Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #54

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 12 – 18 March —

There was a spree of car window smashing overnight in the Wood Farm area on Monday/Tuesday. At least 11 cars were damaged. The @OxfordMail attributed the damage to “yobs”, but so far there are no reports of who might in fact have been responsible.

Thames Valley Police are appealing for witnesses after the theft of three motorcycles in the Oxford area recently, one from Nuffield Road, Wood Farm, where a black Senke was stolen between midnight on Tuesday and midnight on Wednesday the week before last.

Oxford Biomedical Reserach Centre held a public open day at the Churchill Hospital on Wednesday.

Merton College Choir performed a concert in St Andrew’s Church on Friday.

Highfield residents are campaigning to take control of local traffic calming measures.

The detailed route of the Olympic torch relay was published. It will arrive in Oxford on Monday 9 July, making its way from the BMC Mini plant down the Cowley Road to The Plain, back up St Clements and Morrell Avenue and into South Park. So it *might* just get into the OX3 postcode. On the Tuesday it starts from the Iffley Road stadium and disappears over Donnington Bridge on its way to Reading. Details: Monday | Tuesday.

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

  • Costa Coffee
  • Hosepipe ban from 5 April: details and exemptions
  • Policing of bus lanes
  • Electric car charging points in Headington
  • The Friar Pub Marston and Tesco
  • The Friar, Marston
  • Antisocial behaviour in Headington

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 #53

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 March —

The play area on Sandfield Road will get a space where young children can learn to ride bikes, and a small block for slightly older kids to do tricks on, according to Councillor Ruth Wilkinson.

The Dorset House show flat is now open for viewing, but the QR code on the advertising boards wasn’t working on Friday.

Proposals to build housing in Westlands Drive and Dora Carr Close, Northway have been put back pending further consultation. The developers Haboakus are a joint venture between Green Square Group and Kevin McCloud’s company Hab. The development will also involve replacing Northway Community Centre with new facilities. A third development in Cowley by the same people is also affected by the delay.

Gipsy Lane has been closed over the weekend. Road works continue.

Some Cheney School parents are campaigning to stop the school becoming an academy.

Lazy Gamer is OPEN again.

This map shows the location of some of the places mentioned in this report.

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

  • Tesco and The Friar
  • EF Academy plans for Cotuit Hall
  • Costa Coffee
  • Nasty looking Shark
  • Bus Users’ Forum 22 March 12
  • Astonishing – Dairy Lodge application approved
  • Electric car charging points in Headington

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 #52

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 27 February – 4 March —

In a now-you-see-them now-you-don’t story that became known as #yellowlinegate road markings came in for criticism, particularly the double yellow lines across the road at the junctions of Latimer Road/London Road and Bickerton Road/Old Road. The story made the national news in the Mail Online, and was covered on BBC local TV and radio and the @BBCOxford website, as well as being debated on the e-democracy forum (see the "New Lime Walk and All Saints junction ‘improvements’" thread). You can watch the BBC video clip broadcast on Tuesday here. And then on Wednesday, the County Council started to remove them, or rather paint them black.

@LazyGamerUK finally opened to the public on Friday. Their shiny new website is also up and running. The launch is reported to have gone well. Discussion of the operation continues on the e-democracy forum under the “Costa Coffee” thread.

@OxfordCity have started another consultation on the flooding problems in Marston and Northway. Details on the Council’s website; Oxford Mail story. A public exhibition and consultation event is being held on Monday, March 19 from 12pm to 9.30pm in the Northway Community Centre.

EF International Academy, part of the larger EF operation on Pullens Lane (Headington Hill), held a public event on Friday and Saturday to explain their plans for the Cotuit Hall site they bought from Oxford Brookes last year. I wrote a note about it.

Marston local police published their March newsletter.

The City Council has written off business rates owed by The Six Bells and The Butcher’s Arms because “the debtors cannot be traced”.

My favourite Headington-related tweet this week:

I think the number of active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week is a record since I started reporting it:

  • New Lime Walk and All Saints junction “improvements”
  • The Friar Pub Marston and Tesco
  • Headington Ward Focus meeting leads to Headington Cycling Working Group
  • Bus Users UK Oxford Group AGM, Tue 28 Feb 2012
  • BUUK Meeting on 22 Mar
  • Costa Coffee
  • Cycles on the footpath
  • EF Academy plans for Cotuit Hall
  • Nasty looking Shark
  • Dorset House

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.