Chair: Jim
Minutes: Harriet
Present: Jim S, Lynda S, Paul B, Chris M, Joe A, Alice N
MINUTES
| 1. Agenda item I Welcome and apologies Jim |
Apologies were received from Tila R, Naseem H
| 2. Agenda item II a) Minutes of the last meeting, 03/06/25 b) Matters arising from the last meeting, 03/06/25 Jim |
No comments were received on the minutes of the last meeting. There were no matters arising not covered by items on the agenda.
| 3. Agenda item III BCAG admin Jim |
Total hours spent on BCAG business and projects since the June meeting were recorded – thanks to everyone for putting in the time. Harriet to ask any core members not at the monthly meeting, for their hours.
Action needed: the annual review of our policies is due with Lynda/Harriet to check we have in place those we need, and that they are fit for purpose.
| 4. Agenda item IV Treasurer’s report (Naseem) |
BCAG central funds remains at £2,569.
| 5. Agenda item V Social media, Newsletter, publicity Jim |
BCAG Facebook: 1337; BSCG Facebook: 1028; mailing list subscribers: 330; voting members: 251.
Thank you, Joe for the latest edition of the newsletter. Joe asked for feedback on content and tone of the newsletter. The meeting agreed that the main purpose of the News is to publicise BCAG activities and provide readers with information on environment-related matters. In the spirit of being welcoming and open to all, the editor should avoid taking a political stance. It needs to continue to be made clear that any ‘opinion piece’ is exactly that.
| 6. Agenda item VI Bridge Street Community Garden BSCG (Tila) |
Tila thanked the Garden community for continued support and energy. Particular thanks to Jim for mowing the paths in the heat and to those helping water during this prolonged hot dry spell.
30/6 saw the Garden welcome the CAG Oxfordshire Community Growers Network for an in-person meeting. Thank you to Marta for coordinating the event where 25+ people from across the county met to discuss community growing. Tila’s sumptuous garden mocktails and blackcurrant pastries were much appreciated on a scorching hot day.
Monday gardening sessions have been going well all month with copious amounts of watering necessary in the heat. Thanks particularly to Joe and Milly and all the volunteers keeping the Garden looking vibrant.
Home-Start families made several visits with Tamzin from Modern Art Oxford leading an art session. Tila visited the Home-Start HQ to help with planting their raised bed.
Sunrise Multicultural project had a special afternoon in the Garden with Tamzin leading an art session, Joe running a planting activity using recycled tetrapacks, and Tila organising leaf and flower printing.
Louise led a creative and inspiring vision board workshop; Banbury Woodcraft Folk visited as did St Leonard’s School, the latter making bee hotels.
The Garden donated fresh herbs to Banbury Larder – thank you to those who helped harvest and deliver these.
With the summer come the rough sleepers. While BCAG is sympathetic to their situations, the use of the space by rough sleepers is not compatible with the Garden’s role as a community space. Jim has been reporting their presence to StreetLink and signs will be going up to alert sleepers to the fact that items left in the Garden will be treated as rubbish and will be thrown away.
| 7. Agenda item VII Food Action (Dan) |
Taraji has submitted the first of the invoices for the shared lunches at the Banbury Larder.
| 8. Agenda item VIII Browning Road Orchard BRO Harriet |
No update this month.
| 9. Agenda item IX Banbury Active Travel Supporters group (Paul/Neil) |
Thank you to Paul for organising, and Chris and Neil for manning, the BATS stand at the very busy BTC Town Show. It was a great opportunity for engaging visitors in discussions about walking and cycling, and public transport, in Banbury. Thank you to CAG Oxfordshire for the Great Big Green Week funding.
On 19/6, Paul met with Cllr Martin to discuss the needs of pedestrians and cyclists within the town. Subjects that came up included live displays for bus timetables and an e-bike hire scheme similar to that in operation in Charlbury.
Paul also attended a meeting about the Cherwell Street Improvement Scheme and the improvements planned for pedestrians crossing at the box junction.
The temporary congestion charge for Oxford city out for consultation by OCC, might be of relevance to some residents of Banbury. COSAT are therefore keen for BCAG to register their support.
The inaugural meeting of a new discussion group – the Active Travel CoProduction Group – convened by OCC, is to be held this month. The group, comprising organisations from across the county involved in active travel, will look at policy matters and relevant schemes. BATS will be a member of the Group.
| 10. Agenda item X Banbury Environment Network Harriet |
Harriet and Sue L from Wild Banbury volunteers, shared the Town Show GBGW stand with Paul and the BATS volunteers. They ran a fishing game activity with a ‘pollution in rivers’ theme. The game proved hugely popular and brought a continuous stream of visitors to the stand, giving the BATS team an opportunity to engage with people on active travel matters.
| 11. Agenda item XI Climate Action Jim, Lynda, Chris |
The meeting held back in May with Sean Woodcock MP received great coverage in the local press and was also picked up in the CAG Oxfordshire News. Well done everyone involved, particularly Chris, Joe and Louise.
The summer Give & Take held in partnership with Banbury & Bicester College, 21/06, was an enjoyable, positive event. The College provided excellent homemade refreshments and the college staff involved took on the duty of re-homing the donations remaining at the end of the event. Several good community networking links were formed as a result of the event. Particular thanks to Bob from the Repair Café, and to Julie from Hook Norton Repair Café for her skills in repairing jewellery. The room was a perfect size, the facilities were great, and there was no charge for the venue. Attendance, however, was well down on our usual numbers reflected in attendance of around 60 visitors, and the 96Kg of donations weighed in compared to the usual 200Kg. There were other events happening in town which might have kept some potential visitors away, and it was a very hot morning, but the main reason for the low figures was thought to be the out-of-town-centre location and lack of strong links with the very local community.
The College would be keen to hold another similar event, but we would need to first discuss how the above drawbacks could be overcome.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Tila and Harriet will be representing BCAG at this summer’s Playday, 23/07.
Lynda will do the booking for the BCAG stand at the Canal Festival as she has been attending the monthly planning meetings.
BCAG will be present at the Climate Day organized by Dan at ‘Nothing but Footprints’, 09/08. Jim will take the lead on this.
Jim reminded the meeting about the Climate Action at Kidlington Airport against private jets, 19/09.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held online 05/08.