Headington Headlines #242

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 23 – 29 November.

The Headington Heatpipe story broke in the local mainstream media on Monday, with coverage on BBC Radio Oxford and in The Oxford Mail. The reports mainly focussed on the unexplained refusal of the OUH NHS Hospitals Trust to do anything to allay residents’ anxieties. It was also a hot topic at Tuesday’s Ward Focus meeting. The Trust is holding an invitation-only briefing for the media and local Councillors today (Monday): expect more details soon.

After more than a month, the County Council finally got a court order on Monday requiring the travellers camped on the Marston Ferry Road cycle track to leave. They left on Tuesday.

Confusion still reigns over the shop being prepared next to the Post Office, the old BBB Stores. One rumour says it will be an off-licence, but no licence application has been made. A competing rumour is that it will be a halal butcher. Place your bets!

Residents in Wood Farm and Lye Valley have been canvassed about whether they would support a new Aldi store on the site of Curry’s (adjacent to Homebase) on Horspath Driftway.

Photographer @Howard_S from Old Headington won @BBOWT‘s Photographer of the Month accolade for this fern photo.

An accident involving a car and a pedestrian caused long delays on the city-bound A40 on Wednesday evening. The female pedestrian had head and arm injuries and was taken to the JR. Her condition was said to be ‘not serious’.

The Black Boy in Old Headington @TheBlackBoyFood wants to branch out. They’ve submitted a planning application (ref: 15/03259/FUL) to convert the first floor of the gastropub to provide five guest bedrooms and a flat.

The Crown and Thistle pub on Old Road, which has been closed since 2012, has been put on the market for leasing at £22,500 p.a. The Oxford Mail article speculates that this may be a move designed to demonstrate it is not commercially viable as a pub in the hope it will then be easier to get permission to develop the site for other uses, probably housing.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

— Headington Plan (@HeadingtonPlan) November 28, 2015

Spare a thought for @HeadingtonNews, the long-suffering moderator of the e-democracy forum which this week has seen an outpouring of claim and counter-claim about the Barton Park – Northway access link. Threads on the forum have become so tangled it’s impossible to follow a coherent line. The problem’s not helped by an East Oxford rumour being sneaked in under cover of Northway.

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

  • Housing
  • Travellers along the Marston Ferry cycle track
  • Northway Green access road
  • Jack Russell Pub
  • Marston
  • Councillors opinions outweighing what is right……
  • Foxwell Drive
  • Photo of demolition squad in Foxwell Drive
  • saving Foxwell Drive Green space
  • New Aldi store could replace Currys off Horspath Driftway in Oxford
  • Jaya’s Deli – new shop on London Road where Turkish grocery used to be
  • Local concert this evening!
  • Supporting something for the greater good for one side, is not good if at the expense of the other side!
  • EOCC / Foxwell Drive