Next week, the project will replace the existing carriageway surface and road markings. It will also include verge clearance and drainage repairs and improvements.

The scheme has been developed by Oxfordshire County Council and its highways contactor M Group in close collaboration with industry-leading highways and low-carbon materials specialists.

It brings together five complementary innovations, which collectively are expected to reduce embodied carbon emissions by more than 30 tonnes of CO2 equivalent compared with conventional resurfacing.

Councillor Liz Leffman, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Construction and Repairs, said: “This project represents an exciting opportunity to bring together several industry-leading innovations within a single scheme and better understand how they can help us reduce carbon emissions from highway maintenance.

“Importantly, the trial is about more than carbon reduction alone. We are also exploring how these technologies can improve durability, reduce future maintenance requirements and support better long-term outcomes for Oxfordshire's road network.”

The largest single carbon saving is expected to come through replacing a conventional asphalt binder course with a bespoke mix of Breedon’s ACLA Net Zero Binder Course that has been specifically developed for this scheme.

The innovations have also been chosen for their ability to improve construction quality, enhance long-term durability and support biodiversity. These include:

• The use of Breedon's ACLA net zero binder course, a lower-carbon asphalt material that is expected to deliver the largest carbon saving within the scheme.
• Shell Cariphalte Ultra Carbon Sink Polymer Modified Bitumen, which combines carbon reduction benefits with enhanced pavement durability.
• Thermal Joint Heating technology to improve the quality and longevity of asphalt joints.
• Cold-applied MMA road markings, to be delivered by Wilson & Scott Highways which significantly reduce installation emissions compared with conventional thermoplastic markings.
• A biodiversity enhancement programme, including the creation of habitat features using suitable site-won materials.
• Solar powered welfare cabins and high-tech traffic management to reduce resource requirements, provided by TSM Ltd
• Use of electric plant by sub-contractors Breedon and DJT.

Richard Lovewell, M Group’s Business Director said: “M Group is proud to be working with Oxfordshire County Council to pioneer new approaches to carbon reduction.

“This is much more than a change in material use: by working in alliance with our supply chain partners Breedon, DJT, TSM and Wilson & Scott we are combining a range of lower carbon materials, plant and equipment, welfare cabins, traffic management innovation and techniques within one project. This enables us to evaluate how they perform together in real-world conditions and generate learning that could influence future schemes across the industry.”

To enable the work to be carried out safely, the road will be closed in three phases:

• Phase 1: Monday 21 September to Friday 25 September: Full road closure to allow verge clearance, drainage repairs and resurfacing preparation works.
• Phase 2: Monday 28 September to Friday 2 October: Full road closure to enable carriageway resurfacing and the replacement of road markings.
• Phase 3: Monday 5 October to Wednesday 7 October: Full road closure to complete drainage improvements and verge reinstatement.

A signed diversion route will be in place throughout the closures, and the road will be reopened whenever it is safe to do so outside these periods. Staff will be positioned at either end of the closure to assist residents, pedestrians, cyclists and motorists and to help maintain the safety of both the workforce and the travelling public.

More information is available on the highways maintenance page of Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

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Her comments came at the budget-setting meeting of the council on Tuesday, 10 February. The council has been able to deal with a budget shortfall of £5.4m while still investing extra in adult social care (£14m), children’s services (£19m), highways, libraries and other services.

However, the authority already knows that it will need to find further savings of at least £15.5m from 2027/28.

The government will cut grant funding by £27.2m by 2028/29 and assumed the council will make up most of the difference with maximum council tax rises. The effect of this is that the county council will have to put up council tax by 4.99% each year only to see a lot of this money immediately being subtracted by the government and sent elsewhere.

Cllr Leffman said in her speech at the meeting: “We recognise that there are areas of the country with higher levels of deprivation than our own, and it is right that the people in those places receive the support that they need, but this government has failed to recognise the pressures and challenges that we and other county councils face in delivering critical services across a wide rural area.

“In spite of the constraints, and because we have managed our finances very carefully over the past few years, we have not only been able to balance the budget for 2026/2027 but have included investments that will make a difference to the things which are of greatest importance to our residents.

“I am confident that with the investment that we are making in our highways network, with our surface dressing programme for example, along with the new Highways Asset Response Teams that have been out and about in Oxfordshire since the autumn, we will see a significant improvement in the forthcoming weeks and beyond.

“Flooding has become a regular event in many parts of the county thanks to climate change, and we have recognised the importance of tackling this. 

“The decision last year to clear all our gullies on an annual schedule has revealed that much of our drainage system is in urgent need of repair, following years of neglect.

“We therefore propose to allocate £2 million in our capital budget to repairing our drainage system, bringing the total to be spent on our drains and gullies in 2026/2027 to £3.2 million.

“Our library refurbishment programme will continue, with an investment of £550,000 in Didcot coming next, following successful refurbishments in Chinnor, Henley and most recently Witney, where 200 new registrations for library tickets were received in the week following its reopening.”

Councillor Dan Levy, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “We face great pressure because of funding cuts and demand pressures, and there is still lots of uncertainty in areas like SEND provision. Money is being redistributed away from Oxfordshire and other areas on a large scale by the government.

“However, we are confident not only that we are setting an ambitious balanced budget for next year, delivering services to residents, but also that we are ready to face the more difficult years ahead.”

Note to editors

By 2028/29 there is a reduction of £24.1m in funding from central government compared to 2025/26. Within that there is an increase of £3.1m in funding for the Families First Partnership that the government will expect the council to use to fund new investment and activity in preventative services for children’s social care. Excluding that, the underlying reduction in grant funding is £27.2m

The new and improved library, which reopened on 25 March, boasts an exciting new children’s area, complete with reading dens, dedicated working and study spaces with charging points, and moveable shelving to allow the space to be used for events.

Councillor Neil Fawcett, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Corporate Services, said: “We have transformed Chinnor library on multiple fronts. We installed new signage and branding, updated the furnishings, created a flexible layout, installed a new heating system, and incorporated environmentally sustainable features.”

“This has been a real team effort, with the local community, our volunteer group, our staff and suppliers all pulling together, and we are really proud of the end product. We are confident that local people will love the changes; and they now have a library that is modern, warm, welcoming and better able to meet their needs.”

Work was also carried out to improve the building’s environmental footprint, including the installation of additional loft insulation and solar panels, lighting upgrades, and replacing heaters with new air source heat pumps, which will also provide air conditioning in the warmer months.

The refurbishment was made possible through developers’ funding, alongside some additional council contributions.

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Twelve organisations are to share nearly £425,000 to help improve community transport in Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire County Council is awarding the grants, ranging from £700 to £135,000, to fund new vehicles, expand schemes, provide new services, offer administrative support and carry out surveys of potential passengers.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, pictured, said: “Most of us take it for granted that we will be able to get to the places we need to. However, when people can’t drive or access public transport, they can be stranded.

“That’s why Oxfordshire’s active and diverse community transport sector is such a lifeline to so many people. From small volunteer car schemes to larger minibus schemes offering timetabled services, we are incredibly grateful to all those who work so hard to keep our residents mobile.

“We know these grants will make a big difference to all these organisations and help them to continue the fantastic work they are doing.”

The recipients are West Oxfordshire Community Transport; Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone (UBW) Minibus; The Villager Community Bus; CAWNAC (Oxfordshire) Volunteer Driver Service; Daybreak Oxford; Readibus; Shrivenham/Bourton/Watchfield/Longcot Parish Councils; Wallingford Town Council; Wantage & District Community Transport Community Interest Company (CIC); Chinnor Village Centre; First & Last Mile CIC; Watlington Parish Council.

Daybreak Oxford, pictured above, has been awarded £135,000 to expand the scheme it has been running for 15 months, transporting people with dementia to and from day centres and taking the older population on shopping trips.

Lee Gray, Chief Executive of Daybreak Oxford, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive this funding. It means we can increase the number of days we can operate, the number of centres we can visit, and double the number of people we can serve. We take them door-to-door and it is a real lifeline for so many people.

“We recently bought our second minibus, thanks to a donation from the MacFarlane Family Foundation, and the council’s grant will take care of everything else, from permits to safety inspections, as well as drivers and coordinators to make it sustainable.”

West Oxfordshire’s First & Last Mile, pictured right, has been awarded £40,000 to expand its services and provide administrative support to cope with the additional workload.

It has three vehicles and currently carries about 80 passengers a day, mostly schoolchildren, and serves villages between Long Hanborough and Standlake. However, it is in the process of improving its timetable from next month to include a shopper service from South Leigh into Witney for villagers.

Andy Swarbrick, First & Last Mile CIC Director, said: “We are very pleased to have been awarded a community transport grant. We feel it is in recognition of the widely applauded service we run in one of the most challenging rural areas of Oxfordshire since our inception in January 2022.

“The award will be used to establish not only a shoppers’ service but also put the whole business on a more professional footing. That said, a critical aspect of our philosophy is to engage locally, both in terms of volunteers and the support of the wider community.”

Community transport is part of the voluntary sector and plays a key role in filling gaps in service where public transport is not available. It helps provide safe, accessible, cost-effective, flexible transport run by the community for the community in rural and urban areas.

Community transport can include car clubs, community minibuses, dial-a-ride, lift shares, taxi shares and voluntary car schemes.

Some groups offer services just for their members, while others are open to the public. It can take disabled people to work, children to school, sick people to healthcare and older people to the shops. It runs local bus routes and provides transport for a wide range of clubs and other groups.

The council supports the development of not for profit community transport groups and services.

Small start-up grants to help groups in their development are available, while the council can also help with the cost of training volunteers as minibus and passenger assistants.

More information is available on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

A full pressurised water supply has now been returned to households and businesses (in OX1, OX2, OX3, OX4, OX9, OX10, OX14, OX33, OX39 (4NA), OX44, HP17 and HP18) that were affected by a burst water main on Tuesday 4 October at the Heyford Hill roundabout on the Oxford Ring Road.

Any residents who experience low water pressure are asked to report the problem by contacting Thames Water. Residents can also access information on what to expect when the water is back on at Thames Water’s website.

The A4142 Eastern Bypass from Heyford Hill to Rose Hill Roundabout re-opened on Sunday morning.

Anyone who needs to travel by car, should plan ahead and can check @OxonTravel for updates and the county’s park and ride options.

 Award-winning novelist Claire, who was born in Chinnor, visited the library to give an interview to local media. In celebration of her visit, the library put on displays showcasing her work and pieces of memorabilia dating back from when she was a member of the library as a child.

 Claire talked of her fond memories spent reading books at Chinnor Library and has credited her experiences there as a significant influence in her decision to become an author.

 Councillor Neil Fawcett, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Consumer Services, said: “It is marvelous to have Claire return to her hometown here in Oxfordshire to promote our libraries and instill a love of reading in children. It is also inspiring to hear that her own positive experiences of our libraries helped her become an author.

 “I hope that her success can inspire young people across the county. Visiting a local library and using the wider services can have a profound positive impact on children later in life – as Claire attests. We want to encourage all young people in Oxfordshire to become library users – it is free, and there are no reservation charges for children.

 “Our ambition for the service is embedded in our new proposed libraries and heritage strategy, which is open for consultation until 18 March 2022. More information is available on our consultation and engagement platform Let’s Talk Oxfordshire.”

 Find out more about Oxfordshire’s libraries, including upcoming events, on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

About Claire Fuller

Claire Fuller first began writing fiction at the age of 40 after many years of working in marketing. She was born and raised just outside of Chinnor before moving to Winchester to attend university  where she now resides with her family.

Her four novels are Unsettled Ground (Costa Novel Award 2021, and shortlisted for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction), the critically acclaimed Bitter Orange (longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award), Swimming Lessons (shortlisted for the Encore Prize, and Livre de Poche Prize in France), and Our Endless Numbered Days (winner of the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize for debut fiction). Her novels have been translated into 20 languages.

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The changes mean that from Monday 28^th September, Sonning Common will be open and on the 29^th Faringdon, Watlington and Goring libraries will reopen. Work is progressing for, Chinnor, Woodgreen, Charlbury and Wychwood libraries to be open early October.

Oxfordshire County Council has already successfully reopened 20 libraries including Abingdon, Banbury, Berinsfield, Bicester, Blackbird Leys, Carterton, Chipping Norton, Cowley, Didcot, Eynsham, Headington, Henley, Kidlington, Summertown, Thame, Wallingford, Wantage, Woodstock, Witney and the Oxfordshire County Library in the Westgate Centre.

Please check Oxfordshire Libraries website for the current opening hours as they may not be the same as pre-Covid-19 and may be subject to change.

Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Cultural Services said:

“The fact that more of our county libraries are reopening to serve the community is a great step for residents. I’d like to thank our library staff and volunteers for their hard work in making this possible.

“Please take care of yourselves and others when visiting libraries as there will be some important adjustments made for your safety and that our staff. Remember also that a wealth of electronic services and e-books can still be accessed via our library website.”

Library users can now return items with no risk with the book drop boxes accessible in or out of opening hours. People can also of course return them inside our safely-adapted libraries.

Library visitors will be asked to wear face coverings, pay by card where possible and contact details will be requested when visiting.

Please check our website for any changes and advice for visiting libraries as they reopen at our library service page:

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-culture/libraries

Organising a fireworks display? Let us know and we’ll list it here. Keep checking back for more great suggestions for bonfire night!

Saturday 27th October
 

• Family Fireworks Spectacular at Edward Feild Primary School (Kidlington)

• Weston On The Green Village Fireworks (Weston On The Green)

• Nettlebed Halloween Spooktacular Fireworks at Sue Ryder (Nettlebed)

Friday 2nd November

• South Stoke Bonfire & Firework Night (South Stoke)

• Bonfire & Firework night at Far Peak Campsite (North Leach)

• Deddington CofE School PTA’s Firework Night (Deddington)

• Hanborough musical fireworks (Long Hanborough)

• Grove RFC Fireworks (Grove)

• Checkendon School Association Fireworks (Checkendon)

• Mill Lane School Fireworks, Chinnor

Saturday 3rd November

• Oxford Fireworks South Park – The Oxford Round Table charity firework display (Oxford)

• Halloween Fireworks Display at Blenheim Palace (Woodstock)

• Thame Fireworks (Thame)

• 2nd Abingdon Scouts Fireworks Display (Abingdon)

• Charlbury Cricket Club Bonfire Night (Charlbury)

• Bicester Round Table Fireworks Display (Bicester)

• RAL Rec-soc fireworks display & disco (Harwell)

• Wallingford 1155 Fireworks & Bonfire (Wallingford)

• Dorchester on Thames village fireworks (Dorchester on Thames)

• Faringdon Fireworks and Bonfire (Faringdon)

• Kingham Village Fireworks and Bonfire (Kingham)

• Thame Fireworks @ Lord William’s Lower School (Thame)

• Standlake Village Hall (Standlake) Bonfire & Fireworks

Sunday 4th November

• Fireworks Night at Phyllis Court (Henley)

• Witney RFC Bonfire and Fireworks Spectacular (Witney)

• Didcot Pyromusical Fireworks Display (Didcot)

• Fireworks Night at Bicester hotel and golf & spa (Chesterton, nr Bicester)

• Bicester Round Table Fireworks (Bicester)

Monday 5th November

• The Plough’s free firework night (Wolvercote)

• UPDATED! Bodicote Fireworks Display: Gates open 5.45, display 7.30 £4 entry, under 5's free!

Saturday 10th November

• Abingdon Festival of Fireworks (Dalton Barracks, Abingdon)

• Kirtlington Fireworks Display (Kirtlington)

A raised junction table, including a mini roundabout, at the junction of Mill Lane with Estover Way and a pair of speed cushions on Estover Way just south of the junction have been given the go ahead by Oxfordshire County Council.

The proposals have been put forward as part of an adjacent residential development and funding for their installation is being provided by the developers.

A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a countershock) to the heart when problems have occurred.

A total of seven county councillors have so far undergone the training and Cllr Hudspeth was today joined by another five fellow county councillors: Cllr Nick Carter (Thame & Chinnor), Cllr Mike Fox-Davies (Hendreds & Harwell), Cllr Lorraine Lindsay-Gale (Berinsfield & Garsington), Cllr Susanna Pressel (Oxford Jericho & Osney) and Cllr Hudspeth (Woodstock).

The training is delivered by Dick Tracey who served as an Ambulance Commander with South Central Ambulance Service for 23 years. He recently retired and is devoting his time to raising money towards having defibrillators installed and spreading the word about how important they are.

Councillor Hudspeth said: “I enjoyed the training a great deal. As many people as possible should know how to use a defibrillator and I know that Dick Tracey has made it his mission to make sure they and the skills to use them are as widespread as possible in our county.”

Traffic restrictions and road closures ahead of Remembrance Day parades and events this weekend.

11 November

Remembrance Day Witney
11 November 08-13:00
Church Green
Welch Way

Didcot Armistice Day Ceremony
11 November 10:55 - 11:05
B4493 High Street, Didcot

12 November

Abingdon
12 November 10:30 - 11:45
Ock Street

Chipping Norton
12 November 10:25-12:15
High Street

Burford
12 November 10:40 - 11:20
High Street

Carterton
12 November 10:15 - 11:30
Burford Road

Faringdon
12 November 09:00 - 12:30
Gloucester Street Gravel Walk

And11 November - Exhibition on A4095 Market Place

Marcham Remembrance Parade
12 November 10:30 - 12:30
New Road

Kennington
12 November 10:30 - 11:30
Kennington Road

Goring
12 November 10:50-11:15
Section of B471

Woodstock
10:00-12:30 Remembrance parade
Unknown road

Wantage
12 November 10:30 - 13:00
Market Place

Wallingford
12 November 10:00 - 12:00
St Martins Street

Benson Remembrance Parade
12 November 10:15 - 11:45

Remembrance Day - Chinnor
12 November 10:25 - 11:10

Henley Remembrance Sunday
12 November 10:15 - 12:00
Station Road

Charlbury
12:00-13:30
School Road

Didcot
12 November 10:20 - 11:30
Broadway

Harwell
12 November 10:20 - 11:30
B4493 Drewitts Corner

Grove
12 November 09:35 - 09:45
Main street

Godstow
12 November 10:20-11:45
Godstow road

Oxford: St Giles Remembrance Sunday Parade
12 November 07:00-14:00
St Giles

Thame
12 November 13:00
High Street

Have we missed any? Let us know in the comments.

In addition a new zebra crossing will be installed on Thame Road just north west of its junction with Lower Road.

All of the work will be paid for by the developers responsible for the creation of the new housing to the north of Mill Lane.

The decision to undertake the work was by Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, at the Cabinet Member for Environment and Economy meeting on July 20.

In total there are around 200 voluntary sector daytime support providers for older people and people with disabilities in Oxfordshire. In excess of 150 of these operate without any financial support from the county council. More than 40 currently receive funding that covers some or all of their costs.

The council wants to support as many of these services as possible to continue, but recognises this is a decision for those organisations. The vast majority have applied for transition funding from the £300,000 budget set aside by council in February. Only six have not bid for funding, two of them because they decided they are ready to continue without support from the council.

All but one were assessed by the cross-party panel as meeting the criteria to receive funding, and a final decision will be taken by the county council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Councillor Judith Heathcoat, on April 19.

The transition funding will support these voluntary sector providers from September to March, as they action their plans to become more self-sustaining. Later in 2017 they will once again be able to bid for £250,000 of transitional funding in 2018/19, as well as funding from two further grants pots – a Sustainability Fund and an Innovation Fund.

Which services are proposed for transition funding

Age UK run day centres are proposed for a combined £98,000 of funding:

• Bluebells, Henley

• Burford Lunch Club

• Kidlington Area Day Centre

• Kingsmoor Day Centre, Hinton Waldrist

• Oakwood Centre, Faringdon

• Share Care Day Centre, Holton

• St Francis Court, Headington/Anchor Court, Oxford – two services which are merging.

Daybreak Oxford run day centres are proposed for a combined £50,000 of funding:

• The Lilacs, Kidlington

• The Limes, Oxford

• Rosewood, Oxford

Other providers:

• Berinsfield Voluntary Day Centre £10,106

• Bromsgrove Day Centre, Faringdon £6,800

• Carterton Day Centre £9,500

• Chalgrove Day Centre £8,000

• Charlbury Day Centre £3,742

• Chinnor Day Centre £8,000

• Cluster Care Group, Banbury £4,500

• Eynsham Day Centre £2,625

• Goring and District Community Centre Lunch Club £2,900

• Grove Day Centre for the Elderly £7,000

• Hanborough and District Day Centre £6,378

• Highlands Day Centre, Chipping Norton £5,000

• Hook Norton Day Centre, £2,625

• The October Club, Wantage £14,000

• Chinese Community Day Centre, Oxford £7978

• Happy Place Day Centre, Oxford £3,300

• Cornhill, Banbury £2,625

• West Way Day Centre, Botley £5,466

• St Mary’s Thursday Club, Bloxham £4,786

• Stonesfield Lunch Club £2,906

• Thame and District Day Centre £12,500

• The Thursday Social Club, Watlington £2,500

• Watlington and District Age Concern Drop In £1,500

• Windmill Thursday Club/Deddington Day Centre £5,000

• Wychwoods Day Centre £3,390

• Volunteer Link Up £14,625

The services who have decided they do not need to bid to continue to operate

• Bampton Bush Day Centre

• Fielding Lunch Club, Sibford Gower

The services who have not made a bid

• Leonard Cheshire Disability (open access self-help group)

• Leonard Cheshire Disability (Tryard Disability Group)

• Order of St John, Lake House, Adderbury

• The Alzheimers Society, Abingdon service

Cholsey Day Centre does not quality for funding as it has reserves of £340,000.

The information provided in the application for Marston Court, provided by Order of St John Care Trust, was not sufficient to evaluate the bid. Further information has been requested.

How will the council’s own service be configured?

• The county council is continuing to provide a core service for people who are eligible for social care support, which makes sure they have the care and support they need. This is planned to be a countywide service with an annual budget of £4.5m and a wide range of flexible, costed support options. The council will replace its current Health and Wellbeing Centres and Learning Disability Daytime Support services (22 building-based services) with eight new bases at the Abbey Centre, Abingdon; Redlands in Banbury; Bicester Health and Wellbeing Centre; The Meadows in Didcot; Oxford Options; High Street, Wallingford; Witney Resource Centre and the Charlton Centre in Wantage.

• These bases will run from October and would be subject to ongoing review in terms of locations. People with different needs will be supported in the same buildings but there would be a range of different spaces and facilities to meet different needs and interests.

• The plans include transport to and from services for everybody who is eligible for it or who chooses to purchase it.

• The council-funded Dementia Support Service provides support to people with dementia and their families across Oxfordshire through Dementia Advisors. It provides face-to-face support to an average of 120 people per week. This service will continue to be funded.

• The council-funded Wellbeing and Employment Service, “OxForward” provides support to people over the age of 18 with learning disabilities, autism and physical disabilities. It supports 700 people each year providing opportunities such as moving in to and maintaining volunteering roles and employment. This will continue with its existing budget.

• The council will continue to work with the Age UK provided Community Information Network service. The Community Information Network is working with people affected by the changes, to help manage a personalised transition from current daytime support services for those people who do not have eligible needs/ who choose not to use the new service.

• In addition the council will be permanently investing £25,000 a year in training for services around dementia and autism and £100,000 a year in enabling people to make choices about the use of their personal budgets.