Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #104

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 18 – 24 March.

Several crime stories this week.

A £500 reward has been offered for information leading to the return of a stolen laptop. The burglary happened on Wednesday the week before last (13 March) in Trinity Road, Quarry.

Later in the week police issued a general warning about a spate of burglaries and thefts from cars in and around Headington.

They also released a CCTV picture of a man they want to talk to about the early-morning robbery at Greggs on 7 March.

Another robbery, this one at BetFred bookmakers in The Slade on Sunday 17 March. One of the culprits had what may have been a handgun. Police are asking for any information.

In other news, the County Council approved plans to expand Windmill Primary School (@WindmillOxford) to three-form entry.

Blockbusters finally closed its doors. Roll on Morrisons!

The Department of Health has put plans to sell Warneford Meadow on hold while Oxford Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust decides whether or not to buy the land itself. The Trust has pledged that if the purchase goes ahead it would honour a deal that allows the Friends of Warneford Meadow to maintain the 18-acre meadow.

West Barton developers @BartonOxford took to twitter to clarify that the planned Community Hub in the new development will not have a doctors’ surgery so shouldn’t mean the closure of the existing surgery at Underhill Circus. Provision of services for West Barton is not yet decided.

The Headington Neighbourhood Forum met formally for the first time on Tuesday. See my note and the draft notes of the meeting.

The local news media were lured into reporting a marketing puff by commercial vehicle tracking company @RAMtracking who claimed that The Slade and the London Road in Headington were among the top 20 (not top 10 as some reported) “most congested non-motorway roads in the UK”. The calculations behind this claim can’t be found on their website, but seem to be based on a comparison of either average or lowest speeds of an unkown number of commercial vehicles using their equipment between 8 and 9 am, compared in some unexplained way to speeds between 11 and 12 am. A good example of nonsense dressed up as statistical analysis. @Cyclox got in on the act with a filmed interview on @BBCOxford.

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

  • Bedroom Tax Demonstration – Saturday 16th 1pm – Bonn Square Oxford
  • Thornhill Park and Ride Expansion Plans.
  • Should Windmill School grow to over 600 pupils?
  • Headington has 2 of the country’s most congested roads
  • Is pollution in Headington increasing?
I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.

Headington Headlines #103

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 11 – 17 March.

Councillor @joemcmanners (Lab, Churchill) resigned from his Council position on Monday. @TheOxfordMail reported “Dr McManners, a GP and former executive member for housing, has been forced to stand aside because he is due to serve on the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Board, and cannot hold both roles”. @antoniabance (Lab, Rose Hill & Iffley) also resigned. The timing allows the by-elections to be held in May at the same time as the county elections.

Thames Water has submitted formal objections to the Haboakus developments in Northway with concerns about the inability of the local drainage systems to cope with the increased capacity. Go to here and here, click Documents and scroll down to find Thames Water’s comments. The system won’t allow me to give you a direct link.

@QGcafe in Risinghurst joined twitter.

About 200 people turned up in South Park for Miranda Hart’s Red Nose Day dog show on Thursday.

The Headington Singers performed Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem for Mixed Voices at All Saints’ Church on Friday.

It snowed again on Sunday (yesterday).

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

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

  • Traffic accidents on Windmill Road. Are they really happening?
  • Traffic on A40 / London Road increasing?
  • Trees vanishing from Woods on Eastern Bypass
  • Should Windmill School grow to over 600 pupils?
  • Bedroom Tax Demonstration – Saturday 16th 1pm – Bonn Square Oxford
I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.

Headington Headlines #102

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 4 – 10 March.

A public meeting and presentation on the Haboakus Northway developments was held on Monday evening. Publicity beforehand was limited – it does not appear to have been publicised outside Marston. I wasn’t there but I had a report from someone who was which I’ve added to the blog.

Notes of last week’s meeting which decided to go ahead with a Neighbourhood Plan for Headington are now online.

The owner of the Oxford Food Store (London Road, towards Green Rd roundabout) was fined £750 plus costs for fly-tipping after dumping sheep heads in a lay-by in Wootton. He claimed the devil took control of him but told the magistrate he now feels ‘back to normal’.

Reports of a smokey smell which started on Monday were traced to a fire in a field near Thornhill P&R. Residents in Sandhills and Risinghurst had the worst of it and some complained it spoiled their enjoyment of the best day’s weather of the year so far. It turned out that 40 tons of hay had been burning. The e-dem forum has the story.

Churchill Ward Councillor @MarkLygo shaved his head and beard for charity – the Oxford Children’s Hospital.

There was a robbery in Greggs early on Thursday morning as they were opening the shop. Money was taken but there are no reports of anyone being hurt.

Headington’s newest street, Blackburn Close (the new flats between the Manor Hospital and the London Road) was being landscaped this week in preparation for the first occupants to move in. If you don’t know why it’s called Blackburn Close and what the connection is with Barbara “Walkies” Woodhouse @HeadingtonNews has the answer.

There are reports that the infamous JR/Saxon Way (non-)rising bollards are being replaced.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

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

  • Blockbusters in Headington is closing after all
  • Redevelopment of Northway
  • Northway developments / Greensuare / Haboakus
  • Crown and Thistle
  • Burning Waste at Thornhill
  • Traffic on A40 / London Road increasing?
I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.