Now that the Community Centre has reopened we’d like to give our very special thanks to Manor Flooring, Mike Pearse Carpentry and Bicester Boiler Services for all their hard work in getting the Hall looking so great again and achieving the very tight timescales involved.
We’re back! The Hall has reopened with a fresh new look.
Regular activity groups are now able to return – providing they follow all the detailed rules necessary to ensure Covid-19 safely compliance.
The Hall has been fully risk assessed and special rules are now in place which must be followed by all regular user groups and attendees within each user group when Langford Village Community Centre reopens on Monday 21st September 2020.
Please ensure that if you are organising an approved activity you are aware in advance of all that is required in order to safely hold your own sessions and to protect the safety of others.
For full details of how your activity sessions must work and the rules to follow CLICK HERE
Committee members of Langford Community Association will visit the Hall regularly during activity sessions to check and ensure everyone is observing all the measures necessary.
Welcome back and a big thank you to all our Hall bookers for your co-operation and support.
Langford Village Community Association Committee
We’re busy preparing to reopen the Hall to regular activity groups from Monday 21st September in a Covid secure environment. Only regular activity groups who can pledge to follow all the necessary Covid rules and conditions will be able to operate.
Casual bookings (for parties and one-off events) are being accepted for 1st Jan 2021 onwards, but the event will only be allowed to go ahead if there has been a significant easing of Government guidelines.
We’re very sorry to announce that Langford Village Community Hall is to remain closed until sometime in September.
This is due to the premises suffering flood damage from a leak that developed suddenly during the lockdown.
Although the leak was soon discovered, the damage is extensive and the remedial work includes a drying out period, then replacement of some flooring and doors and finally, redecorating.
We’ll post news of a reopening date just as soon as we can. CLICK HERE FOR OUR LATEST UPDATE.
There will be no alternative crossing for road traffic using the London Road level crossing. In giving the go-ahead for the phase of the East/West Rail project between Bicester and Bedford, the Transport Secretary has agreed that there is insufficient need for a new crossing. Because the barrier will be closed for up to 45 minutes an hour, there had been talk of either a bridge or a tunnel at the site but there is no mention of this in the document that green lights the next stage of the line. There is expectation that changes in signalling will help keep road traffic flowing and comment that another solution would mean undue costs and delays to the railway.
The Langford Village Community Association Chairman has said that the LVCA is disappointed that a better solution to the issues at London Road is not being found.
Your Langford Village Community Association is now joined with the Cherwell Lottery. The top prize is £25,000 and for every £1 ticket purchased we get 50p of that £1. It’s an easy and cheap way for residents to support Langford Village Hall and help us continue with the improvements. Please do click here to learn more and sign up online now.
Best wishes and Good Luck!
Carole, LVCA Chairman
We’re really proud to announce that new eco-friendly, energy efficient LED lighting is now installed in your hall at Langford Village Community Centre. It’s not only brighter but fully dimmable too, bringing useful new flexibility for anyone running a group or holding events.
This latest improvement has been made possible thanks to the booking fees we receive from all existing users of the hall and through our Langford residents’ support at events such as the 25th anniversary fun day that was held last May.
Thank you all, we hope the new lights will be enjoyed by everyone who books the hall from now on.
If you, or someone you know, would like to book the facilities then please get in touch.
We’d also love more of our hall users to leave a Google review.
Carole, Chairman LVCA, and the Committee members.
Time is running out to respond to the “Oxfordshire Plan 2050”. The plan is devised by the Oxfordshire Growth Board and represents the next stage of further extensive housing development beyond 2030. By 2031, more than 4000 houses are already in the pipeline for the area of Bicester south of the railway, surrounding Langford and Ambrosden. But by 2050 government wants up to 300,000 new homes in Oxfordshire.
The deadline for response is 25 March 2019 i.e next Monday.
The timing of this announcement is similar to the National Infrastructure Commission report ‘Partnering for Prosperity’ which was published just 3 days before the Budget on 22 November 2017. That budget effectively agreed the report without any consultation and set in motion plans for 1 million new houses in the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford Arc by 2050.
With government and media currently pre-occupied with other matters, this consultation risks slipping under the radar. The seemingly relentless drive for growth at any cost – 1 million new houses, 300,000 in Oxfordshire – would more than double the population of Oxfordshire in the space of 30 years and could be a castrophe. It is the justification for a new Motorway.
On budget day, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published a policy paper on the Arc, outlining the ‘government ambition and joint declaration between government and local partners’.
If you feel such growth is unsustainable, would like to respond to the consultation but are not sure what to say, you may wish to review the following link…
As the Public Inquiry into Phase 2 of East West Rail begins today in Milton Keynes I have been looking at the latest station usage data. Estimates of Station Usage for 2017-18, for all stations in Great Britain, were published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in December 2018. There were almost 2 million entries and exits at Bicester Village station representing 51% increase in usage compared with the previous year.
East West Rail Phase 1 was completed in December 2016 and the latest estimates include the first full year’s data for Chiltern Railways’ Oxford to Marylebone train service.
Annual Estimates of Station Usage – data from orr.gov.uk
| Station | 2017-18 Entries | 2016-17 Entries | 2015-16 Entries | Change since 2016-17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bicester Village | 1,979,000 | 1,311,000 | 413,000 | +668,000 [+51%] |
| Islip | 34,100 | 19,600 | 10,500 | +14,500 [+74%] |
| Oxford Parkway | 939,000 | 810,000 | 275,000 | +129,000 [+16%] |
| Oxford | 7,984,000 | 6,631,000 | 6,565,000 | +1,353,000 [+20%] |
| Marylebone | 16,693,000 | 16,667,000 | 15,933,000 | +26,000 [+0%] |
| Bicester North | 792,000 | 923,000 | 1,417,000 | -132,000 [-14%] |
Nationally, usage was flat while the general trend across the south east was down. Several years of above average fare increases are now clearly having an impact. Yet on the Chiltern route, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Solihull and High Wycombe all showed small increases. Bicester North showed a 14% drop in usage while Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill also saw small decreases. On the North Cotswolds line and other routes into Oxford usage also fell.
It is clear that most of the 1.35 million increase at Oxford will be due to commuting on the new Chiltern service, particularly from Bicester. The 14-minute journey is attractive compared with the congested A34. While Oxford will have seem some growth from further afield, opening of the new Westgate shopping centre will also be a factor.
Locally there has also been some abstraction from Bicester North to Bicester Village. Despite the more limited car parking facilities, the train service between Bicester Village and Marylebone is now clearly preferred. And commuting to Oxford looks set to grow further when the service increases to 5tph from Bicester with EWR Phase 2 from 2023. Back in 2007-08 the equivalent figures for Bicester Town and Bicester North were 52,000 and 911,000 – how things have changed in 10 years…