Monthly Archives: November 2011

Abingdon Town Council Meeting – 23 Nov 2011

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This was supposed to be a normal council meeting but The Mayor had proposed that Abingdon be renamed as Abingdon-On-Thames and that issue took up most of the meeting.

But other matters first….
Fair Trade Day
During the prayer at the start there was a few moments of silent prayer for Mr Peter Tyrer who died last Friday in a car accident in Kenya – where he led The African Children’s Fund.  He was also treasurer of the Abingdon-On-Thames Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of Governors at Longworth Primary.  He was one of those people who helps many others and will be impossible to replace. It was front page of the Abingdon Herald this morning and quite a shock to all who knew him.
Town Council Meeting
After prayers the town council moved onto other business …

We were told that the County Council will paint Yellow lines at the top of East St Helen Street to stop any cars or taxis using the old Taxi Ranks.

An old MG could well be hoisted through one of the County Hall Museum windows as part of the permanent display.

Not much scaffolding left now as you can see in the picture of the County Hall above. The Christmas tree has arrived – donated by the Abingdon Market Traders. They have made sure it is very far from the spindly specimen that arrived a year ago which had to be replaced

Going through the planning applications I noted that the Town Council were very much in favour of the proposed changes to the precinct (aka Abbey Shopping Centre) but were against most of the changes to the Ox Pub to Tesco conversion which  subsequently got approved at the district council.

But then I saw elsewhere that the Town Council jubilee committee will be asking Tesco for buns for next years bun throwing.

Also the committee set up to oversea the jubilee celebrations now feel they have gained  a good skill-set at planning events and organising road closures and would also like to co-ordinate the town’s response to the Olympic torch being carried through town.
Town Council Meeting
But the real important issue was whether Abingdon should be renamed as Abingdon-on-Thames. The Mayor said that this name change did not need to cost anything as businesses can just change the name next time they need to order stationary. All the Conservatives councillors voted in favour of this motion. They think Abingdon-On-Thames is a stronger brand name than just Abingdon on its own and will help local business to compete.
Town Council Meeting
The Lib-Dems were split. Half were in favour of the rename but abstained because they thought it needed more thought and consultation before taking such a big step. Another town is going through a similar rename and have done far more investigation and consultation before taking this initial step: namely the soon to be Staines-on-Thames.

The other half of the Lib-Dems voted against. One said it was pretentious. Another said it devalued the unique status of Abingdon by adding unnecessary words.
Town Council Meeting
It has been Abingdon-On-Thames before as can be seen in this sign hidden behind greenery on Broad Street …
Town Council Meeting
and this sign on Ock Street. One councillor harked back to those pre 1974 days when Abingdon was a Borough saying “I look on this area of Oxfordshire as occupied Berkshire.”

I guess this rename will be a fairly popular attempt to boost Abingdon’s status and trade, but I am not sure yet how deep the rename must go and how it will play out. The district council must approve it first.  I have registered a new domain name for this blog just in case, and I see that somebody has already snapped up the domain abingdononthames.com a day ago. It is now parked on one of those domain resale sites – probably in the hope of making money from it.

Wild Goose Chase

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The Background is Orange
In yesterday’s blog I reported that taxis were no longer to be found along East St Helen Street on the basis of a notice on the Market Place. But today at lunchtime when I went to check out my facts I found there were no taxis along Queen Street where they are supposed to be. But you can buy or order local geese and turkeys from the butcher, down that way.

The taxis were still to be found at the top of East St Helen Street, where a similar notice had been put up and subsequently removed. Apologies to anybody who was led on a wild goose chase looking for taxis. The local authority may have agreed this but the taxi drivers have not.

Waitrose are staying open later….

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The Background is Orange
Waitrose are staying open later. They have been opening earlier for a couple of months now and are now staying open longer.
The Background is Orange
This is the view from Queens Street to the Market Place. This narrow passageway is likely to be more used in future as there are taxi halts through there – intended to replace those on East St. Helen Street …
The Background is Orange
and so notices saying ‘Taxi Rank This Way‘ and ‘East St. Helen St. Rank has Closed‘ .
The Background is Orange
Perhaps cigarette bins have been there for a while but it is the first time I have noticed them on the Market Place. Some places also have chewing gum bins.

Green Gym – renewing a path near us

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Christmas in Abingdon
Last time I saw the Green Gym working near us they were wood chipping some of the paths near the River Ock, litter picking, and planting trees. That was back in January. They were there again yesterday renewing a path I use most days.

The wood chip is provided by the town council staff. Everything chopped back in that area will either get left to decay naturally or recycled for paths.
Christmas in Abingdon
The trees planted back in January looked very small to start with. Some are still bunched up inside the protective sheath but others have made it to the next stage.

The Green Gym program can be seen here.