This website was originally created by Tetsworth Parish Council as a means of distributing and sharing information about the Parish Council and its business.  However, it clearly has the potential to be developed as a much richer information hub reflecting and supporting the whole of the Tetsworth community. While it may still have some way to go before it fully satisfies this aim, the site will try to bring together news of village organisations and act as a source of information on services available to the Tetsworth community.  
 
 The Parish Council meets once a month at 7.30pm on the second Monday of the month in Tetsworth Memorial Hall. Members of the public are welcome.  The Parish Council does not meet in August. Please CLICK HERE to see the Agenda for the next meeting.  Minutes of previous meetings are also posted on the site.
Please contact The Clerk if you would like to find other useful information which is not yet included.    

Events

URGENT UPDATE - TRAVELLERS APPEAL
We have been informed that the Planning Inspectorate has decided to postpone next week's Appeal due to the outstanding issue of the second application and has confirmed that both Appeals will be heard on a new date which is likely to be early next year. More to follow on the detail. To all of those planning to attend the Appeal, thank you for your commitment and support and we will continue to monitor the situation and provide an update as soon as we have any news.
 

Local Plan

Publication of The Local Plan, setting out how the district should be shaped until 2033, has been postponed.
For more information and to view the documents, please click here.
Report a road or street problem (such as potholes!) by clicking on the button above.    ​You can upload photographs with the report and they will give progress feedback.
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News


YOUR PARISH COUNCIL NEEDS YOU!
 
The next 4-yearly Parish Council election is scheduled to take place in Tetsworth at the beginning of May this year with nomination of candidates required 4 weeks ahead of this date. Tetsworth’s Parish Council consists of 6 councillors and, over the past few years, has generally been maintained at this level of membership by co-option of volunteer members without the need for contested elections.
At least 3 of our current councillors have indicated that they may not stand for re-election in May. All of them have freely given many years of sterling service on behalf of our community and will be difficult to replace. However, replace them we must! Unless sufficient Tetsworth residents come forward as candidates for election, or co-option in May, Tetsworth will lose its Parish Council. Under these circumstances, all of the functions and responsibilities of the Parish Council would be handed back to South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC).   
Parish Council business doesn’t often arouse the interest of many villagers. However, behind the scenes, your Parish Council has been instrumental in many significant campaigns and ongoing initiatives. A few examples are:
Leadership of major planning appeal campaigns. Sponsorship of the Tetsworth Community-Led Plan and Neighbourhood Plan projects. Securing the majority of grant funding for the PATCH refurbishment project. Establishment of the Forest School facility. Grass cutting and tree maintenance in village public areas. Management of Community Infrastructure Levy funding derived from new housing development. Preparing an annual Budget and setting the Parish Precept. Without a Parish Council, can we rely on SODC to take such an interest in our village affairs? I would say ‘No’.
Could you serve your community as a Parish Councillor? If you believe in localism, have lived in the village for at least a year, and think that you could agree to be nominated for membership of the Council, please get in touch with any of our councillors or the Parish Clerk to discuss what might be involved.






 OXFORD – CAMBRIDGE EXPRESSWAY
The Government has announcement that the route of the proposed Oxford – Cambridge Expressway should be drawn somewhere within the bounds of its previously-defined central Corridor B passing either to the east or west of Oxford. Potential routes to the west of the city lie within Corridor B1, while those to the east lie closer to us in Corridor B3. At this stage, the Corridor boundaries are indicative and potential routes could be almost anywhere within these designated areas. The decision to reject potential routes through Corridor A which included countryside up to the edge of Tetsworth is a relief, but many issues remain unclear and any potential routes in Corridor B3 could still have a significant impact on our village.

The preferred corridor decision has confirmed the Government’s continued support for the Expressway project and its associated plans for 1,000,000 new houses to be built along the Oxford – Cambridge Arc by 2050. Many Oxfordshire residents remain highly sceptical of the need for the Expressway let alone its route. In particular, many are strongly opposed to the prospect of dramatic housing growth by as many as another 300,000 new homes in the county on top of the 100,000 new homes expected to be included in the current round of Local Plan preparations. While advocating cancellation of the Expressway project is a priority for some, others will concentrate on minimising the cost and harms wherever it is built.
Our Parish Council has already provided Highways England, the project managers, with local evidence of environmental and heritage harms which would arise from Expressway routes close to the village – and this might have had some small influence on their decision to drop Corridor A. However, possible routes through Corridor B3 could still come as close as Junction 8A of the M40, this side of Wheatley. This has encouraged those promoting a Harrington new town development this side of Milton Common to welcome possible adoption of such a route.   Clearly the strategic development of Harrington or even a lesser housing settlement on our doorstep would have a dramatic impact on Tetsworth. Over the coming months, we have a further opportunity to support protection of Corridor B3 from the intrusion of an Expressway and its associated housing development. We can submit additional environmental, heritage and wildlife evidence to Highways England and the Parish Council would welcome any contribution of such evidence that you are able to put into words and pictures.
Highways England’s current timeline for the Expressway project expects construction to start in 2025 and the road to be open in 2030. However, there are still many uncertainties to be clarified and a mountain of hurdles to be crossed before then. Between now and next Autumn, Highways England will be defining a number of possible routes through each of Corridors B1 and B3 and evaluating them against 7 high level criteria including Connectivity, Economic Growth and Environment. One criterion which is not explicitly stated is Cost which will undoubtedly have a major influence on the final route selection – or even a rethink on the affordability of the whole project. It is already becoming clear that potential routes through Corridor B1 would be shorter and less expensive than those passing through Corridor B3.
In Autumn 2019, Highways England will then bring forward a shortlist of at least 3 potential routes in each Corridor for a period of public consultation – the first opportunity for the bulk of Oxfordshire residents to have a formal voice on the Expressway project. The announcement of the preferred route is currently scheduled for 2020.
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