Headington Headlines #16

TonyOX3

Here slightly earlier than usual is my weekly round-up of news for the week 6 – 12 June.
Starting with commercial news, the Quarry Gate pub on Wharton Road was put on the market at an asking price of £899,000. Cartridge World on the London Road closed down (first reported by @nikkiloymusic). Local agents @scottfraseruk won Gold in the Best UK Small Agency category at The Sunday Times Letting Agency of the Year Awards, and Tesco won its appeal and will open a shop on the former Friar pub site in Marston.

The first of the drop-in sessions running as part of the consultation process for the proposed Barton West development took place on Thursday. @TheOxfordMail reported. The next session is on Monday 13 June at 4:30-7pm in the Northway Community Centre.

The Barton development was discussed on Radio Oxford on Sunday morning. Also in the programme presenter Bill Heine interviewed the Vice-Chancellor of Brookes about relations between the University and the local community.

The City Council announced that land at Hill View Farm, Old Marston, was one of four sites being considered for a new cemetery. Embarrassingly for them it was the wrong farm. The correct site is at the adjacent Almonds Farm, where the Council owns land. Discussion(s) on the e-dem forum (see below).

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

  • London-Paris Bike Ride; Training and Fundraising Update (and a Big Thank You)
  • Burial Grounds
  • New burial ground in Old Marston?
  • Tesco appeal on The Friar Site
  • The Chequers
  • Headington on local radio this morning

I try to 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 #15

TonyOX3

Here is my weekly round-up of news for the week 30 May – 5 June.

The Headington Festival took place on Sunday 5 June, and was well-attended despite the weather turning a bit damp during the afternoon. @HeadingtonNews posted some photos.

In yet another climb-down by the County Council, plans to introduce parking controls in Cheney Lane and Warneford Lane were dropped. “Controlled parking zones are not a priority”, Rodney Rose, council cabinet member for transport is reported to have said.

A blue plaque to famous Morris dancer and folk musician William Kimber was unveiled on Monday outside 42 St Anne’s Road, the house Mr Kimber built for his family in about 1908. The traditional bank holiday Morris dancing at Headington Quarry followed.

Laura Loves Flowers has closed after only a short time & has relocated to Sutton Courtenay (via @beccachaplin).

29 Old High Street made the news when it was put on the Save Britain’s Heritage At Risk register. This doesn’t require anything to actually happen about it.

The inaugural meeting of the Area Planning East Committee met in the Town Hall on Wednesday. Four out of 9 councillors on the committee represent ‘our’ wards: Mary Clarkson (Lab, Marston); Van Coulter (Lab, Barton & Sandhills); Roy Darke (Lab, Headington Hill & Northway); David Rundle (LibDem, Headington).

On Wednesday night thieves broke into the Helen and Douglas House charity shop in Windmill Road and raided the safe, taking about £250 in cash.

@DazzMullee reported there was a car smash outside the Britannia on Friday when a BMW was in collision with a driving instructor’s car.

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

  • 29 Old High Street
  • Planning applications: new arrangements
  • Library
  • Rosemary’s Restaurant

I try to 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 #14

TonyOX3

Here is my weekly round-up of news for the week 23 – 29 May.

News broke that seven Oxfordshire libraries planned for closure, including Headington, will now stay open.

A new teaching block was opened at St Nicholas Primary School in Raymund Road, Marston to help cater for growing pupil numbers. The school is set to expand from 410 to 460 pupils in the next few years.

Michele Obama’s motorcade was reported passing through Headington on Wednesday. Of course it might have been an elaborate decoy with the First Lady actually getting out at Thornhill, changing onto a 400 bus, getting off in St Aldates and slipping into Christ Church without anyone noticing.

The monthly Headington farmers’ market happened on Friday.

Headington School had their ‘Muck Up day’ when the sixth form leavers create mayhem around the school. There is a 2-part video of this year’s antics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKFCjXXtuYE and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9RdK6gVAGg (no sound on the 2nd clip when I wrote this).

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

  • Cars for Sale at bottom of Headley Way
  • Rosemarys Restaurant
  • Bricklayers Arms, Marston
  • Library

I try to 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.