The Steering Group is committed to observing all the principles of the GDPR. It will only hold information which is strictly required for the purposes of preparing for the creation of a Community Business Society and making preliminary plans to establish a shop/cafe. It will therefore only hold and keep personal information relating to those who have provided their information to help as advisers, volunteers, potential shareholders and suppliers. Any other data provided by members of the community whether by survey, oral or written communication, will be anonymised and destroyed.
Village Notice Board
Planning application 22/03049/OUT – Manorwood Homes proposal for 8 dwellings at Corner Farm, Station Road, Kirtlington
Cherwell District Council is inviting comments on this recent proposal. Full details of the application can be found via this link: https://planningregister.cherwell.gov.uk/Planning/Display/22/03049/OUT, and comments may be submitted via this link https://planningregister.cherwell.gov.uk/Planning/Comment/22/03049/OUT The Parish Council would encourage anyone who wishes to send in comments to do so, in good time, and to state whether you are in support or whether you object.
If you prefer to write to Cherwell District Council, please write to: Planning and Development, Development Management, Bodicote House Bodicote Banbury Oxfordshire OX15 4AA, and state the Application Number 22/03049/OUT.
The Parish Council will consider the application at its meeting on 7th November and will submit its formal response to Cherwell District Council by Friday 11th November. Cherwell District Council has extended the public comments agreed to 16th November.
Community Shop. What If?
– you could walk down the road to buy that bottle of milk you suddenly need? Or some of those special little extras for when friends come round? Or home-made cakes and biscuits and other local produce?
– you could meet your friends for a coffee while your children played on the field behind the Village Hall?
– you could showcase and sell your work in a local venue?
– you could contribute to village life by being part of a project to set up a community-owned shop and café?
All these things could be possible if enough people are willing to commit to making them happen. Several villages near us have successful community shops: Islip, Tackley and Wootton are three examples. They use existing buildings but you can see from these pictures what the villagers of Wigginton, near Tring, achieved when they created a new purpose-built shop/café beside their playing field.
We could do something like that here.
You may have your doubts about such a project – after all, the Bletchingdon Co-op is very close. But you may not want to be obliged to get in your car for every small errand, especially if you are elderly or have small children it’s easier just to put in a buggy. You may want to be able to meet others close to home and hear the latest news in an informal setting …
In addition to being a real hub of village life, such a venue could grow into a destination for walkers and visitors from outside the village to come and enjoy the exceptional surroundings of Kirtlington Park, the sports field, playground and church. There is no doubt that such an asset would not only contribute to the quality of our daily community life but it would also enhance the value of our properties.
There will be a public meeting to discuss this possibility in March in the Village Hall and a flyer will be sent out with more details nearer the time.
Meanwhile, if you would like to be involved or ask questions, please contact:
Kirtlington Hedgehog Street
Kirtlington Hedgehog Street is connecting gardens in the village to give hedgehogs enough space to breed and to help keep them off the roads. This is part of the national Hedgehog Street campaign. To learn more see this article that was published in the national press.
- 60 properties in the village are connected
- c. 16 acres of gardens are included
- The village pub, school and church are all connected.
The national Hedgehog Street organisation has told KWACS that Kirtlington has one of the biggest volunteer-run Hedgehog Streets in the country! See the map in green. To join, please make sure hedgehogs can pass from your garden to your neighbours’ gardens. All it needs is a CD sized hole in your fence or wall.
In Spring 2020, there was a rapid and significant decline in Kirtlington’s hedgehog population. We have written up the evidence for the decline which is very clear and the possible reasons for it. Click here for that article and here for another article by Professor Patrick Doncaster who researched into hedgehogs in Kirtlington Park in 1992. Click here for coverage of the loss of our hedgehogs on local BBC news.
KWACS is delighted, whenever possible, to support other communities who would like to set up their own hedgehog street. In particular, click here if you are interested in receiving a lecture about what we have done in Kirtlington. This is given either in person (when Covid allows) or via Zoom by the brother of the KWACS committee member who leads our hedgehog work. He is a wildlife photographer, film maker and public speaker. In addition, visitors are welcome to come to Kirtlington (when Covid allows) to see in person what we have done.
DONATIONS
If you would like to support our work, please click on DONATIONS above. That will take you to our on-line giving page for the KWACS Hedge Fund.
All donations will go directly to enlarging Kirtlington Hedgehog Street or supporting other communities start their own hedgehog street.
As hedgehogs have yet to evolve the ability to fly, where there is a ground difference between gardens we have to resort to innovative structures like this stone staircase and oak ramp:
As part of the project, we use foot print recording tunnels and camera traps to check on the presence of hedgehogs. A camera trap video of a hedgehog on the ramp posted to KWACS’ twitter feed went viral with over 33,000 views!
Oxford to Cambridge Expressway Announcement 12 Sept 18
Corridor B chosen for the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway
A plan to link together fast-growing technology hotspots took a further step closer to fruition today (12 September 2018) as Roads Minister Jesse Norman announced the chosen central corridor for the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.
After detailed scrutiny and review by Highways England, of the 3 options A, B and C, Corridor B was judged to offer greater benefits to the region – outperforming the other options by providing better links to jobs, education, leisure and health services.
The expressway, with options to pass either west or east of Oxford, is also expected to take up to 40 minutes off the journey between the A34 south of Oxford and the M1.
Building the new link close to the east/west rail link will also offer more options for the commercial development of up to 1 million new homes, in line with proposals by the National Infrastructure Commission, and encourage more people to travel by train rather than by cars.