Headington Headlines

Headington Headlines #119

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 1 – 7 July.

Work on the long awaited Marston cycle track from Edgeway Road to Fairfax Avenue is due to start on 29th July.

The last of the currently-planned @Oxonbike stations opened at Oxford Brookes Gipsy Lane site on Monday. See my blog post for exact locations, pictures and links.

As expected, Crown News morphed into W H Smith Local. @HeadingtonNews has the history of the shop, which has been a W H Smith before.

Even more of an institution, Café Noir closed this week after 24 years’ trading. The owners cite rent increases as the last straw.

The planning application for housing on the Barton Road cricket ground was approved.

The County Council’s latest proposals for new bus lane arrangements at the Headington roundabout & London Road are out for consultation. There’s a drop-in session with County officers on 18 July, 4 to 8pm at Quarry Village Hall. More details in this blog post.

More consultation, this time on County proposals to introduce a £2 charge at Thornhill and Water Eaton P&R for stays up to 11 hours. The 11-24hr charge is set to go up from £3 to £4 with corresponding increases for even longer stays. The consultation period runs to 31 July.

The @TheMasonsArmsHQ launched their new website.

Paralympic gold medal winner rowing cox Lily van den Broecke is an ex-pupil of @HeadingtonSchool, which gives me an excuse to report the repainting of her gold post-box even though it’s not in OX3.

A complaint about a pot-bellied pig made at Risinghurst and Sandhills parish council will be referred to the City’s Environmental Services.

The local branch of CAMRA is pressing for a new pub to be included as part of the Barton West development.

A quiet week on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week with only two active topics:

  • Plans for resurfacing of London Road between Bury Knowle and Green Road roundabout
  • Café Noir
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 #118

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 24 – 30 June.

The BetFred bookmakers in Cinnaminta Road off The Slade was robbed on Friday evening. Two people have been arrested.

W H Smith is planning to trial franchising local newsagents to run under its own branding. One of the first is reported to be in Headington. I’m guessing Crown News.

Emergency vehicles attended a Heyfordian coach in central Headington on Saturday afternoon after its engine caught fire. The passengers were evacuated (picture c/o @LazyGamerUK.

The vicar of St Andrew’s Church, Old Headington, joined twitter. Welcome to @DarrenMcFarlan2.

Wecome also to a new hairdressing salon which has opened in Risinghurst. Good luck to @GracieJs1.

Oxford Brookes’ Chancellor Shami Chakrabarti officially opened the Abercrombie Extension on Wednesday.

A planning application (ref 13/01588/FUL) has been submitted to build three four-bedroomed houses on the Crown & Thistle car park.

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

  • Interesting side effect of the road works at Wheatley
  • Headington bike hire scheme
  • Neighbourhood Plan for Marston?
  • Crown and Thistle
  • Supermarkets in Headington
  • Barton Road Cricket Ground
  • Disabled access to Headington Library
  • Plans for resurfacing of London Road between Bury Knowle and Green Road roundabout
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 #117

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 17 – 23 June.

The big news of the week was the launch of what people are loving to describe as a ‘Boris Bike’ scheme in Headington. It’s proper name is Oxonbike, on twitter as @Oxonbike. You can pick bikes up and drop them off at Thornhill P&R, the JR, Nuffield and Churchill hospitals, the Old Road campus and on London Road (see below). A seventh site will open at Brookes/Gipsy Lane. For detailed information and discussion you can look at the Oxonbike web page and FAQ and the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum thread.

The location of one of the Oxonbike stations directly outside St Andrew’s School on London Road (it’s described as ‘Headington Shops’) has been criticised, not least because no-one including local councillors or the school was consulted about it. The County Council and Oxonbike operators Grandscheme have apologised for their ‘oversight’ and offered to relocate it if a better alternative can be found.

As I reported last week the outline planning application for Barton West has been published. @TheOxfordMail covered the story, focussing on the divided opinion about the scheme’s merits. Despite the complexity of the application developers @BartonOxford tell me there are no plans for any public exhibition.

Meanwhile, objectors to the proposed Barton West access road have succeeded in having their application for land on Foxwell Drive to be declared a Town Green accepted by the County Council. There will now be a consultation period before the application is decided.

Environmental Health officers from Oxfordshire CC removed two sound systems and a TV from a house in Sherwood Place, Barton after noise complaints from neighbours.

You can have your wedding reception in Headington Hill Park. It appears to be a joint venture between @OxfordCity and a Headington-based company called Total Event Management @TotalEventMgmt.

A man was stabbed in the shoulder on the corner of Gladstone Road and London Road on Wednesday.

An programme to build self-esteem in teenage girls run by Barton-based @ThriveBarton operating within charity Innovista was described in @TheOxfordMail.

Some people in Marston and Headington – and further afield – were annoyed by the sound of loud music and fireworks on Friday and Saturday night. College balls seem to have been to blame, but Marston’s own village fête fireworks may also have contributed.

Some of Headington’s gardens were open on Sunday as part of the Open Gardens scheme.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Headington cycling signs
  • Family search
  • Black Boy pub
  • Headington bike hire scheme
  • Noise in Quarry
  • Supermarkets in Headington
  • Headington Neighbourbood Plan and the Wood Farm area
  • Shops and businesses in Headington
  • Joe Mcmanners
  • Balls
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.