The Cabinet of the Vale of White Horse District Council have decided in principle to “the letting of part of the ground floor and the whole of the first and second floors of The Abbey House in Abingdon to Oxfordshire County Council … “

Although at an early stage of negotiations they have also agreed, to the “letting of part of the ground floor to the Citizens Advice Bureau ” who are currently next door in Old Abbey House.

Once both Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council and Citizens Advice have moved out of Old Abbey House the report by district council officers says “it could then be considered for disposal.”

The plan will involve moving the majority of the District Council Staff from Abingdon to Crowmarsh Gifford to share the South Oxfordshire District Councils offices – a 24 minute drive away, or a 47 minute bus ride.

The front desk people who answer questions at the District Council would remain in Abingdon, so the town would not be completely abandoned. They could potentially be joined by similar people from the County Council to create an enhanced front desk.

The leader of the district council Cllr Matthew Barber says “This is an ideal solution to the problem of vacant office space. We are able to join forces with the County Council who are looking for office space in Abingdon.”

Currently the County Council are at Abingdon Business Park and the lease is up in 2014.

The cabinet report on vale accommodation says (paragraph 4) about the vacant office space “ finding occupiers of that space would not be easy and potential savings would not be easy to come by.”

The report concludes “This is a Fantastic Opportunity for the Council.”

Since the Mayor’s Chaplain, David Fleming, (seen above with wife Beth at their leaving do) has gone to Luton, other people are being asked to lead the start of council prayers. This time it was the turn of the Abingdon Muslims.

At the start of the Town Council meeting three former mayors, who are also Freemen, had the new freedom bar added to their past Mayor’s Badge in a small ceremony. This new accolade was given to the most recent Freeman Janet Morgan and is being backdated.

The Mayor announced some upcoming events:
6th Oct – Fair Service 8pm by the galloping horses
31st Oct – Freedom Parade with the army
8th Nov – Mayor’s Charity Quiz with meal and Paul Mayhew Archer taking the quiz. Always fun even in a loosing team.
6th Dec – Mayor’s Over 70s Party

Then it was down into the first real discussion of the evening. The Vale of White Horse District Council have reduced the number of district councillors and redrawn their ward boundaries, and so have asked the town council about the terms of reference for a new consultation on whether similar changes are needed for the town council.

This led to a discussion about whether Abingdon would be better off without the district council. Put to the vote, 8 town councillors wanted to investigate removing a third tier of local government so Abingdon could govern itself better, 7 didn’t want to pursue this option, and the others abstained – not quite what the district council were asking but a radical thought.

More from the agenda another day.

All the big decisions had been made in committees and so most matters went through with a nod. The meeting was finished in under an hour. So I am scouring the committee papers for something to report…

On the museum committee “Members did not consider that a display of photographs from the 2013 Passion Play was suitable for an exhibition”.

Amenities and Recreation committee minutes say “MG Garden was almost complete apart from a few minor jobs”

The planning committee did not like Greene King’s new design for The Broad Face pub sign. They found the sign showing a gallows “inappropriate and insensitive”.

They had no objection to a change of use from a Jessops retail store (A1 use) to a mixed class coffee shop (A1/A3) to serve the existing adjacent Costa Coffee. Costa are to expand.

They had no objections to the refurbishment of the Crown and Thistle.

They did not like, and recommended refusal of, the plans to 57-59 Stert Street because they believe it contravenes 7 separate planning policies.

They also objected to the siting of a modular building, over one-storey, to provide a house room at Abingdon School for a period of five years. The district council, who make the final decision, did approach the chair of planning, Councillor Mike Badcock, and asked him to reconsider the decision of his committee. He refused. The committee decision stands.

The planning committee had no objections to the re-development plans for the Viney / Homebase side of the Fairacres Retail Park.

The town council also gave a decent sized grant of £12.5K to The Abingdon Bridge for a Drugs and Alcohol abuse project. And £600 to Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers for “repairs and renewal of costume and regalia”.

Fliers have been going out to say there will be a public meeting with the minister for planning and development, Nick Boles, at 5.30 PM at the Guildhall.

Nick Boles has been invited by Nicola Blackwood MP to discuss recent planning applications, in particular the application for 160 houses in a field South of Abingdon.

That application was turned down by the district council, on officer advise, without being discussed at committee. It has been opposed by all councillors for the area, having failed to take into account the traffic in South Abingdon.

The Appeal by The Sheffield based developer, Hallam Land Management, starts on Tues 21st May at the Guildhall in Abingdon and continues for the rest of the week.