Headington Headlines #379

Your weekly round-up of local news for 30 July – 5 August.

A woman was attacked and robbed in Ferry Road, Marston by a man wearing a Halloween mask or face paint. The attack took place shortly after midnight on Sunday 29 July. Police are appealing for witnesses.

Residents in Wood Farm will be consulted from mid-August to mid-September on a proposed CPZ (Controlled Parking Zone). If approved, the CPZ could come into effect as soon as next January.

A 200-year-old oak tree in Risinghurst has been deliberately poisoned and will have to be felled. The tree is in the playing fields at the top of Grovelands Road.

Independent shop Pen to Paper joined twitter. Welcome, @ToHeadington!

Brookes was given planning permisson for a new building on the site of the Helena Kennedy Building on the Headington Hill campus. As well as the usual conditions the architects must produce a ‘detailed Lighting Strategy’ to include ‘lighting contour plans’. This is to ensure that night-time visual intrusion is minimised.

I reported last week that OU Hospitals had made a planning application to enlarge the A&E Department at the JR. Mysteriously, the application disappeared from  the City’s planning website sometime on Monday and as I write still hasn’t reappeared. At the Headington Ward Focus meeting on Tuesday the Trust’s spokesperson from OUH Estates didn’t know about it and couldn’t offer any explanation. Local Councillors @RosalindRogers and @SGarden13 asked planning officers about it at the East Area Planning Committee the next day; they couldn’t explain it either.

Screenshot 1649 05/08/2018
Screenshot 1649 05/08/2018

There were no new posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week.

Headington Headlines #358

Your weekly round-up of local news for 19 – 25 February.

The doctor whose fitness to practice was found to be impaired following the death of Connor Sparrowhawk at Southern Health’s Slade House has been suspended for a year.

Increased car park charges for Headington were approved by the City Council on Monday. They come into force in a few weeks’ time. Here again are the new charges for the car park behind Waitrose.

Table of Proposed charges for 2018
Proposed charges for 2018

It doesn’t say much for local democracy that these new charges are directly opposed to a Community Policy in the Headington Neighbouhood Plan, which says

“BRC1: CHANGES TO CAR PARKING CHARGES At off-peak times only, the car parks on St Leonard’s Road and Old High Street should provide free parking for 30 minutes followed by stepped parking charges”.

These Commmunity Policies are not statutory, but express how we want to see Headington change for the better over the coming years. The City has chosen to ignore it.

Oxford City Council is asking itself to give itself planning permission to build four retirement homes on a playground in Wood Farm.

Headington’s latest public artwork is a new piece by Saad Qureshi. His sculpture “Assembly” is in the courtyard of Oxford Brookes’ new Clerici Building, accessed from Gipsy Lane. Qureshi is an alumnus of the university.

"Assembly" by Saad Qureshi
“Assembly” by Saad Qureshi
Photo: Oxford Brookes University

For a full list of all Headington’s public art see headington.org.uk

My favourite Headington-related tweet:

There were no new posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

Headington Headlines #324

Your weekly round-up of local news for 26 June – 2 July.

Despite earlier reassurances, Oxford City Council has found after tests that they will have to replace the exterior cladding on the Evenlode and Windrush Towers in Blackbird Leys. The towers will not be evacuated as other fire precautions, including sprinklers, have been included in the Council’s refurbishment. The two towers in OX3 – Foresters in Wood Farm and Plowman in Northway have not yet had cladding installed so are not affected.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has released this statement about it.

The last thing anyone wanted was for a fire to break out in one of the tower blocks. This is just what happened in Plowman Tower, Northway on Wednesday. Fire crews attended and the fire turned out to be small and in a ground floor storage area. It was quickly dealt with.

Still on the subject of fire safety in communal buildings, Headington LibDems asked @Oxford_Brookes and Unite (the company that manages Dorset House and will manage Beech House) for statements on their respective fire safety. The replies are here on the LibDem website.

Four local surgeries/health centres are now run by Hedena Health; Bury Knowle, Barton, Marston and Wood Farm. Who or what Hedena Health is, is to say the least opaque but I’ve done some digging. This post explains what’s going on.

All Saints’ Church has joined twitter. Welcome and follow @AllSaintsOX3!

Oxford City has opened the public consultation on the ‘Preferred Options’ stage of the City’s developing Local Plan covering the period up to 2036. The consultation runs until 25 August. Every household will be getting a leaflet and questionnaire, but for starters try the Council’s Local Plan web page and @OxCivicSoc‘s short article.

Local LibDems and Greens were quick to pounce on newly-elected @AnnelieseDodds‘ failure to back an amendment in the Commons that would have required the UK to stay in the Single Market. This despite her election campaign statements that ‘extreme Brexit’ would be a disaster. Anneliese has explained that she backed a different amendment which she believed was stronger. A full account of this story here.

My favourite Headington-related tweet:

Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Four local medical practices now come under Hedena Health
  • Edgeway Rd cycle apologies
  • Frontier Estates Multiple Site London Road / Barton Road