Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #214

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 11 – 17 May.

On Monday, work started on the site of the new access junction for @BartonPark_ with lane restrictions on the Headington-bound side of the Northern Bypass (A40). On Wednesday there was an official groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of the development proper.

If you missed the presentation of the developers’ latest plans for Phase 1 last Monday and Saturday, there’s a final chance on Tuesday from 4 – 7 pm at the Northway Community Centre in Dora Carr Close. When they submit their formal planning application there will be the usual opportuntiy to comment via the City Council. They have distributed a flyer with some general information about the development.

The Headington Shark featured on Channel 4 on Monday, in a programme called “Damned Designs – Don’t Demolish My Home.

Oxforshire County Council announced it intends to cut £2.3m from the bus services it supports. The Dial-a-Ride service is to go, but the other services to be affected have not yet been announced. The occasional H1 and H2 services which connect Headington shops with Old Marston, Sandhills and Quarry are possible targets, and the 280 service to Aylesbury might also be a victim. For anyone unfamiliar with the H1 and H2 routes, this is when they run.

Starting on Bank Holiday Monday (25 May), @CreationTheatre are running “Put On A Play In A Week” drama workshops for 6 – 8 and 9 – 12 year-olds in Headington Baptist Church.

The much anticipated closure of Headington Post Office in its present home and a move to the Co-op has been confirmed, with the Post Office opening a consultation on the proposal. Within the consultation it says the new Office will be fully open all day Saturday and offer “selected services” late and on Sundays.

Is St Leonard’s Road car park Headington’s version of the Bermuda Triangle? Weird happenings have been reported.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

At least three Headington people received Certificates of Honour at Town Hall yesterday: Liz Grosvenor, Carolyn Gulliver, and Marie Vickers

— Headington News (@HeadingtonNews) May 12, 2015

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

  • Petitioning Oxfordshire County Council for Quarry Hollow Traffic Calming and pedestrian safety
  • Headington Post Office
  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Barton Park development
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
  • Electronic issues in St Leonard’s Road Car Park
  • Here we go – scapegoating again.
  • School Places
  • Cafe Culture
  • Lye Valley
I 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 #213

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 4 – 10 May.

For the full results of the election in both Oxford constituencies, see here.

Parking problems at the JR made the local news programmes this week, with calls for extending the amount of parking being countered by arguments that increased parking spaces only means more congestion on the roads. One proposal is for a dedicated hospital park-and-ride off Marsh Lane, which incidentally happens to be green belt land.

A classic Mini Metro was stolen from Mark Road, Headington and later found burnt out. The news spread, and the teenage owner has been offerred a free replacement by a fellow enthusiast in Scotland.

There’s a presentation this evening (Monday 11 May) about the first phase of the @BartonPark_ development. It’s from 6 – 7pm in the Long Room at the Town Hall, and it’s open to the public. I blogged about some of the issues I think need to be sorted out before the development gets underway.

Oxybox in Marston went out of business.

I guess Oxybox have gone bust then. pic.twitter.com/gbms2mfBTR

— Stuart Bryant (@amigastu) May 6, 2015

The launderette in Girdlestone Road made it into a Polling Day twitter theme of unusual polling stations, triggering a wave of jokes on the lines of ‘washing dirty laundry in public’, ‘all come out in the wash’, ‘the spin room’, [add your own joke here].

Spin cycle? Laundrette polling station in Headington, Oxford © rogeraskew/Alamy http://t.co/0rTCu6mvuT pic.twitter.com/enEypiDv40

— Alamy News (@AlamyNews) May 7, 2015

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

#shotoverbb Don't miss the bluebells in Shotover RT @HeadingtonNews @TonyOX3 pic.twitter.com/P6HR8gEg1G

— Headington Heritage (@headingheritage) May 10, 2015

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

  • Are trams the big bang solution Oxford needs?
  • Barton Park development
  • Possible new Park & Ride at Marston for the John Radcliffe Hospital
  • Marston Park and Ride
  • Appreciating your offer.
  • Petitioning Oxfordshire County Council for Quarry Hollow Traffic Calming and pedestrian safety
I 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 #212

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 27 April – 3 May.

The male nurse who raped and assaulted 27 female patients at the JR Hospital was sentenced to 18 years.

Taylors Esate Agents closed their Headington office and moved operatons to their St Clement’s branch.

There was a significant power cut on Thursday affecting around 700 – 900 homes, shops and offices in the central area. There were also reports of a smell of burning. SSE said the fault “was at a link box and that fed back up the line to a substation. That caused the substation to overheat and produce smoke but it’s not a fire.” Some premises didn’t have power restored until the evening. Another cut affecting about 20 homes in Headington happened on Saturday.

@HeadingtonPlan has published a series of ‘character assessments’ of different areas of Headington. An interesting collection of thumbnail sketches.

Some people in Marston are hoping they can rescue the closed Jack Russell pub and run it as a community pub.

Remember the @ButchersArmsOxf sign blowing down in the storm? They’ve got a smart new one now.


Photo: @RosalindRogers

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

  • Looking for a painter
  • Jack Russell Pub
  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Are trams the big bang solution Oxford needs?
  • London Road “Improvement” Scheme
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
I 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.