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.