Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #400

TonyOX3

Any hopes of HH400 being a bumper edition were dashed by a quiet Christmas break. Here are the few things that triggered my radar from 24 December – 6 January.

An incident that started with police trying to stop a car in Oxford High Street on Christmas Eve ended when the car crashed into a stationary taxi outside Andrews Estate Agents in Headington. A teenager was later arrested. The light-controlled crossing outside Sainsbury’s was damaged on the way, and the public phone box outside Andrews was demolished. It was finally removed on Thursday last week. @HeadingtonNews was on the spot with a camera to cover the story.

The annual mummers’ play in Headington Quarry on Boxing Day was well-attended as usual.

Headington resident and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens @ClarkeMicah wrote about a bad experience while cycling on the London Road bus lane. His experience may have been extreme but won’t surprise regular cyclists.

Several Headington roads were mentioned in a report in the Oxford Mail about rat-running, but I’m not sure what the alternatives would be. Does Lime Walk count as a rat-run for people getting from the London Road to the Churchill or Old Road Campus? To my mind getting drivers to observe the 20mph speed limits would be a big step forward for safety and the local street environment.

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

  • Massive student development proposed by Brooke [sic] in Headington Conservation Area

Headington Headlines #399

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 17 – 23 December.

@HeadingtonNews has all the Christmas and New Year opening times for the Headington supermarkets, rubbish collection days and transport arrangements.

Another closure, but of limited interest. I see that the private road from Sandfield Road which goes into the JR by the bus stops and car park will be closed to people on foot and on bikes for 24 hours from 0600 on 1 Jan to 0600 on 2 Jan.

Police are appealing for information and witnesses after a 12 year old girl was injured in ‘a collision between a car and a pedestrian’. It happened on Marston Road at around 5.10pm on Saturday 15 December.

Local residents will be relieved to know that construction work at the JR Hospital for the extended A&E Department and Ronald McDonald House will be suspended over the Christmas holiday.

The Kennett Road dental practice is going to double in size.

A meeting to discuss the intended closure of the Marston & Northway police office was called off, leaving the situation in limbo. If nothing happens to change things it will close in May next year.

The Wood Farm/Slade controlled parking zone (CPZ) has been approved by the County Council and will come into force shortly.

For a final OX3 festive experience, listen to the children of St Andrew’s School singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and ‘The Song Of The Winter Wind’.

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

  • Possible new development adjacent to Barton Park
  • Survey On An Increase In Council Tax To Help Protect Operational Policing Is Launched

Wishing all readers a Merry Christmas however you celebrate it, and the hope of 2019 being a better year than the one now ending. Headington Headlines is taking a break, so the 400th edition will be out on 7 January.

Headington Headlines #398

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 10 – 16 December.

You know Christmas is just around the corner when @TheMasonsArmsHQ announces the Boxing Day Morris Mummers Play arrangements.

Pizzas, burgers, quizzes and live music are all planned for the Somerset pub in Marston if the people behind The Rusty Bicycle and Rickety Press complete their take-over deal. We must wait and see if they keep to their theme and rename it The Ramshackle Somerset.

Police have been issuing warnings to motorists using Elms Drive, Marston as a rat-run to avoid the Headley Way roadworks. £50 fines are threatened.

Following a public exhibition last Monday the city council has opened a consultation about the redevelopment of Underhill Circus in Barton. The consultation is via an online questionnaire. You have to register, or login if you’ve registered for consultations before.

Plowman’s Tower in Northway now has security guards to counter hooliganism and anti-social behaviour that has been ‘making residents’ lives hell’. CCTV is also being installed here and at Forester’s Tower in Wood Farm.

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