Housing Needs Survey

Oxfordshire Community Land Trust (OCLT) is an organisation working locally in Dean Court. They are not affiliated to the Community Association, but share our aim of serving the local community, so we wanted to highlight what they are doing and invite you to help.

OCLT are conducting a housing needs analysis of the Dean Court area. Oxfordshire Rural Community Council will be collating the data and reporting the findings which will be available on the OCLT website in late November. Paper-based surveys will be hand delivered by OCLT volunteers on Saturday 13^th and Sunday 14^th October.

Why do a survey?

OCLT has a small piece of land in Dean Court, on which to build some affordable homes for rent, for local people.

So OCLT needs to know

·         how many and what size of homes are most needed (tho we only have land for a small number of this stage!)

·         who might be interested in being tenants

·         who might be interested in helping to make it happen

Where is the land?

Just off the Eynsham Road close to Pinnocks Way.

We hope to build between four and six units for affordable rent for local people.

Who are the homes for?

They are for rent at affordable prices for local people in housing need.

I’m interested in one of these homes, what do I do?

If you are interested in one of these homes please fill in the questionnaire when it arrives. If you don’t have one and you are in housing need and have a local connection then you can download it from http://www.oclt.org.uk/content/dean-court-housing-needs-survey You can complete and return to the address at the end of the survey.

I don’t need a home but I’d like to help make it happen how do I do that?

OCLT would love to have your help! You can get in touch with Fran Ryan, Co-Chair of OCLT

E: fran.ryan@oclt.org.uk

T: 07889 209448

Cumnor Parish Council have also helped with financial support to conduct this survey.

Community Centre wins money from the Big Society Fund!

We have just learned that our application for £15,600 to provide space for young children adjacent to the playground has met with the seal of approval of Oxfordshire County Council’s Big Society fund.

The grant will also ensure that we have up-to-date facilities for the disabled, allowing children’s activities to function independently of the main hall.

The south-facing blank wall of the old social club building was crying out for development! This grant will also cover the cost of some new windows along the back of the main building, meaning that the playground can be informally supervised at all times.

Many thanks to Judy, Janet and everyone who helped win us the grant.

Now, it’s important to sign up as a supporter on our website.  If you haven’t yet done so, please do it now – and do everything you can to spread the word that our Community Centre is fast becoming a reality!

A report on our (very) Special General Meeting

A full house – well, thirty is very good going for a Special General Meeting – gathered last Sunday Jan 29^th for tea, cake and a unanimous vote that the current Dean Court Community Centre Association should eventually be dissolved and the Dean Court Community Association formed as a charitable company limited by guarantee. This will limit the liability of those responsible for the Association, but also crucially give us a significant and widely recognised legal structure that will ensure we are accountable for the way we use our resources. 

While anyone living in Dean Court was automatically a member of the unincorporated DCCCA, being a member of the new DCCA will involve opting in and signing up! Opting in to being a member of the charitable company, signing up to give £10 in the event that it is dissolved whilst in debt. The Trustees will continue into being Trustee-Directors (yep, they are what they sound like!) of the new Association and the Management Team will continue to work their little socks off to bring the Community Centre itself to life.

Membership will still be open to anyone living in Dean Court and will now be extended to the whole Parish of Cumnor, with Associate Membership available for those who live further afield still. We hope you will join with us in demonstrating our commitment to a great future for our community!

More cake? Don't mind if I do...

You may have seen the posters advertising that we are holding a Special General Meeting at 3pm next Sunday, 29th January, at St Andrew’s Church. Besides being another opportunity to come and eat cake with us, the meeting is being held in order to wind up the Dean Court Community Centre Association (DCCCA) and set up the Dean Court Community Association (DCCA), which will be a charitable company. The change may mean one less “C” but that carries a whole lot more meaning. The Association is about more than just a building; it is about a whole community – one that will be centred on the vibrant new Dean Court Community Centre.

The new structure will give us more credibility with other organisations and allow us to move forwards. There are also implications for membership and the way the company would be dissolved if necessary. The central aim of growing our community in Dean Court remains unchanged and we very much hope that you will join with us in moving forwards into a new phase! Please do come along if you can, as we want to represent the whole community.

Our full January newsletter can be found here.

The draft constitution of the proposed charitable company is based on standard 'models' for our type of organisation and can be found here.