ICKFORD INFORMERSeptember 2017

Ickford Village website https://ickfordcommunity.wordpress.com

The new email address for the Informer is ourickfordnewsletter@hotmail.com.

SUMMER EXHIBITION 2017.As usual the exhibition was held over the Bank Holiday and celebrated times when families come together to celebrate Christenings, special birthdays and anniversaries, confirmations, weddings and funerals. All the exhibits were loaned by Ickford people and made impressive displays of family archive albums, photographs and letters.We had a fascinating display of Victorian, Edwardian, vintage and modern Christening robes round the font. A confirmation dress and veil, together with confirmation gifts of inscribed bibles and prayer books drew a lot of

"bride and groom" respectively, and to all our exhibitors for making the exhibition possible.A special thanks for the skill and artistry of the flower arrangers for the beautiful arrangements accompanying each display so appropriately Visitors were welcomed by a large pedestal arrangement interpreting "celebration"by including a champagne bottle with frothy white flowers coming out of the neck, suggesting bubbles!Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way and making this year's exhibition such a success. SPARKLING" VINTAGE AFTERNOON TEA This kick started the Summer  Exhibition on Bank Holiday afternoon. It was a brilliant occasion on a brilliant summer afternoon, Some 40+ people enjoyed traditional afternoon tea  from a wide selection of cakes and sandwiches( not a crust in sight ) from pretty china and embroidered cloths.There was the option of sparkling wine in addition to the tradition cuppa - no guesses as to which was the most popular !Many people had their tea outside to enjoy the sunshine, and stayed chatting until closing time- or after.A huge than you to all who provided food, the "kitchen crew" and the "task force" for setting up the cafe and clearing up at the end,( thanks also to Auntie Dorothy.)Some £300 was raised to help support our charities,there is a list of these in the church porch. For Your Diary. Harvest Festival Service Sunday 1st October at 11:00 followed by a BRING and SHARE LUNCH, for Christian Aid. All are very welcome.

interest .However, the main attraction was a wonderful display of wedding dresses in the chancel, with a range of vintage and present day dresses, including a "groom" in traditional Scottish kilt and sporran.No family life is not touched by sadness, and this was sensitively depicted by a wreath,Victorian mourning jewellery, traditional black clergy stole and altar furnishings arranged on purple drapes together with a collection of orders of service from church archives.No family get together is complete without cake and examples of these were supplied by A Piece Of Cake, Thame. Thanks also go to Anna McDonald and Fore Golf of Thame,who supported the exhibition by providing the

St Nicholas Church Services for September

Sunday 3rd Morning Praise 10.00 am Sunday 10th Morning Worship 10.00 am

Sunday 17th Quiet Communion 9.00 am Breakfast

Praise Be 10.00 am

Sunday 24th Holy Communion 10.00 am

Sunday 1st Harvest Thanksgiving 11.00am October

OTHER EVENTS Rendezvous coffee morning Tuesdays 10.30 – 12.30 Returning after the summer break on 5th September Little Stars Toddler Group Fridays 10.00 – 11.30 Returning after the summer on September 8th

Photographic club

Just to remind everybody that our next meeting will be at 7.00 on Tuesday 26th September at 31 Golders Close as usual, look forward to seeing you then. New members are always welcome.Peter

OXFORD -CAMBRIDGE EXPRESSWAY

WATLINGTON

OXFORD

THAME

BUCKINGHAM

WANTAGE

BICESTER

KIDLINGTON

ABINGDON

DIDCOT

BANBURY

M40

BRACKLEY

CUMNOR

AMBROSEDEN

UPPER ARNCOTT

WITNEY

STANFORD IN THE VALE

WOODCOTE

WALLINGFORD

DORCHESTER

STADHAMPTON CHINNOR

BLEWBURY

WHEATLEY

A43

A44

A40

A420

A34

A418

A422

A421

A4074

A417

A41

A4421

11

10

9

87

6A329

HENLEY

LITTLE MILTONGARSINGTON

B

C

S1

S2

S3

A

CAMBRIDGE

MILTON KEYNES

OXFORD

BEDFORD

LEIGHTON BUZZARD

AYLESBURY

THAME

BUCKINGHAM

WANTAGE

BICESTER

KIDLINGTON

ABINGDON

DIDCOT

M40

M40

M25M25

M1

M1

M11

M11

OXFORD GREEN BELT

LONDON

A43

A421

OXFORD TO CAMBRIDGE EXPRESSWAY POTENTIAL ROUTES, AUGUST 2017

August 2017

KEYA

A4074

A329

B

C

S1

S2

S3

GREEN BELT

Route Option ARoute Option BRoute Option C

Oxford Sub Option 1

Oxford Sub Option 2

Oxford Sub Option 3

Oxford Sub Option 4

S.MORETON

BRIGHTWELL/SOTWELLSTEVENTON

BECKLEY

S4

S4

BENSON

CLIFTON HAMPDEN

After the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday we heard about this potential road development in the area. At present we know very little about it apart from the fact that Option A, which Aylesbury Vale are evidently promoting, could go very close to our village. We will try and find out more before the meeting next month. Hopefully we will be able to have some feedback into any future consultations

Question 3 – What sort of housing development is needed? (124 answered)

Starter Homes 66 responses 53%

Small family homes (2-3 bed) 88 71%

Large Family homes (4-5 bed) 25 20%

Retirement/downsizer homes 45 36%

Affordable homes 64 52%

Question 4 – Where do you believe new housing should be situated and why?

In analysing the answers to this question, some latitude has been applied. For example where a respondent said ‘next to the allotments’ or to the ‘north of the playing field’ this has been interpreted as ‘Turnfields’. Similarly where a response said ‘Worminghall Road’ this was taken as land behind 42 Worminghall Road as distinct from the Pound Green Field Site.

In terms of the preferred location:

Turnfields 80 63.5%

Infill within the village 11 8.73%

Land behind Worminghall Road 10 7.9%

(of whom 4 responses quoted this site as second choice after Turnfields, but not their preferred site)

Pound Green Field 5 4%

Within the Village envelope 2 1.6%

Little Ickford side of Village 1

Land behind the Post Office 1

Concerns were expressed about sewerage, drainage, traffic, public transport needs, preserving the historic bridges etc.

Results from Ickford Parish Council – Housing Questionnaire.

The Parish Council distributed a questionnaire to each household in July and residents were also able to respond to the questionnaire on line through the Ickford Community website. Some households may have copied the questionnaire so that others in the household could also respond, as it was not clear if this was to be an ‘individual’ response or a household one. However according to the 2011 census, and therefore the latest data we have available, there are 541 residents in the Village over the age of 18, and 270 households. Total number of questionnaires received was 140 which if it were one per household would represent 52% of households’ alternatively this would represent 25.9% of residents. Whichever measure is used the response is excellent and therefore can be taken to be statistically representative of the village views.

Specific responses were as follows:

Question 1 – Do you think that Ickford needs more homes? (137 Responded)

Yes 84 61.31%

No 53 38.69%

No answer 3 2.14%

Question 2 - What do you feel is an acceptable increase in housing development in Ickford over the next 15 years? (136 answered)

0 Houses 19 14%

1-25 Houses 70 51%

25-50 Houses 41 30%

50-75 Houses 0 0%

75+ House 6 4%

Question 5 – What concerns do you have about potential housing developments in the village? (132 responses)

In analysing this question we looked at the number of specific references there were to issues within the village, which totalled 430.

Infrastructure and Services

This accounted for the highest level of comment with 175 responses (41% of total). By far the largest level of concern overall was with respect to sewerage (50), drainage (43) and flooding (59)- so combined 87% of the comments in this category. It is not possible to properly separate these out ( flooding for example also included the noise of pumping to alleviate the issue) – as one can affect the other, and all causally linked, but they are the villagers’ chief concerns.

Other concerns in this category were street lighting and light pollution (5), general infrastructure issues (5), access to health and medical facilities (5).

Traffic, Road infrastructure and issues

There were 141 comments relative to this section (33%), spread across a broad range of issues. A general concern of traffic and the impact on an overall increase and congestion generally was expressed by 59 (42%), with 25 comments on the lack of parking for the school (18%), poor road conditions (10%), noise and pollution (8%). Other areas that were mentioned include emergency access, child safety, condition of bridges, lack of public transport, vibration from heavy traffic, speeding and no cycle paths.

Change of Character of Ickford

This had 68 comments (16% of the total comments)) of which 51 (75%) were to do with the potential change of the character of the

village. Ecology and wildlife received 9 comments, security and crime 3, coalescence 4, and loss of privacy 1.

School capacity

Parking for the school was included in the traffic section above, but there were 36 responses (8%) raising specific concerns that the capacity of the school would not be sufficient to cope with an increase in the population of the village if housing went ahead.

Question 6 – What improvements to infrastructure would you like to see should the proposed developments go ahead? (120 responded).

It is perhaps not surprising here that some of the answers reflected those given in Q5 above. Again we separated comments into the broad categories of Infrastructure, Roads and Traffic, School and Other.

Infrastructure and Services.

There were 184 comments (54% of total comments in this

section). Drainage, Sewerage and flooding (60,50 & 43 respectively) accounted for an overwhelming 83% of the feedback here, demonstrating yet again residents concern over the urgent need to have these issues addressed in the village once and for all, and before any further development might exacerbate these issues. It very closely mirrors the results from Question 5. In addition there were 14 comments on the need to bring Gas into the village, 7 for improving electricity supply and removing the erratic nature of the supply, 6 for improving internet/broadband and 4 for having local access to a medical facility.

Traffic, Road infrastructure and issues

Under this broad heading there were 117 comments (34% of comments under Q6).

The largest areas of concern here were as follows:

Need for better road conditions/improvements 32

• Improved bus service 29

• Improved Car parking (school/shop) 25

• Need for speed humps/traffic calming 8

• Street lighting 7*

• Improved footpaths/cycle ways 5

• Protect Bridges 4

• Improve/provide pavements 3

• General (unspecified traffic comment) 3

• Restrict HGV in village 1

*the comment on street lighting reflected mixed opinion with 4 being in favour of more/better lighting and 3 being against.

School capacity

There were 14 comments about the school (4%) all of which were basically expressing concern that the school would not have the capacity to cope with the potential increase in entrants due to the proposed housing, and that as a consequence children living in the village might need to be displaced to schools outside unless priority were given to resident families ahead of those in neighbouring villages.

Village Improvements

There were 25 comments on possible improvement ideas for the village. The largest number (7) were for a new/larger shop; with others being creating a social hub (3), improved

facilities for the young and youths (3), improved recreational facilities (2), improved tree planting/nature reserve (3) indoor swimming pool for school/residents (1) and one each for the following – old peoples home, a second pub, bike house, bigger village hall or bigger village meeting venue, affordable homes should be for residents only(1).

A possibility could be to consider a development for the village that combines within it some of the above, as well as providing a GP surgery, even if not on a full time basis.

ICKFORD PARISH COUNCILAt the last meeting the PC recommended refusal on all the applications, Turnfields, Pound Field, CALA homes site and Ickford School extension. The reasons can be found on AVDCs web site under the Planning section.

ICKFORD WI

Members of Ickford WI and guests were treated to an excellent talk from retired BBC correspondent Bill Hamilton at their September meeting.Entitled "Man on the Spot", Bill's talk covered his early beginnings in Dundee where he worked as a trainee reporter on the Fife Herald. He then moved to the Hartlepool Mail and then to Tyne Tees Television.Bill described his career with the BBC first in Glasgow and then London as Home Affairs and later Foreign Affairs correspondent.Bill has covered major news stories in his long career including the murder of MP Airey Neave, the Brighton IRA bombings, the war in Lebanon and the riots in Toxteth and Brixton.Bill was the first TV journalist to enter communist Albania. He described in illustrated detail the appalling conditions the Albanian people were subject to, in particular the dire state of the orphanages. His moving reports at the time led to a huge international aid effort which also involved Norman Wisdom and the Duchess of York.He was honoured with the "Order of Mother Theresa" which is Albania's highest civilian award.As well as Mother Theresa, Bill has met many heads of state.Another string to his bow is that of an FA football referee. He qualified at the age of 14 and has refereed some 2000 matches.Bill's talk was amusing, very informative as well as poignant.The audience thoroughly enjoyed his entertaining style. We were delighted that he was able to sign copies of his book.

Ickford WI has an excellent programme of speakers planned for next year. This will be published in the Informer as soon as it is finalised. We welcome new members who can come free of charge to their first meeting.For further details please contact Liz Jordain, President on elizabeth.jordain@gmail.com 01844338518 or Ruth Baker, Secretary on frbaker@hotmail.co.uk 01844339502

THE RISING SUN OPENING TIMES

Monday to Thursday:  Noon - 2.30pm and 4:00pm - 11:00pmFriday: Noon - 11:00pm 

Saturday: Noon - 11:30pmSunday: Noon - 11:00pm

Home cooked food available Monday to Sunday lunchtimes and Wednesday to Saturday evenings.

Monday - Noon - 2:00pm. No evening foodTuesday - Noon - 2:00pm. No evening food

Wednesday - Noon - 2:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:30pmThursday - Noon - 2:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:30pm

Friday - Noon - 2:00pm and 4:00pm - 8:30pmSaturday Noon - 3:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:30pm

Sunday food is served all day from Noon - 5:00pmAt lunchtimes Monday - Saturday a sandwich and jacket potato menu is served.

The main menu is available in the evenings and Sunday roast dinners from Noon to 5pm on Sundays.

We have a steak deal for 2 rump steaks and a bottle of house wine for £29 every Wednesday evening More food offers coming soon

Affordable Housing With all the proposed developments in the village and their obligation to provide a quota of “affordable housing” we thought you might be interested in AVDC’s definition and obligations.

Housing provided below the market rate to specified eligible householdsWhat is affordable housing?Affordable housing is housing provided below the market rate to specified eligible households. Homes can be for rent or intermediate tenure, such as shared ownership or rent to buy.AVDC works with our preferred registered partners (housing associations) to deliver affordable housing across the district. We’ve successfully secured grants from the government to help us deliver these schemes.Since 2011 we have delivered 1789 affordable homes in the district.

Rural housing partners

We have a number of partners who specifically help to deliver sustainable affordable housing in rural areas which would not normally be granted planning permission for market housing:

“Help to Buy” is a government initiative which can assist people into home ownership.  For many people this may provide the best opportunity of owning a home in the area they want to live and work.For further information, contact https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/ (external website)Phone: 03333 214044Email: helptobuyeastandsoutheast@bpha.org.ukYou can also download the Help to Buy guide.  Please note that not all Help to Buy products are available in all areas.The Government has appointed Help to Buy agents throughout England to help people who are seeking to live in a specific areas.  Help to Buy East & South East is the agent offering the service for the region that includes Buckinghamshire.There are a number of Help to Buy products designed to make buying a home affordable, including:

Shared ownership – new build and re-salesShared ownership is designed for those who cannot afford to purchase a property on the open market.  The scheme allows you to purchase a percentage share of the property and pay subsidised rent on the remaining share to the housing association selling the property.  This scheme can be available on new build and also second hand properties, known as re-sale shared ownership.  These are homes previously purchased through the scheme and now looking to be sold.

Equity LoansThe Help to Buy equity loan scheme is designed to help you purchase specific new build properties priced up to £600,000 from participating registered developers with as little as 5% deposit.  The Government lends you up to 20% of the cost of your new build home so you’ll only need to provide a 5% cash deposit and a 75% mortgage to make up the rest.  You won’t be charged loan fees on the 20% loan for the first five years of owning your home.For our current policy position on affordable housing please see our supplementary planning page

BK

11 Mon

12 Tues Pilates 9:30 – 10:30am Village Hall

Rendezvous 10:30am -12:30 Ickford Church

13 Wed Darby & Joan Village Hall

Yoga 7 – 8 pm Village Hall

14 Thurs

15 Fri Little Stars 10:00–11:30 am Ickford Church

16 Sat

17 Sun Quiet Communion Breakfast Praise Be

9:00 am

10:00 am

Ickford Church

18 Mon

19 Tues Pilates 9:30 – 10:30 am Village Hall

Rendezvous 10:30am-12:30 Ickford Church

20 Wed Yoga 7 – 8 pm Village Hall

21 Thurs

22 Fri

23 Sat

24 Sun Holy Communion 10:00 am Ickford Church

25 Mon

26 Tues Pilates 9:30-10:30 am Village Hall

Rendezvous 10:30am-12:30 Ickford Church

27 Wed Yoga 7-8 pm Village Hall

28 Thurs

29 Fri PTA Barn Dance Village Hall

30 Sat

OCT

1 Sun Harvest Thanksgiving 11:00 am Ickford Church

2 Mon

3 Tues Pilates 9:30 -10:30 am Village Hall

4 Wed Rendezvous 10:30am-12:30 Ickford Church

Yoga 7 -8 pm Village Hall

5 Thurs WI Annual Meeting 7:30 pm Village Hall

12 Tues Talk on Antarctica Ickford Church

28 Sat Halloween Party Village Hall

NOV Sun 5th Puppet Friends 11:00 am Village Hall

Fri 10th Bless’em All Ickford Church