County Cllr - Freddie van Mierlo update - February 2022

REPORT FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR. FREDDIE VAN MIERLO: FEBRUARY 2022

OCC news:

Balanced budget that reinvests in Alliance priorities: The Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance is presenting its first budget at full council on February 8th. During the elections, candidates promised to prioritize the climate emergency – and treat it like the emergency it is! This means we have carved out £1.3 million to address climate change, including boosting active travel. The budget also sets aside an increase in £2 million for Special Educational Needs / Disability (SEND) to speed up assessments and placements. We will also be investing in infrastructure to improve the safety of roads, bridges and complete underfunded projects signed off by the previous administration.

20mph limits set to be fully funded: Requests for 20mph speed limits will be fully funded by the county council in the budget set in February. Villages and towns that have already put in applications (or plan to do so), will be bundled into two batches. The first round will take place in summer 2022 and the second in winter 2022. Further rounds will be planned in 2023 and beyond.

Transport Plan (LTCP) – Last chance to have your say! The public consultation will close on 16 March 2022. The consultation has lots of long documents, but don’t feel like you need to read all of it to respond! The headlines are that the county wants to reduce car journeys and make active / public transport the first choice for travel. In rural areas like ours, this will be especially challenging but make sure to have your say on how you think it can be done! Would you like to see more buses (or old routes return)? More dedicated cycle routes between villages and towns? What about mobility hubs with better infrastructure for switching from bike to bus? More local foot and cycle paths?

This will be a key piece of policy on which many planning decisions will hang their hat on, so have your say!

HGVs – timeline to county-wide solution: Freight is an important part of the transport plan (LTCP). The core idea is to say ‘yes’ to freight on the strategic network (e.g., M40) and ‘no, except local access’ everywhere else. Between Spring and Autumn 2022 the freight strategy will be further developed, with local area strategies following. Our area will be called ‘South Oxfordshire Rural’

More power to the council: We are calling on the government to devolve more powers to the county council to allow for more effective enforcement of ‘moving traffic’ offenses, including the ability to install speed cameras, and make better use of average speed cameras and ANPR technology. These technologies are critical for enforcing offences – including from HGVs!

Libraries and heritage strategy 2022-2027 – consultation opened: Oxfordshire County Council’s heritage and libraries strategy is open to consultation until 18th March

Parish round up (Extract)

Chalgrove:

• Flood alleviation scheme: A new flood relief channel has been installed to help protect Mill Lane residents. Financial contributions were made by South Oxfordshire District Council, Oxfordshire County Council, and the Environment Agency

Great Haseley

• War memorial refurbishment funded: A local resident has spearheaded work to make the names of the fallen legible again. I was delighted to have been able to contribute through the councillor priority fund. Funding also came from SODC, the Parish council, pumpkin show, and Taylor Blackall. Work will be carried out when the weather improves