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Adderbury will not be split, but concern expressed at nature of some responses
20/10/2020
“I cannot believe it will be anything other than deeply toxic to that community if there is not some pulling back from the current fixed and at times fairly ferocious views that are expressed”
Adderbury Parish Council will not be split into two separate parishes. The recommendation to leave Adderbury and Twyford as one parish was agreed by Cherwell District Councillors.
The recommendation came at the end of the first phase of a community governance review which had been requested by a number of villagers in West Adderbury. They felt the current Parish Council did not accurately reflect their views.
Whilst Cherwell’s Councillors agreed the Parish should not be split they will now consult on whether Adderbury should become a “warded” Parish. If agreed, this would see a fixed number of places on the Parish Council allocated for each of the two different wards created within the parish.
To undertake the consultation Cherwell’s officers wrote to 1,387 properties in the parish. 739 responses were received with 181 (24.7% ) agreeing with the proposal to split the parish and 553 (75.3%) voting against.
Disappointment was expressed by the working group with the tone, language and content of some of the responses that had been submitted. Addressing the meeting Councillor Ian Corkin said, “I would urge members of that community to collectively take a deep breath and, for the sake of the community, engage in the next stage of the review in the most positive way possible.
“I cannot believe it will be anything other than deeply toxic to that community if there is not some pulling back from the current fixed and at times fairly ferocious views that are expressed.”
The report rejected the proposed separation for several reasons including it being detrimental to the identity of Adderbury village, concern over the sustainability of separate parishes and the costs of operating separately. The difficulty of running the existing community services across two parishes was also highlighted.
The next stage of the review could see the concerns of residents of West Adderbury in having representation and a voice on the parish council addressed by increasing the overall number of Councillors on the existing Parish Council, and making it a warded council. There are several warded parish councils in the Cherwell District in large parishes such as Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington.
Councillor Andrew McHugh, who is one of the three elected members representing Adderbury, spoke of the “toxic nature of the history of the review”. In rejecting the proposal to continue the review to the next stage he said, “What didn’t come out was the true reason for calling the Community Governance Review. This is all about opposing, overturning and disrupting the sports and community facility development on land to the north of the Milton Road”.
Other Councillors disagreed and the recommendations were passed.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam