Headington Headlines #332

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 #330

A relatively quiet week of local news for 7 – 13 August.

The County Council is resurfacing the A40 Northern Bypass, with the road being closed at various times including over the weekend just gone and during this current week. The County’s description of the works is far from clear, with Sunderland Avenue and North Way both being mentioned. It is not clear whether the whole road from Headington roundabout through Sunderland Avenue to the Wolvercote roundabout is affected. Their description of work to be done this week reads:

A40 North Way will be closed at night between 7pm and 6am each night from Monday 14 August to Friday 18 August. The noisiest operations will be completed by 11pm each night. The road will be open during the day over this phase.

They also say:

A40 Sunderland Avenue will be closed at night between 7pm and 6am each night from Monday 14 August to Friday 18 August. The noisiest operations will be completed by 11pm each night. The road will be open during the day over this phase.

Make of it what you will. The relevant web pages are here and here.

Good news for community groups left with nowhere to meet by the temporary closure of the Bullingdon Centre in Peat Moors. The Council are installing safety props and the building could reopen by the end of the month.

The Oxford Mail carried a story on 29 High Street implying there might be some movement on the planning stalemate that has kept it derelict for many years. But there doesn’t seem to be anything new in the report, so personally I’ll be surprised if anything happens in the near future.

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

  • Extending Early Bird Discount Chinese Classes

Headington Headlines #325

Your weekly round-up of local news for 3 – 9 July.

Thames Water starts sewer replacement works in St Clements today, lasting for several weeks. There will be long delays. You have been warned.

Councillors and The Oxford Mail are reporting that because of the work in St Clements, the Headley Way stage of Access to Headington, recently rescheduled to start on 24 July, has now been put back to the new year. This has yet to be confirmed on the County’s website, but it seems highly probable. This potentially pushes the work into conflict with building work on the JR site. Update, 1500 10/07/17 The County has now confirmed the postponement.

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about a suspected arson in Weyland Road last Sunday (2 July).

As predicted by the Huffington Post and reported in HH323, Oxford East MP Anneliese ‘One of Nine to Shine’ Dodds has been made a front-bench Treasury spokeswoman for Labour.

With the closure of the Marston Medical Centre patients have been re-allocated to other practices. Some will go to a unit based at the Marston Pharmacy, others have been allocated to a new unit being set up in the grounds of the JR at Arthur Sanctuary House (ASH, the building opposite the Women’s Centre). Patients have been told there will be no extra parking at ASH so anyone arriving by car will need to join the queues of drivers trying to get into the JR pay-for-parking car parks. Coming from Marston, the JR is served by the 13, X13, 14, and 700 bus services, which would be a sensible alternative for those who can use them.

The planning application by @TheSpiritofToad for a café at their new South Park distillery was called in by councillors after a close vote at the West Area Planning Committee. It will be decided at the Planning review Committee meeting this Wednesday (12 July).

@HeadingtonNews has sifted through all the site allocations in the City Council’s Preferred Options local plan document and produced a list of all the sites in the Headington area. Do try and find time to look at the consultation and make your views known.

Street names for the @BartonPark_ development have been released. The main spine road is to be Barton Fields Road (why not Barton Park Road?). Other names commemorate well-known Barton people, including Barry Holden, former Vice President of the Barton Community Association, and Elizabeth Maud Smith, a resident of Barton for 57 years.

Oxford Health NHS Trust @OxfordHealthNHS, who run the Warneford Hospital, showed their masterplan for how they want to develop the site into a world-leading treatment and research centre. Oxford University is collaborating to help them raise funds, but nothing’s likely to happen for a while yet. Exhibitions of the masterplan will be arranged over the summer months.

Model of the Warneford Masterplan site layout
Model of the Warneford Masterplan site layout (Warneford Lane at the top)

Travellers are back on the Marston Ferry Road cycle path. They were able to access the path due to a bollard failure.

It’s been a long time, but 29 Old High Street (the derelict place on the right near the car park) is back! Planning application ref 17/01686/FUL is for “Partial demolition of existing house and demolition of existing garages and outbuildings. Erection of two storey side and rear extension. Provision of new access, car parking and turning area. Rebuilding of stone boundary wall fronting Old High Street.” The application is open for comments until 3 August.

Ruskin College has been criticised for abandoning its roots and its foundation by closing its international labour and trade union studies department.

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

  • Ramsey Road Allotments
  • Local Plan 2036
  • Ramsey Road Allotments
  • Charity event to celebrate Adult Volunteers in Oxfordshire
  • Frontier Estates Multiple Site London Road / Barton Road