Viv Boorman says there is a lot of publicity about the benefits of walking and she wants people to know about the Wellbeing Walks that happen on Mondays in Abingdon. New people would be very welcome.
Steve , will not be opening his garden for the second year running. It was a difficult decision but anybody who has been there will know that there are lots of plants but not much open space for people to easily mingle whilst socially distancing. There will however be a plant sale in the front.
The County Council’s Park and Charge project are bringing a roadshow of events to Abingdon on 14th August, helping people find out more about electric vehicles (EV) and giving them a chance to test drive one themselves. Attendees will be able to ask questions to EV experts, chat to local EV drivers and check out a range of models. More information at this link.
Also I heard that there was an open garden event at St Ethelwold’s House. August 3rd is the feast day of St Ethelwold, and so here is a picture of the house, after the event, on the feast day.
If every South facing roof on all factories, offices and warehouses in the UK had solar panels we would meet our nation’s electrical needs ‘for free’.
This is clearly unfeasable and impractical.
But, what with the “climate emergency” how many new build factories, offices and warehouses have solar panels?
As an EV driver, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a serious disconnect between the politics, policy and reality on EVs. Especially in Oxfordshire.
There is one (yes one!) semi- fast public charger in central Abingdon, at Waitrose. Not a single rapid (100kwh+) charger in the whole of the town. There are four new semi-fast chargers at Fairacres, which cost more than petrol on a £/mile to use, ignoring the extra cost of an EV over a traditional car.
The new Oxford hub is on the ring road, miles away from anything. There are next to no incentives for EV drivers in Oxford, bar a few EV park and charg spaces using old infrastructure. It is all stick and no carrot. Before someone says it works with park and ride, anyone that uses the service regularly knows it’s the worst of both worlds. Hassle of taking the car and inconvenience of taking the bus, plus the cost of both. Until an alternative is as convenient and lower cost, it won’t be adopted by the masses. Policy needs to understand this.
I brought my EV to Abingdon a few weeks ago and I was astonished at the lack of charging facilities. Abingdon is waaaaaay behind many other parts of the country. This surprised me as I always thought of Abingdon as environmentally very aware.
I have followed the link through to the information about the project and was reassured to see that they plan to introduce charging points at 24 car parks across Oxfordshire. However on further investigation I found that they were all in the Northern half of the county- none South of Oxford! (In fact Abingdon doesnt even appear on the map!) I am hoping this is a mistake but will contact someone from the County Council and ask.
It’s not a mistake. I queried the same thing and was told the points had been allocated ‘based on need’.
Those taking a new car for a spin at this event should ask the very reasonable question of ‘where can I charge my car locally?’, then watch the jaws drop.
Like I said idealised policymakers driving decisions, not practicalities.