Residents of Bibury are accusing owners of a cottage in the village of wrecking Britain's "prettiest street" and creating a "war zone", reports The Times. The cottage was bought by a Turkish couple in 2022 and intrusive renovation work has been going on since 2023. At one stage the road was closed for almost a year. There was particular concern that the work included creating an underground garage. This necessitated using heavy machinery and resulted in the road closure.

Image: Clipart OCC have announced (or perhaps we should say sneaked out) that from 14 January you will have to book a slot before taking waste to a recycling centre. Appointments have to be booked at least 30 minutes but not more than 14 days in advance. In addition to providing four pieces of information when making an appointment, you will need to take with you proof that you live in Oxfordshire such as a council tax bill or driving licence; otherwise you will be charged £

Priory Lane was blocked for a time this afternnon. A van had been parked in the area marked COACHES ONLY in large letters. A large coach then arrived. With great skill and help from another coach driver the driver managed to reverse into the narrow remaining space, avoiding the cars parked on the opposite side of the road. However, having manoevred into the space, it turned out that the coach was so long that it blocked the entire road. The driver eventually gave up and we

We   are a small friendly group of Francophiles who meet once a week in the café at the Warwick Hall in Burford to chat in French. Recently our numbers have depleted (mainly due to house moves) and we would love to welcome a few more people to our group. Please note, this is not French tuition (although we do learn from each other) but an opportunity to keep ‘the little grey cells’ working! We meet on Tuesdays at 2pm – our first meeting in 2026 will be on 6  January. Please

A seasonal message from Windrush WASP: Tis the season to be jolly and the season of good will, but beware, it is also the sewage dumping season.  This is the time of year when water companies discharge most of the untreated sewage they are unable to deal with, legally or illegally. As this is entirely the responsibility of the senior management and owners of water companies, and   not the fault of the employees who have to work with the consequences of underinvestment, we sen

The National Trust has abandoned its plan to rewild the lakes on the Sherborne Estate.  They had planned to dig scrapes and scatter fallen trees by the lakes to change the character of the area to “a more diverse landscape with areas of occasionally inundated land, resulting in wetland habitat creation”.  Local residents have complained that the Trust had failed to dredge the Georgian ornamental lakes and was destroying a cherished national heritage landscape through “managed

Thank you to all residents who attended Burford annual Civic Service. It was a wonderful afternoon of carols and giving thanks to the many residents who volunteer to help make the town such an enjoyable place to live in. Your kind donations on the day, helped raise over £400 for Special Effect, a local charity enabling people with severe physical disabilities to use technology. From the councillors and town clerk

Details of the walks available are described on the website (below ). Please check walk details carefully on the website, including whether booking is necessary. Additional walks may be published on the website. https://www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk Dovers Hill to Chipping Campden Circular – Tuesday 6 th  January – Moderate 2.5hr 4.5ml We descend the hill and skirt Weston Park, passing the Kiftsgate Stone. Entering Chipping Campden we visit the start of the Cotswold Way and rest aw

Has there ever been such a well attended meeting of Burford Town Council as the one that took place on 3 December?  Some six members of the public had given notice of their desire to speak at the meeting and many others were interested in the question of possible housing in Sheep Street, so it was decided to hold the meeting in the old hall at the Warwick Hall.  This turned out to be a good decision as the hall was packed out, with latecomers having to stand at the back. Obje

A SLEDGEHAMMER TO CRACK A NUT The Town Council are desperate to expand parking in the town. I agree the current situation outside the primary school is unacceptable but am I convinced encouraging more coaches is entirely necessary in a medieval town such as Burford? In any event, it would seem to me that OCC owned land with access to the A40 would be the best option. But BTC appear so desperate to find a car park, they are willing to support the development of 70+ houses on

In last month’s Bridge [November] , I wrote about the HELAA plan which proposes to build 70 dwellings on AONB land. Consultation started on 3 November and will end on 22 December.  We hope you will support us in stopping this project by registering your objections at www.westoxon.gov.uk/localplan2043   It is doubtful whether the planners understand the concept of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In the WODC plan, they wrote: Situated to the west of the town, the preferred

From Hugo Ashton - Executive Member for Planning on WODC and councillor for the Burford ward As many of you will have seen, West Oxfordshire District Council has published its Preferred Spatial Options Consultation Paper on how and where to allow development to meet the government’s challenging housing targets. The consultation will run to just before Christmas.  We have also published the draft HELAA (Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment), which is our planner

We have had a number of messages about planning, especially over the suggestion of a new development in Sheep Street in Burford, and associated aspects such as traffic, car parking and tourist coaches. There is too much to put in the December edition of The Bridge, which is going to the printers this week, but we can put more on our website. Here is some information about the Local Plan process, including details of where you can go along and meet the planners.

WODC have now launched the consultation which is an important part of the process of developing a new Local Plan and will play a major part in determining where new homes and businesses will be located. See our earlier posts on this subject. The possible sites include one in Burford in Sheep Street between the surgery and the cemetery. You can reply to the consultation online. There are also some drop-in events where you can discuss the proposals with planning officials,

This is for anyone thinking of going to the reception on 7 November for the launch of Burford's Wartime Stories : please note that there has been a great demand for tickets for this event and they have now all been sold. Therefore please do not go to the reception unless you already have a ticket or you are a Benefiactor of the Tolsey Museum and Archive. If you do go and you are not one of the above, you will unfortunately be unable to get it. You can still order a copy of

The HELAA Plan is now available on the West Oxfordshire website. Consultation opens in November. We are a group of Burford residents who got together to oppose the Sheep Street Site, and we hope you will support us in stopping this ludicrous project by registering your comments and objections. In October’s Bridge, our District Councillor Hugo Ashton wrote about the HELAA plan that he put together with Councillor Andy Graham. Unfortunately, Hugo did not mention that on page 71

WODC have released their "Preferred Spatial Options Consultations Paper". This doesn't sound very exciting but it could have a big...

Derek Cotterill has been elected as the new mayor of Burford. He writes as follows: Unfortunately, Peter Higgs has been forced to step...

The UK government is testing the Emergency Alerts system on Sunday 7 September 2025 at 3pm. Your mobile phone or tablet will vibrate and...