Headington Headlines #213

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 4 – 10 May.

For the full results of the election in both Oxford constituencies, see here.

Parking problems at the JR made the local news programmes this week, with calls for extending the amount of parking being countered by arguments that increased parking spaces only means more congestion on the roads. One proposal is for a dedicated hospital park-and-ride off Marsh Lane, which incidentally happens to be green belt land.

A classic Mini Metro was stolen from Mark Road, Headington and later found burnt out. The news spread, and the teenage owner has been offerred a free replacement by a fellow enthusiast in Scotland.

There’s a presentation this evening (Monday 11 May) about the first phase of the @BartonPark_ development. It’s from 6 – 7pm in the Long Room at the Town Hall, and it’s open to the public. I blogged about some of the issues I think need to be sorted out before the development gets underway.

Oxybox in Marston went out of business.

I guess Oxybox have gone bust then. pic.twitter.com/gbms2mfBTR

— Stuart Bryant (@amigastu) May 6, 2015

The launderette in Girdlestone Road made it into a Polling Day twitter theme of unusual polling stations, triggering a wave of jokes on the lines of ‘washing dirty laundry in public’, ‘all come out in the wash’, ‘the spin room’, [add your own joke here].

Spin cycle? Laundrette polling station in Headington, Oxford © rogeraskew/Alamy http://t.co/0rTCu6mvuT pic.twitter.com/enEypiDv40

— Alamy News (@AlamyNews) May 7, 2015

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

#shotoverbb Don't miss the bluebells in Shotover RT @HeadingtonNews @TonyOX3 pic.twitter.com/P6HR8gEg1G

— Headington Heritage (@headingheritage) May 10, 2015

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

  • Are trams the big bang solution Oxford needs?
  • Barton Park development
  • Possible new Park & Ride at Marston for the John Radcliffe Hospital
  • Marston Park and Ride
  • Appreciating your offer.
  • Petitioning Oxfordshire County Council for Quarry Hollow Traffic Calming and pedestrian safety
I 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 #210

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 13 – 19 April.

Marston residents will be surveyed about the possible introduction of permit-only parking.

Cheney School Academy Trust has been recommended to run the new primary school that will be built in @BartonPark_. As well as the eponymous secondary school, Cheney also runs Bayards Hill Primary in Barton. A final decision will follow later, but with local support it’s fairly sure to happen.

The site of the old Friar pub on Marston Road has been put up for sale by Tesco after the company abandoned its plans to open a new store there.

An overflowing sewer in Barton caused raw sewage to flow down the street.

Headington Action @HeadingtonA have shared their reponse to Oxfordshire CC’s long-term transport strategy “Connecting Oxfordshire”, or LTP4, on the Oxford Futures website. (Oxford Futures is an initiative of Oxford Civic Society @oxcivicsoc.) Have any other Headington organisations or individuals responded? It would be interesting to see any more.

The planning application (Ref: 15/00858/FUL) to build student accommodation on the corner of Latimer Road is now on the City Council’s website.

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

  • Pavement Clutter
  • Headington Quarry Village Hall
  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Oxfordshire Business Awards 2015
  • Environmental Election Hustings April 22nd
  • Friar site for sale
  • Quarry Gate pub
I 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 #209

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 April.

The Londis store on the corner of the Marston Road and William Road was given a zero hygeine rating for, among other shortcomings, potentially selling poisonous potatoes.

The City Council invited applicants for the new housing in Lock’s Court (Bury Knowle Park) but made a mistake with the rents, getting muddled between ‘social’ and ‘affordable’ housing. @headingtonnews and @RuthWilk queried it and the Council has said they will notify applicants and start again. Here are the correct figures.

Headington Churches Together organised a hustings at the Baptist Church in Old High Street on Thursday evening. Over 120 people turned up but none of the three main party candidates was there. Click the image below for the Oxford Mail report of the evening.

@QuarryVelo cyclists paid homage to cycling’s Spring Classics by riding the remaining cobbled streets of Oxford in their Quarry – Roubaix ride on Sunday.

NINE candidates are standing for election in the Oxford East constituency:

Candidate Party Twitter
Chaka Artwell Independent  
Ann Duncan Green ann4oxfordeast
Mad Hatter (Alasdair de Voil) Official Monster Raving Loony VoteMadHatter
Ian Macdonald UKIP MacDonaldUKIP
Melanie Magee Con cllr_magee
James Morbin TUSC  
Alasdair Murray LibDem alasdairjmurray
Kevin Parkin Socialist Party of GB  
Andrew Smith Lab VoteAndrewSmith

The official list of candidates is here.

For the sake of completeness, her’s a link to the candidates for Oxford West & Abingdon.

Work has started clearing the way for the new access road to @BartonPark_. For an indication of how some local people are still upset about the road, see the thread on the e-democracy forum.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Pavement Clutter
  • Headington Quarry Village Hall
  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
I 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.