TonyOX3 – Page 70 – Life in and around Headington & OX3 (mostly), and Oxford (occasionally)

Headington Headlines #279

22 August 201621 August 2016 TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 15 – 21 August.

The consultation period on the heatpipe planing application closed on Thursday, by which time 13 comments had been registered, 8 with objections and 5 neutral. (The neutral ones mostly ask questions rather than raising objections).

All my posts about the project are under the ‘Energy Project’ tab in the main menu, and there’s a page of links and contact details here.

A ‘Craft Burger’ restaurant is planning to open in the premises that used to be Dong Dong Noodle Bar in Windmill Road. They are advertising for staff. An industry briefing newsletter reports:

New craft beer and burger concept Craft Burger to launch in Oxford: New craft beer and burger concept Craft Burger is set to launch next month in Oxford, creating 15 jobs. The independent business will offer gourmet burgers and craft beer at its 50-cover restaurant in Headington. Craft Burger will use fresh ingredients, grinding meat and making sauces daily on-site. As well as offering craft beer on tap and in bottles, the venue will also sell shakes and other non-alcoholic drinks. Craft Burger will offer a takeaway service when it opens in mid-September, with a delivery service to be added at a later date. A company spokesman told Propel: “We are trying to create some fresh ideas in Headington and hopefully draw more people to the area. We hope to make Craft Burger a success and open other sites in the future.” www.propelinfonews.com/index.php 19/08/2016

A planning application (ref: 16/02112/FUL) has been submitted for a change of use of the Fairview Inn in Glebelands to a 5-bedroom house. The pub changed ownership in December 2013 with a statement at the time that it would continue to be run as a pub (see HH 141).

Campaign group @TheAmpRevival are in negotiations with the pub’s owners about re-opening under a short-term commercial lease.

Thank you to the reader who sent me another Headington Olympian. Silver medal winner Katie Greves was part of the women’s eight who beat Romania into third place in a photo finish behind the USA. Katie learned to row as a pupil at @HeadingtonSch and went on to coach there. She now rows for Leander in Henley.

The ‘Endeavour’ cast and crew were in Headington – the Cemetery, no less – filming for episode 3 of series 4. Thanks to @SimplyOxford for the link.

Following reports at the beginning of the month that Bar Meze had re-opened, it’s been confirmed that it’s the same people running it.

Apparently Bury Knowle Park is a PokéStop (a Pokémon Go hotspot). If you see bunches of people wandering around staring into their smartphones, that’s why. If you haven’t got a clue what this is about just move on.

All of Headington is outraged and deeply shocked by a missing apostrophe on a new sign in North Place. “It’s a scandal!”, spluttered Erik van t’Hoole of St Andrew’s Lane. “It’s bad enough that I have to live next to Larkins Lane without an apostrophe, but this adds insult to injury! Oxford is world famous for its grammar, spelling, and commas but this appalling error brings the good name of the city into disrepute.” A Council spokesperson later said, “It’s called Locks Court because we have to use two padlocks to close the gates.”

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

Barton Park junction

Headington Headlines #278

15 August 201614 August 2016 TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 8 – 14 August.

The Headington Neighbourhood Plan was passed by Oxford City Council to go forward for formal consultation. Following the six week public consultation the Council and the Neighbourhood Plan Forum will make any necessary amendments. The Council will then arrange for an independent external inspector to examine the draft Plan. If the inspector confirms that the Plan is satisfactory it will be the subject of a public referendum programmed for May 2017. See the full announcement on the Plan’s website.

The ex-bed shop on the corner of Old High Street is becoming an Italian restaurant, Buongiorno e Buonasera. They already have a restaurant in Gloucester Green. @LuigiMutti tells me it’s due to open on 20 September.

I wrote a short review of Headington’s independent café and gelatería Adria.

Local MP @AndrewSmithMP has said that the dysfunctional Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust should be broken up.

The Triangle Nursery has opened on the Old Road Campus, catering for children aged 4 months to 5 years.

A planning application to build 52 homes just off Waynflete Road in Barton has been approved – not by Oxford City but by South Oxfordshire Council. The land is just outside the city boundary. See my original note in HH #262.

Struggling for a Headington Olympic connection the only one I’ve found so far is Katherine Grainger’s silver medal in the women’s double sculls. Katherine is Chancellor of @Oxford_Brookes, a position she has held since March 2015. She has now won more Olympic medals (5) than any other female British athlete.

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

Dong Dong
Disruption
Barton Park junction

Adria café and gelatería

10 August 2016 TonyOX3

Slightly off Headington’s main drag a few doors down Windmill Road is independent café and gelatería Adria, which opened in February this year. I went for the first time today, and now I’m sorry I hadn’t been before. It was mid-morning so I was looking for coffee and a pastry. Sadly, pastries weren’t on offer (the owner explained he had tried them but they didn’t sell well) and loyal readers will know I’m not a fan of cake in the morning (there was carrot cake), so it had to be ice cream. As you’d expect in a gelatería, there was ice cream. About 16 varieties including two or three sorbets, in a range of subdued (vanilla, choclolate) and garish (bubblegum) colours. I opted for coffee and a scoop of stracciatella; my companion chose coffee and lemon sorbet, all of which were excellent.

There’s a nice atmosphere too – tables and comfortable chairs inside, including some neat child-size armchairs, and more tables and chairs on the pavement outside. The décor is calm and stylish, a background rather than a feature.

As well as coffee and ice cream Adria offers soft drinks, a wide choice of herbal teas and a food menu of pizzas and toasted sandwiches. Well, I didn’t ask, but I assume ‘baked’ means ‘toasted’.

Adria isn’t on twitter and the owner said he’s still working on setting up a facebook page. I hope he doesn’t leave it too long because a small independent needs people to know about it, and I suspect Adria isn’t as well-known as it deserves to be. I’ll certainly go back, and when I do I’ll suggest that if they can’t offer pastries then a jar or two of upmarket cookies might fill the gap.