The Parish Council adopted the village Community Emergency Response and Management Plan at the January 2026 meeting.
Under normal circumstances, of course, major emergencies are dealt with by the emergency services, County and District Councils, utilities and voluntary agencies in a combined response, but there can be times when we may need to help ourselves – particularly if there is an issue which is affecting a large area.
Our Plan isn’t intended to be a substitute for these services, but it is there to increase the short-term resilience of the community in the event of an extreme event. This could be a fire, flood, loss of water, loss of power, or snow.
In addition, the Plan is to cover situations, such as the recent pandemic, where there is a need for community support at a local level.
Experience has shown that those who have spent time planning and preparing for this are better able to cope and recover more quickly.
Community emergency planning enables groups to provide more effective support. It also provides information to responding agencies (emergency services, local authority etc.) who are co ordinating the response on a wider scale.
We need you!
If you have a special skill, or a useful vehicle – whether that’s being able to use a chainsaw, have a 4×4 or a tractor, can administer first aid or volunteer to make tea at a reception centre (to name but a few) – we’d love to hear from you.
Please complete the form and return it to the Parish Clerk: Word version PDF version
We will hold your details securely, and will, of course, only contact you if we need to put the plan in place. But this could be at any time – in fact Bletchingdon’s was only implemented recently because of a fire, so it’s always good to be prepared.
A PDF of the current plan is available which is printable in booklet format.
If you would like a paper copy of the booklet, please contact the Clerk at clerk@launton-pc.gov.uk
In addition to our plan, the County Council has produced a number of leaflets about how villagers can help themselves in various situations.
More information can be found on the County Council Community Resilience page.
Information about the County Council’s road gritting / salting programme can be found on their website at https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/roads-and-transport/street-maintenance-z/salting-and-snow-clearance
The County Council has also produced leaflets about how you can help yourself in certain situations:
For loss of utilities – water, power etc see the OCC Utility Failure Leaflet
For being prepared for winter and how to deal with snow see the OCC Snow Guide
Message in a bottle
SSE Priority Service Register
Acetylene Gas Cylinders