Rebuild our railway, Sewage, Parking

Local Plan Consultation - 10 days to go! I've been busy commenting on this site here. If you want a railway, the quickest way to respond is to email - planning.consultation@westoxon.gov.uk with the simple message that you support Scenario 8 which is focussed on siting future housing around public transport hubs, and specifically state that you support a Carterton-Witney-Eynsham-Oxford rail link. If you want to give a more detailed response this is the link.

Sewage - many thanks to Combe parish council for inviting me over to give an update on the steps we've been taking to hold Thames Water to account. It was a fun 30 minutes to a very well informed group. While we've made great progress in the last 18 months, the overall situation remains dire.

Stanton Harcourt market - a cascade of conversation about all sorts - SEND provision (or lack of) in West Oxfordshire, public access to the Thames for canoeists and swimmers from Buscot to Eynsham, the bridleway linking Eynsham to Sutton and Stanton Harcourt, the potential for a bike and pedestrian bridge at Bablock Hythe, how to unblock the Witney East development and of course, the Local Plan.

Expanding free parking in Witney - colleagues (Andy Graham and Tim Sumner, below) and the Council have made permanent the long stay section of the Woolgate car park, so that people can park there for their full work shift rather than having to walk across town. (Gemma - thanks for the lead!)

Polar Technology - I spent a fascinating couple of hours with Scott Roberts, one of Polar's two founders, touring the operations. Polar is a huge success story in West Oxfordshire and it's great to see a homegrown business flourish, provide high tech jobs locally and sell to world leading companies. Well done!

Fix My Street - Finally, finally, the Cogges Lane sign on the B4044 is fixed, after being listed for maybe nine months on Fix My Street. Why does it take the Highways team so long? Something to dig into.