Epwell

Welcome to Epwell’s Village website

Our village lies on the ironstone downs of North Oxfordshire, about seven miles to the west of Banbury, close to the county boundary with South Warwickshire and to the northern reach of the Cotswold escarpment.

The website holds lots of useful information about village events, organisations, services and Epwell’s fascinating history.  

News items and events coming soon will be mentioned on this page.  To suggest items contact editor@epwell.com

VILLAGE NEWS

EVENTS

Epwell walking group   Last Monday of month   10.30 to 12.30 am   Meet at VH

Coffee mornings     Second Wednesday of month     10.30 am to noon  Village Hall. 

Whist Evenings  Village Hall  Tuesdays once a month   7- 10 pm £5.  

 

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS

Parish Council meetings –  Agenda and Minutes 

Next PC meeting on Monday 14th July 2025 at 8pm. 

Minutes of last Parish Council meeting held on 15th May 2025. Please click here.

Local Government Re-organisation

Dear Town and Parish Council Clerks,

As you know, change is coming to local government. District and county councils have been asked to come up with proposals for new unitary councils and I am writing today with an update on our work.

Cherwell District Council’s preference is for two unitary authorities to cover Oxfordshire and West Berkshire and we are working positively and constructively with our neighbouring authorities to advance our proposal.

I am pleased to confirm that we have today started a period of public engagement on our preferred model of local government reorganisation (LGR).

We are inviting people to submit their views on a proposal for two unitary authorities with the working titles of Oxford and Shires Council and Ridgeway Council. If government decides to proceed with our proposal, further work will be done to decide the councils’ names.

This proposal aims to create strong, financially stable councils that provide high-quality, cost-effective, and locally driven services.

• Oxford and Shires Council would comprise the existing district areas of Cherwell, Oxford City and West Oxfordshire.
• Ridgeway Council would be made up of the area of West Berkshire Council and the existing district areas of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.

 Public engagement launched

From this week people are invited to take part in a wide-reaching series of public engagement activities, including an online survey and public drop-in events taking place across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.

The public engagement exercise runs from 4 June to 16 July and people can take part and find out more by visiting https://oxfordandshires.org/home.

In our district, public engagement events are taking place as follows, giving members of the public a chance to talk to councillors and senior officers, and fill in a paper copy of the survey:

• Monday, 23 June from 3pm to 7pm at Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington OX5 1AB
• Tuesday, 24 June from 3pm to 7pm at Bicester Methodist Church (main hall), Bell Lane, Bicester OX26 6JQ
• Monday, 7 July from 3pm to 7pm at Banbury Town Hall, Bridge Street, Banbury OX16 5QB

The aim of these engagement activities is to give our residents, businesses and local organisations the opportunity to let us know what’s important to them based around some topics the government has identified.

The feedback gathered will help inform our final proposed LGR solution, which we will submit to government for consideration in November.

As you know, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council are both working on their own separate proposals and are carrying out their own public engagement independently to inform their work.

I will continue to keep you updated as our work on LGR progresses, but in the meantime, I would encourage you to visit https://oxfordandshires.org/home to find out more and to take part in the online survey.

With kind wishes,

Gordon.

Gordon Stewart

Chief Executive

Cherwell District Council

Part Night Lighting Public Consultation

Good Morning,

We are writing to let you know that the public consultation on the proposed Part-Night Lighting Implementation Framework is now live on ‘Let’s Talk Oxfordshire’ Part-night lighting and street lighting policy | Let’s Talk Oxfordshire

The Consultation is running until midnight on Sunday 6^th July.

What this consultation is about

This framework is about how part-night lighting could be implemented in Oxfordshire. It is not about whether part-night lighting is right for specific areas. In September 2025, the council’s cabinet will decide whether or not to move forward with part-night lighting. If the decision is to proceed, we are proposing that towns, parishes or Oxford city wards apply for part-night lighting schemes in their areas and that a public consultation is carried out for each scheme.

About the framework

The draft part night lighting framework proposes to introduce part night lighting in Oxfordshire locations where:

• it is requested by the local town or parish council/meeting, or local governance authorities
• the part night lighting exemption criteria does not apply
• local residents have been consulted via a public consultation, as well as stakeholders like the police, night economy employers and community groups
• the part night lighting scheme is approved at Oxfordshire Council Council’s Delegated Decision by Cabinet Member for Transport Management

Please can you share this consultation with your residents, local community and stakeholder groups and your Councillors. We very much want to hear back from Parish’s and Town Council’s on their views and comments on the proposed Part-Night Lighting Implementation Framework, as if approved, then Parish and Town Council’s would be able apply for part-night lighting schemes in their areas.

Printed copies of the consultation are also available; You can request a paper copy of the consultation documents by emailing: partnightlighting@oxfordshire.gov.uk(External link) or call the county council’s Customer Services Team on 01865 792422 or download it from this page. We will provide a Freepost address on the paper survey form for you to return your completed survey.

Any queries or questions, please let us know.

We look forward to getting your consultation responses.

Kind regards,

Highways Maintenance and Road Safety Team

Oxfordshire County Council

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WALKS 

From Epwell.      To Swalcliffe and back.

Local walks websites   Shutford circular walks

 

DEFIBRILLATOR

At side of Village Hall.   To activate you should call 999 and state location of the Village Hall.  OX15 6LA.     You will be given a code.  Thereafter follow the instructions given by the device.

 

NEWS FROM THE LOCAL AREA

There are Community Choirs and Choral Societies

one based in Shenington, meeting on Wednesdays, click here

another in Brailes rehearsing on Sundays. See Brailes website

Stour Singers in Shipston rehearse on Thursdays 7.30 pm in Shipston. See their website.

Cherwell Choral Society meet on Tuesdays.  See their website.

Cherwell District Council News

Banbury Vision 2050
See Reference section under Parish Council

EPWELL ECHO        current issue 

 

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