Launton Parish Council reporting . . .

Notes from the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 7 August 2025 at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall.

Councillors present: Mr Glyn Austin, Mrs Jackie Hackett, MrSimon Turner (Chairman), Mrs Jaqueline Webber

Apologies: Mr Andrew Briant(Vice Chairman), Cllr Gemma Coton (CDC)

In attendance: 2 members of the public

Reports from District and County Councillors

Councillor Coton was unable to attend, but sent a report noting that the Cherwell Local Plan Review 2042 had been submitted to the Government Governance and Consultations

Governance and Consultations

We finally have a new permanent Parish Clerk! Andy White from Aston Clinton has been confirmed in the role and is taking over from Simon Turner, who has been acting Clerk for the past nine months. The Clerk’s e-mail address and telephone number remain unchanged.

There are still vacancies for two Councillors, details of which may be found on the Parish Council website.

Finance

The Finance Report and quarterly Budget Monitoring Report are available on the Parish Council website.

Planning

All planning applications, which include the links to Cherwell’s Planning Portal, are put on the Parish Council website when they are received (www.launton-pc.gov.uk-inthe Agenda and Minutes section).

If a villager has concerns or comments about a planning application, they are welcome to come along to Parish Council meetings to bring them to the attention of the meeting. Villagers are also welcome to contact Councillors or the Clerk to make comments.

Guidance about how the Parish Council is able to respond is available on the Parish Council website at https://www.launtonpc.gov.uk/planning-applications/

Parish Hall

The Parish Hall Development Advisory Group presented a report recommending a staged approach to further development, with each stage handled as separate projects to be tendered for individually. A quotation for fixing the damaged floor in the disabled toilet has been obtained, and the leaking mains inlet in the kitchen has been fixed.

Village Matters

A revised proposal to provide community library facilities in the bus shelter on Station Road, while still allowing its use as a bus shelter, was warmly received by the Council.

Quotations are being sought for removing the dead tree in the open area in The Glades and replacing damaged fence rails around the edge of the area.

Network Rail works on railway embankment

Network Rail are undertaking works to repair the railway embankment south of Launton, which are expected to take until April 2026. As part of the works, the footpath from West End under the embankment is being temporarily closed.

Agenda items and dates of the next meetings

The next meeting will be on Thursday 4 September 2025 in the Parish Hall, starting at 7.30pm. If you’d like to chat with a Councillor, do come along after 7.15pm.

Suggestions for agenda items for the 2 October meeting need to be with the Clerk by 18 September and items for the 6 November meeting by 23 October.

If you’re not signed up to our mailing list to receive news from the Parish Council, you can find a signup form at the bottom left-hand menu of the Parish Council website at www.launton-pc.gov.uk/