Agenda and draft minutes

The Town Mayor, Cllr Owen Collins welcomed the public to the meeting which  was the best attended that he was aware of. He introduced himself, Councillors and officers of the Town Council, along with the representative from Thames Valley Police.

Apologies for absence were received from Witney Town Councillors J Treloar, J Aitman, D Newcombe and L Cherry.

The minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on 15 March 2023, copies of which were available at the meeting, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

A Local Police Officer will attend the meeting to give a brief report and answer questions on any relevant matters raised at the meeting.

The meeting received a verbal update from Inspector Chris Ball of Thames Valley Police with a general update on policing.

Over the previous six months he reported there had been 91 incidents of Criminal damage, 150 assault reports along with a similar level of shoplifting incidents. However, he was concerned that crimes were not being reported and explained how the lack of reporting leads to the resources allocated to his team being reduced.

He continued by reporting that his team had recently disbanded a county lines organisation which resulted in two individuals being sent to prison with a further two on bail.

Incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour remained low in his opinion at 106 incidents, again due potentially to non-reporting by residents and retail outlets. Hot spots had been identified on newer housing estates and TVP were working with developers and schools to combat this.

TVP would also be working with detached youth workers and would run sessions at the All-Terrain Pitch on Gordons Way over the summer period to engage with young people.

He was thankful to the support provided by the Town Council towards the new “Through their eyes” initiative that was due to be launched in the Corn Exchange on 26 March 2024. Hopefully, if successful this would be rolled out across the country.

Inspector Ball opened the floor to questions.

A resident asked for further clarification on the assaults figure provided; the Inspector confirmed this included all domestic assaults and that the majority of the figure was made up from incidents involving Licenced Premises. As a result of these assaults a force review was taking place with the potential for a 50% increase of officers on Friday & Saturday nights.

It was raised that there was a difficulty in reporting incidents to TVP due to the lack of a walk-in facility at Witney police station. Inspector Ball acknowledged this and understood the issue however, advised the yellow phone situated at the police station was able to be used to get hold of the Witney Team as well as Inspector Ball himself. Options for reporting online were also being explored.

Councillor J Doughty raised an issue with ASB on Downs Road due to speeding of motor vehicles, Inspector Ball advised that speeding was an issue however, it was data led and one of the ways individuals could assist was to participate in the Speedwatch scheme as the results of these checks were followed up by TVP where necessary.

Cllr Andrew Coles of Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) who was the Chair of the Witney Traffic Advisory Committee explained that Witney did have a Speedwatch scheme in place and that anyone interested in joining could contact the Town Council for further details.

Cllr Coles (OCC) asked for details of when the crackdown of electric scooters would start. Inspector Ball advised that this was already happening and that sixteen Section 59 seizure notices had been issued by the Witney Team.

Questions were raised about cycling in and around the areas at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair summarised his past year as Mayor which had led to him attend a huge number of events; though he had lived in witney all of his life, he was always impressed with the amount that goes on in the community and the efforts of those who contributed to it.

The Chairs of the town council’s committees were then invited to give brief updates on their Committees’ responsibilities and an overview of what they had been working on during the past twelve months.

Cllr Crouch began as Deputy Chair of the Policy, Governance & Finance Committee, followed by, Cllrs Bailey, Smith, Crouch and Meadows who introduced the reports of the Climate, Biodiversity & Planning Committee, Parks & Recreation Committee, and Halls, Cemeteries & Allotments Committee and Stronger Communities Committee respectively.

Next, a report from the Leader of the Council, Cllr R Smith was received. She also thanked officers and staff of the Council for their efforts over the past year.

Finally, the Mayor thanked all the Members of the Committees for their support over the past year.

To receive questions relating to the Town of Witney which may be asked by any Witney resident.

Notice of such matters would be appreciated and should be sent to the Town Clerk.

Further to the updates from Committee Chairs, the Mayor opened the floor to questions from the public. All were asked to provide their name and home road name before asking their questions.

Q1.        In respect of the recently submitted North Witney Development planning application how do Witney Town Council deal with the lengthy technical documentation that is submitted as part of the application, such as the flooding analysis reports?

Cllr A Bailey, as Chair of the Council’s Climate, Biodiversity & Planning Committee, advised that along with Cllr R Smith they represented the Town Council along with representatives from other neighbouring parishes, on the Witney Infrastructure Neighbourhood Group (WING)  who were working collaboratively to seek the best outcome for residents on the North Witney Development in respect of the impact not only on flood risk, but on all aspects of the development that may affect current and future residents.

He encouraged residents to submit their comments to the planning authority (West Oxfordshire District Council - WODC).

The Mayor then read three questions out which had been submitted by residents ahead of the meeting.

Q2.        Regarding the proposed housing development between Woodstock Road and Hailey Road. Witney is already struggling from a lack of full and proper provision of services and facilities. Now I read that the developer consortium of this proposed estate will not be required to build the West End Relief Road as previously agreed.  Considering this development is forecasting 1250 new homes, this would strike most logical people as being a very poor deal for the existing residents of Witney. I request that a full public consultation be conducted in relation to the West End Link Road being a non-negotiable requirement of this development if planning permission is granted.

Cllr R Smith responded and explained that she was aware of the Witney Gazette article that had recently been published in which it was reported the developers had removed details of the link road from their proposal. Witney Town Council would meet to discuss the application soon however, it was important to note that the development fell in the parish of Hailey and that the parish councils were only a consultee in the planning process, the overall decision would be made by WODC.

In respect of flooding risk, she explained that the engineers engaged by the developers had said they would deal with the flooding risks, and though she was sceptical of their comments to date, it would be something the Town Council would represent the views of residents on as well as reviewing the opinion of the other technical consultees.

Cllr Smith also clarified that Oxfordshire County Council had not yet made a final decision on the link road and they may well demand the building of it. She also expected that there would be further public consultation as the planning proposal progressed.

A resident asked if consideration had been given to building the link road to the top of Deer Park Road rather than the proposed Woodford Way. Cllr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Mayor thanked the public for attending the meeting and reminded them they are welcome to approach Councillors at any time including at the Councillors in the café events which  were held each month in the Corn Exchange.

He finished by inviting attendees to stay should they wish for the opportunity to speak to Councillors informally and thanking  everyone for continuing to do what they could to make Witney a welcoming and dynamic place to live and visit.