Nuneham Courtenay Parish Council News

 

Council Tax £150 rebate

South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) believes by the end of April it had paid the Government’s £150 Council Tax rebate to almost all households in Council Tax bands A-D that pay their Council Tax by direct debit. That would cover, they say, 68 per cent of households.

SODC said it would send a separate letter to the remaining households (those not on not on direct debit, or whose bank account can’t be matched to the Council Tax bill payer) asking them to complete an online form to confirm their bank account details.   

Anyone who is not able to complete the form online would be able to confirm their details by calling a special customer service team who would be in place just to deal with rebate requests.

I did wonder how many households in the parish are in Bands A to D, and the answer is quite a lot, 43 properties in fact: Yew Tree Courtyard is all band B; there are even a couple of Band A properties; and many houses on the main road are Band D.

 

Buses

I’ll give you the good news first. Dave Harrison, Principal Public Transport Planner at Oxfordshire County Council, has met with representatives from Culham Science Centre and has informed the Council they are keen to work with the County Council to reinstate the previous route and timetable of service 45 to/from Cowley with effect from September 2022, which will restore the link between Nuneham Courtenay and Clifton Hampden. He says the County Council will be issuing a tender for this service in due course.

He has also said there will no change soon about the route into Oxford of the X39 and X40 because the bus company won’t budge. Unfortunately, he does not yet think he can yet restore the X38, which is paid for by the County Council but has been suspended due to the shortage of drivers, because he does not think any bus company would be willing to bid for it while the driver shortage continues.

 

Trees

I’m not talking about the Christmas trees at the Village Hall car park that Biffa failed to collect in January – they’ve taken them away now, thank goodness – I’m talking about the trees at the Playing Field that were mentioned in the last Newsletter.
I don’t think anyone is planting a tree in the parish to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee but in 1977, the year of her Silver Jubilee (25 years on the throne), the Council bought a tree for the Playing Field, a flowering almond. Apparently, it cost £3.80 at the time and an internet site tells me that would be about £22 in today’s money. Is it still there? I’m told 45 years is almost as long as one of them typically lasts.
But three years later when Nuneham Courtenay won a prize in a County Council competition, the Council gave the Playing Field not one tree, but nine: two limes, one oak, three wild cherries and three beech trees. I wonder if they’re all still there. The oak is one of the only trees I can recognise but is there anyone who can tell me if the others are still there?

And the Council has not always obtained trees for the Playing Field. In 1980 for the Queen Mother’s 80th birthday the Council bought what people often call a Pocket Handkerchief tree for the Arboretum. That’s a very distinctive tree too: I might know that if I saw it.

 

Meetings

John Peters took over from Madhvi Saini as Chair of the Council at the annual meeting on 3rd May. Nicola Misseldine is the new Vice-Chair. The meeting was, frankly, pretty dull but it went through all the Council’s policies and procedures, approved the unaudited accounts, and did all the other things it was meant to do.

The next ordinary meeting of the Council will be on Tuesday 28th June, a week earlier than normal, so the Council can complete the annual audit by the legal deadline of 30th June.

There is also going to be another special (“Extraordinary”) meeting on 24th May to deal with some urgent stuff about the website, the Village Hall electricity bills and the audit.

There is still a vacancy on the Council so, if you are interested in becoming a parish councillor, please do let me know or speak to one of the four existing councillors.

 

Nuneham Courtenay Village Hall News

 

Centenary Jubilee 

This year marks 100 years of the Village Hall! We plan to celebrate on Saturday the 11th with a vintage Jubilee party! Times tbc, but mark your calendar now! 

 

Thank you! 

Thank you to everyone who gave some time to help clean up our village hall! Caroline did an amazing job organising this and has some awesome ideas to transform the hall into a great community space.

 

Committee members

The village hall has welcomed several new members lately but we could always use your help! Karen will be taking bookings through our new email address NunehamCourtenay.villagehall@gmail.com,  or her personal email address. Pete Brookes is officially retiring. We are planning an official thank you for Pete soon. He has been an amazing committee member and worked quietly for the good of the village in so many ways. Do let Caroline or Jenny know if you are interested in helping with the committee. 

 

Yoga

Yoga continues on Monday evenings at 7:30. Do pop along if you are interested in giving it a go! £2 per session payable to the village hall. 

Jennifer Taylor - Jenny@datadaysolutions.com