Headington Hill

Headington Headlines #391

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 22 – 28 October.

In case I’ve not mentioned it before, thanks to @TheOxfordMail reporters for being the source of many of the local stories I pick up and report here. Thanks too to all the lovely local people on twitter who pass on their stories, comments and discussions.

Thames Water says that a problem with ‘mis-connected drains’ putting domestic sewage into the Lye Valley has been solved. Although there’s some confusion about whether this particular problem was affecting the Lye Brook or the Boundary Brook, both streams suffer to a varying extent from surface drains which inevitably include polluting road run-off. It’s welcome news that mis-connected domestic drains have been rectified though; every little helps!

The Friends of Headington Hill Park have a rather nice new website friendsofheadingtonhillpark.org.uk. Just one question – how DO you pronounce FoHHP?

The expected planning application by Oxford Brookes to demolish and rebuild their Clive Booth Student Village accommodation has been published on the City Council’s website (ref: 18/02587/FUL). Comments are open until 30 November.

Headington Action @HeadingtonA has entered the @OxfordBusCo competition to ‘Brand a Bus’. Vote for them here – scroll down to find no. 18).

Oxford United Football Club @OUFCOfficial celebrated the 125th anniversary of their foundation as Headington United FC. The local paper covered the occasion well, including presenting this quiz where you can test your in-depth knowledge of the club’s history.

The City Council has finally resolved the outstanding problem of the condition of the Bullingdon Community Centre on Peat Moors/Bulan Road (see HH 326, 328, 330, & 359). The previous plan for partial demolition has now been replaced by a £1m scheme for complete demolition of the Centre, replacing it with a brand new building.

Staff from Connell’s Estate Agents in Headington came to the rescue of an elderly man whose car stalled on the London Road at rush hour.

And finally … continuing the good news theme, a special OX3 welcome to Henry George Stuart Fowler, age 10 days, who was born in the back of his parents’ car on the corner of London Road and Headley Way on Friday last week (19th).

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

  • Brand a Bus
  • Oxford Architectural History lecture

Brookes Development Plans for Headington Hill

TonyOX3

Earlier this week Oxford Brookes and their consultant planners Turnberry put on a public exhibition of their latest development plans. This time it concerns the Headington Hill site; one proposal is for the replacement of the Helena Kennedy Building (HK), the other the redevelopment of the residential Clive Booth Student Village (CBSV). I was fortunate to be able to go to a full presentation by Brookes/Turnberry.

New Faculty Building replacing Helena Kennedy
New Faculty Building replacing Helena Kennedy
Picture © Turnberry

They plan to rebuild HK on the same ground plan, but to make a new faculty building which can be used to bring together “specialist functions from Arts, Architecture, Computing, Mechanical Engineering and Built Environment studies under the same roof. The building will become a hub for a variety of teaching, research and practical making activities.”

The plans for CBSV are more radical; they are looking to achieve a net gain of about 500 bed spaces which together with the major student accommodation development at Cowley Barracks will go a long way to getting the number of Brookes students in private rented accommodation down below the 3,000 target required by the City Council. At first sight the declared height of some of the new buildings seems excessive, but I was impressed by the amount of detailed work the consultants had done on both local and long-distance views towards and away from Headington Hill. This aspect will no doubt be subject to great debate once the formal planning applications are submitted and open for public comment.

New Faculty Building replacing Helena Kennedy
Clive Booth Student Village proposed new layout
Picture © Turnberry

Part of the thinking behind the proposals is to make the node point between CBSV and Headington Hill Campus more open, and to encourage students to use the Campus and the HK building as a through route to JHB/London Road/Gipsy Lane and to the sports facilities over the Headington Hill bridge. That way they will avoid the less attractive, poorly lit and potentially unsafe route of Cuckoo Lane and Pullen’s Lane.

For those who weren’t able to get to the public exhibition there is a copy of the display boards on this link (with thanks to Brookes and Turnberry). The two developments will be covered by two separate planning applications; HK will be first in a few weeks’ time, CBSV will follow and is expected to be submitted in early June.