(Picture shows General William Booth visiting Abingdon)
There weren’t many of us at the Town Council meeting last night – just nine councillors, two officers, me in the audience, and Revd Georgina Bondzi-Simpson, who opened the meeting with a prayer.

Revd Georgina shared a short story about General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. When he was too unwell to attend their annual meeting, he sent a one-word telegram to sum up his message: ‘Others.’ She reminded us that this is what council work is all about – serving others.

The meeting itself was relaxed. Each committee chair gave a brief update on their work, and the Mayor shared her recent engagements. One that stood out was a Dementia Awareness event, where she was reminded of simple ways to help – like reintroducing yourself each time you meet someone with memory loss, rather than assuming they remember you.

County Council Update
A consultation is being planned for new parking zones near the town centre, including the Fitzharry’s Estate and the Ock Street / Conduit Road area.

Plans to improve the Bridge Street/High Street junction are moving forward and will go to public consultation (maybe next year). One councillor commented that, after the disruption caused by the sinkhole and recent temporary lights, it’s important any future works happen during off-peak times.

The roadworks at the top of Oxford Road and the fines issued (as mentioned previously) were also noted.

District Council Update
The Vale of White Horse District Council report highlighted frustrations around the North Abingdon developments. Ongoing issues haven’t been helped by staffing shortages and the focus on the new Local Plan, which has meant regular liaison meetings with developers haven’t been taking place.

(Picture shows the old Market Place notice board that got moved to a side area when the Market Place was repaved in 2006)
Environment Committee
A new double-sided noticeboard for the Market Place is going ahead. There’s a £7,000 budget, as installation may involve digging near utilities. Care is being taken not to block shop fronts.

Around 2,500 trees have been planted in Abingdon since 2022.

Bus shelters were discussed. Those on Preston Road are in poor condition but little used, so the focus will be on replacing shelters on High Street and adding a new one on Stratton Way. The County Council has already installed a new shelter on Langley Road.

The town now has a trained staff member responsible for maintaining bus shelters. One councillor said the mess under some shelters gives a bad impression of the town; another noted that clearing the ground isn’t always the town council’s responsibility.

Community Committee
Music in the Park ticket sales are ahead of last year at this stage (550 vs. 200).

Grants were awarded to Heritage Open Day and Oxford Wood Recycling. Unfortunately, One Planet Abingdon missed out this time.

A grant request from the Rugby Club for new women’s and girls’ changing facilities was passed to the Finance Committee, as it could qualify for developer funding (CIL).

The recent Clubs and Societies Day was a success, and the new staff structure is helping events run more smoothly.

Finance Committee
The rugby club grant was agreed in principle but needs final sign-off at the next meeting.

The current auditor will continue for another five years, following a review.

A working group is being formed to look at potential local government reorganisation. To avoid conflicts of interest, councillors who also serve at District or County level won’t be included.

A new Emergency Plan – covering pandemics, flooding, severe weather and more – was approved. While emergency planning is mainly a County and District responsibility, the town council will support them as needed.

Planning Committee
On the North Abingdon development, there were questions about how many homes can be occupied before traffic improvements (like those on the A34) are completed. It appears there hasn’t been close coordination between developers and the district council:
* Kingsgate is almost finished, with the last few homes and paths being completed.
* Abbey Fields (David Wilson Homes) is sold out and finished, with Barratt now building the final dozen homes.
* Radley Reach is progressing, with an estimated 50–60 homes built so far.

The primary school planned for the North Abingdon development may not be built until it’s deemed necessary. Since there are still places available in current schools, one councillor suggested it might not be built until 2028 or 2029.

On the proposed reservoir, councillors attended compaction trials and questioned Thames Water representatives, but felt they didn’t receive proper answers.

I had to leave the meeting at that point. The last item was due to be a discussion on the weir walkway, with the council planning to write to the Environment Agency to ask for a clear timeline when it can be made safe and reopen. I expect that was agreed – with strong wording.

There were about 100 people in the audience – probably a record for one of these meetings. A new feature this year was that the public were invited to come early to visit displays in the Old Magistrates Court and talk to many of the community groups who receive council grants. This seemed to be very popular.

Each Committee chairman presented his/her report on their activities in the past year and their future plans. These Committee Reports are on the Town Council website if you want to see the full details

One new Committee was set up this year: the Green Advisory and Scrutiny Committee. It advises and supports all the other committees to ensure that their activities and projects take proper account of environmental considerations. They have a more flexible structure than the traditional committees and draw on the expertise of community groups such as the Carbon Cutters, AbiBike and Abibinit. Their main areas of activity so far have been:

• Carbon emissions and air pollution – looking for ways to reduce emissions from the Council’s own buildings and activities;
• Bikes and buses – planning for improved infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists
• Bees and trees – sheep grazing and beehives in the cemetery, possibly some additional trees on council land
• Plastics and waste – ensuring appropriate practices at Market Place events and Fun/Music in the park
• Town planning – they support the idea of a Neighbourhood Plan which they believe will enable a stronger environmental focus in planning decisions.

After the reports, there was a presentation on the proposals to launch a ‘Neighbourhood Development Plan’ (NDP) for Abingdon. The Council have engaged a consultant, ‘Feria Urbanism’ to undertake a scoping study over the next 3 months. Depending on what emerges from that the Council will decide whether and how to proceed to a full plan. An NDP is produced at parish level, with full community involvement, and has to be approved by a local referendum. Once fully approved, an NDP is a statutory planning document, binding on the local planning authority. However it cannot conflict with an existing Local Plan, so in Abingdon it is unlikely to be able to change the strategic plans for major housing developments but what it can do is influence the detail of those plans. It can also lay down rules for change of use, which could be of interest in relation to Abingdon town centre. The consultants were only appointed a few days ago so were not able to talk about specific ideas for Abingdon. They focused more on how they operate, particularly in getting real community involvement. The Town Council will shortly be letting us know how people can register a wish to be involved.

The next part of the meeting was a series of brief presentations by groups who have had major grants from the Town Council: Abingdon Carousel, Be Free Young Carers, Citizens’ Advice, The Abingdon Bridge and the Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust. A common theme from all of them was that as well as being useful in itself, the Town Council financial support was absolutely key in enabling them to apply successfully for grants from other bodies.

The final part was questions from the audience. Issues raised included:

Parking on verges, ruining some of our attractive green spaces, what can be done? Answer, the whole question of parking enforcement is a long-running problem as it crosses councils, but new arrangements are under discussion and should be in place soon.

What is happening about disabled access to the Abbey Hall (cinema)? Rather than replace or repair the lift at the back a platform lift is to be installed from the foyer to the Abbey Hall entrance. This will enable all visitors to enter via the same route. Work is due to start imminently.

Can the Town Council press for the Lodge Hill interchange work to be done before the new houses are built? The Town Council have consistently pressed for that but to no avail. However work is going ahead on the interchange and it will be done – the exact timing in relation to the completion of the houses will depend on the speed with which each project progresses.

Can the Town Council press for action on the Upper Reaches, Old Abbey House and Charter toilets? The Town Council has no authority in these matters, but since they have been raised publicly at this meeting they will write to the Vale again to press for actions.

And finally, warm words were said about Steve Rich, the Assistant Town Clerk and Head of Services who is retiring after 17 years with the Town Council. Steve is a well-known figure around town and will be missed in this role.

Thanks to Hester for this report and to Steve for the first picture. The second picture comes from the Feria Urbana website. The final picture shows Steve Rich and Nigel Warner inspecting the Michaelmas Fair in 2009.