Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #196

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 January.

The resumption of roadworks on both sides of the Headington roundabout led predictably to big traffic delays. They are likely to continue until May/June.

Then there were two stories about parking associated with the road works. In Windmill Road, single yellow lines appeared without warning across several residents’ parking places. People were understandably upset, especially as they had paid for permits. It turned out it was all a mistake and the suspensions have been, er, suspended, though they might be reinstated sometime in the future if Windmill Road becomes a diversion route while the London Road works continue. I hope that’s clear.

The second story broke in the Streetlife forum that operates in the Marston/Northway area. Again, parking restrictions appeared apparently without warning. Investigation by @theabingdontaxi found that the statutory notice fixed to the lamposts explains that this is a temporary measure and not enforceable without accompanying signage and that it’s for the duration of the London Road improvement works. I imagine this is again a restriction that will be invoked if the need arises.

And it looks like still more roadworks, this time for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists in Headington centre. @TheOxfordMail reports that @OxfordshireCC will start work this month to eliminate the flooding problem on the corner of London Road and Old High Street (not Windmill Road as stated in the article). I seem to remember that engineers have diagnosed a collapsed sewer as the cause of the problem, although the fall of the road surface needs re-setting too. @RosalindRogers has been campaigning for this for a long time!

Tesco announced the closure of 43 unprofitable stores. We don’t know yet if Headington (@Tesco6880) will be one of them, nor whether Tesco will now scrap plans to open on the old Friar pub site in Marston.

The Holy Trinity Preservation group is holding a public meeting on 22 January at @TheMasonsArmsHQ to discuss the revised plans for extensions to the Church. All welcome.

As the general election campaign juggernaut begins to rumble into motion, I wrote a short summary of the candidates so far declared in the two Oxford constituencies, and made a handy twitter list for you to follow if you don’t want to miss a word, at least from those of them that are on twitter.

And finally….. a tree blew down in Valentia Road in the storms.

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

  • Parcel Couriers
  • Maps
  • New Headington bus routes
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
  • Parking on pavement
  • Barton Road Park
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 #195

TonyOX3

Here’s my round-up of local news for the two weeks 22 December – 4 January.

A Happy New Year to all readers!

Has your Christmas tree dropped all its needles? Is it languishing outside looking brown and forlorn? Well, there are five places in this area where you can take it for recycling, where the nice people from @OxfordCity Council will shred it into tiny pieces to use as a mulch in the city parks and gardens.

Headington’s live advent calendar was declared a success, and organisers are already planning to repeat it in 2015.

The Quarry Morris dancers and mummers performed their traditional play and dances around the pubs of Quarry on Boxing Day. A good crowd turned out to watch despite the cold damp weather. @Howard_S took this video.

It’s the new year, and roadworks start again today on the London Road, the A40 at the Headington roundabout and (a new one) reconfiguration of The Plain to make it nice and safe for buses and cars, but not for cyclists. There are new timetables operating on bus routes 8 & 9 to allow for delays.

There was an armed robbery at Risinghurst Post Office at around 8pm last Tuesday (30th). Cash was taken but no-one was injured. @ThamesVP issued a description of two suspects and are appealing for witnesses and any information. Two men have been arrested in connection with the robbery and have been released on police bail.

The house at 14 Holyoake Road, previously known as Hillsboro House, where C S Lewis lived with Mrs Moore before moving to The Kilns, has been under threat of redevelopment for a while. However, a new planning application (ref 14/03474/FUL) shows the house being retained with two 5-bedroom houses being built in the space to the left of the existing house. Click the link on the planning reference to see details and to comment to the City Council. The Oxford Mail article is here.

The application by some Northway residents for part of the green space on Foxwell Drive to be declared a Town Green was rejected by the Planning Inspector after a two week hearing. Local campaigners are reported to be considering applying for a judicial review.

The Orders of St John Care Trust, who run the Townsend House residential care home on Bayswater Road, Barton invite everyone to a meeting on 5 February to discuss ways of integrating their residents more closely with the community around them. Cheese and wine are promised! More information on the e-democracy forum.

Headington and the OX3 area drew a blank in the New Year’s honours list, although several Oxford academics were honoured.

A planning application has been submitted for a change of use for the old Trade Exchange shop, from ‘retail’ to ‘retail and restaurant/café’.

Bury Knowle Club in Windmill Road (above two shops near the crossroads) is on the market for £300k freehold.

Speculation continued that @Oxford_Brookes might be planning close the Wheatley campus and move its business school and 2500 students to Headington. As yet the University has not made any statement.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum over the last two weeks:

  • no lights
  • One Rule for One
  • Rat Runs etc
  • Alternative Access to Barton park
  • Dunstan Rd Speed Humps
  • Morrisons and Trade Exchange shop
  • Happy Christmas 2014 + useful information
  • Request by Stephanie for information about south headington.
  • Montreal unveils new plans for urban boulevard to replace Bonaventure Expressway | Montreal Gazette
  • Integrating older folk in care homes into the community
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.