This evening the Annual Town Meeting took place on Microsoft Teams. The meeting was chaired by the Mayor of Abingdon, Cllr Charlie Birks. There were 66 people present at the start.

It began with a video showing the work of the Town Council including their emphasis on youth work. They have a budget of £30K for supporting young people in the town by giving grants to some youth organizations. The ones mentioned were: Damascus (pictured above), Abingdon Bridge, Carousel, and Be Free Young Carers.

Each of the committee chairs then reported back to the public of the town on their committee’s work. The video and full details of each committee report can be seen at https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/town-council/annual-parish-meeting.

At the end of the meeting there was a chance for questions.

Kat K said that a plant based diet benefited the environment. Therefore would the council, as a start, consider removing beef from council events. (Cllr Sam Bowring, leader of the council, said this was an interesting issue and they would look at the evidence.)

Pat B asked whether the Town Council would support turning the sports field, being proposed for housing in Northcourt, into a playground and park. She said there is not much green space for children near Northcourt. It could be purchased through crowd funding and run by the council. (Cllr Sam Bowring said they would need to see what happened at the planning appeal, assess the feasibility and find where funds would could come from).

Nigel L asked about replacing trees in Boxhill Wood, after some were cut down. (Cllr Jim Halliday gave a very detailed overview of maintenance of the wood. He said some trees are the responsibility of the district council, and some the town council. The town council had done a tree survey and were carrying out some of the work. Historically the area at the centre was left to regenerate naturally. But there could be planting of appropriate species near the play area.)

Hester H asked about town vitality post Covid. (Cllr Bowring said this was mainly district council initiatives such as the bringing back empty shops scheme, and the Oxfordshire recovery plan)

Bobbie N asked about plans for the information office and was told that the Town Council are discussing a down floor reception at Roysse Court for both information service and the registration service.

Robin T asked about 20 MPH areas. (Cllr Neil Fawcett, who is also a County Councillor, said County Councillors have suggested where schemes should be considered.)

Steve Rich recently retired after 19 years working for the council, and was not there. He continues as the Band Master of Abingdon Town Band. Next year will be the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and post-Covid the town council are planning a Bun Throwing and a range of other ‘come-back’ events. The Town Council will be looking to raise funds for a lasting memorial for the jubilee – a bandstand.

The on line meeting worked very well.

Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council will provide an update of its work at this meeting, which will be on-line for the first time. Last year the annual parish meeting was one of the last events before lockdown. At the meeting the Chairs of the Council’s various Committees present reports to the meeting to detail what the Committee has been doing during the last year. There is also an opportunity to ask questions. For more details, including how to submit questions beforehand, see https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/town-council/annual-parish-meeting.

The Town Council is creating a Neighbourhood Plan and needs local people to help make it the best it can be.

The plan will take a long-term view of what in our town needs protecting and what could be changed. It will be written by the local community of Abingdon, the people who know and love the area, and its creation is being led by a steering group accountable to the Town Council. Upon completion it will be subject to an independent examination and then a local referendum. Should this referendum be successful, the plan has legal force. The local planning authority (Vale of White Horse District Council) must then take the Abingdon Neighbourhood Plan’s policies into account when considering planning issues across the town.

Over the next two weeks, starting today, there will be ten themed virtual focus groups to gather views and ideas. Places are limited to 15 people per group. You can sign up for more than one but they would like to hear from as many people as possible. There will be further opportunities for people to get involved as the process continues.

Groups include:
Abingdon Families – Tue 23 Feb 2021
Access & Movement – Wed 24 Feb 2021
Leisure & Sports – Thu 25 Feb 2021
Culture – Thu 25 Feb 2021
Healthy Town & Outdoor Recreation – Fr 26 Feb 2021
The Environment – Mon 1 Mar 2021
Heritage & The built environment – Tue 2 Mar 2021
Business, Economy & The Town Centre – Wed 3 Mar 2021
Youth 7-11 Years Old – Mon 8 Mar 2021
Youth 12-16 Years Old – Tue 9 Mar 2021

See https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/abingdon-news/abingdon-thames-town-council/neighbourhood-plan-focus-groups to read about each focus group and sign up on line.

There was a meeting of Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council on Wednesday evening using Microsoft Teams. I was the only member of the public to attend having requested an id beforehand by email. Councillors and officers appeared in equal size boxes and could be seen more clearly than from the public gallery. Each person also had a name and so could all be identified. The meeting went fairly smoothly. (I hope I am entitled to share a screenshot of people voting. See above.)

I read the minutes of the various committees beforehand, as they appear on the Town Council website. Most of the minutes were agreed without discussion. When it came to the Guildhall, which appears to have had heating problems in the old rooms, the Guildhall Committee Chairman noted that they would be coming back to discuss the Guildhall later, in the confidential meeting.

From a report from the Vale of White Horse District Council a consultation has been launched for residents to give their views on some proposed changes to parking arrangements in the district council’s off-street car parks. The following changes are being proposed:
– phasing out residential permits for West St Helen St and Rye Farm car parks
– adding electric charging bays to car parks, and making only electric cars parking there legally enforceable and finable
– removing the parking for lorries in the Rye Farm car park
– formalising the parking bays in Hales Meadow car park – for coaches etc.
To find about more about the proposals and to take part in the consultation visit www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/parking. The consultation is open until Thursday 19 November.

From a report from Oxfordshire County Council we learned of progress on the Lodge Hill interchange onto the A34. Land has been purchased. Initial design work is underway. The Target start is currently July 2021.

The Town Council has some policies and a half dozen of these came up for review, and Councillors voted them through unanimously without any comment.

There was a good discussion on a Motion proposed by Cllr Andy Foulsham and seconded by Cllr Alex Greenaway:
“This Council acknowledges that the absence of free school meals over school holidays is a real issue for some residents of Abingdon. We thank businesses, including Willow Shakes, Annies Tea Rooms and The Barns Cafe and organisations such as the Abingdon Food Bank, the Community Fridge and the SOFEA Larder at Abingdon Carousel that have helped by providing food for local children who are usually in receipt of free school meals over half term. In the absence of a scheme from UK government or Oxfordshire County Council to provide food to families in receipt of free school meals over the Christmas holidays, we commit to working with councillor colleagues from the Vale of White Horse District Council & Oxfordshire County Council to meet the need for such meals over Christmas in the belief that no child should go hungry.”

The motion was passed unanimously with a number of councillors volunteering their time to help coordinate efforts and help where volunteers needed help. The museum will also close during the 2nd lockdown and some staff would be available to help. This was heartwarming.

It was recommended to council that a report on long term planning is adopted as the basis for building on previous work and developing a five year plan process, before putting together a five year plan. The council is eighteen months into its four year term.

Looking back at the minutes, that were not discussed, the following items caught my attention…

New Noticed Boards have not had top priority in these strange times. The two new ones should be installed soon but an officer said ‘the social distancing rule made installation difficult.’ Also ‘Members were informed that despite several reminders the company asked to design a round notice board for the Market Place had not produced a proposal.’

All benches in St Helen’s Wharf have now been replaced with recycled wood look-alike plastic.

There have been problems along part of Wilsham Road with fishermen blocking the pathway and endangering the public while fishing. Records could not be found regarding the rights to fish along Wilsham Road. The Amenities Committee resolved that the area of Wilsham Road which is railed and has a walkway should not be used for fishing purposes, and signage provided.

At the museum a 3D ‘virtual tour’ tour has been produced. See https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/partners/abingdon-county-hall-museum. There is a youtube channel and more social media activity. The ‘Museum Crafting Crew’ Facebook page was established during lockdown and successfully carried out eight virtual children’s craft events. The museum took part in this year’s Heritage Open Day (HOD) on Saturday 19th September.

The museum was offered some of the stones from the Covid 19 snake displayed originally at the fire station. The museum collections officer welcomes being able to add to the collection something contemporary from lockdown.

The museum received a visit from two researchers from Portsmouth University who looked at the Ichthyosaur skeleton and discounted the previous identification as Ophthalmosaurus and suggested that it might even be a new species. They also corrected the arrangement of the bones in the case.

The Bob Frampton prize (single use plastic) results are show at https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/abingdon-news/abingdon-county-hall-museum/bob-frampton-prize-2020-winners .

Abingdon Museum Friends gave £1000 towards the cost of making the museum safe to reopen.

The Green Scrutiny Committee has noted the use of plastic bags at the Monday Market. Anyone going to the Fruit and Veg stall will know that stall holders have a tendency to put things into plastic bags before you even ask. So the Town Council will provide 1000 reusable branded cotton bags at a nominal price.

The Town Council has covered the cost of providing security at the Monday Market and Farmers’ Market, as required in the Covid-19 risk assessments.

There will be no big Christmas light event this year. The town centre Christmas lights be switched on sooner. They have already been installed so thats could be at anytime.