A PARISH council chairman on an Oxford estate who oversaw thousands of pounds being ploughed into community projects has stepped down after nearly two years at the helm.

Gordon Roper, 70, took over running Blackbird Leys Parish Council in 2007 after the sudden resignations of long-serving chairman Brian Lester and his successor Lee Cole.

As Mr Roper, of Garsington, stepped down at the parish council’s annual general meeting he urged more people on the estate to get involved.

Parish councillor Gerry Webb was elected the new chairman. Mr Roper will remain on the parish council.

He said: “I have been on the parish council for nine years and chairman for 18 months.

“There’s a lot of new blood on the parish council and it’s time for someone new to take over.

“I’m proud of my time as chairman and thoroughly enjoyed it. I did the best I could for the estate and the parish council.

“We gave a lot of money to some very good causes on the estate.”

Mr Lester stepped down in 2007 after 14 years in charge complaining of apathy on the estate, saying not enough residents were getting involved.

Lee Cole, a former Oxford city councillor, ran the council for six months before the committee elected Mr Roper.

During his tenure, the parish council spent more than £17,000 on good causes including new equipment for the Pathway Workshop, goalposts for Greater Leys Youth FC and improvements to an alleyway between Knights Road and Falcon Close.

He announced his resignation at the council’s AGM last week.

Mr Roper added: “I’d still like to see more participation from people living on the estate.

“Sometimes we only have one or two members of the public turn up to our meetings but we represent an estate of some 10,000 people.

“We do a lot and try really hard for the estate. If we had more members of the public turn up then it would give the parish council greater encouragement.”

The parish council meets on the first Tuesday of every month.