Life in and around Headington & OX3 (mostly), and Oxford (occasionally)
"To every complex problem there is a simple solution, startling in its simplicity, piercing in its clarity, and hopelessly and completely wrong" - Gore Vidal.
The results of the by-election for the City Ward of Quarry & Risinghurst held on Thursday 18 September are as follows:
| Name | Party | Votes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julia Gasper | English Democrats | 43 | |
| Katherine Harborne | Con | 222 | |
| Chewe Munkonge | Lab | 782 | Elected – Lab hold |
| Roz Smith | LibDem | 615 | |
| Liz Taylor | Green | 186 |
Turnout was 38%.
Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 8 – 14 September.
Never mind Scotland, if you live in Quarry & Risinghurst don’t forget to vote in the City by-election on Thursday (18th). The five candidates are listed here.
If you normally catch the 8 or 9 bus in Castle Street you need to know that the stop has been temporarily moved to St Aldates, near Pembroke College. It’s to do with the closure of Queen Street for emergency sewer works.
Oxford City Council designated – i.e. approved – the Headington Neighbourhood Forum and in effect gave the go-ahead for them to draw up a Neighbourhood Plan. A consultation will start soon.
@OxfordBusCo is starting a new service, the City 600, on Monday 29 September. It will run from Peartree P&R via the Woodstock Road, Moreton Road, Banbury Road, Parks Road, South Parks Road, Longwall Street, The Plain, Headington Hill and Headley Way to the JR Hospital. It will run every half hour but only during the main part of the working day (roughly 9 – 5) on Mondays to Fridays.
In other bus news the BrookesBus U4 service starts today linking the JR and Blackbird Leys via Gipsy Lane and Hollow Way. But unless I’m reading the timetable wrong there are only two buses one way in the early morning and three back again in the evening.
@Headingtonnews reports that the ex-Londis is to become a Café Nero.
@OllieMars30 reported that the Little Waitrose at the Shell petrol station was closed by Trading Standards late on Saturday afternoon.
The lift giving disabled access to Headington Library was finally commissioned on Friday.
At the time of writing there had been no active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week.
Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 1 – 6 September.
Local magazine Headington Monthly is now available online.
A new local cycling account appeared on twitter – @QuarryVelo.
Headington was hit by another outbreak of #oxpong on Wednesday evening, with the bad smell persisting into Thursday.
A four-vehicle collision blocked Cherwell Drive for a while late on Tuesday afternoon. Six people were injured, none of them seriously.
Da Root in Windmill Road has changed its name to Osheey!!! (via @headingtonnews).
The Julia Durbin Day Nursery in Old Road, which offers childcare to staff at Oxford Brookes Campus and the Churchill Hospital, has been rated outstanding after an inspection in August just 10 months after an earlier audit stated it required improvement.
It was Risinghurst’s community fun day on Saturday.
Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week: