To see all my articles on the West Barton development click here.
After the @OxfordTimes story the Barton development team @BartonOxford took to twitter to clarify the current position on medical services in the new development.
West Barton – first rumblings
Some time in the next few months the City Council and Grosvenor, joint developers of the West Barton area, will submit their first planning applications for the development. Expect plenty of jockeying for influence. The Oxford Times carried a story on Monday reporting that current Barton residents are anxious about suggestions their doctors’ surgery and police hub may be moved from the Community Centre on Underhill Circus to new premises in the new development “up to one-and-a-half miles away”.
While it’s easy to understand Barton’s concerns, the chances are that if a new Community Centre is part of the new development it will be built close to the centre of gravity of the combined areas where it can be reached most easily by most people. A mile and a half is impossible – the furthest point of the Barton West development area (where the Bayswater Brook reaches the A40) is only a mile from Underhill Circus. The closest point is less than half a mile away (see map from 2012 draft Area Action Plan).
Discussion and debate on a major development is good. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a whole new area of Oxford. We need to get it right, and sloppy journalism (at best) and false information (at worst) won’t help.
Headington Headlines #103
Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 11 – 17 March.
Councillor @joemcmanners (Lab, Churchill) resigned from his Council position on Monday. @TheOxfordMail reported “Dr McManners, a GP and former executive member for housing, has been forced to stand aside because he is due to serve on the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Board, and cannot hold both roles”. @antoniabance (Lab, Rose Hill & Iffley) also resigned. The timing allows the by-elections to be held in May at the same time as the county elections.
Thames Water has submitted formal objections to the Haboakus developments in Northway with concerns about the inability of the local drainage systems to cope with the increased capacity. Go to here and here, click Documents and scroll down to find Thames Water’s comments. The system won’t allow me to give you a direct link.
@QGcafe in Risinghurst joined twitter.
About 200 people turned up in South Park for Miranda Hart’s Red Nose Day dog show on Thursday.
The Headington Singers performed Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem for Mixed Voices at All Saints’ Church on Friday.
It snowed again on Sunday (yesterday).
My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:
Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:
- Traffic accidents on Windmill Road. Are they really happening?
- Traffic on A40 / London Road increasing?
- Trees vanishing from Woods on Eastern Bypass
- Should Windmill School grow to over 600 pupils?
- Bedroom Tax Demonstration – Saturday 16th 1pm – Bonn Square Oxford