London Road

Headington Headlines #175

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 4 – 10 August.

In a remarkable display of ineptitude, Oxfordshire County Council have still failed to install the disabled access lift at Headington Library, and have ignored planning requirements for the visual appearance of the new construction on what is a Grade 2 listed building. After a site meeting on Wednesday everything is on hold pending a decision on whether to re-render or paint the extension.

It’s always politically risky to trumpet achievements before they happen. Earlier this year local Conservatives praised ‘Conservative-led’ Oxfordshire County Council for ‘prioritising’ the London Road repairs and reconfiguration. Not only has the work – originally said to be happening ‘in the summer’- not yet started, we now learn it won’t be finished until well into 2015. Details here.

The Headington Royal British Legion in Edgecombe Road, Barton has closed due to lack of funds.

The Mount Pleasant Guest House (by the Royal Standard and Britannia pubs)and the Bell House Guest House (corner of Ransay Road) are both for sale (thanks to @headingtonnews for spotting these).

A planning application (ref 14/00983/FUL) to build a 55-bed dementia day- and residential care home at 1 Pullens Lane has been turned down by Oxford City’s East Area Planning Committee. Councillors said it did not fit with the area’s “rural tranquility”. The property is the first on the left after the entrance to the allotments (map, boundaries approximate).

Labour Councillor @laurencepbaxter (Quarry & Risinghurst) has confirmed he is standing down from the City Council. He is taking up a teaching post in Prague. The by-election will be on 18 September.

The main path through The Croft is closed for about another week for work on overhanging trees.

The @ButchersArmsOxf will be closed for refurbishment from 18 to 26 August, opening again at 4.30pm on 27 August. They tell me there’ll be a new, improved bar and “fabulous toilets”.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Headington & Marston in the First World War
  • I see a new local rival discussion site has been set up.
  • Silver Joggers
  • Parking on pavement
  • Post Here to be positive about Headington, Marston, Oxford, Oxfordshire and life in general.
  • Headington makes it to number 24…..
  • Excessively bright light at Tesco ATM
  • London road from Hamburger roundabout to headington
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 #168

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 16 – 22 June.

Headington’s bike hire scheme was relaunched under the management of a new company. They are still using the name Oxonbike and all the details are on their website (confusingly using the domain name in the plural – Oxonbikes). The deal seems to be the same as before and the locations are also the same, though the actual bike racks have a different design and technology. Their twitter account is @oxonbike.

It seems the London Road road works have been put back to late Summer and will run through into 2015 with a break over Christmas.

The Stansfeld outdoor centre off Quarry Road has been registered as an Asset of Community Value.

Headington Quarry School celebrated its 150th anniversary this weekend.

Two aspiring politicians who stood in OX3 wards in the city elections in May are trying their luck again in the Cowley Ward by-election on 17 July. @KatHarborne (Con) stood for Quarry & Risinghurst and @DavidHenwood2 stood for Headington Ward.

And talking of elections, there’s an election to choose the 12 people who make up Old Marston Parish Council next Thursday, 26 June. @theabingdontaxi, who lives in the village, has written a guest blog about the role and powers of the Parish Council and asking for information about the candidates. Apparently it’s the first time in 16 years an election has been needed because there are more candidates than places to fill.

@Oxford_Brookes‘ John Henry Brookes Building by architects @DEArchitects, which I reported in May had won a RIBA regional award is one of six buildings in the “Campus” category to win a RIBA National award. The national award winners go forward for consideration in the Stirling Prize.

The first artist’s impressions of Oxford University’s Big Data Institute, which will be the next addition to the Old Road Campus, have been released. It’s being described as having a “ship’s prow”.

There was a break-in at The Six Bells on Beaumont Road, Quarry in the early hours of Sunday morning last week (15 June). The intruder forced a window, broke into a fruit machine and stole cash and spirits. Police are appealing for information.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Headington bike hire scheme
  • Shell garage closure?
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 #151

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 17 – 23 February.

The magnolia outside Headington Library was blown down over last weekend (15/16 Feb). Picture c/o @HeadingtonNews.

Headington’s LibDem Councillors delivered flyers announcing a “Walk of Protest” on Saturday 1 March to protest about the poor state of the London Road between Headington roundabout and Bury Knowle Park. Protesters are asked to bring their own placards if possible.

Sainsbury’s opened in Headington shops on Thursday. It’s their 600th Sainsbury’s Local.


Photo: @headingtonnews

Jacobs & Field’s new venture Jacobs Chop House @JacobsChopHouse opened on Friday in what used to be Café Noir on Osler Road.

A man armed with a knife tried to hold up Headington Post Office on Friday, but staff refused to hand over any money and he left empty-handed.

Headington Quarry school marks its 150th anniversary this year! There’s a meeting tomorrow (25 Feb) to start planning the celebrations.

The family who have been managing the Victoria Arms leave today (Monday). They are taking over the Waggon and Horses at Beckhampton, Wilts.

I blogged about the cycleway to be made on the south side of the London Road between Gladstone Road and Wharton Road.

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

  • Roofer in Headington area
  • Flooded roads in Headington
  • police in Headington post office today
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.