A NEW team of wardens will start work in Witney next week as the council takes control of on-street parking for the first time.

Thames Valley Police is handing responsibility to West Oxfordshire District Council, which will put its six-strong squad of wardens on the beat from Monday. The new community wardens will wear green uniforms, with high-visibility jackets, and will have the power to hand out penalty charge notices for parking offences.

They will manage council-run car parks and keep on eye out for problems such as littering, dog-fouling, and graffiti.

District councillor David Harvey, cabinet member for environment, said: “Having one team looking after parking across the district makes complete sense.

“The district council is taking on parking management because we want to preserve our market towns and the free on-street and off-street parking that exists.

“This is a great boon for West Oxfordshire, as it is an added attraction to visitors, and helps maintain a thriving local economy.”

At the moment, two police traffic wardens are in charge of keeping control of on-street parking in the town, while another pair of council workers look after local authority car parks.

Mr Harvey confirmed the parking wardens employed by Thames Valley Police would join with the teams.

The district council also said all car parks in West Oxfordshire would remain free, and there were no plans to introduce on-street pay-and-display or residents’ parking areas.

Town hall chiefs could not say how much it would cost to implement the new team of wardens.

More snow is predicted to begin falling in Oxfordshire over the next 24 hours.

The Met Office has warned there will be further outbreaks of snow, some heavy and prolonged, with between 2 to 5cm settling generally and locally around 5cm to 10cm over high ground.

A spokesman said light snow is expected to start falling this evening from 6pm, and could continue on and off until Monday evening.

Source: Witney Gazette

Waste and recycling collection services have been suspended in West Oxfordshire.

The district council said they would remain suespended until it was safe for heavy waste collection vehicles to travel on side roads.

A spokesman said: "If you are due a collection today, please can you take your bins and boxes back in and present again on your scheduled collection date next week.

"Any excess recycling waste materials can be stored in open bags, such as carrier bags or black bags, and we will collect these with your boxes next week.

"If you have a bulky waste collection booked, we will contact you to re-arrange.

"We will continue to assess the situation."

Chipping Norton and Eynsham leisure centres are closed today, but the Windrush in Witney and Carteron leisure centres are both open.

The Witney Visitor Information Centre is open, but Burford and Woodstock are closed.

Source: Witney Gazette

Bus operator Thames Travel is operating as many routes as possible this morning in south Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.

The X39 Oxford-Wallingford route is operating to a normal timetable, subject to some delays due to the road conditions, as is route 105/106 via Oxford Science Park.

The X40 from Waliingford to Reading is running, but poor road conditions around Reading are causing long delays to buses.

Route 132 between Wallingford and RAF Benson is currently suspended, while a bus has gone out to assess whether it is safe for route 101 to operate between Watlington and Oxford, via Stadhampton.

Services are operating around Abingdon and Didcot, although road conditions in these areas are described as difficult.

Source: Witney Gazette

Snow showers are expected to continue throughout the morning across Oxfordshire.

However, heavy snow should give way to lighter flurries later in the day.

Forecasters have warned of freezing conditions tonight when temperatures could dip to as low as minus five degrees Celcius.

Source: Witney Gazette

Most of the UK will see some snow as the cold snap continues.

Many areas will see just a dusting of flakes but East Anglia and south east England were warned to expect between 10 and 15cm.

Paul Mott, forecaster from MeteoGroup UK, the weather arm of the Press Association, said it would be cold and wintry for the next week throughout the UK, but a white Christmas was more likely in the north.

"There could be a return to slightly milder weather before Christmas," he said. "If there is any snow at Christmas it is looking more likely in northern areas. It will be milder in the South."

Mr Mott said most areas of the UK would see some snow with Scotland, the North East of England and Yorkshire likely to see several centimetres.

Snow was least likely in south west England and south west Wales, he said.

"The heaviest of the snow showers are likely to be in East Anglia and south east England. The heaviest of the snow looks to be over Suffolk and Norfolk with ten to 15cms overnight, a good blanket."

London could see between two and 5cms, he added, with a strong wind making it feel bitterly cold. Less snow is expected in north and western parts but temperatures could fall as low as -5C (23F), he said.

East Anglia and the south east are likely to see further snow showers on Friday. More snow is expected across the UK on Saturday.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes cut its odds on London experiencing a white Christmas from 5/2 to 2/1. It is also offering odds of 2/1 for a white Christmas in Glasgow. Aberdeen has odds of 11/8 while Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin and Manchester are all on 11/4.

Source: Witney Gazette

Police are investigating if power cables were deliberately brought down causing a blackout for thousands of homes and traffic gridlock on the A40.

The Witney bypass was closed after a tree landed on high voltage power cables causing them to sag on to the carriageway at about 11am yesterday.

Engineers spent almost six hours repairing the damage and restoring electricity to 1,500 homes around Witney.

The A40 was closed to traffic in both directions until 4.45pm at the B4022 Cogges junction and gridlocked traffic was forced to divert through Witney and surrounding villages causing gridlock.

Police are investigating a case of criminal damage after claims someone was spotted felling trees in woodland near to the A40 and seen driving a vehicle from the scene shortly after the power cables were damaged.

Spokesman Rebecca Webber said: “We had reports someone was tree-felling in woods shortly before the power line came down. Enquiries are ongoing to see what was happening at that time.

“We do not know who was responsible and appealing for anyone who was in the area at the time the cables came down to contact police.”

Police closed the A40 in both directions at around 11.10am.

RESIDENTS campaigning to get Fairtrade status for Witney have renewed their fight.

Members of the Witney Area Fairtrade Action Group (Waftag) wore t-shirts and displayed Fairtrade produce outside the town council offices on Monday.

The group has been trying to get Witney Town Council to support its bid for the status by making Fairtrade products available at meetings and in their offices and canteens since 2007.

Waftag chairman Wendy Maddison said: “Witney is a Fairtrade town in everything other than support.

“Buying Fairtrade benefits some of the poorest people in the world.

“We are not trying to coerce people into buying Fairtrade, we are just trying to encourage them.“ A town council spokesman said it supported Fairtrade produce but could not tell people what to buy.

Source: Witney Gazette

WITNEY’S newest shopping centre has seen huge sales in its first week of trading.

And other parts of the town centre have received a boost with the news that Cargo will re-open in an empty shop, along with another fashion retailer.

Since Marriotts Walk, in Welch Way, opened almost two weeks ago, business has been booming for retailers within the shopping centre, including claims of three times the expected sales at Marks & Spencer.

There are no official figures for footfall in the £50m development, but shopping centre manager, Lynne Shawyer, said: “Since the opening, shops have been trading well.

“Several store managers have reported that sales were exceptional on the opening day and first weekend.

“For example, on the first day, M&S reached its target by 2pm, and by the end of the day it had tripled.

“Cineworld has been very busy, the most popular film was UP 3D, which sold out six times over the first three days.”

Marks & Spencer refused to reveal how much it had made, but store manager, Chris Taylor, said: “We've had a fantastic first week of trading in Witney, and the customer feedback has been great — some customers have even told us that they’ve been waiting 25 years for an M&S in Witney.”

It is expected that even more people will flock to the store on Friday, when the store will hold a penny bazaar to celebrate its 125th birthday.

Sandra Coulthard is store manager for Debenhams, which also would not reveal its sales figures.

But she said: “The store has been performing outstandingly in its first week, both from a customer and sales perspective.

“It’s safe to say that as a store, we have exceeded our targets in all areas, and have been delivering amazing results.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the first week, and am looking forward to a busy year ahead.”

A WITNEY restaurant caught selling drink to a 14-year-old has been banned from selling alcohol.

House Wong, in High Street, has been stopped from selling alcohol by West Oxfordshire District Council after complaints about underage drinking. The restaurant had failed three test purchases, where on one occasion, alcohol was served to a 14-year-old.

The decision was made at a district council licensing meeting, after being brought up by Thames Valley Police.

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the licensing panel, said: “The restaurant repeatedly failed to act on warnings and advice given by police and our council as the licensing authority to prevent underage drinking on its premises.

“There is clear evidence that alcohol has been served to minors on many occasions.

“We cannot, and will not, tolerate the flouting of laws that are in place to ensure that alcohol is served responsibly, especially when young people are involved.

“This is a message that we will take action if necessary to ensure that licensing obligations are being met in west Oxfordshire.”

The three underage test purchasing operations were carried out in December 2006, May 2008, and July 2009.

THE county’s newest shopping centre has opened its doors to the sound of cheers and confetti canons.

The new shops at the £50m Marriotts Walk development in Welch Way, Witney, opened to the public yesterday.

Crowds of people queued to enter Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, New Look, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Monsoon and Accessorize, along with Frankie & Benny’s and Café Rouge restaurants, a five-screen Cineworld cinema and a 590-space multi-storey car park.

There was a party atmosphere as ribbons were cut in the shops, jazz music was played and a town crier announced the openings.

Manager Chris Taylor cut the M&S banner, as customers drank Champagne and explored the new store.

He said: “We are so delighted to be here in Witney and to finally get the shop open. It’s overwhelming the number of people, it was so good to see the queue outside.”

Pensioner Betty Whitby, 67, from Leafield, was one of the first to look inside.

She said: “It’s really nice to have some nice shops in Witney and shops that are open later.

“From 5.45pm the town is normally dead.”

Friends Annelise Jones, 68, from Freeland, and Christine Hall, 60, from Church Hanborough, turned up for the opening.

Mrs Jones said: “We are very impressed with the fact that we have got M&S in Witney — it saves us having to get into Oxford or Cheltenham.”

Mrs Hall added: “Witney has needed this complex for years as it has grown.”

Oxford Mail photographer Denis Kennedy, who cut the ribbon to open Debenhams, has provided canvas prints of the town, displayed around the shop.

Store manager Sandra Coulthard said: “All the hard work over the last few weeks has come to fruition.”

New Look, previously located in Market Square, also opened its two-storey shop.

THIS is the first look inside Witney’s multi-million pound Marriotts Walk development ahead of its opening on Thursday.

The first shops in the Welch Way development will open their doors to the public at 10am.

First to open will be Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, New Look, Wallis, Monsoon, Accessorize and Dorothy Perkins, along with Frankie & Benny’s, Café Rouge, and a Cineworld five-screen cinema.

Work on the £50m project started in January last year, and includes 590 free car parking spaces, 143 new homes, a play park, and public toilets.

Lakeland will replace New Look, and another shop from the Arcadia Group will occupy Dorothy Perkins.

About 300 new retail jobs will be created.

Barry Norton, the leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Marriotts Walk is a much-needed addition to the facilities of Witney, helping to catch up with the town’s expansion in recent years, yet successfully preserving Witney’s historic market town centre.

“The development will help put Witney firmly on the map as a retail destination.”

The project was officially completed yesterday.

On Friday, Witney MP David Cameron will officially open the centre.

SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has announced it wants to move to Carterton — reviving hopes of a town centre rejuvenation.

The food chain has revealed it is in negotiations with the land owner of a derelict site behind High Street.

In August, Sainsbury’s submitted a planning application to create a 26,000 sqft supermarket at West Oxfordshire Retail and Business Park, in Upavon Way.

But civic leaders and traders are keen to revitalise the town centre, and want a supermarket in the hub of Carterton.

Janet Eustace, clerk at Carterton Town Council, said: “Representatives from Tesco met with town councillors earlier this month to outline their plans for a store in the town centre.

“The town and district councils have been working hard to bring about the refurbishment of the town centre to provide better retail opportunities.

“A new food store in the town centre would provide a much needed catalyst for regeneration.”

Tesco representative, Felix Gummer, said: “We are very excited about the opportunity to progress this plan for a town centre supermarket.

“The size of store that we are looking at is a bit larger than the Waitrose in Witney. Our store would have a good food selection and some non food as well.”

Mr Gummer said the site would provide good foot links and ample parking that would be used for both Tesco and High Street customers.

He added: “The plans and contract still need to be finalised, but as soon as they are we will undertake a full public consultation, giving all the residents and business people of Carterton a chance to see and comment on our proposed plans, before any planning application is submitted.”

The site was previously owned by The Co-operative.

Another mail strike will hit Oxfordshire homes and businesses tomorrow.

More than 800 workers at the Swindon sorting office, which has handled the county’s mail since the end of June, will stop work at 4am on Tuesday for 24 hours.

The stoppage comes as workers continue to vote in a national ballot for strike action, which is due to close on October 8.

Chris Rye, Swindon branch secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said: “There have been talks at national level and there has been some movement but we need to push home how serious we are.

“We want a national agreement covering issues such as bullying and harassment and working hours.”

The strike is the first for almost two weeks but affects both sorting office workers and truck drivers delivering mail to the county and is likely to cause a major backlog.

Oxfordshire postal workers also took part in a major CWU demonstration at the Labour party conference in Brighton over the weekend.

Paul Garraway, branch secretary of the Oxfordshire CWU, said: “There were about 10 of us and we marched along the seafront.”

Mr Garraway added that he believed any national strike after the ballot closed would start in the week beginning October 12.

He said: “I will be unhappy if we are not on strike. We have waited long enough.”

Royal Mail spokesman Tom Prendergast said: “It is now more clear than ever that the CWU is focusing all its efforts on strike action and political posturing.

“Their claimed support for change is no more than lip service but their determination to damage services and undermine the future health of the business is increasing.

“Royal Mail is getting on with modernisation in an entirely fair and reasonable way which is completely in line with our existing agreement with the union on flexible working practices.”

Source: Witney Gazette

THESE are the latest glimpses of work going on at Witney’s Marriotts Close development.

As the pictures show, work has mostly finished on building the units, and shopfitters are moving in to finalise the internal fixtures.

Debenhams is busy fitting out its 15,000 sq ft store in time for opening on October 29.

Most of the 50 members of staff, along with 15 extra workers for Christmas, will begin their two weeks of training at the end of the month. This will be followed by a week’s placement in a nearby store.

Store manager Sandra Coulthard, who has worked at Debenhams in Reading for the past two years, said: “It’s a great project and a chance you don’t often get as a manager, to build something from scratch.”

She added: “There has been a lot of curiosity and anticipation about the development.

“Having spoken to local people and doing the open day at the job centre, people are looking forward to the result.”

Over 300 hopefuls attended the job centre open day in August, with 200 candidates interviewed.

The store will be a Debenhams Desire, stocking cosmetics, fragrances, gifts and clothing for all the family.

Ms Coulthard said: “The robust leadership at this firm will be able to steer us through the recession. We have three stores opening over the next couple of months.”

Plans for the opening include face-painting, stilt-walking and a jazz band.

Royal Mail has defended itself against suggestions it was failing to cope with the strain on services caused by an ongoing industrial dispute.

Pictures of mail strewn across the pavement were taken by a customer who had visited a sorting office in south London to collect overdue post.

The woman, named only as Vicky, told the BBC: "I was surprised to see the mail in the street and pedestrians walking over it.

"I've only had three bits of post in the past three weeks."

The Wimbledon office was one of a number involved in strike action as part of the dispute over jobs, pay and services.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are doing everything we can to get as much mail to customers as soon as possible, including using management volunteers, to lessen the impact of the CWU strike action.

"All but a handful of our 1,400 delivery offices were working today (Saturday) and the activity in the picture was exceptional and shows we are determined to get our customers mail to them."

According to the Communication Workers Union, the dispute is the biggest with Royal Mail since the national strike of 2007 and has led to a backlog of undelivered post.

Strikes have taken place at a local level since June.

Postal services are set to be hit by more walkouts next week, starting with delivery offices in Cambridgeshire on Monday.

Source: Witney Gazette

NEW 20mph speed limits will be introduced throughout Oxford at the start of next month, it emerged this week.

Work on introducing 20mph speed limits on all but Oxford’s major radial routes will begin in three weeks’ time when county council officers begin installing 1,450 new signs in residential roads as part of the £233,000 scheme.

The current 30 limits will still apply on all or large parts of main routes such as the Botley, Abingdon Woodstock, Iffley and Marston roads.

The announcement comes in the week it emerged that Oxfordshire County Council was considering altering speed limits on more than half of the county’s rural roads as part of a major review to improve road safety.

20mph zones map.pdf

Road safety campaigners welcomed the 20mph limit announcement, however, they pledged to keep pushing for a blanket 20mph limit across the entire city.

Paul Cullen, the founding co-ordinator of Life begins at 20, which has fought a two-year campaign for the 20mph speed limits, said: “September 1 cannot come soon enough.

“We fought long and hard for this to be introduced and there’s been national recognition of the value of 20mph limits from the Government when it issued its road safety consultation recommending lower limits in residential areas across the country.

“We feel vindicated that we have been at the front of this movement for change and the effort we have made to spread the good news about 20mph has been heard in other places.

“The ultimate objective is a city-wide 20mph limit.

“We’ll be lobbying for an extension of it into the bus routes and main roads once its success has been proven.”

County Hall believes the move will help improve road safety. There were two fatal, 81 serious and 583 slight accidents between 2006 and 2008 on the roads that will be covered by the new 20mph limits.

The authority also hopes it will improve the quality of life for Oxford residents and encourage more people to walk and cycle to reduce congestion and pollution.

A campaign has been set up locally to try and get Witney Town Council to provide more allotment facilities in the town. The council currently has around 150 allotment plots spread over four sites around the town; however it has a two year waiting list that is currently estimated at 150 people.

The council for some time has had finding a new site on their agenda; however residents are still to see any such site coming to fruition.

In a time of recession and rising food costs and with the spike in interest in the ‘grow your own’ culture, waiting list are set to grow unless the council step in with a solution.

You can find out more about the campaign through the link below.

Campaign for More Allotment Plots in Witney

Richard MacKenzie

Health officials last night warned that more than a third of those living in Oxfordshire could contract swine flu.

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) said it was preparing to treat 40,000 people each week at the height of a predicted pandemic.

However, the PCT stressed there was no need for people to panic.

Figures from the PCT were released after the number of swine flu-related deaths in the UK rose to 17 yseterday.

The figure included the case of a death last week of a patient in Basildon, Essex, who had no underlying health problems – the first fatality of its kind in the UK.

Despite concern at the rising number of people with the virus, public health officials and people who have recovered from the H1N1 virus, maintained there was no need to worry and urged the public to keep calm and carry on.

Dr Shakiba Habibula, assistant director of public health for Oxfordshire PCT, said that 30-35 per cent of Oxfordshire’s population of 635,000 could contract the illness.

She added: “We are prepared for 40,000 cases a week at the peak time.

BUS stops will be moved out of Queen Street from Sunday, July 19 as part of the scheme to make one of Oxford’s busiest shopping streets more pedestrian-friendly.

Oxfordshire County Council has now released full details of where the Queen Street bus stops will be relocated to and the bus services that will be affected. But it warned there could be confusion over the first few days as city bus-users come to terms with the changes.

The bus stops are being moved to St Aldate’s, Castle Street, New Road and High Street, as the first part of the Transform Oxford scheme, which will eventually lead to the pedestrianisation of much of the city centre.

Critics of the plan had warned the pavements on St Aldate’s would not be wide enough cope with the extra passengers, leading to congestion and bus-users spilling on to the road.

But Oxfordshire County Council says bus stops on affected streets will have new or improved bus shelters and enhanced passenger information.

County Hall expects the bus stop switch will cut by a third the number of buses travelling through Queen Street. But the shopping street will not be fully pedestrianised until 2011, during a later phase of the Transform Oxford scheme.

Before the July 19 start date, a new zebra crossing will be installed across New Road at its junction with Castle Street, to help passengers get to their new bus stops. It will be further up the road from the current crossing.