Masons Arms

Headington Headlines #77

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 3 – 9 September —

The gold letterbox to commemorate former Headington School pupil Lily van den Broecke’s gold medal coxing the mixed coxed four at the Paralympics is at the top of Divinity Road. It’s in the OX4 postcode area.

The Headington Beer Festival was on over the weekend at @TheMasonsArmsHQ in Headington Quarry, ending on Sunday in the traditional way by running out of beer.

Dorset House student accommodation was officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday (picture c/o @HeadingtonNews).

Sheila Robinson of London Road, Headington has retired from her volunteering job at Clic Sargent after 19 years.

Local Councillors @RuthWilk and @DavidRundle posted a useful update on sewer and storm flooding in Headington.

@TVP_Oxford put out a warning about a series of thefts from cars in Headington.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

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

  • Blue plaques
  • Thornhill Park & Ride: proposed charges for 11+ hours
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 #49

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 6 – 12 February —

New timetables for bus routes 8 and 9 were announced, with a start date of 19 February. It’s claimed they allow more time for buses to get onto the Green Road roundabout in the mornings, and that they will schedule more buses on the Barton (8) route.

Two local schools are on the list of 10 Oxfordshire primaries to be converted to academy status under a government schools improvement policy. They are St Nicholas Primary School, Raymund Road, Old Marston and Bayards Hill Primary School, Waynflete Road, Barton. I blogged about an astonishing interview about the proposals with the County’s Cabinet Member for Scools Improvement, Melinda Tilley, and there’s a comment on the blog in support of St Nicholas’ School.

Consultation on two big Council planning documents opened this week: the Sites and Housing Development Plan Document (SHDPD) and the Barton Area Action Plan (BAAP). The documents can be downloaded here (SHDPD) and here (BAAP). You are constrained to comment in the format required by the Council. I have extracted the OX3 sites in the SHDPD into a handy annotated map to make it easy to see what the document has to say about them(*). I hope to write more on the Barton plans over the next few weeks.

Local Councillor @RuthWilk and Highfield Residents’ Associations’ Patrick Coulter met County officers at a site meeting to discuss the Lime Walk/All Saints’ Road junction and other road works in the area. Ruth’s report is here.

A 15-year old girl was sexually assaulted in Quarry Road on Monday. The police are appealing for witnesses and information.

The Masons Arms (@The MasonsArmsHQ) is looking for evening and weekend bar staff. No experience required.

Lazy Gamer, @LazyGamerUK, a new computer games and comics shop is due to open on London Road (opposite Domino’s Pizza) on Friday 17th. Their website is still under construction.

This map shows the location of some of the places mentioned in this report.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

(*)The extracts from the SHDPD in my annotated map are taken from the version that went to the full Council in December. I haven’t checked to see if there are any material changes.

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

  • New Lime Walk and All Saints junction “improvements”
  • London Road – closure of cycle lane
  • Leak/blocked drain at St Andrews Road/ Dunstan Road junction

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 #43

TonyOX3

Here is my round-up of local news for two weeks over the Christmas/New Year break, 19 December 2011 – 1 January 2012 —

A new £2.1m community arena opened at the Oxford City ground, Court Place Farm, Marston. It includes a full-size artificial grass pitch, pavilion and six floodlit netball courts.

Frustration over the 8 and 9 bus services surfaced in the press. The bus companies’ response (at least as reported) seemed to be mostly denial of any real problem. Meanwhile it was announced that another spate of road closures around Old Road/Lime Walk/Highfield will take place in the New Year.

LibDem Councillors David Rundle, @RuthWilk and Altaf Khan held another Headington Ward Focus meeting in the Baptist Church, Old High Street on Tuesday 20 December. Main items discussed were the Barton West development, Ruskin Fields, Headington car park and the Housing Sites and Policy book, all of which had been agreed by the City Council the day before.

A home in High Cross Way, Barton, was one of three places hit by thieves on Christmas Day.

Boxing Day saw a large crowd at @TheMasonsArmsHQ for the traditional Morris dancing. The pub sold more than 600 pints of ale in 5 hours!

The Headington Shark was named one of the Daily Telegraph’s “best British follies“. It’s the ninth one on the page.

Rev James Cocke, Vicar of All Saints’ Church, became the longest-serving vicar in the Church of England on the retirement of the previous record-holder.

There was a house fire in Bulan Road on Wednesday 28th December. Fortunately no-one was seriously hurt.

A robbery took place at the BetFred betting shop in Cinnaminta Road on Saturday 31 December. A female employee was forced to hand over several hundred pounds.

Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum over Christmas and New Year:

  • Bus stop, London Road Headington
  • West Barton plan likely to go ahead?
  • Decisions made on Headington Car-park and Ruskin Fields
  • North East Area Forum – 11 January 2012
  • Disused Cricket Ground Barton Road
  • Boxing Day 2011 events in Headington
  • Northway Pharmacy
  • Cherwell drive Dentist
  • Destination display inside 400 Park and Ride
  • Londis corner shop in receivership

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.