churches

Headington Headlines #226

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 3 – 9 August.

St Andrew’s Church tower is having some restoration work done. It will cost about £100,000 all of which has been raised locally.

The new arrangement for the Farmers’ Market being weekly on Saturdays has got off to a good start, according to the Market Manager quoted in @OxfordTimes.

Consultation on the Access to Headington transport plan closed last Friday. I’ve posted a list of links to several responses, including Headington Action, Friends of Old Headington, Oxford Civic Society and local Councillors. Three themes recur in most if not all the comments:

  • Poor public consultation;
  • Not enough information to make rational decisions;
  • Concerns about environmental impact (trees and green verges) and parking arrangements.

Starting today (Monday) for three weeks, Queen Street is closed to buses. So if you normally get your 8 or 9 from Castle Street you’ll need to go to a temporary stop in St Aldate’s instead.

The planning application (Ref: 15/01924/FUL) for the extension to the Manor Surgery has been on the City Council’s website for a few weeks. So far there’s only been one letter of objection which is about extending car parking spaces. However, the application doesn’t cover this aspect, saying “The car park improvements will be submitted under a separate application“.

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

  • £12.m transport improvements for Headington: exhibitions and consultation
  • Mobility scooters
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 #196

TonyOX3

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

The resumption of roadworks on both sides of the Headington roundabout led predictably to big traffic delays. They are likely to continue until May/June.

Then there were two stories about parking associated with the road works. In Windmill Road, single yellow lines appeared without warning across several residents’ parking places. People were understandably upset, especially as they had paid for permits. It turned out it was all a mistake and the suspensions have been, er, suspended, though they might be reinstated sometime in the future if Windmill Road becomes a diversion route while the London Road works continue. I hope that’s clear.

The second story broke in the Streetlife forum that operates in the Marston/Northway area. Again, parking restrictions appeared apparently without warning. Investigation by @theabingdontaxi found that the statutory notice fixed to the lamposts explains that this is a temporary measure and not enforceable without accompanying signage and that it’s for the duration of the London Road improvement works. I imagine this is again a restriction that will be invoked if the need arises.

And it looks like still more roadworks, this time for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists in Headington centre. @TheOxfordMail reports that @OxfordshireCC will start work this month to eliminate the flooding problem on the corner of London Road and Old High Street (not Windmill Road as stated in the article). I seem to remember that engineers have diagnosed a collapsed sewer as the cause of the problem, although the fall of the road surface needs re-setting too. @RosalindRogers has been campaigning for this for a long time!

Tesco announced the closure of 43 unprofitable stores. We don’t know yet if Headington (@Tesco6880) will be one of them, nor whether Tesco will now scrap plans to open on the old Friar pub site in Marston.

The Holy Trinity Preservation group is holding a public meeting on 22 January at @TheMasonsArmsHQ to discuss the revised plans for extensions to the Church. All welcome.

As the general election campaign juggernaut begins to rumble into motion, I wrote a short summary of the candidates so far declared in the two Oxford constituencies, and made a handy twitter list for you to follow if you don’t want to miss a word, at least from those of them that are on twitter.

And finally….. a tree blew down in Valentia Road in the storms.

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

  • Parcel Couriers
  • Maps
  • New Headington bus routes
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
  • Parking on pavement
  • Barton Road Park
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 #187

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 27 October – 2 November.

Holy Trinity Church in Quarry published revised plans for extending the building to provide a purpose-built toilet for those with disabilities and a small crèche/meeting-room and kitchen. Previous plans were rejected after considerable concerns expressed by parishioners.

Risinghurst’s fireworks will be on Saturday 8 November. Gates open at 6.30, tickets £3 for adults, £2 for children over 5 years old. It is the same evening as the big display in South Park.

The developers who want to build student accommodation on the corner of Latimer and London Roads – Frontier Estates – changed their minds about presenting their proposals at the Headington Ward Focus meeting on Tuesday and decided not to attend. The same people have been actively looking for sites in the Windmill Road/Kennett Road area but have not endeared themselves to local residents. There’s no indication on their website that they have any experience of delivering student accommodation, and their non-attendance at the meeting last week won’t help them win support for their Latimer Road scheme.

Law firm @WithyKing who took over local solicitors Edward Pilling (see Headington Headlines 185) made legal headlines when they took a pro bono case in the Family Court in Swindon. The lack of legal aid led the judge to make a scathing attack on government policy.

A mature Scots pine tree in Bury Knowle Park had to be cut down after developing a dangerous split in last week’s high winds. @grnlbs made this video of the job being done.

Two cars, a Mini and a Smart Car, were stolen from a house in Sandfield Road early on Thursday morning. It’s thought the thief or thieves entered the house through an unsecured front door and took the keys from the entrance hall.

Oxford City Council has produced a list of buildings throughout the city which will become free wifi hotspots next year under a Government scheme. Barton Neighbourhood Centre, Headington Community Centre, Northway Community Centre, Risinghurst Community Centre, Headington Library, Old Marston Library and Thornhill Park and Ride are all included.

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

  • Marston Park and Ride
  • Risinghurst Fireworks
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
  • Oxford Fiddle Group Concert – Headington Quarry
  • New coach service from Thornhill to London
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.