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West Oxfordshire District Council scores strong quarter

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West Oxfordshire District Council has reported steady gains across its priorities in the third quarter of 2025, from October to December, with strong results in planning, leisure, housing, and customer satisfaction.

Councillor Andy Graham, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said: “This has been another strong quarter for the Council.

“Residents are seeing reliable waste collections, high-quality planning decisions, growing leisure participation and record levels of customer satisfaction.

“We are also making real progress on major projects – from regenerating our town centres to decarbonising our leisure centres and investing in community groups and local businesses.”

Regeneration schemes and community investments made headway during the period.

At Marriotts Walk in Witney, new lettings were secured and public realm improvements advanced.

The Salt Cross Area Action Plan was adopted after receipt of the Planning Inspector’s final report.

This marked a major step towards delivering a sustainable, integrated community to tackle climate change and lower energy bills.

At Windrush Leisure Centre, a new low-carbon heating system was installed – a key milestone in the council’s decarbonisation project to reduce emissions from public buildings.

Leisure centre usage climbed to more than 237,000 visits during the quarter, with gym memberships rising from 5,200 to 5,668.

Twenty-two local schemes were supported through the Witney Community Insight Profile grant round.

The council’s Westhive Round 5, which funds community projects through a crowdfunding model, backed 10 new schemes and secured support to continue the approach for another three years.

Shop Front Improvement Grants continued to refresh high streets in market towns.

Plans for the redevelopment of Woodford Way also progressed, targeting new social housing and maintaining free parking in the town.

Frontline services remained robust.

Customer satisfaction reached 97 per cent, while planning performance exceeded national benchmarks.

The council determined 90 per cent of major planning applications and nearly 94 per cent of minor applications within target timeframes.

Councillor Graham said: “Where performance has dipped however small, we are taking clear and focused action.

“Our commitment is to keep improving while continuing to deliver the dependable, high-quality services that residents rightly expect.”

The council delivered 267 affordable homes, well above its target.

Waste collection services remained highly reliable, with missed bin rates lower than target.

Environmental health teams sustained full inspection rates for high-risk food businesses.

Although the report notes consistently strong performance, the council has identified a few areas for targeted improvement and put action plans in place to maintain standards across all operations.

The quarter three performance report reflects the council’s continued efforts to meet the goals set out in its Council Plan.





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Oxford News

Real reason for Beckham family fallout with Brooklyn revealed

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Brooklyn, 27, had shared a statement on social media in January, making several accusations about his parents, David, 51, and Victoria, 52.

The source of the tension was reportedly his relationship with his fiancée, Nicola Peltz, 31.

According to the Daily Mail, things became so strained that Brooklyn and his parents were not on speaking terms for some three months before his wedding to Nicola in Palm Beach, in April 2022.

Despite the family rift, the Beckhams maintained a united front for the cameras at the wedding, and posted adoring posts on social media after the event.

READ MORE: Anti-racism group concerns after Tommy Robinson weighs in on Bicester asylum row

Lady Victoria Beckham with her family this week.Lady Victoria Beckham with her family. (Image: Victoria Beckham / Instagram)

Brooklyn’s accusations included claims that Victoria ‘hijacking’ his first dance with Nicola and danced with him ‘inappropriately’ in front of his 500 guests.

He also alleged that the fashion designer pulled out of making Nicola’s dress at the last minute.

Following these accusations, Brooklyn reportedly issued a legal notice to his parents, instructing them to only contact him through his lawyers.

An insider told The Sun that Brooklyn felt his parents ignored his wishes and continued to mention him online instead of reaching out privately.

The insider said: “Truly, people do not know the full facts of this heart-breaking tale, and think Brooklyn was just being truculent when he blocked his parents.

The reality is that he issued them with a letter at the end of last summer, asking for any correspondence to go via lawyers only, and wanted to try and make amends privately not publicly.”





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£7 billion East West Rail Oxford to Milton Keynes row solved

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Instead, Chiltern Railways has started hiring Customer Service Inspectors—roles that closely resemble the duties of traditional guards.

Oxford’s new railway line to Milton Keynes has been complete for almost two years, but passenger trains still aren’t running.

The move comes after the Government’s initial instruction to adopt driver-only operation, with unions demanding that a guard be present.

The new inspectors, to be based at the Bletchley depot—home to East West Rail services—will undertake tasks including customer care, revenue protection, making on-train announcements, and reporting or rectifying faults.

While a second staff member will typically be present, train doors will still be operated by drivers, meaning the absence of a second staff member in rare cases will not prevent a service from running—mirroring practices commonly seen south of London.

45 drivers have been recruited for the new service, but no guards.

An internal government document confirms issues at Winslow station will not obstruct operation, and the fleet of trains has been upgraded with ‘Superpower mode’ to enhance acceleration and meet a tight timetable.

The project delays have already taken a significant financial toll.

READ MORE: Plans for Oxfordshire councils to be abolished is a ‘land grab’

Six two-carriage trains have accumulated £2.6m in costs due to delays in their lease.

Currently idle in a Bletchley depot, these units are costing the Department for Transport money without generating any fare income.

Previously, the rail industry attributed setbacks to complications in finalising Winslow station.

However, observers note this typically does not stop a line from launching, as seen with the Northumberland Line, which managed to start operations even with incomplete stations.

A total of 45 drivers have been recruited for the new service, but the absence of guards, also known as ‘train managers’, has proved more contentious.

The Government has been pushing for ‘Driver-Controlled’ or ‘Driver-Only Operation’—a cost-saving method introduced widely on London commuter lines in the 1980s.

However, this system’s extension to new lines has faced staunch resistance from rail unions, who have fielded several disputes over the years, the most recent of which extended more than four years with South Western Railway.

The stalemate over guards has ultimately stalled the Oxford-Milton Keynes route, but the introduction of the ‘Customer Service Inspector’ role now seems to pave the way for the resolution, hinting at imminent rides for the eagerly awaiting passengers.

The Government previously said trains from Oxford to Milton Keynes are being lined up to appear in the December rail timetable.

In a written statement, rail minister Lord Peter Hendy said: “Chiltern worked with Network Rail, the Department for Transport and other operators on the December 2026 timetable and services have been timetabled between Oxford, Winslow, Bletchley and Milton Keynes.”





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215 homes, care home and retirement village plans approved

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Cherwell District Council has backed the plans to transform the 14-hectare brownfield site at Islip Fuel Depot, a former RAF fuel depot near Islip village.

The plans include 150 homes, of which half will be affordable, up to a 70-bed care home and up to 65 retirement units, subject to 20 conditions.

These will replace the decommissioned Islip Fuel Depot off Bletchingdon Road, which was taken over by the Esso Petroleum Company in the 1960s before being shut down in 1991.

The current state of the decommissioned Islip Fuel Depot (Image: Barwood Development Securities Ltd and NCM Real Re)

Under approval conditions, the developer must contribute almost £5m to local services, councils and police, under S106 contributions.

More than £300,000 will go towards local services. This includes improvements to Household Waste Recycling, Kidlington Library and Islip Medical Practice, or an identified primary care project in the local area.

The district council requested more than £1m in contributions towards enhancing community hall facilities, outdoor and indoor sport provision, a community development worker and fund, and public art.

Oxfordshire County Council requested more than £3.6m in financial contributions, including almost £3m towards primary and secondary education.

Thames Valley Police requested more than £30,000 towards additional staff, vehicles, premises, equipment and ANPR cameras.

In the case officer’s report, Katherine Daniels noted that while the proposal would result in the development of a substantial site on the edge of the village with some landscape and visual harm, weight is given to the benefits.

One of those is the council not being currently able to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing land.

She said: “The delivery of market housing attracts significant positive weight and the affordable housing provision attracts very substantial positive weight given the acute need for affordable homes across the District.

“National policy and guidance recognise the pressing need to provide accommodation for older persons and specialist housing to meet changing demographics. The proposal would make an important contribution towards addressing that need.”

Weight is also given to the redevelopment of the “largely redundant” brownfield site.

Illustrative views of the proposed development at the decommissioned Islip Fuel Depot (Image: Barwood Development Securities Ltd / NCM Real Re)

She said: “The proposal would secure remediation of contaminated land, environmental improvements and the beneficial reuse of previously developed land in accordance with national and local planning objectives.”

The site was first thought to be within Oxford Green Belt but officers concluded the site constitutes Grey Belt land.

She said: “The proposal would not result in unacceptable impacts in respect of highway safety, heritage assets, ecology, flooding, drainage, contamination, residential amenity or infrastructure provision.

“These matters can be appropriately addressed through planning conditions and planning obligations.”





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