Lesnes To Crossness
The meeting opened with an update on the Lesnes to Crossness project by Tim Baker who is the Landscape Project Manager. Phase I is now complete and Phase II is underway. An initial plan has been created and it is due to finalised in the next couple of weeks.
As you can see it will be the section along Abbey Way from Yarnton Way to Alsike Road. I must add that is only an initial draft but you can get an idea of how it should look.
There will be three new access paths all disabled compliant. New children’s play areas in addition to the current one that will be refurbished with new play equipment. A question was asked about the segregation of the play areas because older and younger children were being given areas some distance from each other. This was felt not to be practical for some families and Mr Baker agreed to look for a solution.
The police representative raised the issue of motor bike riders in the area and it was suggested that some preventative measures were taken to discourage them. This was agreed but the problem is to try not to clutter the area with too many gates etc. The aim is to start work in March 2016.
Yarnton Way
Work will begin soon to take down the walls along Yarnton Way to open the area to the street. A new crossing will be created near the Medical Centre in November. The longer term aim is to remove a further two bridges but this cannot be done until surface crossings have been installed.
Parkview Hub
– Peabody have moved into the Hub and aim to make it a contact point.
– The Leaseholders have signed the contracts and will open when they have fitted out.
Southmere Village Plans
Initial plans have been drawn and displayed at road shows. Further consultations will be held with the aim of finalising them in the new year before submitting to the planning department.
I usually try to keep my opinions off of this blog but I must say I am not impressed. At the moment it looks like someone has put down a load of cereal boxes without a lot of thought. Proctor and Matthews who are one of the architects have some really good designs on their website but seem to be planning something plain and uninteresting. But it is still early days and not much detail was included on the drawings so it may get better. So I think it is very important we have our say now while we still can. It is no good waiting for the final stage and then complaining. If you can possibly get to a roadshow or consultation please do.
Neighbourhood Forums Restructure
As a result of the new format the forum now has a budget. This money is available for community projects to enhance the area. The plan is for forum members and any other interested parties to walk around the estate and identify what needs to be done. The walk will be around Hinksey Path sometime before the next meeting, which is on 10 December 2015.
There are also plans to join up with other groups and share ideas.
If you are interested in getting involved please come along to the next meeting on 10 December 2015 at 6.30pm in the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Yarnton Way