Oadby Forum This Tuesday 15th October

The quarterly meeting of the Oadby Residents’ Forum is on this Tuesday 15th October at 6.30pm. The venue is the The Barnabas Centre, St Pauls Close, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4LZ.

From 6.00pm residents can have (confidential if required) meetings with their Borough Councillors (if present). Both myself and David Carter will be available.. No appointment is required. If you can’t make the meeting you can contact us here or by using our details on the Borough Council web site (scroll down to the Oadby St. Peter’s ward heading).

The Forum’s agenda and other documents can be found here.

The Forums were introduced by the Liberal Democrats several years ago to transfer some decision-making and limited spending powers directly to residents and community organisations in Oadby, Wigston and South Wigston.

They have been highly successful as a way of residents improving Oadby and as an effective means for residents, officers and councillors to communicate.

Please do come along on Tuesday.

School places: Local parents urged to use all choices when applying

Parents in St. Peter’s ward and across Oadby are being asked to fill in all 3 preferences when applying for their child’s new secondary or primary school.

The County Council have opened applications for secondary schools. The deadline for applications is 31st October.

Applications are also open for primary schools, with the deadline of 15th January 2020.

Jeffrey Kaufman, County Councillor for Oadby tells me that that a number of parents contacted him after places were allocated last year because their children has been offered places in schools some distance from Oadby.

It appears that this was because they filled in one preference for their choice of school. When they were unsuccessful with this first choice, there were no second or third choices to guide the application process.

Councillor Kaufman wants to ensure local parents have the best chance of getting a place at one of their preferred schools and this means using all three available preferences on their application form.

The County Council also agrees, wanting parents to maximise their opportunities by applying for three schools, including their catchment school.

Say NO to shorter tip opening times

Have your say on county council consultation

Conservatives on the county council are proposing further cuts to our tip opening times, with the hours in summer (April to September) being reduced to 9am to 5pm. The Oadby tip will still be closed on Thursdays and Fridays.

A few years ago the Conservatives cut winter opening times, closed the Oadby tip on Thursday and Fridays and started charging for disposal of “hard-core” waste (soil, rubble and crockery).

In the following years, fly-tipping incidents rocketed by a quarter across the county.

Further cuts will make it even harder for businesses and residents to dispose of their waste properly. Some may fall prey to unscrupulous operators who offer to take rubbish away, only to dump it illegally.

Please have your say in the County Council’s consultation on this plan by 23rd September.

The cuts are due to huge reductions in funds for local services. The Conservative MP here has twice voted in Parliament to make cuts to the money that central government provides to local councils.

Liberal Democrats believe that the busiest tips like Oadby should remain open longer and that Conservative County Councillors are wrong with their plan to cut opening times across the board.