Headington Headlines #333

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 28 August – 3 September.

The Headington Fairtrade shop celebrated its new look on Friday with drinks and nibbles and a 10% discount.

The latest Access to Headington work to start is to Churchill Drive and its junction with Old Road. It begins on 11 September and will last approximately 15 weeks. Part of Lime Walk will be closed and some on-road parking will be suspended. The County Council says residents on Lime Walk are being notified directly. The Oxford Mail’s report is here, and there are detailed drawings on the County’s Access to Headington pages (click the ‘Map’ tab).

The offices above Caffè Nero are advertised for rent. It’s not clear what this means for the future of current occupiers Abacus College / Oxford Language Centre. Hat-tip to @headingtonnews and @LeonardoLoredan for spotting and chasing this story.

The recent planning application for 29 Old High Street was turned down because of “excessive size and bulk” and because it would be “prominent and intrusive”. Expect an appeal.

As everyone took a last break before the end of the summer, there were no new posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week.

Headington Headlines #332

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 21 – 27 August.

Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss

Science fiction author and Old Headington resident Brian Aldiss OBE died last week a day after his 92nd birthday. For a full account of his links to Headington see the article about him on headington.org.uk.

There was confusion when electoral registration forms were delivered with return addresses and online registration links to Haringey instead of, or as well as, Oxford.

Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley submitted their comments on relevant sections of the City’s Preferred Options. The report is not yet on their website but you can see a copy here.

Dunstan Park (at the top of Foxwell Drive/Dunstan Road) is shown in the City’s Preferred Options as ‘For further investigation’ – ‘Housing’. Oxford Civic Society added a supplement specifically about Dunstan Park to their comprehensive comments on the Preferred Options consultation. They say it should be re-classified as a ‘Rejected Site’ in the ‘Green Infrastructure’ category (‘Rejected’, i.e. not considered for development).

In March last year a scheme was announced (see “Health and Fitness in Barton Park“) under which NHS money is going to be used to encourage residents of the new development to lead healthy lifestyles. Now The Oxford Mail reports one of the first initiatives may be to give people discounts on their grocery bills if they lead ‘healthy’ lifestyles. The article also mentions ‘free bicycles’. Whether it will really happen remains to be seen. Also I can’t help thinking that the money could be better spent on health projects in Barton rather than in glossy Barton Park/Mosaicland.

Speaking of which, Mosaics/Barton Park launches its marketing campaign in two weeks’ time on 9 – 10 September. We’re promised an ‘interactive 3-D model’ of the development.

The latest planning application on 29 Old High Street was refused on Thursday.

My favourite Headington-related tweet:

Big Narstie is a well-known grime artist. Here he is adressing the Oxford Union in May this year, supporting the motion that “Kanye (West) is more relevant than Shakespeare”.

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

  • Barton Park Prices

Headington Headlines #331

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 14 – 20 August.

It’s been a long saga, but the Headington Heatpipe has been turned on.

However, the whole system is not yet fully operational; the CHP (combined heat and power) engine isn’t yet commissioned.

There’s work going on at the ex-pet shop on the corner of Stile Road (opposite the Co-op), but as yet no information about what will be there. On the other side of the road the promised “Grill House Opening Soon” seems to have been on hold for the past month or more.

The shop that was last Morrison’s is to be a branch of franchise operation Heavenly Desserts.

@LeonardoLoredan has been mounting a one-man twitter campaign pointing out continuous breaches of agreed working conditions by Frontier Estates and their contractors Winvic on the Beech House site, Latimer Road.

The Oxford Mail reports that Independent Councillor for Marston, Mick Haines, is raising concerns about sewage flooding from the Barton Park development once people start moving in to the new properties. Provision of foul drainage capacity is a matter for Thames Water, and was a ‘reserved matter’ in the original outline planning permission for what was then West Barton. A Foul Water Strategy was prepared and the East Area Planning Committee approved the corresponding Condition 26 on 11 February 2015. Whether Cllr Haines is crying wolf remains to be seen, but I think I can hear a bandwagon approaching.

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

  • Local Plan 2036
  • Barton Park Prices