At a meeting in 1934 there was considerable discord and some not very pleasant behaviour between councillors all to do with getting fresh water to Bampton.
Properties in Mercury Close had been empty for quite some time since they were no longer used by personnel from USAF based at Fairford. Local MP Douglas Hurd came to see the vandalism to the properties.
Campaigners have condemned the xo-called 'no win no fee' policy of a developer behind plans for more than 700 homes on sites across Oxfordshire. 446 are planned for sites in West Oxfordshire. Sites are in Witney and Bampton.
Witney Gazette August 2014. WODC vows to fight the study showing that the area should build 13,000. The council in August 2014 was still updating its local plan and that has left the whole area open to speculators to build large estates in areas that are known by locals to flood and where local doctors' surgeries are already so full it can take 3 weeks to get an appointment. There is far more detail in the article.
Councillors across the political spectrum at West Oxfordshire District Council have agreed that changes to the planning system are not suitable for West Oxfordshire.
A fear was expressed that fly-tipping would increase when the fees were raised to take waste to Dix pit and other waste recycling plants in Oxfordshire. That was in September 2017; now, in April 2020 the fears have proved to be well founded.
Witney Gazette December 3rd 2014. Sisters unite in requesting a public inquiry after each of their brothers died from starvation after their benefits were drastically cut.
Cathie Wood and Gill Thompson, sisters to Mark Wood of Bampton and David Clapson spoke of the "austerity war" at a public meeting in Witney. Mark died weighing just over four and a half stones after an assessment by Atos, for the DWP claimed he was fit to work and his disability benefit was cut. Similarly David, a diabetic, had his benefits were suspended and without electricity he could not refrigerate his insulin.
This report on the Survey & Plan of Bampton was done under the guidance of M W Robinson FRICS MTPI in October 1966. It makes very interesting reading and the conclusions are as relevant today as they were then. The topics covered are 1. Population 2. Situation 3. Character 4. The people 5. Shopping 6. Principal road connections 7. Schools 8. Open spaces 9. Social facilities, Public Services etc 10. Surface water drainage 11. Sewage disposal 12. Water supply and much more. It makes a very interesting read particularly in the light of all the dwellings that have been built here since October 1966, all those being built now (Jan 2017) and those being proposed when considering the access into Bampton has not been improved yet in 1966 one of the conclusions states was that Bampton could not take further development, a by-pass was not possible and no further space for parking other than possibly in Church Street could be made. Houses have since been built on the land in Church Street
Toby Morris, councillor for Resources wants locals to fill in the on-line consultation. Government funding is to be cut by £0.75m and there will be a rise in the cost of waste and recycling by £0.8m.
Witney Gazette May 28th 2014.The Campaign to Protect Rural England says the assessed need to build 100,000 new homes in the next 15 years was "cobbled together" and is exaggerated.
