Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #45

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 9 – 17 January —

Niki Peach and Karen Holliday, both from Headington, will spend a fortnight in February cycling from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam through the waterways of the Mekong Delta into Cambodia, finishing in the Royal Temples of Angkor Wat. They are raising money for breast cancer research.

@OxfordCity’s North-East Area Forum met on Wednesday. It gave residents a chance to meet their Councillors and to discuss the main topic: provision of youth services.

Planning permission was granted for a dance school to operate in Kirby House, the warehouse off Windmill Road behind the former Londis. It’s shaded yellow in this overhead view.

@OxPresTrust have acquired more land in Old Marston to add to their existing holding around the Victoria Arms.

A man from Bayswater Road, Barton was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to 30 months imprisonment for dealing cocaine.

I wrote a blog article about the debate on the Barton Area Action Plan.

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

  • Headington and Barton bus service
  • Shocking acknowledgement of the extent of the housing crisis in 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 #44

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 2 – 8 January —

The Christmas tree outside Barclay’s Bank blew over in the strong winds overnight on Monday/Tuesday.

A planning application was submitted which could see a Sikh temple established on the London Road near the corner of Northfield Road.

A taxi driver was robbed on Hollow Way in the early hours of Monday morning, and a 22-year old man from Slade Close was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 40 months imprisonment. One of his offences taken into account was the theft of a puppy.

The locations of the possible Sikh temple and Slade Close are shown on this map.

Headington car park is to have handrails installed to improve disabled access from the car park to Waitrose. @OxfordCity and @WaitroseUK have jointly funded the cost.

The BBC televised the morning service at All Saints’ Church, Lime Walk on Sunday.

I made a map of all the sites in OX3 in the City Council’s Sites and Housing document which sets out approved forms of development. I think it’s easier to use than the original document. Consultation on the latest version starts soon.

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

  • Sikh temple in Cherwell Drive
  • Certifying documents
  • Headington & Barton bus service
  • Shocking acknowledgement of the extent of the housing crisis in 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 #43

TonyOX3

Here is my round-up of local news for two weeks over the Christmas/New Year break, 19 December 2011 – 1 January 2012 —

A new £2.1m community arena opened at the Oxford City ground, Court Place Farm, Marston. It includes a full-size artificial grass pitch, pavilion and six floodlit netball courts.

Frustration over the 8 and 9 bus services surfaced in the press. The bus companies’ response (at least as reported) seemed to be mostly denial of any real problem. Meanwhile it was announced that another spate of road closures around Old Road/Lime Walk/Highfield will take place in the New Year.

LibDem Councillors David Rundle, @RuthWilk and Altaf Khan held another Headington Ward Focus meeting in the Baptist Church, Old High Street on Tuesday 20 December. Main items discussed were the Barton West development, Ruskin Fields, Headington car park and the Housing Sites and Policy book, all of which had been agreed by the City Council the day before.

A home in High Cross Way, Barton, was one of three places hit by thieves on Christmas Day.

Boxing Day saw a large crowd at @TheMasonsArmsHQ for the traditional Morris dancing. The pub sold more than 600 pints of ale in 5 hours!

The Headington Shark was named one of the Daily Telegraph’s “best British follies“. It’s the ninth one on the page.

Rev James Cocke, Vicar of All Saints’ Church, became the longest-serving vicar in the Church of England on the retirement of the previous record-holder.

There was a house fire in Bulan Road on Wednesday 28th December. Fortunately no-one was seriously hurt.

A robbery took place at the BetFred betting shop in Cinnaminta Road on Saturday 31 December. A female employee was forced to hand over several hundred pounds.

Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum over Christmas and New Year:

  • Bus stop, London Road Headington
  • West Barton plan likely to go ahead?
  • Decisions made on Headington Car-park and Ruskin Fields
  • North East Area Forum – 11 January 2012
  • Disused Cricket Ground Barton Road
  • Boxing Day 2011 events in Headington
  • Northway Pharmacy
  • Cherwell drive Dentist
  • Destination display inside 400 Park and Ride
  • Londis corner shop in receivership

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.