Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #406

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 11 – 17 February.

Oxford Ink, the tattoo shop in Roundway, Risinghurst closed without warning, apparently owing rather a lot of money in unredeemed gift vouchers, deposits and refunds. This tweet was posted on 6 February.

Just to clarify, this isn’t the tattoo shop that used to be in Windmill Road. The Windmill Road business was Black Mamba Tattoo @blackmambatatto but they closed in 2017.

The Community Governance Review, which starts the process which could lead to a Community Council for Headington (see last week’s Headlines), was agreed by the City Council on Wednesday.

There is an exhibition of early colour photography (autochrome) by Headington resident Ethelreda Laing and modern work by students at Brookes in Headington Library in Bury Knowle Park. It runs until 2 March. More about Ethelreda here on headington.org.uk.

It seems Frontier Estates, who attracted much local criticism over the development of Beech House, are at it again. They apparently want to build student accommodation on the corner of Jack Straw’s Lane and Marston Road. This post on the e-democracy forum says there will be a public exhibition on 28 February from 5 – 8pm at the United Reform Church on Marston Road.

A bungalow in Ethelred Court, Old Headington, caught fire in the early hours of Friday morning. The roof was destroyed. No-one was inside the house at the time as the owner was away, so fortunately there were no injuries.

The Wood Centre for Innovation @WCFI_OI, based at the new science development run by The Oxford Trust @TheOxfordTrust at Stansfeld Park in Quarry, is advertising for small start-ups to take office space there.

As Access to Headington work continues on Headley Way, a series of junction closures has been announced while the junctions are being reconfigured. The closures will affect in turn Fortnam Close, Woodlands (both sides), Franklin Road, Copse Lane, Coniston Avenue, Bowness Avenue and Derwent Avenue, starting with Fortnam Close on 4 March. See this separate post for details.

My favourite Headington-related tweet:

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 #405

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 4 – 10 February.

The process that could lead to Headington having an elected Community Council begins this week. The Council is being recommended to agree to carry out a “Community Governance Review”, which is the first step. The Terms of Reference give some idea of what this Review involves – it seems the Council will consult widely to establish people’s views on the idea. If it does go ahead the Review will start in April this year. It will cover the same area as the Headington Neighbourhood Plan. If it all goes through, elections to the new Council could be held in May next year.

Headington Conservative Club, in Windmill Road, will be able to stay open until midnight on Fridays and to open an outside area for drinkers. The City Council has granted permission despite some local residents saying it could be a significant noise nuisance.

The Boundary Commission has published its final proposals for electoral ward changes in the city. This map lets you see the current, earlier draft, and final proposals. The JR site moves from Headington Ward to Headington Hill & Northway. Headington Ward extends further east to Barton Road, and the piece of Barton & Sandhills between there and the A40 is transferred to Quarry & Risinghurst. There don’t seem to be any other material changes to the six wards I count within OX3.

Confirmation this week that The Somerset pub on Marston Road will re-open by April. It has been bought by the people who run the Rusty Bicycle and the Rickety Press. Apparently they plan to rename the pub The Up in Arms.

There is a meeting this Wednesday “Save Barton’s Green Spaces” to protest about the possibility of up to 1100 new homes being built on Wick Farm and the land between Barton/Barton Park and the Elsfield Road.

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

  • Parking enforcement
  • Next Building on Old Road Campus

Headington Headlines #404

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 28 January – 3 February.

Police continued with their emforcement operation against rat-running in Elms Drive, Marston.

Plans for the latest addition to Oxford University’s Old Road Campus will be on show on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 February. This is the new Institute for Developmental and Regenerative Medicine which will employ over 200 researchers. The exhibition is in Boundary Brook House on Churchill Drive, 4 – 7pm on Friday and 10 – 1 on Saturday.

Police are appealing for information about another back-door break-in, this time in Kiln Lane, Risinghurst.

It looks like Latimer Road is once again going to be the site of parking woes:

Headington seems to have an outbreak of door-to-door fish salesmen; whether it’s one group or several isn’t clear. While they may or may not be legitimate there’s always a worry about where the fish comes from, whether it’s been legally caught, and what recourse a buyer would have if it was sub-standard. Caveat emptor. Thanks to @ox_tale, @Howard_S, @JPDoy and @RobonaBike for information.

The long-running refurbishment of the Barton Community Centre drags on, with local residents reported to be unhappy about work on the site being left in an unsafe state.

My favourite Headington-related tweet:

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