cycling

Headington Headlines #363

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 26 March – 1 April.

Southern Health NHS Trust has been fined £2m for its failings over the deaths of Connor Sparrowhawk and Teresa Colvin.

Buses on routes 13/X13 and U5 had to be diverted to avoid overnight roadworks on Marston Road. The road closure seemed to take people by surprise, although yellow warning signs had been on show for some time.

The planning application for 95 student bedrooms at Ruskin College (see HH337) and the separate application for a further 12 beds at Stoke House go to east Area Planning Committee on Wednesday with recommendations for approval.

@clumpytree reported another failure by Oxfordshire CC to have cyclists in mind when they work on the roads. The subsequent thread got picked up and reported quite widely, prompting a promise from the county that it would be fixed ‘soon’. Original tweet here.

In other roadworks news, the London Road crossing that is being built at the end of Osler Road has been criticised for not having lights or any kind of pedestrian priority. @RuthWilk reports the explanation given at the last Headington Ward focus meeting. Without knowing a lot more about the technical work behind the decision it’s not possible to know whether ‘Health & Safety’ and the interests of the bus companies have been given priority over pedestrian safety and convenience. In a local shopping and commercial centre movement on foot ought to be safe, quick and simple; road traffic should be controlled accordingly.

A court has ruled that the charges Oxford City planned to levy on residents of the city’s five tower blocks woud be ‘excessive’, and has reduced the amounts drastically. For Plowman Tower in Northway the council was going to charge each property £48,766.75; the reduced figure is £2,640.85. In Foresters Tower in Wood Farm the charge has dropped from £49,116.62 to £2,642.77.

Marston Saints Football Club has had to abandon one of their pitches because of damage by moles, dog fouling and dogs digging in the soil. The pitch is off Horseman Close, Old Marston.

St Andrew’s School @sasastandrews1 has been awarded £2000 from the Tesco ‘Bags of Help’ scheme. The money will go on new curtains for the hall.

No local news is complete without a toilet story (who remembers “Clochemerle”)? The e-democracy forum has a thread which started as a complaint about closed facilities at the Bury Knowle Park toilets and then morphed into a series of exchanges on the Labour-controlled city council’s record in providing sport and leisure facilities. The good news is that the toilets are being repaired.

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

  • Bury knowle park, stealth closure/reduction of facilities

Active Travel for Nielsen Residents

TonyOX3

On 21 December 2017 the City Council gave prior approval to a change of use (ref: 17/02969/B56) allowing the conversion of the Nielsen building by the A40 next to Thornhill P&R into 134 flats. There were several conditions attached to the approval, which was a delegated decision. Campaigners and supporters of active travel will be pleased to see five conditions requiring better access to the site by foot and on cycles, cycle parking, and travel information for residents.

Proposed first floor plan

These two drawings may help put the text in context:

Condition 3 calls for “improvements … to the footpath to the south of the site … to create an appropriate shared footway and cycle access into the site. [This] must be of a sufficient standard for shared pedestrian and cycle use and must be appropriate for safe and convenient use year round.” This access leads into Risinghurst – good news for The Ampleforth!

Condition 4: “Improvements … for pedestrians accessing the site from the proposed vehicular access point to the north of the site. The scheme shall detail appropriate levels of street lighting and footway widths… [and] shall be carried out … before the development … is first occupied.”

Condition 5: “Improve the … current secondary vehicular exit, towards the west of the site, for the use of pedestrians and cyclists. The scheme shall provide details of the closure of the exit for vehicular use, and improvements to be made to the pedestrian and cycle environment including; appropriate levels of street lighting and the reinstatement of the footway and cycle route along the southern site of the A40 at this access. The improvements shall be carried out … before the development … is first occupied.”

Condition 6 specifies a minimum of 326 easily accessible cycle parking spaces, and Condition 7 requires there to be a Travel Plan Co-ordinator for the site and for a Residential Travel Information Pack to be given to every resident when they move in.

Of course, the fiasco of cycle provision at Westgate isn’t a good precedent. Although we will have to wait and see how the Nielsen site turns out it seems to be a step in the right direction. But the city planners will have to keep their eye on the ball to make sure the developers deliver good quality schemes to satisfy these conditions.

Other links:

Headington Headlines #346

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 27 November – 3 December.

Cllr Alex Hollingsworth posted an update on cycle parking provision at Westgate. I’ve copied it here.

The latest planning application for 29 Old High Street was refused.

The planning application (ref: 17/02010/FUL) to build a Neuroscience Research Building at the JR goes to East Area Planning Committee next Wednesday with a recommendation to approve. The new 3-storey building will be tucked away at the back of the site next to Headington Cemetery.

Loation plan.
Location plan. Download the pdf

Headington Action @HeadingtonA has been ‘recognised’ by Britain in Bloom for its work in making sure “communal land in the area [is] thriving”. Well done to them!

And with thanks to Headington Action, Headington’s Christmas lights were switched on on Friday to the accompaniment of carols, mince pies and general seasonal cheer.

 

To mark National Tree Week last week Lord Mayor Jean Fooks planted the Friends of Headington Hill Park’s first tree on Saturday.

In an exciting match played in good spirit, @OxCityFC lost their 2nd round FA Cup tie 3-2 against Notts County on Saturday. The winning goal was scored in added time in the very last moments of the game.

The Headington branch of NatWest Bank is not one of the ones listed for closure in the bank’s latest round of cuts to face-to-face services. The full list is here; Oxfordshire is under ‘Midlands and East’.

The Vicky Arms @VictoriaArms was voted “Managed House Best Turn Around Pub” in Wadworth’s ‘Best of the Best’ awards.

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

  • Over-60s exercise classes starting in Old Headington