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