News

Parish council representatives met with HS2 Community Engagement Managers on 15 October. The recent three-week closure of Banbury Road was reviewed in readiness for the temporary two-year closure of the road. The closure, from the Magpie road junction to Bulls Lane, is now likely to start in about March 2025.
The steel beams for the Lower Thorpe viaduct are currently being prepared for installation.... Read More »

About six massive steel viaduct beams are now lined up in Lower Thorpe valley. Apparently they will be pulled into position across the concrete piers, not lifted into place. Once installed, there will be a greater understanding of the long term visual blight in the valley.

Representatives from the parish council met with an HS2 Community Engagement Manager on 18 July to receive an update on construction matters.

Banbury Road between the Magpie junction and the Three Conies will be closed for about a month probably from mid September. This is to facilitate the removal of vegetation, cables and pipework in the path of the line. It may be possible to open the road at weekends.... Read More »

Starting from Tuesday 7 May, the ABILITY bus service will be running from our parish weekly into Banbury on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
As they are an on-demand service people need to register first before they can use the service. The bus is open to all, accepting concessionary bus passes. Non-pass holders are charged a fare.
Prior registration is required, choosing the differing levels of membership which... Read More »

The Brackley Area Public Transport Study is a public transport project commissioned by West Northamptonshire Council and is being led by GO Travel Solutions. For more background, please go to the project web page https://www.go-travel-solutions.com/brackley.
There are now two surveys open for feedback until 5 May. One is for individuals who live and work in the area and the other is for organisations... Read More »

HS2 have approval from the local authority to extend working hours from 1 April to 31 October 2024 which will allow for 2-shifts per day to install the Greatwoth Tunnel sections. This will mean some of the workforce will be on site between 6am - 10pm and there will be some lighting and vehicle movements on the site until 10pm. This is mainly for tunnel installation activities and not for all of the... Read More »

The Greatworth temporary road has opened today, linking with the partially reopened Sulgrave Road. HS2 have indicated that the temporary road will be in operation for approximately three years.
HS2's explanatory notice of the layout is attached below.

The West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is preparing a new Local Plan which will guide property development considerations to 2041. This involves formulating and categorising settlements such as our village into a hierarchy suitable for property development.
A settlement hierarchy categorises settlements based on factors such as facilities and services (including bus routes) to help direct property... Read More »

Representatives from the Parish Council normally attend the online HS2 Liaison Group meetings organised by the district council with HS2 representatives. Many other of the county's affected parish councils also attend. The meeting on 16 February focussed on HS2 road closures.
Great concern was expressed regarding the long delay in partially re-opening Sulgrave Road and the opening of the 'Greatworth... Read More »

The Parish Council has raised concerns with Northamptonshire Police regarding the speed of traffic going through the village. Their response includes reference to the Community Speed Watch scheme whereby a team of trained local volunteers operate monitoring patrols in their area over a four-week period using speed monitoring equipment.
The Parish Council hopes that there is sufficient interest to form... Read More »