Last Friday the first-ever UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons came into effect. The day was marked on Abingdon Market Place by the Abingdon Peace Group.

The treaty prohibits signatories from producing, stockpiling, selling and using nuclear weapons. The treaty was passed by the UN in 2017, with 123 countries voting for and 38 voting against. It has so far been ratified by 52 states and others are in the process. Signatories are mostly from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

They include some European nations including Ireland. Will the UK follow? The archbishops of Canterbury and York, and many bishops of both Anglican and Catholic dioceses have publicly called on the UK government to sign it.

There are an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons worldwide. Such weapons are overwhelmingly owned by the USA, and Russia. Other countries with nuclear weapons include: China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, North Korea and probably Israel. Signatories do not include any countries that own these nuclear weapons or any Nato members.

Thankyou to Feng Ho for the pictures.

There has been a lot of activity at Old Abbey House with people being shown round in hi-viz jackets and with hard hats.

The Vale of White Horse District Council no longer need the buildings and have put it on the market with a guide price of around £1m to see if there are potential buyers. That does not include the garden.  They are also in discussion with the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society to see if there are any suitable community uses.

Old Abbey House can be approached by foot from the Market Place via the Abbey Gateway and is at the heart of Abingdon.

It is a very welcoming building and once some of the 1970s office panelling is removed will look far more attractive inside.

It has many attractive features.

The building is made of two halves and I was told that the lower half is the older part. Explorations by the Friends of Abingdon will discover more.

The friends think it could potentially have lots of rooms for community use as well as a cafe looking out onto the Abbey Gardens. They are doing a lot of the ground work, and a feasibility study, and are looking for leaders to take on the project as trustees.

To show your support for the building being kept for the people of Abingdon you can sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/vowhdc-save-old-abbey-house-for-the-people-of-abingdon.

The Friends of Abingdon have more information at https://abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk/old-abbey-house-update/.

Plans for a reservoir south of Abingdon, on four square miles of farmland, have been suggested since the 1970s. It was in 2006 that Thames Water produced plans to build a £1bn Abingdon Reservoir on this famland to hold 150bn litres of water for the growing demand for water from London. They would dig out the earth and make high walls to create the reservoir.

A local campaign group called GARD (Group Against Reservoir Development) was created to oppose the plans. The Vale of White Horse District Council also employed consultants to challenge the plan. Ofwat (the government watchdog on privatised water companies) also said Thames Water needed to do more to stop leaks before grand new projects. Then in 2011 the plans were rejected as ‘there was no immediate need‘.

Thames Water are seeking again in 2018 to build the reservoir. It makes commercial sense to them. GARD has again challenged Thames Water’s plans and provided arguments against the scheme on their website http://www.abingdonreservoir.org.uk.

The reservoir would :

• take 10 years to build 
• take 3-5 years to fill
• change the local flood plain and so be a flood risk
• have 25 meter high walls
• change the local micro climate.

The villages most directly affected are Steventon, East Hanney, and Drayton. (Pictures above of farmland and pylons were taken from Kiln Lane, and Steventon Road, in Drayton. )

The Vale of White Horse district council have put this reservoir land in the Local Plan 2031 – to ensure new housing, or airport development, don’t prevent the new reservoir if it is needed. But most councillors are yet to be convinced it is needed.

Water Resources Management Plans are not easy to read. You could leave it to the experts from Thames Water and GARD to produce in-depth statistics, or be the public’s voice and have your say.

The deadline if you want to have your say on the latest draft of the plan is November 28th 2018. In this latest draft, Thames Water want to bring forward the reservoir date from 2043 to 2037. That means the build process would start in 2027, possibly earlier if it takes 3-5 years to fill.

Comments can be made at https://haveyoursay.thameswater.co.uk/engagement/shape-your-water-future-revisions-to-the-plan/consultation/subpage.2017-11-14.6685474502/?fbclid=IwAR3hGWHlp7fn0ELFSksKhnSvV_vKLh3q0kqj74frZIg7sqGa16FlY8aUd_w