One million pounds in additional mitigation grant secured from High Speed Two for Steeple Claydon area

It is excellent news that Steeple Claydon and the surrounding villages have secured £ 1m to cover additional local environmental mitigation from High Speed Two.

From the HS2 final report:

'The Secretary of State, recognising the particular situation at this location with the introduction of major infrastructure (the Infrastructure Maintenance Depot) into an environmentally sensitive area, will make
available the sum of £ 1m (to be paid within 90 days of Royal Assent) to Aylesbury Vale District Council to
support further local environmental mitigation which is over and beyond that proposed in the Environmental Statement or related detailed design subject to Aylesbury Vale District Council confirming and agreeing such proposals with the Promoter.     Proposals for this additional mitigation will be discussed further at the Community Liaison Group, including with the representatives of Aylesbury Vale District Council, Buckinghamshire County Council, and the four parish councils of Steeple Claydon, Calvert Green, Charndon and Twyford attending that meeting.'

I look forward to receiving more details about the criteria and process of allocating this funding.

Government confirms its commitment to East West Rail

From the East West Rail website:

The Government has confirmed its commitment to delivering the East West Rail links from Oxford to Bedford and Milton Keynes via Bletchley, and Milton Keynes to London Marylebone via Aylesbury.

Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, published his review of the nationwide Railway Upgrade Plan on 25th November 2015.  His report confirms that the second phase of the Western Section of East West Rail will go ahead with development work continuing and delivery starting as soon as possible before March 2019 (referred to as Control Period 5 or CP5), for completion in the following five-year railway control period (Control Period 6 or CP6).

Sir Peter’s report states:

“During CP5 development work will continue into the full re-opening of the route between Bicester and Bletchley – a project which will enable trains to operate between Oxford/Aylesbury and Milton Keynes/Bedford (East West Rail Phase 2) and delivery will be started as soon as possible.”

Further development work, now being done by the newly-appointed EWR2 Alliance, is needed before final delivery dates can be confirmed.

Cllr Rodney Rose, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council and chairman of the Joint Delivery Board for East West Rail, said:

“We have met with Sir Peter Hendy of Network Rail. The vital importance of East-West Rail to improve connectivity within our region, as well as part of the national strategic rail network, is well understood. The new train services on East West Rail are vital to support economic growth, planned housing developments and the creation of thousands of new jobs. We understand the challenges ahead. Our joint delivery approach means that we are using the combined expertise of Network Rail and the local authorities within the East West Rail Consortium to accelerate the delivery process.”

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail, route managing director, said: “The railway is vital to Britain’s economic health. We are carrying out East West Rail (EWR), part of our national Railway Upgrade Plan, because we care about giving train passengers what they want and about building a strong economic future for people in the regions this scheme will connect.

“Such is our commitment to delivering East West Rail as soon as possible, we have just awarded alliancing contracts for Phase 2 (EWR2). An alliance of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke, VolkerRail and Network Rail will design and construct EWR2, linking Oxford to Bedford and Milton Keynes via Bletchley, and Milton Keynes to London Marylebone via Aylesbury.

“A connection from Oxford to Ipswich via Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge is a vital missing piece in our country’s rail network. That’s the end goal of EWR. Phase 2 will be major step towards making that a reality.”

Martin added: “As the development work continues to finalise the scope and develop more detailed designs, we will be able to give more precise dates for construction. We recently completed a successful first round of public consultation, which showed a high level of public support and yielded valuable feedback on our initial proposals. The project team will now refine these proposals ahead of a second round of consultation in 2016.”

AVDC Garden waste services

From the AVDC website:

Garden Waste Service

Arrange a garden waste collection

Correction to Aylesbury Vale Times garden waste collection dates

Easter weekend has been printed wrongly in the garden waste section of page 12 
of the Aylesbury Vale Times.

Any garden waste collections which would have taken place on Easter Monday, the 28 March, 
will now take place on Saturday 2 April.

Garden waste collections on Monday 4 April will still happen and remain unaffected.

The revised dates for the May bank holiday garden waste collections are correct, 
as are the revised dates for Good Friday collections of normal waste.

We apologise for the error and any confusion it may cause.

How does the service work?

We provide a large brown wheeled bin that we empty fortnightly between February
and November.
We will collect your garden waste bin on the Monday of the same week as your
household waste bin.

New Customers

You can sign up to the service via the Aylesbury Vale My Account at any time of the year.
Your service will automatically continue each year unless you ask us to cancel it.

How much does the garden waste service cost?

One annual payment of £38, payable by direct debit. (on Friday 1 April the price
will increase to £40)

A £4.50 admin fee will be applied to any other payment method.

What can I put in my garden waste bin?

• grass and hedge cuttings
• garden plants and fallen fruit
• leaves
• small branches and twigs (up to wrist thickness – about 10cm)
• tree and shrub prunings
• most weeds, except noxious weeds such as :
• Japanese Knotweed, Ragwort and Giant Hogweed

How much garden waste will you collect?

You can order up to six garden waste bins per household (each bin is charged separately).

If you don’t think you’ll fill a bin each fortnight, consider sharing it with a neighbour.
We’ll register the account with one resident and collect from that address.

How else can I dispose of my garden waste?

You can compost garden waste at home or take it to your local Household Waste and 
Recycling Centre.

Please don’t put garden waste in your household waste bin.

Report a missed collection

If we’ve missed your bin, let us know within 24 hours of your collection date and we’ll
empty it that same week.