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.
Anthony Stansfeld (Con) was re-elected for a further period of four years. At 25.6%, turnout was nearly double the figure for the first ever PCC election in 2012 when it was only 13.3% – most likely due to the election coinciding this year with local council elections. Laetisia Carter put in a strong showing for Labour to come a respectable second.
Here are the results of the City Council elections held on 5 May 2016 for the six wards in OX3. Five returned the sitting candidate, and in Headington Hill & Northway Nigel Chapman held the seat for Labour, replacing Roy Darke who announced his retirement before the election.
Mike Rowley got two thirds of the vote in 2012 in a straight 4-way contest. In 2014 UKIP put in a strong showing and came second. This year the UKIP vote collapsed and second place surprisingly (to me) went to serial Independent candidate Chaka Artwell.
Mark Lygo’s share of the vote held up well, and with no UKIP candidate to take second place as happened in 2014 the other parties trailed well behind.
Ruth Wilkinson’s strong personal vote in Headington Ward ensured she not only held her seat but increased her share of the vote from four years ago at the expense of Labour’s little-known candidate.
With Roy Darke standing down Labour’s vote might have suffered, but new councillor Nigel Chapman’s 51% share is on a par with their performance in the last two elections. The Conservatives came second as they did in 2014 and 2012. Mark Bhagwandin doesn’t seem to have profited from aligning himself with the protesters against the Barton link road and the City Council’s tower-block charges.
In a result very similar to his 2012 victory Mick Haines proved he isn’t a one-election wonder, and can continue campaigning as Oxford’s only Independent councillor.
Another familiar story in Quarry & Risinghurst with Labour taking the seat and LibDem Roz Smith coming a strong second.
Your weekly round-up of local news for 25 April – 1 May.
The planning application for a temporary car park in the JR grounds for local people affected by heatpipe works has been withdrawn. The Hospital Trust says it will be resubmitted as part of the new planning application that is being prepared for the whole route of the pipe.
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.
Bar Meze has closed with the shop premises being repossessed by the landlord.
NatWest Bank has also been closed this last week, but it will reopen tomorrow (3 May).
In contrast, our newest shop has opened. Card Factory is where Johnson’s dry cleaners used to be.
Revised plans for Windmill Road and Headley Way have been put out for consultation by the County Council as part of the Access to Headington Project. Read the County’s statement and see the revised plans here.
Oxford University will start a “Science Transit Shuttle” bus service between South Parks Road, Old Road Campus and Harwell on 18 July. In earlier discussions the University was willing to consider making the service available to the general public. This will not happen immediately but they say “the long-term intention is to explore options for more flexible routing and to open the service to the public”.
As pressure mounts on Southern Health over multiple failings of care including the death of Connor Sparrowhawk at Slade House, the trust’s chairman and a governor have resigned.
Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week: