The Parish Council is the voice of the village.
We work with many other organisations including Cherwell District Council, Oxfordshire County Council, the MoD, the Police and neighbouring villages (to name but a few) to ensure that the opinions of the village are heard.
This is particularly true of planning. The Parish Council has raised the concerns and views of the village over the years, including the ‘Cala Homes’ development off Aunt Em’s Lane, the Garden Quarter development and the numerous Bicester Heritage applications.
The Parish Council has also been approached by developers to present their proposals – many villagers have attended meetings in the past. Without the Parish Council, the developers would not be able to hear the views of the villagers.
However, we also ensure that Hallowe’en is managed in a safe way; we liaise with the USAF and the MoD about the housing and the park; we maintain a number of benches, rubbish bins and dog waste bins; and we cut the grass on Skimmingdish Lane.
Unfortunately, if villagers are not interested in putting themselves forward as Councillors, the Parish Council may have no option but to consider asking for a merger with another area. This might be with one of the neighbouring villages (if they are happy with this) or even with Bicester (which, of course would put up the Council Tax), but either option will leave the village with much less of a voice.
See the becoming a councillor page for more information.
Please think about whether you can help be one of those voices.