Budget
The County Council budget was passed on 10 February. The government has taken at least £24m from grants to Oxfordshire, and obliged the county council to increase Council Tax by 4.99% per annum for the next 3 years, meaning that there will need to be substantial reductions in some areas of spending.
70% of the County Council’s revenue spend is on adults’ and children’s social care. We passed a balanced budget, with additional sums going into social care and into road maintenance, particularly into gulley clearance, where £3.2m will be spent next year. The record amount of money into roads is partly from central government, but very much topped up by the County Council. Rather disgracefully, the government boasts it is giving £168m, without mentioning that the amount is over 4 years (£35m for the year coming up) back loaded and not guaranteed. At today’s prices, it costs about £50m pa to keep the roads from getting worse.
The wet and cold weather has led to peak pothole season, across the country. The County Council is working hard to fix the issues, with individual holes being filled and wider areas of patching. As ever, people notice the holes and not the areas that don’t have them. But the roads from Eynsham to Botley has been fully patched, as has Lower Road, and the worst of the A40 holes, including the one by the Tescos, fixed on the night of 19 Feb. Some of these patches will fail – it is impossible to do a permanent job in the rain.
Below is a graphic of the work being done. My colleague Nathan Ley has written a brilliant essay on why road failure was built into changes to government funding and local choices in the past, why it happens every year, and can’t be fixed without substantial additional money. It is worth a read here.
Buses
A reminder that free bus travel from the Park and Rides continue, and that an all Oxfordshire, all bus company ticket, MyBusOxfordshire remains priced at £6.50 for an adult day ticket. The new X52 timetable has been published. This bus will replace the S2 on the Oxford to Cheltenham route in March, and be run by Pulhams, who provided significantly better pricing than Stagecoach. It is a pretty similar schedule to the current one. More info.
Local Government Reorganisation
The government has commenced the statutory consultation relating to the reorganisation of local government in Oxfordshire. You will recall that there are three possible options -
1)a whole Oxfordshire unitary council
2) two unitary councils with West Oxfordshire, Cherwell and City in one unitary and West Berks, South Oxon and Vale of White Horse in another, and
3) a three unitary option promoted by the City Council, which would see a Greater Oxford as one unitary, a tiny West and rump of Cherwell one, and a Vale/South/West Berks unitary too.
I have no doubt that a single unitary will deliver the best services and the quickest and highest savings, and avoid breaking up critical social services. It will also have the least effect on what Eynsham residents pay in council tax and other charges, because it is the option that balances out the substantial additional costs incurred in the City across the widest population. Other views are available!
The government has published a list of organisations it will consult with, including business groups and the universities, but it would be good for residents and parish councils also to have a say. Much more info and a link to the consultation here
Planning Applications
Planning is almost entirely a responsibility of WODC, but the County Council has influence as a statutory consultee on applications. I am pleased to say that the proposed development off the A40 by the layby to the west of the village was rejected by WODC officers, on the grounds that it was incompatible with the development of West Eynsham. I have objected as your county councillor to the proposed development to the east of Pinkhill Lane, with a new junction onto the “ringroad” and hope that County Council officers will follow suit. I know the parish council has also objected. Among many other issues are the effect on traffic, the unsuitability of the site for people to walk or cycle into the village, flooding issues and it being outside the “natural” shape of the village.
As ever you can contact me at dan.levy@oxfordshire.gov.uk