Do you know of new people who’re moving onto Langford Village?
Langford Village Community Association and FLTR Coffee have recently worked together to produce a leaflet with essential local information to assist all Langford newcomers as they start to settle in here.
All our local Bicester estate agents and letting agencies now have supplies of the leaflet to hand out and there are also some in FLTR and at the Langford Village Community Centre Hall, in Nightingale Place, OX26 6XX.
Please ask any new residents if they’ve received a leaflet and, if they haven’t got one, encourage them to pick up a copy soon – or you could help out by dropping a copy to them.
Understanding the formal process for a solution to London Road Crossing
Every person on Langford Village should be involved with the process beginning in June regarding the EWR proposals for the solution to London Road Crossing.
OnMay 9th we all get a chance to understand this process before we see the proposals in the following month.
EWR are holding an event at Weyland Hall in Bicester from 2.00pm to 7.00pm on that day which is open to all.
This event is designed to help people understand the statutory consultation and Development Consent Order (DCO) processes. Members of the EWR DCO and engagement teams will attend to answer any questions and queries people might have.
These sessions are not formal consultation events and there will be no specific design information or proposals available to view, however that design information will of course be available at the statutory consultation, where there will then be the opportunity to share feedback about the proposals.
June will see the first phase of the statutory consultation and we will have sight of the first plans of the two proposed sites for a bridge for access to town to replace the London Road crossing at which people will be able to give feedback.
One of the proposals, as far as we know, is to have a bridge over the railway at Gavray Drive, anyone backing on to or near Gavray needs to be ready to comment as it would mean Gavray being turned into much busier road with an extra 7.000 vehicle journeys daily. it also means we have lost an access road into town as that would feed into Launton Road.
The other proposal, as far as we know, is a curved bridge alongside London Road cutting through the carparks near the ambulance building and coming down along Station Approach, a much more sensible option retaining an existing road into town.
Whatever happens will have a huge impact on everyone south of London Road Crossing.
I thought it would be of interest to keep you updated about what the LVCA committee has been involved with over recent months and share our success stories.
✅ We have spent nearly three years battling with Thames Water regarding the state of the paths around Jubilee Lake. At long last they have repaired some of the damaged surfaces around the lake. Sadly, they ignored the pathway from Avocet Way to the lake, and the pathway from the post box opposite Shearwater Drive to the lake. They have been incredibly difficult to deal with.
✅ We hope you like the improvements to the play area in Langford Park, we worked with Bicester Town Council (BTC) and are delighted with the upgraded play equipment.
✅ We are loving the new signs erected to Langford Park, plus the information board, the two new seats, and the information posts to encourage children to find out information. Again, we have been involved with BTC on the improvements
✅ Over the next few weeks you will see some road name signs replaced, we have worked with Cherwell District Council to bring this about. We hope gradually to get all the old signs replaced however have concentrated on the worse ones.
✅ We have obtained another socket for the speed awareness device, which will be situated near the school. Once this has been installed, we will move the device to this location.
We are currently trying to obtain grants to undertake the refurb of the ladies’ toilets in the summer holidays plus a grant for loft insulation which is needed.
We hope you approve of the things we are tackling to improve Langford Village and the Community Centre for us all to enjoy.
Kind Regards,
Carole
Carole Hetherington
Chairman, Langford Village Community Association (LVCA)
Langford Village now has a Monday to Saturday bus service on a restricted timetable. It would be wonderful to get a more comprehensive timetable, however it all depends on usage. This is the number 108 bus.
You can catch a bus into Bicester town centre at 11.00am and 14.10pm and there are returns from the town centre at 11.20am and 14.30pm – far from perfect however it’s a start.
I am concerned that there are people living on Langford Village who may still be unaware of this service. Please would you let any neighbours know who may not be on social media. Although the service exists it’s not being well used currently.
Many thanks, Carole – Chairman Langford Village Community Association ( LVCA)
(Please see the timetable posted here and please address any questions or enquires about the service direct to the Oxford Bus Company, which runs it.)
To PRINT OFF a timetable just click here for a pdf version that’s handy to keep with you.
We now have our second set of statistics from our speed sign, stating again for clarity, this is NOT a speed camera. It does not record any number plate details. Also, for the avoidance of doubt, the LVCA does not have an objective of getting a 20mph speed limit on Langford, it simply wants to raise speed awareness on our estate.
This set of data is for vehicles traveling from the Pipits Croft roundabout towards Ravencroft and Kestrel junctions, so when exiting the estate. The statics are for a four week period starting Monday 13th November and ending Sunday 10th December. During this time some 58,462 vehicles passed the sign in one direction, which averages 2,000 per day, or 4,000 per day if you assume an equal number of vehicles in the opposite direction.
The chart below puts traffic in 5 mph buckets, so for example 28,220 vehicles passed the sign doing 25mph to 30mph. A total of 13,167 vehicles travelled past the sign above the 30mph speed limit, which equates to 22.5% of all vehicles, compared with the 12% that exceeded the speed limit when the sign was located near Shearwater and Avocet junctions. For context, nationally 50% of drivers break the 30mph speed limit, which was somewhat surprising to me.
(Clicking on any chart will make it larger and more easy to read on your device)
The chart below is complex, it shows that on average that vehicles are traveling below 30mph, however we do have a considerable number of vehicles traveling at 35,40, 45mph etc, with one vehicle hitting 60mph.
The chart below provides the daily volumes for a single week.
The final chart, shows the flow of traffic through the day, highlighting a considerable morning peak in traffic flow.
The primary objective of the speed sign is to encourage us all to drive at a safe speed on our roads on our estate. We hope you find these insights useful. The speed sign has now been positioned to monitor vehicles entering our estate from the Kestrel Way and Ravencroft direction. In the New Year a new socket will be installed near the school, and enable us to provide statics on vehicles using this stretch of road.
In the meantime, from us all at the LVCA, have a Merry Christmas and a safe New Year.
Following on from the original set of data from our local speed sign, we thought it would be interesting to take a sample week in order to share some more insights. Specifically for the 7 days starting Monday 16th October, the following charts show:
Volume of vehicles passing the sign per day.
Average volume of vehicles passing the sign per hour of the day.
The range of speeds vehicles are passing the sign per hour of the day.
Please note, the sign records vehicles one direction only, so the true number of vehicles passing the sign is doubled if you assume the same number of vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. Clicking on any of the charts makes them bigger and easier to read.
On a week day, approx. 1,700 pass the sign. If you double that to take into account vehicles traveling in the opposite direction, that is 3,400 vehicles – a surprisingly busy stretch of road.
The above chart shows the high volumes of vehicles per hour during the morning and early evening periods.
This is a complex chart, it does show that on average vehicles are traveling below 30 miles per hour. However, during peak times each day we have a considerable number of vehicles traveling at 35, 40, 45 and even 50 miles per hour down this stretch of road. Let’s all play our part in keeping this busy road safe for all residents of our estate.
You’re welcome to leave a comment on this post here or to join in the conversations about this same topic on the Langford Life facebook page.
We now have the first set of statistics from Langford Village’s very own Speed Sign. For clarity, this is not a speed camera, it does not record any number plate details. It simply records for each vehicle passing it, its maximum speed along with a time and date stamp.
It is all too easy to accidentally speed, the primary objective of the speed sign is to actively draw each drivers attention to their speed. It has been noted that drivers are slowing down when the speed sign has indicated they are travelling above 30 miles per hour, so the impact has been positive.
The sign is mobile, with two ’sockets’ already in place on Peregrine Way, with one socket near Kestrel Way and one near Avocet Way. At each of these locations the sign can be positioned to measure traffic speed in either direction. A third socket will shortly be installed along the section of Peregrine Way containing the shops and school.
The first set of data we have is for cars traveling from the Osprey Close/Falcon Mead roundabout down Peregrine Way towards the Shearwater Drive/Avocet Way junctions – basically leaving the estate. Over a period of one month, 44,167 vehicles passed the speed sign. The chart below puts traffic into 5 mile per hour buckets. So for example, 19,347 vehicles passed the sign traveling between 25 and 30 miles per hour.
The data indicates that we do have a surprising number of cars travelling down this section of road above the speed limit. Just over 12% of vehicles are speeding – that is 5,612 speeding vehicles over a period of 1 month (October 2023).
In response to some requests to publish a more detailed breakdown of the instances of over 30mph speeds the LVCA can also provide this additional chart/data table. This shows that there were 688 times when a vehicle was recorded as speeding between 36mph and 55mph.
The sign has now been moved to record data for cars traveling from the Goldcrest Way/Pipits Croft roundabout towards Ravencroft and Kestrel Way junctions, we will publish this data when available.
The primary objective of the Speed Sign is to encourage us all to drive at a safe speed on our roads, on our estate. The secondary objective is provide actual data to determine if we have a problem with speeding on Langford. If we do, we can provide this information to the relevant authorities who can in turn decide if they want to carry out any enforcement actions.
Let’s work together to make Langford a safe place to live.
The information statement below is supplied by Pat Clissold, of Gavray Meadows News. LVCA is sharing it to help update more Langford residents via its own website and social media.
“We now have reached an agreement with L&Q that will allow the Gavray Meadows (Local Wildlife Site (LWS) to become a Local Green Space. The designation still has to be passed by the Cherwell District Council but it should be a formality as it fulfils Bicester Policy 13.
“Two hundred houses will be built on the west side of Langford Brook and fifty along Gavray Drive at the ring-road (A4421) end, along Footpath 129/4.
“The flooding that was on the footpath was an overflow from Thames Water pipes. With the help of L&Q hydrologists this flooding (which was also present along the ridge and furrows in the field bordering the A4421) has been stopped, which benefits the community. The footpath is once again (after 5 years of being under dirty water) a pleasant walk leading to Launton.
“There will not be any development in the LWS or 90% of the Conservation Target Area (CTA) inside Bicester Policy 13. We have been through twelve years when the land belonged to Gallagher Estates. The last three years with L&Q have been one of steady progress towards agreement. It shows what negotiations can achieve!”
Have you spotted the new addition for our community on Langford Village?
Langford Village Community Association (LVCA) has managed to obtain a grant to purchase a vehicle activated speed sign which has now been installed on the Kestrel/Ravencroft/Swansfield side of Peregrine Way.
The aim is to help ensure we all have a safe Langford Village and that everyone who lives or visits can understand the need to adhere to the speed limit.
The device records the speeds at which vehicles are travelling and that information can be extracted regularly and, if necessary, shared with the Police.
The unit can be turned around to record the opposite direction of travel and also moved to the opposite leg of Peregrine Way, which is planned in due course.
The result of the by-election held in Bicester South on 4th September shows a win for the Liberal Democrats.
Their candidate, Alisa Russell, is elected as another of the Bicester Town councillors who represent the interests of Langford residents.
Voting numbers for each candidate and percentage of the vote:
Alisa Russell (Lib Dem) 731 (51.5%) Dan Sames (Conservative) 495 (34.9%) Robert Nixon (Labour) 192 (13.5%)
Voter turnout was 16.8%
The by-election was held following the resignation of another Liberal Democrat councillor (Jamie Jessett) who had been elected in May 2023.
ORIGINAL POST:
Very unusually, residents of Langford Village and nearby are being asked to vote to elect a new Bicester Town councillor to join the others who already represent this area. This circumstance was brought about when one of the councillors elected last May chose to resign.
The poll is taking place on MONDAY 4th September with polling stations open between 7am and 10pm. The Community Hall at Nightingale Place will be the venue to vote for those who usually make a visit there during elections but for Langford residents who usually vote at a mobile polling station on Corncrake/Mallards Way there is an important change. They will need to visit The Garth in order to vote this time. Full details can be found on your polling card, which you should have now received if you are registered and eligible to vote.
A reminder that you are required to produce appropriate photo identification when going to vote.
The candidates standing for election are:
Robert Nixon, Labour
Ailsa Russell, Liberal Democrat
Dan Sames, Conservative
For more details ahead of this by-election please click here
Langford Life/LVCA will publish the result of the by-election when it has been announced.
