29th January 2011: Playround Consultation Day a success.The playground group were delighted with the turn out and positive input from the village at the consultation day on Jan 29th. Thank you to all who baked cookies and to the gardening club for the kind loan of their display boards again!Have a look at the initial design and tell us what you think!appletonplayground@googlemail.com 

25th January: Nicola Blackwood's visit reported in Oxford Mail: See the article Oxford Mail and Nicola Blackwood’s visit to Appleton  

22nd January 2011: Nicola Blackwood MP – Rural and National issues raised at Appleton: Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, visited Appleton on Saturday 22nd January to see for herself the recent refurbishment of the Appleton Community Shop (ACS) and to meet villagers. Villager Graham Rose said: “It was good to have Nicola visit Appleton and she met some of the key members of the shop management committee and was briefed on the eleven-year history of ACS and the £30,000 refurbishment completed last year. Other rural issues raised by residents included the need for faster Broadband in the parish, plans by the Environment Agency to mechanise paddles and rymers at Northmoor Weir, the importance of a successful pub in a rural community and the Botley Library – and Oxfordshire County Council plans for its future.“ Jerry Uren, chairman of the ACS management group, raised the effect exorbitant oil prices have on rural communities and the need for a thorough investigation of oil firms such as boilerjuice.com, and their undisclosed ownership of oil delivery firms and the Sunday Times allegation of price fixing.” The £30,000 refurbishment of the shop was funded by a combination of self-funding and a couple of generous donations from the local community. The work was carried out by Appleton builders WG Carter and the electrical work by villager Paul Taylor’s firm Advanced Electrical Systems.

21st January 2011: Appleton shop benefits from the snow! Link to the Oxford Mail article with a photo and quotes from Ms Carol Bateman

10th January 2011: the Brown bins!  In a Vale Waste Management Team email today: "On your next brown bin collection day, which is Thursday 20th January, we are taking extra waste next to your brown bin and again in April". Cllr John Woodford has investigated the matter: the Vale decided on 4th January 2011 Brown bins would not be emptied until 12th January, placed the information on their website but did not inform any parishes either of the decision nor the website message (eg Parish Clerks) ! Apologies from the website Editor. Thus Brown bins were not emptied on Saturday 8th January. As the Editor cannot afford the £30-odd charge, he was unaware of this situation until parishioners accosted his wife in the shop on Sunday morning! An urgent email has been sent to the Department of Waste (!) at the Vale and Cllr John Woodford advised of this matter – and the fact there are several Brown wheelie Bins still on verges in the Parish … As soon as there is more information, it will be posted on the website! Ah! The plot thickens! On the website is a message "Garden waste: Please note bin collections are running as per the schedule with the exception of garden waste, which has been suspended until 12 January to clear the backlog from the snow/Christmas."

8th January 2011: Volunteer Transport Scheme: Can you spare a few hours now and again to help the Appleton Volunteer Transport Scheme (for medical appointments)? We need a group of drivers and a team to man a telephone on a rota basis for one or two hours a week. If you think you might be able to help or might use the scheme in the future, please pop along to Appleton Village Hall on Saturday 8th January 2011 at 10am. Otherwise, you can contact us on 863207 or 863709 or appletonvts@gmail.com for more information.