Marston

Headington Headlines #163

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 12 – 18 May.

A report from the Quality Care Commission identified a number of areas where the JR Hospital needs to make improvements. A report in The Oxford Mail by @OllieOxMail has a full summary.

Planned road works on the Ring Road at the Kiln Lane junction for Risinghurst mean that entry to and exit from the estate will be severely restricted for about three weeks, starting on 27 May. Residents say it means they will be living on ‘an island’. The work is for “new signal poles and toucan crossing aspects”. A Council spokesman said the work will improve cycle links between Headington and Thornhill P&R, and will cost about £40,000.

After reports on twitter on Wednesday evening of police activity outside Macdonalds, this story came out the following day. A young boy was injured, thankfully not seriously, in a road accident involving a Renault Clio on The Roundway.

Headington Plan @HeadingtonPlan has set up several Policy Groups to consult on and develop policies for inclusion in the Neighbourhood Plan. Get in touch with them if you’d like to be part of the work.

In an operation on Thursday morning police issued nearly 50 tickets in traffic checks at the Headington roundabout and Bayswater Road. Sixteen drivers were issued tickets for flouting right turn bans, while 11 were fined for not wearing seatbelts. Drivers were also caught using phones and speeding in a 30mph limit.

The new Principal of Ruskin College is Dr Chris Wilkes, who has been Acting Pricipal since the departure of Audrey Mullender.

Two concrete slabs have been placed in Bury Knowle Park as bases for table-tennis tables. People are upset about the unforgiving material and the lack of any consultation which would have allowed other options to be considered. The e-democracy forum has the story.

The postponed Marston Parish Council election will be held on Thursday 26 June. The polling station will be in Mortimer Hall.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Its time Oxford had a congestion charge
  • Hi from Bartonia
  • Housing Policy in Headington
  • Concrete in Bury Knowle Park – lack of consultation
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 #162

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 May.

My blog has a tab for Elections 2014 in OX3. I published a list of the biographies and personal statements of most of the canididates standing for election in the six OX3 wards of Oxford City.

The John Henry Brookes building won the Building of the Year award in RIBA’s South region.

Headington Library will close for refurbishment from Monday 23 June to Thursday 3 July. The layout will include a new children’s library and a passenger lift.

Osler Road is going to be completely resurfaced! The work is scheduled to start on 2 June and last for three weeks. Residents and other users will have to find alternative parking arrangements. Although the letter to residents doesn’t say so, buses will have to be diverted via Headley Way.

Headington Quarry Village Hall held a fund-raising craft fair on Saturday.

The Parish Council election in Old Marston has been postponed due to the death of Parish Councillor Roy Jones.

The Duchess of Cornwall was in Headington on Friday to open the second phase of the University of Oxford’s Botnar Research Centre at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. The Duchess is patron of the NOC Charity.

A thread on the e-democracy forum reports that it is now officially confirmed that people can travel into and out of the City on the X90, Oxford Tube and airport buses.

Also on the forum, pictures of the new outdoor chess table in Bury Knowle Park. Discussion thread.

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

  • I don’t understand Julia Gasper’s point
  • Cooking smells from Jacob and Field in Osler Road
  • What is the purpose of this forum?
  • Bury Knowle park in days gone by
  • Craft event – raising funds for our village hall
  • Old Marston Parish Council elections postponed
  • Outdoor chess table in Bury Knowle park
  • Using Oxford Tube and X90 coaches to travel within Oxford
  • Bury Knowle Park playpark
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 #141

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 9 – 15 December.

The owner of the Fairview Inn in Glebelands is retiring after being given three weeks notice to quit following the sale of the pub to an unknown buyer. Although the current owners say the new owners will continue to run it as a pub the future is uncertain until the new owners reveal themselves. There was a farewell party in the pub on Thursday.

A new bench celebrating C S Lewis’ character Reepicheep from the Narnia stories has been installed in Bury Knowle Park.

LibDem Councillors @DavidRundle, @RuthWilk and @RosalindRogers wrote a letter published in the Oxford Mail asking the City Council to extend Christmas cheap parking to Headington car park to help local businesses.

A letter in the Oxford Mail from Councillor Mick Haines says that Tesco will start building on the site of the Friar pub in February.

Slade House, the care home and other services run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which closed to new admissions three weeks ago (see HH 139) is under investigation by health regulator Monitor.

The red phone box next to the Baptist Church in Old High Street is under threat of removal by BT. Locals led by Cllr @RuthWilk have mounted a last-minute attempt to save it. It’s the last surviving red phone box in Oxford outside the city centre. See these links for more on this story.

The Shark House in New High Street is back on the rental market again. For only £2300 pcm you can live under a landmark.

The Guardian published a long interview/article with Headington-resident author Brian Aldiss.

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

  • London Road proposed cycle lane consultation
  • Noise in Quarry
  • Kebab shop in Headington – article in the Oxford Mail today
  • Chain stores in Headington
  • Is our red phone box worth fighting for?
  • Nationality-based shopping at Headington Coop?
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.