DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: JANUARY 2020 Sun 5th 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion CW St James’ Mon 6th 10.30 a.m. Fitness/Yoga – Pine Lodge Tues 7th 7.30- 9.00 p.m. Bell Ringing Practice – St James’ Wed 8th 9.30 – 3.00 p.m. Adv. Textile workshop – Pine Lodge 9.45 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Music Group: GH 6.00 p.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge 8.00 p.m. Parish Council – Pine Lodge Thurs 9th 10.15 – 14.15 Toddlersense – Pine Lodge 7.30 p.m. WI – Pine Lodge Frid. 10th 9.30 a.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge 9.30 a.m. Great Haseley Baby and Toddler Group in Neighbours Hall Great Milton Sun 12th 11.00 a.m. Family Service - St James Mon 13th 10.30 a.m. Fitness/Yoga – Pine Lodge Tues 14h 7.30 -9.00 p.m. Bell Ringing Practice – St James’ Wed 15th 9.30 – 3.00 p.m. Adv. Textile workshop – Pine Lodge 9.45 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Music Group GH 12.00 p.m. Village Lunch – The Lamb 6.00 p.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge 7.30 p.m. Craft Club – Pine Lodge Thurs 16th 10.15 – 14.15 Toddlersense – Pine Lodge 11.00 a.m. Sewing Group: Wayside Cottage Frid. 17th 9.30 a.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge 9.30 a.m. Great Haseley Baby and Toddler Group in Neighbours Hall Great Milton Sat 18th 7.00 p.m. Quiz Night – Pine Lodge Sun 19th 8.00 a.m. Holy Communion BCP: St James’ Mon. 20th 10.30 a.m. Fitness/Yoga – Pine Lodge Tues. 21st 7.30 -9.00 p.m. Bell Ringing Practice – St James’ Wed 22nd 9.30 – 3.00 p.m. Adv. Textile workshop – Pine Lodge 9.45 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Music Group GH 6.00 p.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge Thurs 23rd 10.15 – 14.15 Toddlersense – Pine Lodge Frid. 24th 9.30 a.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge 9.45 a.m. Great Haseley Baby and Toddler Group in Neighbours Hall Great Milton Sun 26th 10.00 a.m. Benefice Communion - St James’ Mon 27th .10.30 a.m. Fitness/Yoga – Pine Lodge Tues 28th 7.30 -9.00 p.m. Bell Ringing Practice – St James’ Wed 29th 9.30 – 3.00 p.m. Adv. Textile workshop – Pine Lodge 9.45 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Music Group GH 6.00 p.m. Pilates: Pine Lodge Front cover courtesy of Paul Jeffery 2 FROM THE EDITOR Look For The Good By Joanna Fuchs In the New Year, let's resolve to get less stressed, upset, anxious about things over which we have no control. Let’s have a narrower focus on our lives, loving and helping our family and friends, making our community a better place to live, to create peace and contentment. I do not consciously think about New Year’s Resolutions but when I read the poem above I thought that for all it would resonate in some way and it is with that in mind that I would like to wish all our readers a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year. As we enter 2020 it is a time to reflect on what has happened in 2019 as well as to look forward to the challenges and opportunities that 2020 will bring. In May 2019 a new Parish Council was elected and this resulted in four new members to the Council with two previous Councillors being re-elected. It is important that serving our community on the Parish Council is essential to maintain the vibrancy of the village. It is easy to believe that the Parish Council is of little value but you only have to look back over the past ten years and see what it has delivered and supported. It will continue to play an influential role with our various partners in Local Government and other Agencies. As Clerk I have already indicated that I will stand down from a job I have enjoyed for the past fifteen years. The process to find a new clerk will start in 2020 and I would urge any resident who feels that they would like to take up the challenge to serve their community to give it serious consideration. A Parish Clerk who lives in the community is of great value. In 2018 there was a slight anxiety that the Village Hall was entering a period of uncertainty with key members of the key standing down after many years of service. I am delighted to report that the new Committee has built on the previous experience and continues to provide an excellent facility for hire by various groups and provides excellent events for the village from Quiz Nights and in 2020 a VE Day celebration. I thank everyone who is on and off the committee for supporting and maintaining this village organisation. Our Village Shop and Post Office is a very important asset to our village and its latest financial performance was very encouraging as it had a challenging time managing the transition of the Post Office coming under of the overall control of the Shop a couple of years ago. We all need to recognise that having a Post Office in our community is something we need to protect. About twenty years ago this village fought hard to avoid its closure and with bank branches closing it is even more important to fully support the Post Office. This leads me into thanking on your behalf the excellent work done by Kevin, Alison, Clare and all the volunteers. (More are always required) 3 The School continues to flourish under the leadership Hannah Brown. We are fortunate to have an excellent school that is supported by hardworking staff and governors as well as a community that values their efforts. We should all recognise that it is not without challenges as roll numbers are at present lower that would be desired. We are also very fortunate to have a thriving pre-school and thank you to all the staff at The Orchard Pre- school. I would like to thank Ian and Des at The Lamb for providing us with a fantastic pub that the community can enjoy and support and for all their hard work in supporting the Senior Citizens Christmas lunch. St James’ has a dedicated PCC and a number of volunteers who clean the church, decorate the church with flowers and maintain the churchyard and I thank them for their hard work. The village each year supports the annual fete and this event is the church’s main fund raising activity. I would like to thank everyone involved with the fete and to the wider village for their continuing support. As a Parish Church it faces a considerable challenge of maintaining its building. I mentioned last year that it faced a possible bill of £250,000. The PCC have decided to approach the challenge in a more pragmatic way by focusing its efforts of the tower. The Church is a key cornerstone of our community and I am sure that sentiment is supported by both church and non- church members of our village. In my editorial in January 2019 I stated “There are a number of significant development related matters that will gather momentum during 2019”. I was referring to the South Oxfordshire District Council Local Plan 2034 and the Oxford- Cambridge Expressway. As we enter 2020 there is great uncertainty as to how these major projects will evolve in 2020. The change of control at the District Council in May 2019 suggests the Plan may be re-written and adopted in 2024. However an intervention by the Government in 2019 makes this less clear. The challenge is the question of how many houses does our District and County need for the next fifteen years. We should take some comfort that our Made Neighbourhood Plan gives us a significant voice in what happens in Little Milton. Equally it was expected that a report on the preferred routes for the Oxford-Cambridge would have been published in the autumn of 2019. However it is unclear when the report will be published and there is speculation as to whether the result of the General Election will change the political need for this project. The County Council have recently stated their opposition to any route within the corridor but do support an improved rail connection. The publication and distribution of our Newsletter is something that happens each month and I am sure that the Village would like to say thank you to all who are involved. I would like to thank Keith Hodges at Colourplus for his excellent service and support to me as editor as well as the distributors who diligently deliver a newsletter to each house. I should like to thank Pete and Michael our postmen for delivering our mail so efficiently and to all the Post Office staff for providing such an excellent service to the village. I also would like to thank Miles Wakeling for delivering our newspapers. Finally on your behalf I would like to thank Mr Stephen Harrod our County Councillor and Caroline Newton our District Councillor for all their support. 2020 will continue to challenge our community and those involved in the day to running of the various organisations that we all use and value. Who can predict what lies ahead both for our community and our nation? Perhaps in 2020 you could volunteer to do 4 something that would make a difference to Little Milton. We know that Little Milton is valued by you.