Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire

The leader of Oxfordshire County Council says he can give no guarantee that Long Wittenham will have more buses next year – but he has pledged to work hard to bring about improvements to the service.

Ian Hudspeth met parish councillors and three villagers to discuss the decline since last December of Service 97. The county council subsidised service to Didcot was reduced from six buses a day to two with only one viable service involving a four-hour wait at Didcot for a return bus.

Thames Travel said the service even with financial support lost money. The parish council and villagers were angry with the reduced service and lack of consultation and sought a meeting with Mr Hudspeth to air their grievances.

Mr Hudspeth told the meeting that a review of all bus services in the county was underway and new services would come into operation next May. He urged the parish council to set out their case for an improved service.

Asked if he could give a guarantee that the village would get a better bus service Mr Hudspeth replied: “No. I cannot do that and raise expectations. It would be easy for me to give you a promise now but there are many aspects that have to be considered in our review of all services.

“But what I can guarantee is that after hearing your concerns I and my colleagues and staff will work hard to get the best possible service we can for Long Wittenham.”

Mr Hudspeth said that millions of pounds ever year were spent on bus service subsidies, concessionary fares to help pensioners and school transport. More than £3.5m alone went on concessionary fares over which they had no control because it was Government policy.

Councillor Ann Tomline raised her concerns about the abrupt withdrawal of service and said she was surprised that Thames Travel did not have to comply with a notice of withdrawal. County councillor Lynda Atkins said the council had to act quickly or face the prospect of having no service at all.

Mrs Tomline raised the prospect of a Dial-a-Ride service that operated in some northern counties. Mr Hudspeth said such counties received higher Government subsidies because they were considered to be in deprived areas whereas Oxfordshire was not.

Villager pensioners Don Caws and Vic and Gill Lester spoke of the hardships and the isolation a reduced bus service caused elderly people and those who did not own a car. Mr Caws said a return taxi fare to Didcot cost £24 and was too expensive for people on low incomes. Mr and Mrs Lester spoke of their difficulties in getting to and from Didcot, concerns expressed to them by many villagers. They wanted to see any new contract awarded to the previous operators of the service Whites instead of Thames Travel.

The chairman of the parish council Tom Bowtell drew Mr Hudspeth’s attention the council’s work in preparing a Neighbourhood Plan including a new village hub for a school, village hall, affordable houses and possible shop. He spoke about the impact Didcot’s expansion would have on traffic through the village, the need for a new cycleway and path to Clifton Hampden and the village’s concerns about a quarry and concrete plant proposed near Clifton Hampden.

Mr Bowtell thanked Mr Hudspeth for visiting the village to hear views about the bus service and other issues vital to the future direction of the village. He added: “It was a very useful opportunity for the council to impress upon Mr Hudspeth our deeply held convictions about important issues facing the village.” Mr Hudspeth said: “It was a very valuable meeting and I will be reporting back about the worries you have over the bus service and other issues. Now I have a much better understanding of your concerns.”

More than 50 people attended the annual Long Wittenham Parish meeting at the village hall on June 5 and heard presentations from several organisations.

Parish council chairman Tom Bowtell outlined the main issues in which the council was involved. They included efforts to improve the bus service, completion of improvements to Northfield Lane and proposals to improve the appearance of Saxons Heath. Other issues included a proposed four-mile circular walk to Clifton Hampden, a village hub to include a new hall and school and a campaign for additional traffic calming measures to deter speeding traffic in Didcot Road.

The north-east Didcot expansion plan that will encroach into part of Wittenham parish and fears over higher volumes of traffic is a major concern. District councillor Celia Collett said the developers had still not submitted a planning application to South Oxfordshire District Council because of concerns about entrances to the site, open spaces in the area and flooding.

Mrs Collett said under the county’s new Strategic Housing Market Assessment more than 100,000 homes will need to be built up to 2031. It’s estimated that in south Oxfordshire up to 800 new dwellings a year will have to be built – 15,000 to 16,000 in total by 2031.

Cllr Janet Clarke reported on plans to improve the appearance of the Green at Saxons Heath and improve the surface of the path that links the area with Fieldside, a route used by children to and from the school bus stop.

Sue Tucker from the Wittenham-Thaon Twinning Association – created 15 years ago with the community in Normandy – said a visit this year to Wittenham had to be postponed because of the D-Day commemoration events in France. Mrs Tucker said plans were underway for a visit next year.

Dr Jane Manley the chief executive of the Earth Trust reported on the group’s activities in the Wittenham area including the development of a new wetland area along a two-mile stretch of the Thames with financial help from the Environment Agency. Improvements are to be carried out to the route from Northfield Lane to the river and to paths in Paradise Wood.

Dr Gabriel Hemery from the Sylva Foundation – a charity based at Little Wittenham that promotes woodlands – outlined plans for College Farm which the Foundation is developing. It’s hoped to attract small businesses working in wood to the site of a redeveloped former potato store building. A new pipe is to be laid which will help improve drainage along Little Wittenham road and there are plans to create a community orchard on land off Fieldside.

Two Long Wittenham Primary School children Martha-Mae Preece, aged 11 and Reggie Ducham (9) read reports on school activities during the year. Head teacher Carol Dunne said the school had received a very good Ofsted report. She said: “We are a small school with a small team but we have a big heart and have big aspirations.”

Bill Symonds and Derek Meadham from Long Wittenham Athletic football club reported on the club’s success in winning the North Berks Cup for the second season running. The club has won the cup a record 16 times since the competition began in 1907.

Janet Haylett from Wittenham Vision and History Group said the village was getting cleaner. The amount of litter gathered in “litter picks” had reduced from previous years and the trend was very encouraging. Work on improving The Pound – a small piece of land in the High Street – was continuing with clearance work and planting.

The plan is to create a wood chip path around the site with logs for a seating area. WV is working in conjunction with the History Group to create a sign that will be placed on the site. Mrs Haylett said the group was 30 years old. It would be marking the event with an exhibition on September 13 called “Witta’s Place, Witta’s People” to celebrate the village’s Saxon roots.

The Rev Anne Ilsley reported on St Mary’s Church activities during the year and Cllr Peter Rose talked about the new Good Neighbour Group that fosters closer ties between villagers and in particular those who have dementia and their carers.

The council’s vice-chairman Simon Thompson said plans to create a new village hub comprising a new school and village hall on land at Challis Farm had stalled and an alternative site further along Didcot Road was being considered. Mr Thompson said the council would be getting help from the district council in the creation of a village plan that would give the community better control of housing developments and identify sites for new homes in the village.

Hopes of an improved bus between Long Wittenham and Didcot have crashed. Now the parish council wants a face-to-face meeting with county council leader Ian Hudspeth to discuss what one villager described as the “worst bus service in 50 years.”

Last December Thames Travel slashed Service 97 from four buses a day to two because even with a subsidy it was uneconomic. The current service means that passengers catching the 10.34 from Wittenham arrive at 10.49 at the Orchard Centre. The return bus leaves one minute later. They have to wait until 13.50 for the last bus home.

County councillor Lynda Atkins has been working with the parish council to reduce the three-hour waiting time at Didcot with an extra bus but it could be achieved only at the expense of Moulsford losing its bus service.

She said: “Very regrettably it is now clear that we are not going to be able to sort out a bus timetable that is acceptable to other communities. There is no way to provide an extra bus journey for Long Wittenham without taking a hard-won service from Moulsford. Moving the problem elsewhere is not a solution.

“There will be a review of bus services for changes to be implemented next year. I will do all I can to make sure that things are sorted out and Long Wittenham gets an improved service to meet the needs of villagers.”

The collapse of talks has been met with an angry response from parish council chairman Tom Bowtell who said: “We have been treated very badly by both the county council and Thames Travel. There was no consultation with the council or villagers last December when Service 97 was slashed.

“We are down to only two buses a day and only one of those is viable. People have to wait three hours at Didcot for a return bus in the afternoon as the first bus turns round almost immediately for Wittenham. It’s causing a lot of hardship for many people, particularly the elderly many of whom rely on the buses. We want to talk the leader of the county council Ian Hudspeth as a matter of urgency.”

Retired pub manager Don Caws lives at the Three Poplars home park. He said the current bus service was hopeless, forcing people to wait three hours to get back home. “It’s causing a lot of hardship to elderly folk who do not have a car to get to Didcot for shopping and it’s particularly bad during the winter.

“I have to be in Didcot twice a week for medical appointments and shopping. Unless friends give me a lift there and back I have to go by taxi and that’s an expensive £22 round trip. It’s out of the reach of many pensioners.”

Greta and Charlie Jones from Saxons Heath have a car but used the bus until the recent changes. Mrs Jones said: “The service is appalling. You have to feel sorry for many older people without a car who rely on the buses and now find themselves isolated.

“I’ve lived in Wittenham for a large part of my life. Once we had buses to Didcot, Abingdon, Wallingford and Oxford but today’s service is the worst in 50 years. We deserve better.”

13 March 2014 minutes final

Long Wittenham Parish Council is encouraging all parents who have concerns about the impact of the proposed changes to the school bus service to sign a petition to save Oxfordshire’s school buses.

The petition can be signed online at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-oxon-school-buses-1. You have until midnight to sign.

Supporters of the campaign are also invited to a peaceful demonstration at County Hall, Oxford on Tuesday 4th February at 12 noon. The vote on these proposals will be taken at a meeting of the Council’s cabinet starting at 1pm that day. Please go along and show the Councillors how strongly you feel about this issue.