Vale of White Horse District Council

March 2, 2021

The two district councils in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse are looking into the possibility of developing a joint Local Plan for the area to significantly reduce costs and help the councils meet their ambitious targets for making the two districts carbon neutral. Local Plans are used to help determine planning applications […]

February 18, 2021

This week, the government has published a new plan designed to transform the Oxford-Cambridge Arc region into one of the world’s premier growth areas and a world-leader in sustainability.  In response, Cllr Emily Smith, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “While the Arc Spatial Framework is a government led piece of work, […]

February 17, 2021

Old Abbey House in Abingdon is set to get a new lease of life as a 20-bedroom boutique hotel, after Vale of White Horse District Council agreed to sell it to Oxfordshire building company Ede Holdings Ltd. The Witney-based, family-run business has bought the property for £927,000 after putting forward a successful bid to bring […]

February 11, 2021

Cllr Emily Smith, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, delivered her latest Report to Council at the meeting on 10 February 2021: Vaccinations Covid has continued to dominate the discussions I have with partners and other councils. As the country entered lockdown again on boxing day. Cllr Helen Pighills, our officers and I […]

January 25, 2021

Cllr Emily Smith, Leader of the Vale of White Horse District Council wrote a letter to Thames Water regarding Controlled Sewage Overflows (CSOs) into the River Thames. Thames Water has provided the following response to Cllr Emily Smith’s letter: Thames WaterCustomer RelationsPO Box 436SwindonSN38 1TU  20 January 2021 Sewer discharges into the River Thames Dear […]

January 15, 2021

The Government provided details of the Covid-19 funding for local government in 2021-22. The Government also set up a consultation on the local government finance settlement 2021-22. The Vale of White Horse District Council’s response to the consultation is summarised below: We welcome the additional funding support being proposed for councils for 2021-22.  However, we […]

January 15, 2021

We support Ansaf Azhar, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director for Public Health’s message on the importance of continuing to follow the lockdown guidelines. Whilst the daily rate of new Covid-19 figures can fluctuate, figures for the whole of Oxfordshire remain high, hospitalisations and deaths are rising, and as we know this new variant is extremely infectious. We therefore we need to […]

January 12, 2021

A former rough sleeper has started the new year by moving into a new home thanks to a new housing project for homeless people in southern Oxfordshire. Six new long-term homes have been provided for former rough sleepers in the south of the county following the success of a pilot project called ‘Housing First’ run […]

December 23, 2020

Today’s announcement that the Vale will be in Tier 4 from Boxing Day reinforces that this will be a Christmas break unlike any other. Along with the rest of Oxfordshire, all of us in the Vale must make sure we’re following the government’s guidelines to stay at home to stop the spread of the virus. […]

December 22, 2020

The decision by Vale of the White Horse District Council’s Cabinet to secure the future for Old Abbey House in Abingdon has been accepted by the Council’s Scrutiny Committee. The council expects to be able to announce the full details of the decision in the new year. In the meantime, the council’s Scrutiny Committee which […]