December

Snow and bin collections in West Oxfordshire

Bin collections cancelled – Tuesday 12 December

Due to the icy road conditions there is no bin collection service in West Oxfordshire today (Tuesday 12 December) – this includes bulky household waste and clinical waste collections.

Weather permitting crews will be collecting bins as scheduled from tomorrow (Wednesday).

Catching up on missed collections from Monday & Tuesday (11 & 12 December)

We will empty the missed bins from Monday and Tuesday as soon as possible, depending on road conditions. However, if necessary, crews may be working over the weekend and early into next week to catch up.

Please leave your bins out.

Garden waste collections suspended

So that crews can concentrate on clearing the waste and recycling from Monday and Tuesday, garden waste collections have been suspended until 9 January.

Why collections were delayed

Although main roads have been gritted by Oxfordshire County Council, many of our collections are on hills and minor streets. Collection trucks are heavy and will be braking as they do hundreds of stops on each round – this can be hazardous in icy conditions. We delayed collections to take account of the safety of pedestrians, other motorists, property and our own crews.

More information

Dix Pit Recycling Centre is currently open but for the latest information please check Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

Latest updates will be added to this webpage. Alternatively:

December 12, 2017 in Community, Lifestyle

Snow and West Oxfordshire District Council services

Snow and West Oxfordshire District Council services

Due to snow and icy road conditions, there is a limited bin collection service in West Oxfordshire today, Monday 11 December.

West Oxfordshire District Council hope that any outstanding collections will be completed by Wednesday but this is dependent on the weather conditions.

Please can residents whose bins have not been emptied leave them out for collection.

Nasreen Ullah, Environmental Services Manager at the Council, said “We will be trying our utmost to reach as many areas as possible but the roads are very icy and dangerous. Collections have been suspended for the safety of our residents, their property and bin crews”.

There will be no bulky household waste or clinical waste collections today and households will be contacted to re-arrange.

Oxfordshire County Council has also closed Dix Pit Recycling Centre temporarily.

For more information and the latest update visit: www.westoxon.gov.uk, follow West Oxfordshire District Council on Facebook or Twitter or call 01993 861025.

December 11, 2017 in Lifestyle

Railway Upgrade Plan – Christmas 2017

Great Western Railway update

A quick reminder about work scheduled over the Christmas period; and which services will be operating.

As part of the Railway Upgrade Plan we are undertaking our largest ever resignalling scheme outside London Paddington in preparation for the opening of the Elizabeth Line. London Paddington will be closed for four days over the holiday period. We have a full plan in place to support customers with alternative journeys, which is on our website at GWR.com/Christmas2017.

As well as the Elizabeth Line work, over Christmas we will be commissioning the new overhead electric line equipment between Didcot Parkway and Maidenhead. This will mean we can roll out the rest of our electric fleet of Class 387 trains and can run our Intercity Express Trains under electric power from Didcot to London.

We will also be able to move more of our Turbo trains to the West of England and South Wales. This will mean additional capacity from the return to work after Christmas. There is still more to do, and we will keep rolling out our trains through 2018, so that in January 2019 we can introduce more journey time savings from the new trains and improved track.

The timetable changes over Christmas were advised a bit later than usual as there were some requests for extra work. There are therefore a small number of customers who have tickets for trains where the timetable has now been revised.  We have contacted everyone we can by email or phone. There are some others where we have no contact details and we are therefore using station posters, social and traditional media to remind customers to check their travel plans again before they set out.

I wish you all the best for the season and do please let me know if you need any further information

Best wishes

Mark Hopwood                                 Mark Langman

Managing Director                               Western Route Managing Director

Great Western Railway                      Network Rail

December 11, 2017 in Community, Lifestyle

HAVE YOUR SAY ON YOUR DOCTORS SURGERY AND FUTURE OF GP SERVICES IN OXFORDSHIRE

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group

Locality place based plans across Oxfordshire

You’ve been invited to participate in Locality place based plans across Oxfordshire by Oxfordshire CCG

This is open from 4 Dec 2017 at 00:00 to 17 Dec 2017 at 23:59.

Dear All

The draft locality plans for GP practices and primary care in Oxfordshire are now published and available for comment until 17 December. Each Plan identifies the priorities of the local area and outlines ways to make GP services more sustainable and responsive to patient’s needs. With health and care services under significant pressure no single GP practice or provider organisation has one solution. However the draft plan maps out how GP practices can work together and with other providers to ensure sustainability and improvements in patient care.

We are grateful for all the patient feedback and to those who have engaged and helped us to develop the plans thus far.

We would now like to hear your views on the ideas and proposals in each of the Locality place based plans for Oxfordshire. To read the place based plan for each of the Localities in Oxfordshire and to take part in the surveys, please click on the link below:

Oxford City: https://consult.oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk/consult.ti/OxfordLocalityPlan/consultationHome

North (Banbury, Chipping Norton, Bloxham and surrounding villages): https://consult.oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk/consult.ti/NorthLocalityPlan/consultationHome

North East (Bicester, Kidlington, Woodstock and surrounding villages): https://consult.oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk/consult.ti/NELocalityPlan/consultationHome

South East (Wallingford, Henley-on-Thames, Benson, Thame, Chinnor, Sonning Common and surrounding villages):https://consult.oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk/consult.ti/SELocalityPlan/consultationHome

South West (Faringdon, Wantage, Abingdon, Didcot and surrounding villages): https://consult.oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk/consult.ti/SWLocalityPlan/consultationHome

West (Witney, Carterton, Eynsham and surrounding villages/towns): https://consult.oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk/consult.ti/WestOxonPrimaryCare/consultationHome

If you would prefer to comment on Locality place based plans across Oxfordshire as a whole, please email OCCG at cscsu.talkinghealth@nhs.net or write to:

Freepost OXFORDSHIRE CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP

Following this second phase of engagement we will collate and analyse all the feedback and input into the final plans. A final engagement report will be published alongside the plans in January 2018.

Have your say – Participate now!

December 5, 2017 in Community, Lifestyle

Festive caddy bin liners giveaway

Festive caddy bin liners giveaway

In the run up to Christmas, West Oxfordshire residents can pick up a free roll of food waste caddy liners at District Council reception points and at recycling roadshows.

Cllr Carol Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “We want to encourage as many people as possible to recycle their food waste, especially over Christmas when there are always a lot of leftovers such as turkey carcasses and fruit and vegetable peelings.

“All food waste is recycled, with the gases generated during recycling being converted into electricity and the food waste itself producing nutrient-rich fertiliser which is then used by local farmers.”

Food waste in West Oxfordshire is collected weekly and recycled locally at the Agrivert Anaerobic Digestion plant near Cassington.

Residents can line their food caddies with carrier bags, pedal bin bags (not black), compostable bags or newspaper. Extracted liner bags are sent to an Energy Recovery Facility.

Free bags can be collected at the Town Centre Shop, Woodgreen or Elmfield offices in Witney and the Guildhall in Chipping Norton. One roll per household will be available until stocks run out.

Householders who do not have a free food waste bin and kitchen caddy or are unsure of how to recycle their food waste, should contact the District Council online at www.westoxon.gov.uk/food or on 01993 861025.

Pictured holding a roll of caddy liners is Jake Aitman, a member of the Council’s customer services and waste recycling teams.

Description: Food waste + Jake 2017

December 1, 2017 in Lifestyle, Uncategorized