Headington Headlines #212

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 27 April – 3 May.

The male nurse who raped and assaulted 27 female patients at the JR Hospital was sentenced to 18 years.

Taylors Esate Agents closed their Headington office and moved operatons to their St Clement’s branch.

There was a significant power cut on Thursday affecting around 700 – 900 homes, shops and offices in the central area. There were also reports of a smell of burning. SSE said the fault “was at a link box and that fed back up the line to a substation. That caused the substation to overheat and produce smoke but it’s not a fire.” Some premises didn’t have power restored until the evening. Another cut affecting about 20 homes in Headington happened on Saturday.

@HeadingtonPlan has published a series of ‘character assessments’ of different areas of Headington. An interesting collection of thumbnail sketches.

Some people in Marston are hoping they can rescue the closed Jack Russell pub and run it as a community pub.

Remember the @ButchersArmsOxf sign blowing down in the storm? They’ve got a smart new one now.


Photo: @RosalindRogers

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

  • Looking for a painter
  • Jack Russell Pub
  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Are trams the big bang solution Oxford needs?
  • London Road “Improvement” Scheme
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
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 #211

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 20 – 26 April.

Don’t forget the London Road will be closed overnight between Headington and the Green Road roundabout for the next 4 nights. The closure is from 8pm to 6am. Buses will divert via Windmill Road, The Slade and out onto the Eastern Bypass back to the roundabout.

It turns out to be a rather crime-rich collection of headlines this week. Here goes — —

On Tuesday a man was found with stab wounds in a car parked in North Way, Barton. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries, and police launched a murder investigation. A man was arrested on suspicion. Matters then get a little strange. Police mounted an operation in Kelburne Road, Cowley on Thursday and a second arrest was made. Another operation then took place in nearby Mayfair Road, and another man was arrested. Both men appeared separately in Oxford Magistrates Court on Saturday, where it emerged that Rafal Stawski of Mayfair Road had been charged with the Barton murder, and Marek Hndia of Fettiplace Road, Barton was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery against Stawski. Police are taking no further action against the original man arrested in connection with the murder. Both the accused men have been remanded to Oxford Crown Court on dates in May. Whether or not the two alleged crimes are related we probably won’t know until the crown Court hearings, if then, unless the police make any further statements.

Police have released an e-fit of a man they want to question in connection with an assault and robbery in Wood Farm on 4 April (see HH 208).

On Tuesday two men were convicted and jailed for six years and three months for an armed robbery at Stan James Bookmakers at the Roundway last April (see HH 155). The Oxford Mail report queries how the Lord Mayor of Oxford and two city councillors gave the men personal references.

And finally (whether or not it was in OX3) three men were arrested and a man was taken to hospital after an alleged incident of GBH in South Park on Tuesday.

In other news — —

The BBC’s Sunday Politics show last Sunday came from Old Headington parish hall. Was anyone from Headington there?


Setting up for the show. Photo: Penny Fox, via @headingtonnews

The Marston parking survey (see HH210) has been delivered to local residents.

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

  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Quarry Gate pub
  • Headington Neighbourhood Planning
  • London Road “Improvement” Scheme
  • New student development at top of Latimer Road
  • St. George’s day in Headington
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 #210

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 13 – 19 April.

Marston residents will be surveyed about the possible introduction of permit-only parking.

Cheney School Academy Trust has been recommended to run the new primary school that will be built in @BartonPark_. As well as the eponymous secondary school, Cheney also runs Bayards Hill Primary in Barton. A final decision will follow later, but with local support it’s fairly sure to happen.

The site of the old Friar pub on Marston Road has been put up for sale by Tesco after the company abandoned its plans to open a new store there.

An overflowing sewer in Barton caused raw sewage to flow down the street.

Headington Action @HeadingtonA have shared their reponse to Oxfordshire CC’s long-term transport strategy “Connecting Oxfordshire”, or LTP4, on the Oxford Futures website. (Oxford Futures is an initiative of Oxford Civic Society @oxcivicsoc.) Have any other Headington organisations or individuals responded? It would be interesting to see any more.

The planning application (Ref: 15/00858/FUL) to build student accommodation on the corner of Latimer Road is now on the City Council’s website.

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

  • Pavement Clutter
  • Headington Quarry Village Hall
  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Oxfordshire Business Awards 2015
  • Environmental Election Hustings April 22nd
  • Friar site for sale
  • Quarry Gate pub
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.