Headington Headlines #412

With regret, this will be the last Headington Headlines for the time being. A rather sudden change in family circumstances means I won’t be able to spend as much time at the computer as before, and this is one of the things that will have to go. I still plan to keep @TonyOX3 going on twitter, and I may post occasional articles of interest here too. So for now, thanks for reading and don’t forget to follow @HeadingtonNews, the Headington website, and the local e-democracy forum for all things Headington and OX3.

And for the last time for now, here is your weekly round-up of local news for 1 – 7 April.

Bill Heine, the sometimes controversial, always entertaining, and much loved broadcaster, journalist and installer of the Headington shark, died on Wednesday. I am glad to have known him, albeit slightly, and send condolences to his family and many friends.

The planning application for Frontier Estates’ speculative development of student accommodation and offices off Jack Straw’s Lane and Marston Road has appeared on the Council’s website. The reference is 19/00779/FUL and it consists of 107 documents. The application is open for comments unrtil 2 May. The story of Frontier Estates’ involvement in OX3 is here.

Pavement parking is a significant problem in Headinton so many people will be interested in the Commons Select Committee on Transport’s enquiry into it. The official web page with details of how to contribute is here.

It’s been confirmed that the new Swan School will open in September, though it will be in temporary buildings at the Cherwell School in Summertown.

27 April is the confirmed opening date for the renascent Somerset pub, which we must now call the Up In Arms.

Work officially started on the extension of the A&E Department at the JR Hospital.

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

    • Exhibition of Student housing proposals at 1-7 Jack Straws Lane and Marston road Frontier ESTates

Headington Headlines #411

Your weekly round-up of local news for 25 – 31 March.

The City’s Local Plan 2036 has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. Modifications following the consultation at the end of last year include recognition that water and sewerage networks are operating at or close to capacity in many places. There’s more information in this earlier post.

The OU Hospitals Trust is once again talking about using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to help with parking problems at the JR and Churchill. This has been on and off for several years so we must wait and see if anything comes of it this time.

The work which we have been expecting for the last couple of weeks to make a surfaced path on Cuckoo Lane finally started on Friday. It’s started at the Pullen’s Lane end.

Is any publicity good publicity? A man who drove away from the Ampleforth Arms @TheAmpleforth in Risinghurst after drinking four pints of lager, crashed into a parked car and ran off home was picked up by police later. He couldn’t be prosecuted for drink driving because he’d drunk another four pints and more before police arrived at his house. He was found guilty of other related offences and has been remanded on bail for reports before sentencing.

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

Headington Headlines #410

Your weekly round-up of local news for 18 – 24 March.

A newborn baby boy was found in a toilet in the JR Hospital on Monday. Police launched an appeal to help find the mother; she was later found and was looked after by the hospital. Mother and baby were later said to be doing well.

The work to make a surfaced path along Cuckoo Lane between Franklin Road and Pullen’s Lane, originally due to start last Monday, will now start today (25 March). Local residents and councillors had a site meeting last Tuesday to discuss the project. This post on the e-democracy forum has a link to the notes of the meeting, with explanatory pictures.

Dora Carr Close in Northway is one of five Oxfordshire building projects nominated for the RIBA South region awards 2019. All five are in Oxford itself. The regional winners will be chosen in May; the winners go forward for a National award, and from among those the Sterling Prizewinner is selected. To many people’s surprise, Westgate is one of the other nominated developments.

Eleanor House, Dora Carr Close
Eleanor House, Dora Carr Close
Photo: 24housing.co.uk

Hundreds of flyers for Society Hair Studio, of New Road in the city centre, were found dumped on the C S Lewis nature reserve in Risinghurst.

The Oxford Mail reports that house-builders Redrow have revealed their designs for the second phase of Barton Park. The company was given the job in February last year (see HH355). As I write this I haven’t seen the details; Redrow are best known for their very traditional designs but I have heard suggestions that their Barton Park development will be more in keeping with a modern-looking development.

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

    • Cuckoo lane: Six weeks of tarmac-laying starts on Monday
    • Parking enforcement