Marston

Headington Headlines #117

TonyOX3

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

The big news of the week was the launch of what people are loving to describe as a ‘Boris Bike’ scheme in Headington. It’s proper name is Oxonbike, on twitter as @Oxonbike. You can pick bikes up and drop them off at Thornhill P&R, the JR, Nuffield and Churchill hospitals, the Old Road campus and on London Road (see below). A seventh site will open at Brookes/Gipsy Lane. For detailed information and discussion you can look at the Oxonbike web page and FAQ and the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum thread.

The location of one of the Oxonbike stations directly outside St Andrew’s School on London Road (it’s described as ‘Headington Shops’) has been criticised, not least because no-one including local councillors or the school was consulted about it. The County Council and Oxonbike operators Grandscheme have apologised for their ‘oversight’ and offered to relocate it if a better alternative can be found.

As I reported last week the outline planning application for Barton West has been published. @TheOxfordMail covered the story, focussing on the divided opinion about the scheme’s merits. Despite the complexity of the application developers @BartonOxford tell me there are no plans for any public exhibition.

Meanwhile, objectors to the proposed Barton West access road have succeeded in having their application for land on Foxwell Drive to be declared a Town Green accepted by the County Council. There will now be a consultation period before the application is decided.

Environmental Health officers from Oxfordshire CC removed two sound systems and a TV from a house in Sherwood Place, Barton after noise complaints from neighbours.

You can have your wedding reception in Headington Hill Park. It appears to be a joint venture between @OxfordCity and a Headington-based company called Total Event Management @TotalEventMgmt.

A man was stabbed in the shoulder on the corner of Gladstone Road and London Road on Wednesday.

An programme to build self-esteem in teenage girls run by Barton-based @ThriveBarton operating within charity Innovista was described in @TheOxfordMail.

Some people in Marston and Headington – and further afield – were annoyed by the sound of loud music and fireworks on Friday and Saturday night. College balls seem to have been to blame, but Marston’s own village fête fireworks may also have contributed.

Some of Headington’s gardens were open on Sunday as part of the Open Gardens scheme.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Headington cycling signs
  • Family search
  • Black Boy pub
  • Headington bike hire scheme
  • Noise in Quarry
  • Supermarkets in Headington
  • Headington Neighbourbood Plan and the Wood Farm area
  • Shops and businesses in Headington
  • Joe Mcmanners
  • Balls
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 #99

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 11 – 17 February.

The details of Martin Young’s latest planning application for 29 Old High Street have reached the Council’s website. Its reference is 13/00311/FUL.

@RuthWilk reported that on Thursday police in Headington issued 7 tickets for no seat belts, 5 for use of mobile phone while driving, 2 for speeding, 6 warnings for speeding and 1 for cycling on the pavement.

Headington Action @HeadingtonA joined twitter.

There was a power cut in parts of Headington on Wednesday.

I’ve heard that Marston Heating Supplies is closing down after many years of trading.

The Somerset on Marston Road has re-opened after the owners returned from holiday.

The house on the Dorset House site on the corner of Latimer Road has a ‘SOLD’ sign.

An e-petition has been started on the City Council’s website asking for the Marston cycle path to be gritted in winter. A message on the e-democracy forum explains what it’s about and you can follow the campaign on twitter at @marstongrit.

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

  • Northway
  • Badgers
  • Foxwell drive Path
  • Headington Festival 2013 – organisers needed
  • 2 new shops in Marston?
  • ePetition to grit Marston cycle tracks in winter
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 #93

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 31 December 2012 – 6 January 2013.

The City Council’s Sites & Housing Plan, which specifies what kind of development will be permitted on particular sites throughout Oxford and establishes a number of housing policies, has been approved by the Planning Inspector. It will go to the full Council for final approval in February. I last wrote about this almost exactly a year ago and you can still see my map of the sites in OX3 with extracts from the document against each site. The Plan also creates or updates policies on student housing and HMOs.

In other development news The Oxford Mail reports that developers Haboakus have finally submitted planning applications for three developments in Oxford. Two of the developments are in Northway, the third in Cowley. I have so far failed to find the applications online so can’t confirm this is correct. Haboakus is the joint venture company formed by TV celebrity architect Kevin McCloud’s company Hab (it stands for Happiness, Architecture, Beauty) and the Oakus division of housing asociation GreenSquare (which used to be the Oxford Citizens’ Housing Association). These developments have been much delayed: I first wrote about them in Headington Headlines #3 back in March 2011. The Oxford Mail report suggests there may still be local opposition to the Northway developments. The planning applications are said to be for 21 one and two-bedroom flats to be built in Westlands Drive and 47 homes plus a new Northway community centre in Dora Carr Close. The Dora Carr Close/Community Centre site is outlined on this map.

Free parking at Thornhill P&R is to end, according to the County Council’s draft budget.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

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

  • London Road Improvements Stage 3
  • Scout Hall in Quarry
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.