Scrutiny Review of the Market Towns (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats <info@oxfordshirelibdems.org.uk>

Scrutiny Review of the Market Towns

March 17, 2009 3:40 PM
By Cllr Zoe Patrick in County Cabinet

I welcome this review; it makes for interesting reading, and I hope the Cabinet will be able to support the recommendations.

I know for example how well the "health checks" work and this has certainly helped the Vale market towns of Faringdon and, more recently, Wantage.

However, I would particularly like to draw the Cabinet's attention to Recommendation 1 where it is pointed out that market towns could be helped to access the SEEDA Small Rural Town Programme fund, of which £460,00 remains. It must be possible to draw in some of our funding to many of our smaller market towns like Wantage, Wheatley or Thame, for example. May I urge the Cabinet to push this forward?

However, in saying this one must not forget the economic needs of other larger market towns in Oxfordshire,like Didcot and Abingdon, all of which are suffering at the moment in the economic climate. There may be other funds available to help them to help themselves, as indeed the Abingdon co-ordinator post will hopefully try to address. Perhaps this could be replicated elsewhere?