Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council

Link to the meeting minutes page: agendas and minutes.

Grass Verge Information Sheet

For the latest information on Bayswater Farm Field planning and appeal status.

Scroll down to Update – January 2025

Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council includes part of Wood Farm and provides facilities at the Risinghurst playing field with a woodland, sport pavilion and Olive Jacks play area. Downside Dip play area, the ballcourt, small woodland and allotments in Richards Way are all for the benefit of local residents. It runs an annual Fireworks event and hosts the annual summer event at the playing field. The Parish Council helps residents to have a voice about local issues like planning applications and development.

A Parish Councillor helps to represent people, find out what the community needs, vote in decision making and monitoring the services in the public interest. It is an unpaid role that may take up 2-3 hours per week. The main commitment is to take part in 11 monthly meetings a year.

In the autumn, a larger newsletter, which includes information from community groups in the parish, is produced. It will be hand-delivered by Parish Councillors to every household in the Parish during October.  You can view an electronic copy here:

Newsletter Autumn 2024

If you would like to see the previous newsletter, it is below:

Newsletter Spring 2024

 Newsletter Autumn 2023

 Traffic Congestion Project

Dear Residents and Businesses,

I am writing to update you on the actions of Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council in addressing some of the difficulties with traffic congestion at The Roundway, Risinghurst over the last two years.

The Parish Council was alerted to the congestion difficulties by Roundway Pharmacy and has sought to intervene and advocate for traffic solutions by Oxfordshire County Council. The Parish Council is not the landowner or authority for Highways but has been the only group actively asking for improvements and doing what we can for everyone – mobility scooters, pushchairs, cycles, pedestrians and car drivers. During this time, the Highways officers themselves have gone through a restructuring process and small, new projects have not been a priority, although they have sought to help wherever possible.

A consultation was undertaken of businesses, residents, shop-users, pedestrians and delivery drivers in July 2023 by Parish Councillor Jane Kerry, and the responses of this along with photographic evidence provided by (former) Parish Councillor Nadia Amin was submitted to OCC Highways with a request to meet and find solutions together. The consultation showed support for:

• Cycle racks
• Improving the dropped kerb crossing
• Time restrictions on parking
• Parking enforcement
• Parking bays installed on the grass
• Better use of McDonalds car park
• Protecting pedestrians.

Although a full stakeholders meeting was not achieved, Highways officers have worked with the Parish Council on the items listed above.  There has been some limited success, and the following improvements have been achieved:

Car Park Sign: The Parish Council was pleased to work with McDonalds, and to learn how they have managed parking solutions. McDonalds partnered with the Parish Council and helped to finance a project to install a new signpost to alert drivers to the car park behind their premises. The work was designed, approved and completed by Oxfordshire County Council Highways with ODS. Thanks also to Oxford City Councillors Munkonge and Smith and County Councillor Phillips who gave ward donations to support this.

Parking enforcement: The parking enforcement team contracted by Oxford City Council are called Conduent, and they did not do any enforcement at The Roundway. A year ago, they agreed to pilot The Roundway as a priority area, and subsequently agreed that The Roundway should be on their regular list of areas for parking enforcement officers. This is effective in reducing illegal parking and has made a significant contribution to reducing congestion. You can report illegal parking by phoning Conduent’s control room at 0345 337 1138 option 4.

Cycle racks: A cycle rack is needed to help cyclists who have nowhere safe to lock their bikes and shop. Initially, the Parish Council got permission from BT to remove the old phone box (at a cost), as a possible location. However, the Highways team now consider that the location is not suitable. Instead, they have now identified the grass area next to the subway entrance to have a hard surface and cycle rack installed. This hard surface will be extended to include an area for the Voi scooters, to help the area look tidier. A quote is expected soon for this work.

Dropped kerb crossing: This is from near the subway entrance across to the corner of McDonalds and Betzone. Currently, people using mobility scooters are unable to cross when car drivers park across the dropped kerb. Interventions are limited by the narrow footpath by the shops, the fencing and the proximity to a bend in the road. Oxfordshire Highways have agreed to install a barrier fence on the subway side, and coloured textured-tiles on both sides, to highlight that it is a designated crossing point. Again, a quote is expected soon for this work to clarify how much the Parish Council will need to contribute for it to go ahead.

Grass cutting: Following complaints from residents and businesses including at The Roundway, the Parish Council is seeking to secure the grass cutting contract for 2025. The reduction in verge mowing aimed to reduce the budget, but unfortunately this has left the verges looking brown, untidy and gathering litter and faeces. The annual cut left large quantities of grass in place, which prevented any hoped-for biodiversity benefits and blocked the gutters. This work will be a new cost to the Council, but we believe this reflects the wishes of many of the residents. To prepare for the 2025 season, the Parish Council Grounds Working Group (who are nearly all local volunteers) have cut the grass across the Parish twice, and cut back the tree branches to improve visibility at The Roundway.

It is disappointing that the Parish Council has been advised that Oxfordshire Highways will not be able to consider installing parking bays in the grassed area. There are challenges across the city with traffic congestion, and The Roundway is in the same position as many other shopping arcades, with a local environment that was not built for so many car users, and an increasing population. This would be prohibitively expensive, and certainly something that is beyond the Parish Council budget. This is the one area of discussion for which a solution has not been found, and the Parish Council is bringing this project to a close now.

What Else Could Be Done: Oxfordshire Highways explained that when the yellow lines were put in, the residents and businesses were consulted on whether to have time restrictions for parking on the unmarked areas. At the time, the feedback was that the businesses did not want time-restricted parking because they themselves needed to use the parking spaces.

If Roundway residents and business community felt that they would now welcome time-restricted parking for the area, to manage the traffic congestion, please contact your City and County Councillors and Oxfordshire Highways. This is the only remaining option that could be a possibility to change the parking congestion but would still take a lot of work to achieve.

Yours sincerely,

Parish Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer for Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council

Small grants are available for charities and community groups in the Parish of Risinghurst and Sandhills, including parts of Wood Farm (Local Government Act 1972 s137).

Applications are welcome from groups to contribute towards projects that will directly benefit the residents of the Parish.

Applicants will be asked to provide details of the project, other sources of income and their accounts if necessary.

How to apply:   Contact the Parish Clerk

clerk@risinghurstandsandhills-pc.gov.uk         Phone 07717 134606

The application form is available on the website at www.risinghurstandsandhills-pc.gov.uk/parish-council/policies-forms/  

Thank you to Councillor Ed Johnstone who has made a disabled access bench for the Risinghurst Playing Fields. 4 people can easily access the bench from each corner, and a wheelchair or pushchair can access the table from each end. Thanks Ed!

A small volunteer group help with clearing, planting and other practical tasks on the Risinghurst playing field and woodland each Thursday morning from 09.00am. If you are interested in joining, please contact the Parish Clerk.

clerk@risinghurstandsandhills-pc.gov.uk         Phone 07717 134606

Link to Survey

Playing Field Improvements

The Parish Council continues to deliberate about the future improvements for the Risinghurst Playing Field. This project arose from the prospect of  developers contributions that will arise from the Thornhill Park phase 2 development. It is likely to be at least 3 years before this money is available, but the planning for how to use it is ongoing, so that the Parish Council will be ready to act once the funding is received.

The Parish Council are being advised by the Oxfordshire Playing Fields Association. They have a great deal of experience in delivering recreational facilities and advising on what has worked/not worked elsewhere in the county.

At the moment, Parish Councillors are considering what the future users of the play area in Olive Jacks Memorial Field would like to include.

Olive Jacks Memorial Field—Options for Future Play Equipment

There is no funding for this yet—but the Parish Council will work towards it. To do so we need to know what you would like and to get quotes before we bid for grants. Councillors Jane Kerry and Carol Walton did a survey at the URC Church Fete on 9th September. There is also an online  survey for children and young people (and their adults) to complete to express a preference. Please click on it and let us know your views.

Please click the link to fill in the survey:

Link to survey

Notice of Vacancy following the resignation of Jane Kerry

There are 10 vacancies on Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council. Could you get involved?

What does the Parish Council do? The Parish Council includes part of Wood Farm and provides facilities at the Risinghurst playing field with a woodland, sport pavilion and Olive Jacks play area. Downside Dip play area, the ballcourt and allotments in Richards Way are all for the benefit of local residents. It runs an annual Fireworks event and hosts the annual summer fete at the playing field. The Parish Council helps residents to have a voice about local issues like planning applications and development.

Could you get involved as a community leader? you could help by representing people, finding out what the community needs, decision making and monitoring the services in the public interest. It is a voluntary role that may take up 2-3 hours per week. The main commitment is to take part in 11 monthly meetings a year.

Want to Find out More? Contact the Parish Clerk for an informal chat:

clerk@risinghurstandsandhills-pc.gov.uk         Phone 07717 134606

Have you noticed the work at Downside Dip play area in Risinghurst?

Our wonderful Parish Councillors have been improving and looking after the Steff Spencer memorial garden which is looking lovely at the moment.

Our Parish Councillors have been working hard to build new, safe steps for the slide. Within the next week, the old steps will be taken away and the transformation will be complete!

Thank you to our Parish Councillors for giving so much of their own time and working hard to improving the local area.

Go to our Notice Board to see what local events are soon to happen!