Abingdon Online is an independent news and information site for Abingdon, Wantage and the rest of the Vale of White Horse. We read the public record and publish what is in it, and we keep the practical local pages accurate.
Our patch
Abingdon-on-Thames is the largest town and the centre of the site. Wantage and Grove sit about twelve miles west under the Downs and form their own catchment, Faringdon is further out again, and Botley is joined to Oxford in everything but administration. In between are the villages: Radley, Kennington, Sutton Courtenay, Culham, Steventon, Marcham, Kingston Bagpuize, Shrivenham and the rest. The science and research campuses at Harwell and Culham sit on the edge of this district, and a lot of local journeys, housing decisions and planning arguments follow from them.
How we report
Everything comes from a named source and carries a link to it: the Vale of White Horse District Council planning register and committee papers, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the Thames, the Ock and the Letcombe Brook, and company filings in The Gazette. Roads, schools and social care are Oxfordshire County Council’s responsibility rather than the district’s, and we make that clear rather than blaming the wrong body.
What happens in 2028
The Vale of White Horse District Council was due to be abolished in April 2028 and replaced by a new Ridgeway unitary authority covering this district, most of South Oxfordshire and the whole of West Berkshire. On 7 September 2026 the government paused that plan and told councils to stop implementing it, pending a review with no published end date. Whenever it lands, it changes who answers for bins, planning and council tax here. We will report it from the published documents as it happens, and keep the reference pages pointing at whoever is actually responsible.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@abingdononline.co.uk with a tip, an event worth listing, or a correction. We read everything, tips are treated in confidence, and corrections go up quickly and are noted on the page.
Abingdon Online is published by the GOB Media Group. We are not affiliated with the council or any other body we report on.