Potholes
Added on 03 April 2018
As you're all no doubt aware, the problem of potholes is getting worse. The problem isn't just in our village. It is country wide. That said, any potholes that are seen by us, are reported to Fix My Street. We report them as we find them. If you find a pothole, PLEASE REPORT IT. Don't rely on someone else doing it because if you know about it, it doesn't mean that we do. If it has already been reported, report it again. The more the better. Please sign up for an account with Fix My Street. You don't have to but it makes it easier for you to track you're own reports. This doesn't necessarily mean that they will get fixed. What happens is that someone from the Highways department at Oxfordshire County Council comes out to assess the hole. If they deem that it falls within their intervention criteria, they will mark the hole and appoint someone to come and fix it.
The recent problems with these fixes is that they are not staying in the holes. They break up, or fall out completely. This is as frustrating for you as it is for us. Formal complaints from the parish council, and from local district councillors have been made about the number of holes and the quality of the, so-called "fixes".
There is a particularly dangerous hole at the moment as you leave the village towards Murcott, on the level crossing. This hole is huge and deep, so be careful. The problem with this hole is that the level crossing does not belong to Oxfordshire County Council, so therefore they will not fix problems with it. It is owned and managed by the MOD. We hope that the county council forward reports of problems to the MOD when they are reported, but this doesn't seem to happen, which means that problems like these need reporting to the MOD directly. The parish council does have a contact with the MOD, so in situations like this, please contact us, and we will contact the MOD for you.
In addition to potholes, Fix My Street can be used to report plenty of other issues. When you click on the button to report a problem, you find the spot on the map and click it and then choose the problem from a drop down list. When you have put in some information (photographs are particularly helpful as well), you submit it and it will go to the relevant department with the proper council based on where it is on the map that you chose. You can come back about 5 - 10 minutes later and you will see that your report has been updated to say that it has been reported to the council in question, and it will have a reference number.