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Candidates in May 2026 local elections
West Oxfordshire District Council - Burford Ward (1 seat) Natalie Jane Baker Green Party Leslie Barbara Channon Liberal Democrats Nick Field-Johnson Local Conservatives Nathaniel Robert Miles Labour Party James David Poxon Reform UK Burford Town Council (11 seats) Robert James Alexander Corinne Anne Ash Jennie Helena Craven Dan Derry Andrew James Foster Peter John Higgs Corinne Annick Marie Hoge Karl Robert Morris Jacqueline Helen Neagle Paul Newman Maureen Shirley
Gordon Elliot
Apr 101 min read


Invitation to the Hustings
Election of the Councillor for the Burford, Upton and Signet Ward of the West Oxfordshire District Council Invitation to the Hustings Come to listen to the candidates and ask them questions. Chaired by the Town Mayor, Councillor Jennie Craven. Tuesday 5 th May 2026 7pm Warwick Hall, Burford Sponsored by the Burford and District Society
Gordon Elliot
Apr 81 min read


OCC takes action over lamppost flags
Oxfordshire County Council has issued a formal legal notice to the Raise The Colours group in response to its continued placing of flags across Oxfordshire, reports the BBC. Read the full story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1eq68ndnqzo
Gordon Elliot
Apr 11 min read


Cedric Reavley RIP
We are sorry to report the death of Cedric Reavley, one of Burford's best known and best loved residents. Ruth Reavley has written as follows: Cedric died peacefully at home surrounded by Lizzie, David and Tia and me, just after midnight this morning, after a precipitous 24 hour decline. Rob and Henry were also at home. He had nearly completed the chemotherapy for intestinal lymphoma, discovered through emergency surgery in November last year. He came home a week ago from t
Gordon Elliot
Mar 281 min read


Gordon Elliot
Mar 270 min read


Bridge alterations postponed
and zebra crossing work brought forward. This is a message from Burford Town Council about the revised plan for the alterations to the bridge, and also about the new pedestrian crossing at the top of The Hill. Residents and retailers should be aware of the latest developments regarding the Burford Bridge pedestrian improvement works. Following concerns raised about the ‘over-engineering’ of the original bridge pavement proposal — and the planned closure of the bridge by OCC H
Gordon Elliot
Mar 102 min read


Dirty Business
Dirty Business is a three-part "factual drama" being broadcast on Channel 4 on this coming Monday to Wednesday at 9pm and no doubt also available for streaming. It has already been compared with Mr Bates v the Post Office and has received a lot of coverage from the national press but, for those who are more selective in their reading matter, it tells the story of how Widford residents Ash Smith and Peter Hammond notice the river near their homes becoming brown and use their
Gordon Elliot
Feb 211 min read


Have your say on the future of Burford
A working party has been set up by Burford Town Council to carry out a feasibility study into the possibility of developing a Neighbourhood Plan for Burford. Neighbourhood planning gives communities an opportunity to have a say in how development happens in their area. The neighbourhood plan can influence: where new housing or employment might be located in the area types of development, including materials to be used for new development opportunities for green infrastructur
Gordon Elliot
Feb 91 min read


Questions asked about bridge alterations
For years people have been complaining about the fact that pedestrians have to share the carriageway with vehicles while crossing Burford bridge. For the last two years Burford town council (BTC) has been working with Fulbrook parish council (FPC) and Oxfordshire Highways on how to make the bridge safer. A plan has been developed and work to implement it is due to start on 7 April. The idea is to install a raised walkway, about four inches high, along the east side of the
Gordon Elliot
Feb 52 min read


Jennie Craven elected as new mayor
Jennie Craven was elected unopposed as the new mayor of Burford at a meeting of the town council last night (4 February). Jennie said that her three priorities as mayor will be: Community engagement - seeking the views of residents on local issues 2 . Sustainable growth Celebrating the town's heritage. Paul Newman was elected as deputy mayor. Both will serve until May when a new council will be elected.
Gordon Elliot
Feb 51 min read


Burford Bridge Closure from 7 April
OCC Highways are planning to close Burford bridge from 7 April to enable work to be carried out to provide a safer route for pedestrians. It is expected that the work will be completed by 13 April. This means that through traffic will be prohibited from travelling along the whole road between the A40 Burford roundabout and the mini-roundabout on the Fulbrook side. Local access will still be possible. Alternative routes will be signposted but at the moment it is not clear w
Gordon Elliot
Feb 31 min read


Message from Burford Town Council about Derek Cotterill's Resignation
Derek Cotterill has stepped down as the Mayor and Councillor for Burford Town Council with immediate effect as from 18 January. After 16 years as District Councillor, four years as District Council's chairman, and four years as Town Councillor, Derek has been devoted to serving Burford. Derek was instrumental in the Cotswold Gate development off Shilton Road having successfully promoted the Cotswold Gate development for the School Foundation. The Town Council wants to celebra
Gordon Elliot
Jan 271 min read


Snowdrop Sunday
Matthew Freud and Sheherazade Goldsmith are delighted to welcome visitors to Burford Priory for the annual Snowdrop Sunday Charity Day. This year it is taking place on 15 February from 10-3. All entrance fees (£4 for adult, children free) will be given to WASP who investigate pollution in the Windrush and its sister rivers and who were instrumental in uncovering the extent to which large quantities of untreated sewage are regularly dumped into rivers across the country. Tic
Gordon Elliot
Jan 271 min read


Flying the Flag
It seems impossible to go very far these days without seeing numerous Union Jacks (or Union Flags if you prefer) and St George's Flags adorning lamp posts. Their recent popularity seems to stem from football fans wanting to show their support for the Lionesses during last year's Euros. Fair enough, you might think. Then they seemed to spread even further. Some people said that the flags showed pride in our national history, achievements and culture. However the flags hav
Gordon Elliot
Jan 212 min read


Bibury residents complain about house renovations
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.
Gordon Elliot
Jan 51 min read


Visiting a recycling centre? From 14 January you will need to book
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 £
Gordon Elliot
Dec 29, 20251 min read


Traffic problems in Priory Lane
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
Gordon Elliot
Dec 26, 20251 min read


Franglais for Francophiles
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
Gordon Elliot
Dec 23, 20251 min read


Sewage Season
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
Gordon Elliot
Dec 20, 20251 min read


National Trust withdraws Sherborne lakes plan
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
Gordon Elliot
Dec 19, 20251 min read
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