Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #125

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 12 – 18 August.

The newly-formed Friends of Lye Valley has its own website. Their first meeting took place on Wednesday.

The @HeadingtonPlan Steering Group met on 7 August and the minutes are now online. Mike Ratcliffe @Mike_rat was elected as Chairman.

News broke about two new bus routes connecting Thornhill P&R with the Headington hospitals and Old Road campus. One of them, route 800, is shown as using Osler Road. The current 700 route is being extended out to Kidlington. All services will run Monday to Friday only. Read more on my blog and the e-dem forum.

A con-man who targeted businesses in Headington was found guilty of fraud in Oxford Magistrates’ Court.

Three cameras were stolen in a burglary at a house in Quarry Road a week last Saturday (10 August). On the same day a woman’s handbag was stolen in a snatch robbery as she walked along North Way.

Some properties in Risinghurst had a power cut on Thursday which lasted most of the day.

Work started on sprucing up Headington Quarry Village Hall, which is on the corner of Margaret Road and Quarry Road. The building was given to the local community in the 1930s and is looked after by Trustees.

Brambles, one of Headington’s remaining independent shops, is for sale. Headington.org.uk has the shop’s history.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • New Headington bus routes
  • “Open Doors” weekend in September: Headington & Marston
  • School transport in and around Headington
  • Psychology study with people aged 65-75, takes 35 mins, interesting and really worthwhile
  • An additional pedestrian crossing on London Road?
  • Child’s Bike?
I try to 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 #124

TonyOX3

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

Labour Councillor @Laurencepbaxter (Quarry & Risinghurst) wrote to @DNimmoSmit1 (Con, Henley-on-Thames), County cabinet member for transport, urging the installation of traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing at the Collinwood Road junction on the A40.

As Oxford City consult on air quality, or rather the lack of it, Headington came in for special mention. At the same time Oxfordshire County Council are working on a strategy for accommodating even more traffic.

However, the Headington Transport Strategy has come in for criticism for its lack of community involvement. The full story is on my blog here.

@kalicer reviewed the Royal India, at the Chequers in Headington Quarry.

Morrisons got planning permission for a new shop front on the old Blockbuster store and the shopfitters have already started preparing the shop.

A police traffic enforcement operation in Northway, Marston on Thursday resulted in fines for motorists found shaving while driving, writing notes of a phone conversation, and reading directions from a book on the steering wheel. 14 drivers were fined for using hand-held mobile phones.

A police car responding to an emergency call was involved in a minor collision on the London Road on Friday. Never say my reporting isn’t balanced!

Headington businesses and local community groups have raised £2000 for floral displays.

@Oxford_Brookes is putting on an exhibition of the public art which they are required to provide to enhance their new buildings. It runs until Thursday this week.

Two men were arrested in Headington on Tuesday with ‘a large quantity of drugs’.

Friends of the Earth published a map showing areas of the country ‘being considered’ for the issue of fracking licences. Not just Headington but the whole of Oxford is covered.

In a first for Headington Headlines, at the time I put this report to bed there were no posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week.

I try to 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 #123

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 29 July – 4 August.

Residents in John Snow Place, which was one of the places targeted in a police drugs raid last week, have set up a neighbourhood watch scheme.

In a road safety check in Headington on Tuesday morning @tvprp stopped a driver who was using a mobile phone and found he had no licence or insurance – and promptly seized the car.

Quarry & Risinghurst Labour Councillors @delia_sinclair and @LaurencepBaxter have a facebook page.

A company called “Headington Food and Wine” has applied for an alcohol licence at the shop that trades as Keraleeyam Stores on the London Road. It’s not clear if it’s the same operation or not. The application is for off-sales only, from 0800 to 2130.

Oxfordshire County Council announced their plans for road improvements to cater for the new Barton West development. The most significant changes will be the new bus and cycle crossing of the A40 and replacment of the double mini roundabouts on Cherwell Drive with traffic lights.

[Updated 11:30 05/08/2013] @Robin_Peake, part of the @ThriveBarton team, is exploring the possibility of setting up a credit union in Barton. He tells me this is a personal initiative, not a ThriveBarton project.

Table-tennis promotional organisation Ping! @ping_tweets put on an everyone-join-in table-tennis event in Bury Knowle Park on Saturday. [Ping! is produced by Sing London and is delivered in partnership with the English Table Tennis Association and supported by National Lottery investment from Sport England.]

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

  • Plans for the new Barton estate now available
  • Supermarkets in Headington
  • Environmental noise – new Sainsbury store
  • Workshop next week
  • New all weather Cricket Pitch in Margaret Road playing field
  • Disorderly conduct?
I try to 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.