Election2015

Headington Headlines #213

TonyOX3

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.

General Election results – Oxford constituencies

TonyOX3

For the record, here are the results for the two Oxford constituencies in the May 2015 general election.

Oxford East

Turnout 64.2%

Party Candidate Votes %
Lab Andrew Smith 25,356 50.0%
Con Melanie Magee 10,076 19.9%
Green Ann Duncan 5,890 11.6%
LibDem Alasdair Murray 5,453 10.8%
UKIP Ian Macdonald 3,451 6.8%
Independent Chaka Artwell 160 0.3%
Official Monster Raving Loony Mad Hatter 145 0.3%
TUSC James Morbin 108 0.2%
Socialist Party of GB Kevin Parkin 50 0.1%

Oxford West & Abingdon

Turnout 71.8%

Party Candidate Votes %
Con Nicola Blackwood 26,153 45.7%
LibDem Layla Moran 16,571 28.9%
Lab Sally Copley 7,274 12.7%
UKIP Alan Harris 3,963 6.9%
Green Larry Sanders 2,497 4.4%
Nat Health Action Helen Salisbury 723 1.3%
Socialist Party of GB Mike Foster 66 0.1%

Spot the Difference

TonyOX3

For a party which claims to be running second to Labour in Oxford East, saying it is “one of our best chances in the UK”, you would think the Greens might try a bit harder with their campaign literature. Can you spot the differences in these two which have come through my door? Yes, apart from a very similar quote from two different sources and a marginal update on how popular their policies are, they’ve CHANGED ONE OF THE FONTS! I fear Natalie Bennett’s been wasting her time on those TV debates if this is the best her organisation can do.