SURVEY NOW CLOSED; THE COUNCIL IS REVIEWING OPTIONS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE RESPONSES AND WILL BRING A PROPOSAL TO A FORTHCOMING MEETING

Let us know what you think?

As you will be aware, in the past few years we have experienced a number of unauthorised encampments on the village green.  An unauthorised encampment relates to any encampment on land that hasn’t been authorised by the landowner.  It is not a criminal offence but is a civil matter.  On each occasion the Parish Council has worked with the Police, Oxfordshire County Council, and the individuals themselves to minimise the period they stay with us and damage to the green.

Regrettably, on a number of occasions damage has been caused to the surface of the green including the football pitch and we have suffered a number of incidents of flytipping of builder’s and garden waste as well as human waste being left after individuals have left.  We therefore took the decision that when an unauthorised encampment occurs, and we consider there is a risk of damage to the village green and/or flytipping, that we would use bailiffs to evict the individuals to minimise damage caused and flytipping.  This decision is always made after an assessment of the situation and in each case we always work with the individuals involved as we must always be mindful of the individual’s circumstances.

This has worked extremely effectively but is costly and is dependent on the number of occurrences.  We therefore would like to seek your views to help inform the future approach and policy of the Parish Council.

It may be helpful to know a number of options have been considered by the Parish Council in the past few years including enclosing the village green in some way by using planting, stones or posts, or bunds and ditching.  The Council have previously discounted these options due to cost and the fact that making such changes to the village green would fundamentally change the nature and enjoyment of what has always been a large open space. 

CLOSING DATE 30th April 2021