Funding for energy efficiency measures in Oxford – until 31 March 2016

There are a number of free or discounted energy efficiency measures being offered by Oxford City Council. This offer runs until 31 March.

Please look at the attached poster and use the contacts below for more information.

Oxford Council and NEF have worked hard to access funding for Oxford residents (not just those on benefits or in deprived areas) for a range of energy efficiency measures from free (or discounted) boilers to small repairs such as draught proofing.  All these are accessible until March 31st via the AWN number 0800 107 0044.  

Debbie Haynes; dhaynes@oxford.gov.uk   01865 252566

FINAL OCCAffWarmad

OXClean – Saturday 5 March, 1400, Quarry Hollow Park

Once again, Friends of Quarry is organising a two hour Litter Pick of the Quarry as part of the annual OXClean Spring Clean.

Please join us for some or all of the time (families and children are very welcome) and help to keep the Quarry clean. Equipment will be provided.

We will be carrying out the cleaning between 1400 and 1600 on Saturday 5 March. The meeting place is Quarry Hollow Park.

For more information and to let us know whether you want to take part, please contact us at 07970 209045 or at friendsofquarry@gmail.com.

Many thanks

Thames Water – Water Saving Initiative

From Thames Water:

At Thames Water we’re offering to fit free water and money-saving gadgets in Oxford homes and provide help that could save a family of four as much as £180 a year on bills.

We’re also offering to fix customers’ leaky loos for free. A leaky loo may appear as a small, constant trickle of water at the back of the pan, but can waste five bathtubs of water each day and add £300 to metered customers’ annual bills.

We want to spread the word of this free offer as widely as possible among Oxford residents and groups and would be very grateful if you could forward this message to your mailing lists or networks. If you have any questions or queries about Smarter Home Visits, or would like to discuss other ways we may be able to work in partnership, please do not hesitate to contact me using the details at the bottom of this email.

We have teamed up with environmental charity Groundwork to offer this service, as using less water potentially means there is more in the local rivers to support the environment and river wildlife.

One visit of 30 to 60 minutes from our professional advisors will involve:

Fitting the latest water-saving technology around your home

This includes replacing your old showerhead with a new efficient one, which won’t affect performance. We can also fit devices to taps and toilets to help you save up to £180 per year on metered water and energy bills.

A home water efficiency audit

We’ll check for leaks on taps and toilets, which we can fix free of charge, and provide tailored water and energy-saving advice.

Who can receive this offer?

Any of our supply customers in Oxford.

 How do I arrange my free Smarter Home Visit?

Email smarterhomevisits@groundwork.org.uk with your address and contact details or call us on0800 043 3277 and we will be in touch to book an appointment.

Over the next few weeks we will also be knocking on doors and calling customers in your area to offer this service, so you can book an appointment then.

To find out more information, please visit thameswater.co.uk/smarter

Village Hall & Friends of Quarry – Carols, Friendship & Blessing – 1800, Tuesday 22nd December

As we mentioned at the recent AGM, there will be a joint Village Hall & Friends of Quarry  Carols, Friendship & Blessing event on Tuesday 22nd December.

The Village Hall will be open from 1800, with the carols starting at 1815. Refreshments will be available. Food will be ‘bring and share’, so please bring some mince pies or other Christmas treats.

We hope you will be able to join us.

 

Reminder: Friends of Quarry AGM, 1930 4 November 2015, Village Hall

Hi All,

The AGM for the Friends of Quarry will take place at 1930 on 4 November 2015 in the Headington Quarry Village Hall.

Annual Memberships, at £2 per person, will be collected at the beginning of the meeting. We will be opening the doors at 1900.

The Agenda is:

  • Annual report and accounts
  • Committee membership
  • Expansion of Holy Trinity cemetery
  • Traffic issues and residents parking
  • Village Hall update

The Newsletter containing the annual report is attached.

We hope to see you there.

Newsletter No 24 oct 2015

Friends of Stansfeld – Group Draft Constitution

To all Friends of Stansfeld

At the Friends meeting on 13 July we discussed a draft constitution for our group. The constitution was agreed in principle, but there was some discussion about our ‘objects clause’ which was expressed as follows:

  1. To advance the education of children and young people by providing, or by raising awareness so that others provide, a woodland educational facility such as a Forest School within the Stansfeld site.
  2. For the benefit of the public, to conserve, protect and improve the natural environment of the current woodland area within the Stansfeld site by means of raising awareness, seeking partners, or by fundraising to procure and/or manage the site.

The main area of benefit for both the above objects is for people living or studying, in particular but not exclusively, in Oxford East.

Several helpful comments were made concerning adult education, enjoyment of the woodland, and the outdoor nature of a forest school.

We have attempted to weave these suggestions into the objects but we became concerned that the clause was becoming cumbersome and might delay our charity commission application. We therefore propose no change to the constitution text, but we will reflect the points made in our website and in other text.

The draft constitution is attached below.

We will submit the draft constitution to the charity commission in seven days’ time provided there are no substantive objections from any Friends.

Richard Bradley

Chair, Friends of Stansfeld

 

draft constitution 090715 part 1 of 3

draft constitution 090715 part 2 of 3

draft constitution 090715 part 3 of 3

Friends of Stansfeld Public Meeting – 13 July

Dear Friend of Quarry,

Friends of Stansfeld would like to invite you to a Public Meeting of the Friends of Stansfeld, at 7.30pm on Monday 13 July 2015 at Quarry Village Hall, Quarry Road.

At the last public meeting on 4 June 2015, it was agreed to set up the Friends of Stansfeld, as a more formal group to take over from the Friends of Quarry and the Stansfeld Group and work with Birmingham Council.

The following aim was agreed for the Friends of Stansfeld: that the woodland area is protected in perpetuity (and opened up to the public if possible) and that the site provides educational facilities, especially a Forest School.

A working committee has been formed and has met for the first time, with Richard Bradley appointed as Chair.

The current position is that Birmingham City Council received five bids for the 250 year lease on the Stansfeld site just off Quarry Road, and three of these bidders have been invited to submit second stage bids with a 4 September deadline. Birmingham Council is anticipating that the bidders might work with a third party organisation to manage the woodland part of the site.

The role of the Friends of Stansfeld in this is still not certain. However, the Friends may work with the bidders in a number of different ways, from facilitating relationships to forming a joint venture to bid for the lease.

Although there is still much uncertainty, establishing a constitution for the Friends of Stansfeld is an important first step, and it is hoped that this will be agreed at the public meeting. In addition, there will be an update on developments and progress.

We hope to see you at the meeting. Members and non-members are welcome, and there will be an opportunity to join the Friends of Stansfeld. Please forward this to anyone who might be interested in joining the Friends or attending the meeting. If you have any queries, please email friendsofstansfeld@siswick.co.uk

Reminder: Stansfeld Outdoor Education Centre – Notice of Public Meeting. 4 June 2015, 1930, Headington Quarry Village Hall

The Stansfeld Group would like to remind you that you are invited to a Public Meeting to discuss next steps following the deadline for submission of initial bids for the site to Birmingham City Council. The meeting will be held at the Headington Quarry Village Hall at 1930 on 4 June.
We have been informed by Birmingham City Council that 5 bids have been submitted and expect that discussions and negotiations will be required with some or all of the bidders to achieve the aims of the Group to ensure  that the woodland area is protected in perpetuity (and opened up to the public if possible) and that the site provides educational facilities, especially a Forest School.
We feel that the current Stansfeld Group has achieved what it can as a small group, so the meeting is intended to establish a new group with a working Committee and broader representation from residents who are likely to be affected by the sale.
Therefore, at the meeting, attendees will be asked to join a new Friends of Stansfeld Group – a small subscription will be collected to fund the activities of the Group. Self-nominations for the working committee are also requested. That committee will then elect a Chair for the Friends of Stansfeld. During the meeting, the aims of the Group and a draft constitution will also be discussed and accepted. The Stansfeld Group will be dissolved after the meeting.
If you have any questions, cannot attend but wish to join the Group, or wish to nominate yourself in advance for a role on the Committee, please send an email tofriendsofquarry@gmail.com or send us a message via the ‘contact us’ link on this site.
The Stansfeld Group would like to thank you for your support up to now and we hope to see you at the Public meeting.

Stansfeld Outdoor Education Centre – Notice of Public Meeting. 4 June 2015, 1930, Headington Quarry Village Hall

The Stansfeld Group would like to invite you to a Public Meeting to discuss next steps following the deadline for submission of initial bids for the site to Birmingham City Council. The meeting will be held at the Headington Quarry Village Hall at 1930 on 4 June.
We have been informed by Birmingham City Council that 5 bids have been submitted and expect that discussions and negotiations will be required with some or all of the bidders to achieve the aims of the Group to ensure  that the woodland area is protected in perpetuity (and opened up to the public if possible) and that the site provides educational facilities, especially a Forest School.
We feel that the current Stansfeld Group has achieved what it can as a small group, so the meeting is intended to establish a new group with a working Committee and broader representation from residents who are likely to be affected by the sale.
Therefore, at the meeting, attendees will be asked to join a new Friends of Stansfeld Group – a small subscription will be collected to fund the activities of the Group. Self-nominations for the working committee are also requested. That committee will then elect a Chair for the Friends of Stansfeld. During the meeting, the aims of the Group and a draft constitution will also be discussed and accepted. The Stansfeld Group will be dissolved after the meeting.
If you have any questions, cannot attend but wish to join the Group, or wish to nominate yourself in advance for a role on the Committee, please send an email tofriendsofquarry@gmail.com or send us a message via the ‘contact us’ link on this site.
The Stansfeld Group would like to thank you for your support up to now and we hope to see you at the Public meeting.

 

Traffic Scheme for Quarry – 2013

Many Quarry residents when asked about their concerns about the area mention traffic and parking as the number one issue. The concerns are various and long standing – and getting worse due to increasing through traffic, increased numbers of cars, and knock on effects of car parking restrictions elsewhere. Proposed and anticipated developments at the Park Hospital/ Churchill sites and the expansion of Windmill School will severely contribute to an escalation of these problems unless actively addressed.
This paper presents a set of changes to address, or at least mitigate, the effect of these problems on the quality of life of residents. Rather than identifying solutions on a piece-meal basis, as is happening now, a picture of a full set of changes which can be debated, agreed and monitored is a better way forward. That is the objective of the attched paper.
Several of the proposals below can be implemented by local residents acting together provided there is the support of the Highways Authority. But some of the changes require moderate amounts of money – the proposed Community Infrastructure levy may be one source of such money. In any case, an absence of current funds is not an excuse for ignoring solutions.
This paper has been prepared by the Transport Group of Friends of Quarry. The main points in this paper were presented at the AGM of Friends of Quarry on 13 November 2013. There was overwhelming endorsement.

Traffic scheme for Quarry 2013