Haboakus

Northway Haboakus developments clear to proceed?

TonyOX3

Back in June 2013 the east Area Planning Committee approved the two Haboakus developments in Northway subject to conditions – chiefly about drainage – being met. You can remind yourself about them, including the Kevin McLeod connection, here and trail back through the whole history here.

Firstly, on the Westlands Drive site (ref: (original) 12/03281/FUL and (this condition) 12/03281/CND) the developers have undertaken to contribute £1500 to the County Council towards the cost of amending various regulations so that residents are not eligible for residents’ and visitors’ parking permits. The official document is here. I am not sure how this squares with the provision of 21 car parking spaces to go with the 21 flats which form the development.

On the same Westlands Drive development, Thames Water have confirmed that after carrying out a study they have determined that no new work needs to be done to cope with the extra foul sewage from this development. There is no need for a foul storage tank.

For the other site, Maltfield Road, aka Dora Carr Close, (ref: (original) 12/03280/FUL and (this condition) 12/03280/CND) the problem is that the foul sewers fill up with surface water at times of high rainfall and there is a danger of foul sewage flooding. Three options were considered and the favoured solution is to build an on-site storage tank to contain the foul flow from the development at times of high flow in the sewers. A new pumping station will be needed, controlled by telemetry so that the foul drainage from the site will only be discharged to the sewers when the flow is low enough not to cause problems. You can read the full report here.

No part of the Thames Water study looked at surface water flooding. If these responses to the conditions on the planning permission are acceptable they remove the most significant objections to the developments going ahead.

Headington Headlines #115

TonyOX3

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

It was Risinghurst and Sandhills’ turn to have community fun yesterday (Sunday) – the Community Fete and Picnic, opened by Lord Mayor @dee_sinclair.

A burst water main in Borrowmead Road, Northway, left 37 properties without water for a time on Tuesday.

EF language school @EFOxford has withdrawn its planning application to redevelop Cotuit Hall in Pullen’s Lane as an International Academy. They say this is after local residents objected, and they intend to engage with the community before submitting revised plans later this year. I’ve added this news to my Cotuit Hall timeline on Storify.

Morrison’s have applied for an alcohol licence for the old Blockbuster shop.

The outline planning application (ref 13/01383/OUT) for the West Barton development has been submitted and is on the City Council’s website.

The East Area Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday approved the two Haboakus developments in Northway, but drainage and sewerage issues have to be sorted out before development starts. The Committee rejected the third application (in Barns Road, Cowley) because of inadequate of parking provision.

Londis now has a 24-hour alcohol licence.

Martin Young’s latest planning application looks like being turned down at the next Planning Committee meeting, according to The Oxford Mail.

Some Xbox games and cash were stolen in a break-in in Blackthorn Close on Thursday.

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

  • How does the Jack Straw’s Lane “bicycle street” work?
  • Headington Festival and Sports Day 2013
  • Plans for the new Barton estate now available
  • Noise in Quarry
  • Crown and Thistle
I try to 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 #111

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 6 – 12 May.

In Sir Alex Ferguson’s first match in charge, Manchester United lost 0-2 away to Oxford United at the Manor Ground in Headington on 8 November 1986.

A man from Weyland Road who waved a large kitchen knife in a street fight was given a six-month suspended sentence.

Consideration of the Haboakus developments in Northway and Cowley by the East Area Planning Committee today (13 May) has been deferred until 5 June “because of the large volume of third party responses that were received after the Committee report was published”. Thames Water have asked for the drainage system to be assessed before work starts.

A draft constitution for the @HeadingtonPlan Neighbourhood Forum is available for comment on the Plan website.

A school for children with autism and learning disabilities will open next year on the site of the former Ormerod School in Waynflete Road, Barton. It will be run by the MacIntyre charity in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council and will take 20 pupils. A full refurbishment is planned with a new 12-bed residential building set to open in September next year.

The C S Lewis Jubilee Festival in September @CSLewisJubilee is on twitter. Tickets for festival events are already on sale.

@Jacobsandfield are taking over the Red Lion in Wolvercote, planning to re-open in July as @JacobsInn.

@OxFurniture‘s mobile phone was stolen on London Road by two girls on Saturday.

Sources in Risinghurst tell me that @QGCafé whose opening I noted in March this year is no more. The twitter account is closed which seems to confirm it.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

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

  • Bury Knowle Park big swing on a pole thing
  • Oxford’s 1st Polish Business Fair
  • Area Comittees and Public Engagement
  • Local historians what do you know about the history of Sandhills?
  • Redevelopment of Northway
  • Lack of traffic in Headington this morning
I try to 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.