For information.
The defibrillator is temporarily out of action.
In an emergency, please dial 999 as usual and if a defibrillator is needed, the ambulance service will tell you where the nearest one is.
We will let you know when it is back in service.
Did you know you can sign up on the Parish Council website to receive the agenda and other news?
Just go to https://www.launton-pc.gov.uk/, scroll down to the signup form and complete it.
The agenda for next month’s meeting will be available towards the end of this month.
The Bicester Road between the Spinney and the rail bridge will be closed between 9.30am and 3pm for 12 days from 24 July.
This is so that the improvements to the Bicester Road pavement outside the Church can take place.
The Council has regularly acknowledged the state of the roads in the village.
As the roads are adopted and maintained by Oxfordshire County Council, it is not possible to deter anyone from using the public road. However, over the last four years, the Parish Council has:
Many other road calming solutions have been investigated, but traffic calming measures such as speed humps along the Bicester and Blackthorn Roads are not as straight forward as first thought because of the number of driveways and road entrances which, of course, cannot be impeded. This was why it was so difficult to find a suitable place for the temporary pedestrian crossing during the EWR works.
Chicanes are also not as easy to site for the same reason as the speed humps.
Unfortunately, the physical positioning of traffic light equipment at the crossroads would not be straight forward because of the narrow pavements and the limitations on where the poles could be sited.
As you can see, it is not simple! But the Parish Council IS working with the OCC Highways team to try to find solutions.
The Parish Council is responsible for the grass cutting of the village verges (apart from the unadopted areas such as Yew Tree, Launton Grange etc) which are cut at least once a month by our contractors, together with the rural areas within the parish boundaries which are cut two or three times a year.
Details of all the Public Rights of Way (PRoW) are available on the Countryside Access Map at https://publicrightsofway.oxfordshire.gov.uk/standardmap.aspx
Just type ‘Launton’ into the Town / Village location and it will take you to the detail.
The village is very fortunate to have two Footpath Wardens who check the routes but the actual maintenance of the PRoWs is down to the OCC Countryside Access Team or the landowner.
However, not all the paths in use in Launton are actually Public Rights of Way and this means that no group or person has responsibility for maintenance. Any changes to footpaths requires Parliamentary approval which is a time consuming and costly process.
If you spot an issue, please take a note and a photograph and let us know – if it’s not the Parish Council’s responsibility, we will try to point you in the right direction about who to report it to.
Following the May elections, the Parish Council still has one Councillor vacancy.
More information about the Parish Council and what being a Councillor is all about is available on the Parish Council website at https://www.launton-pc.gov.uk/becoming-a-councillor/
Come and find out what we do and how YOU can make a difference on Thursday 1 June in the Parish Hall at 7.30pm.
We have received notification that six candidates put themselves forward for nomination to the Parish Council.
These are:
Andy Briant
Abigail Dowman
Ed Sanders
Lesley Thompson
Simon Turner and
Jackie Webber
The Statement of Persons Nominated is available as is the Notice of Uncontested Election.
The Notice of Election for the Cherwell District has been published.
It is available as a PDF PARISH Notice of Election 2023 Launton
More information about the elections can be found on the Elections 2023 page
We will be holding a Zoom session on Wednesday 29 March at 8pm to help anyone interested in putting themselves forward for election to the Parish Council with the elector numbers for completing the forms.
So join us on Zoom on Wednesday 29 March at 8pm
Meeting ID: 827 0543 5536
Passcode: 776260
More information about the elections is available on the Elections Page
The Parish Council considered the detailed budget and the Precept request (the amount the Parish Council requires for meeting the expenses of running the Council) for the year 2023 / 24 at the meeting on 5 January.
The budget of £38,583 was agreed. This took into account the range of Parish responsibilities including village grass cutting and weed spraying, the dog bin emptying, meeting costs, saving for replacement street furniture, road safety, reserves and ensuring that the Parish Hall project could meet the contractual obligations to the architect.
The Parish had been given the Tax Base figure (broadly, the number of Band D equivalent dwellings in the village) by CDC which was estimated at 615.7; this was an increase from 566.4 the previous year. Following the calculations, it was agreed to increase the Precept to £39,743 which was an increase of £9,847. The annual cost to a Band D household would be approximately £64.55 – an increase of £11.77 over the whole year.
However, it is worth noting that the Band D equivalent for a resident of Bicester for 21/22 was £131.94.
More information about how the Tax Base figure is calculated is available on the Parish Council website at Financing the Parish Council
For anyone interested, the draft budget and precept calculations can be found on the Parish Council website under the January Items for Information at 2022 – 2023 Agenda and Minutes
