Headington Headlines #191

TonyOX3

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

I blogged about the obscurity around the @BartonPark_ Reserved Matters planning documents, available online. There are 113 documents to absorb. But credit to Oxford City Council planning officers – within 48 hours of my mini-rant the document names had all been changed to something more meaningful.

The 20-bed Oxford City Community Hospital has moved from the JR to the Churchill. The move is said to put patients closer to other services.

@RosalindRogers posted this picture of a mural in Quarry Village Hall, uncovered during the on-going refurbishment.

A traffic accident outside Waitrose early on Friday evening closed Old High Street for a while.

Forget Black Friday, it’s Golden Monday! The Ford family who run everyone’s favourite hardware store Headington Homewares celebrate 50 years of continuous trading as a family business today. Congratulations! I’m told they are marking the occasion with 10% off everything this week.

Starting today, the Headington Live Advent Calendar @LiveAdvent2014 presents a different musical or artistic event in a different location every day until Christmas. Full details on their website, where you can download a full programme.

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

  • no lights
  • Cyclists on Pavements
  • Headington Festival Weekend 2015
  • Does the Old School British Gentlemen/Lady still exist in this modern age?
  • Save the date! #GivingTuesday – December 2
  • Barton Park: Planning application November 2014
  • Drivers going too fast and thinking that’s OK
  • Correction of previous submission – Care Home inviting community at Christmas
  • Parking at the JR
  • Problems with Royal Mail
  • I’d just like to say…
  • Dunstan Rd Speed Humps
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.

Barton Park shrouded in obscurity

TonyOX3

I’ve criticised the obscurity of the planning system before, and another example has just emerged. Big developments thrive by making informed public debate virtually impossible. The @BartonPark_ reserved matters planning documents are online for scrutiny. There are 113 documents, so good luck to anyone who wants to know the details.

For example, the preamble to the list of documents says it covers cycle paths, but not one of the documents has the word ‘cycle’ in its title so it’s extremely difficult to find any information about what’s being proposed. In fact I tried searching the page for ‘cycle’, ‘park’, ‘lighting’, footpaths’ and ‘ponds’, all said to be included within the application. None of the documents listed have any of these words in their titles.

In practice the only people who will dig into the details are a few professionals working for the developers and a few Council officers. Elected Councillors won’t have time and will rely on being told what the officers think they need to know. Meaningful discussion will be non-existent, and public participation effectively quashed.

Nice one, Barton Park and Oxford City.

Headington Headlines #190

TonyOX3

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

The first feedback from @HeadingtonPlan Headington Neighbourhood Plan’s consultation on local issues was reported in @TheOxfordMail. Transport problems were top of the list, but restrictions on what the Plan can cover are likely to limit any effective pressures for reducing congestion.

Some residents in and around Quarry suffered low water pressure on Sunday last week and again the next day. Thames Water confirmed there was a problem and assigned engineers to trace and fix it. Things were back to normal later on Monday.

Morrisons closed yesterday, just short of 13 months after it opened. The company says all the staff will be relocated to other stores in the area.

A car driving in a bus lane was seized by police in Headington on Thursday. The driver was uninsured.

The last vestige of Headington’s windmill disappeared with Windmill House being renamed Matthew Wigglesworth House. As always, headington.org.uk has the complete history of the windmill dating back to the 13th century.

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

  • no lights
  • Bags of rubbish
  • Jack Russell Pub
  • Pub on Barton Park?
  • Old Road/Park Hospital Campus: Third consultation, Dec 2014
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.