News

Sibford Ferris and Gower Parish Councils seek your views on their proposal for a change in village categorisation. Cherwell District Council (CDC) have classified ‘The Sibfords’ as a Category A Service Centre in their Local Plan that was formally adopted in 2015.

As a Category A Service Centre The Sibfords are viewed by CDC in the same way as other Category A villages eg. Kidlington, Bloxham, Deddington, Adderbury etc. Category A villages are defined by CDC with common targets relating to planning and development, these being based on the perceived serviceability, supportability and sustainability of the community.

The Parish Councils (Ferris and Gower) are seeking a revision to the current village categorisation of ‘The Sibfords’ moving from a single Category A Service Centre to two Category B villages (Ferris and Gower), which we believe closer matches the reality of our communities.

CDC are about to start consultation to produce a revised Local Plan that will operate until 2040 and are looking to identify issues and options with the current plan / policy and where appropriate make changes / amendments. Consultation will take place over 2 years but issues need to be identified by Mid August.

The Parish Councils welcome your thoughts on the decision to seek a change in village categorisation. You can contact the councils via email:


• Sibford Ferris : sfpc@thesibfords.org.uk
• Sibford Gower : sibford.gower.pc@thesibfords.org.uk

Further to recent concerns regarding the possible sighting of Giant Hogweed in the Millennium Field, please rest assured that while there are plants similar in appearance, there is no Giant Hogweed present. This has been confirmed by a number of experienced horticultural parishioners.

On behalf of Sibford Gower Parish Council.

Cllr Alan Berks.

The Wykham Arms bar re-opens on Friday 10th July and the restaurant on Wednesday 15th July. Takeaways continue. They request that you observe these safety precautions. Telephone 788 808.

Blaze Inn Saddles is open for drinks, takeaway and eating in the garden, Friday 6pm – 8pm and weekends noon – 4pm.

From Sunday 28th June 2020, Holy Trinity Church is open for private prayer on Sundays and Wednesdays, 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Hugh Pidgeon writes: I received the following letter yesterday from Alexander Ledger on the activities of his small flying school on which I know there has been some controversy in the villages.  I found him to be meticulous in his attention to the exacting standards to which the school is bound by law and I felt it went a long way to explaining both what had led to their flying in the area and the provision Alex himself has been making to minimize the disturbance.

Hugh Pidgeon

Chair, Sibford Gower Parish Council

_______________________________________

For the attention of Hugh Pidgeon, SGPC, 22.6.’20  

Thank you for contacting me yesterday, Hugh.

I am concerned to hear that the recent flying activities of my small powered paragliding school have been the cause of some complaint in the village. The last thing we wish to do is to create a disturbance.  Perhaps I should explain how we come to be flying locally.  In the summer, but for the impact of the Coronavirus epidemic, we would normally be operating in various locations in Europe. The recent lockdowns meant that we had to find an alternative solution if we were to stay in business. 

I live in the village, and to provide us different options, we secured permission from a number of local land owners locally to fly at different times from several of their fields.  We have taken a lot of care to brief all pilots to adhere to the flying height of 500ft, which is one of the  rules governing our sport.  The rule states that we must remain 500ft from any person, vessel, structure or object unless taking off and landing. 

We are meanwhile taking a number of steps to reduce the noise impact in the local area as best we can during this unprecedented period. On the maps we use, we have also marked out the villages and areas with livestock as no-fly zones, and as trainers we are always in radio contact with our pupils, and fly with them.

While we can control pilots under our care in this way, we do not have the same control over local pilots, of whom there are several. I believe some of the pilots who have been seen flying over the village are those who live and fly locally and visited us once they heard we were in the area. I have now requested they avoid the village and other sensitive areas in the future.

I have also made provision to relocate to more remote fields to fly from, the moment the crops have been harvested.

Due to the nature of the sport we can anyway only operate when the wind is calm, usually at the beginning and end of the day.  We are limited to the number of days we can fly from any one location, and we ourselves intend to operate in the North Oxfordshire area only until 10th September when we plan to return to mainland Europe, and in some instances beyond that.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

Alex Ledger

CEO SkyOps,

Secretary, The Association of Paragliding Pilots and Instructors

At the Cherwell DC Planning Committee meeting on 21st May it was made known that a judge has upheld the Planning Inspector’s decision to approve the proposed Hook Norton Road development. Cherwell DC had appealed the Inspector’s decision on the outline planning application 18/01894/OUT.

The Sibford Action Group is continuing to monitor the progress of the development.

Summer must be coming – the swifts have returned to Sibford from their winter holidays in Africa.

Follow their progress on our Swifts 2020 page.

Robbed of their annual trip to Chelsea for the Flower Show, members of the Horti are organising their own Virtual Chelsea in Sibford Flower Show right here in Sibford. Anyone may enter – no fees (and no prizes ☹️).

All flowers are beautiful, but please choose a favourite, spectacular or unusual one in your garden in the next couple of weeks and email a photo of it to flowers@thesibfords.uk before midnight on Sunday 17th May, along with the name of the flower.

On Monday 18th May, (the same day as the Virtual Chelsea Flower Show) our flower show will open in the form of a webpage at thesibfords.uk/chelsea showing a montage of all the photos submitted, for the whole village to enjoy.

Other rules:

• maximum 3 photos per person
• only fresh photos please (snapped during May 2020)
• you will not be identified on the website
• we may crop photos to better fit the montage
• unless you request otherwise, photos may be retained for use in Horti Society publications.

Cherwell District Council have refused the planning application for the development of Mawles Farm at the crossroads in Sibford Gower. Read the decision notice.

• Visit our Sibford Support Group page to read about how its volunteers are available to help and support neighbours who are self-isolating or are vulnerable to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) infection.
• Beware rogues and villains – see our new page about coronavirus-related scams.
• We have a growing list of things to do to help pass the time in self-isolation.