Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #360

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 March.

Posh Fish was named as one of the top 50 fish and chip shops in the country by Fry Magazine, and they should know. It was the only chippy in Oxfordshire included on the list.

The group Philosophy in Pubs which meets once a week in the city centre also meets once a month in The White Hart in Old Headington. They have a Headington facebook page with more information as well as their general Meetup page. Their March meeting is this Wednesday on the topic ‘Is the Self a Useful or Necessary Idea?’, and they stress that no previous knowledge or experience is required!

It looks like the Swan School, planned to be built on the site of the Harlow Centre in Marston, is going to be delayed. No planning application has yet been submitted, and when it is I suspect it’s unlikely to go smoothly. They are now talking of opening with temporary classrooms.

It seems the refurbishment of the Corner House pub has gone well. @ProperEllipsis gives the new décor five stars.

Oxford Brookes mounted a public exhibition of their latest plans to rebuild the Helena Kennedy building on their Headington Hill site, and to redevelop the residential Clive Booth Student Village. They have invited public comments, and there will be more opportunity once the formal planning applications go in. I’ve written a separate short article here.

There were three burglaries at London Road shops overnight last Tuesday/Wednesday. In all of them the doors at the back of the premises were broken open. Police are appealing for information

There’s a meeting this evening (Monday) in Old Marston where Christ Church College will face questions about their proposal to build 750 homes on land they own adjacent to Barton Park. The meeting is at 7pm in Mortimer Hall, Old Marston.

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

  • Abandoned bikes in Headington

Headington Headlines #359

TonyOX3

A combination of illness and the severe weather means a rather depleted Headington Headlines this week. I offer you just these two snippets of local information.

Remember the Bullingdon community centre in Peat Moors which was closed in July last year because of structural failings? It left local groups without anywhere to meet; then temporary props were put in and it reopened. A planning application (ref 17/03426/CT3) is going to East Area Planning Committee on Wednesday this week for the partial demolition of the existing building and the erection of part single- and part double-height front and side extension. The Council says the new building will provide better facilities. There were no public comments on the planning application either for or against.

Bullingdon Centre location
Bullingdon Centre location
Picture via Oxford City Council

Lost bike alert.

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

    • New term for Chinese language and culture courses

Headington Headlines #358

TonyOX3

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: