Northway

Headington Headlines #398

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 10 – 16 December.

You know Christmas is just around the corner when @TheMasonsArmsHQ announces the Boxing Day Morris Mummers Play arrangements.

Pizzas, burgers, quizzes and live music are all planned for the Somerset pub in Marston if the people behind The Rusty Bicycle and Rickety Press complete their take-over deal. We must wait and see if they keep to their theme and rename it The Ramshackle Somerset.

Police have been issuing warnings to motorists using Elms Drive, Marston as a rat-run to avoid the Headley Way roadworks. £50 fines are threatened.

Following a public exhibition last Monday the city council has opened a consultation about the redevelopment of Underhill Circus in Barton. The consultation is via an online questionnaire. You have to register, or login if you’ve registered for consultations before.

Plowman’s Tower in Northway now has security guards to counter hooliganism and anti-social behaviour that has been ‘making residents’ lives hell’. CCTV is also being installed here and at Forester’s Tower in Wood Farm.

There were no new posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week.

Headington Headlines #388

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 1 – 7 October .

In an incident that will play into the hands of the anti-Barton Park campaigners in Northway, a 13 year old boy was injured three weeks ago when he was hit by a car at the new light-controlled crossing on the A40. The car driver didn’t stop and the police are belatedly asking for witnesses or information.

A new Couch to 5k programme started on Thursday at Bury Knowle Park. It’s probably not too late to join in; this well-established programme is designed to get you fit with a gentle progression up to running 5 kilometres.

I went to see A2Dominion’s pre-application exhibition of their plans to redevelop the Ivy Lane flats at the JR and to build some new accommodation on Churchill Drive. My brief report is here.

A small scheme (planning ref: 18/01964/FUL) to widen the access to Headington School from Headley Way was approved this week. The wider opening will mean vehicles can drive in from Headley Way without having to wait on the road if another vehicle is trying to get out. The drawing below, submitted as part of the planning application, seems to show that the changed layout won’t interfere with the new cycle track to be built as part of Access to Headington.

Widening access from Headley Way
Widening access from Headley Way
Click for full-size pdf

The papers have been published for the Planning Review Committee meeting on Monday 15 October to review the refusal of planning permission for the Swan School. The recommendation is to overturn the earlier decision and grant permission.

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

  • Swan school planning application review

Headington Headlines #328

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 24 – 30 July.

Oxford City Council announced that construction of the Northway and Marston Flood Alleviation Scheme is complete, giving increased protection to 110 homes.

The closure of the Bullingdon Community Centre (see HH 326) has thrown local community groups out into the cold with nowhere to meet.

A blue plaque commemorating Edward Brooks VC was unveiled at 16 Windsor Street on Saturday. Read more here.

 

@TheSpiritofToad opened its doors to the public on Thursday, selling gin and vodka distilled on the premises. Other products will follow. Their website has been upgraded and includes a page where you can book tours (£20 & £50).

Inside the distillery
Inside the distillery
Photo: @HeadingtonNews

And their output has aleady reached as far as Eynsham!

The former ‘Cycling Tsar’ of London, Andrew Gilligan @MrAGilligan has been given a similar role advising Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes on how to become more cycle-friendly. City leader Bob Price welcomed the appointment but as Oxford Civic Society noted, it’s the County that needs to take action.

@OxfordHealthNHS, which runs the Warneford Hospital, had its website hacked overnight on Tuesday/Wednesday. The site was quickly restored and the Trust says no patient data was compromised.

There are reports that the Swan School, the new Free School to be built in Marston on the site of the Harlow Centre, may stagger its opening hours in an attempt to reduce local traffic congestion. Locals reported in the Oxford Mail are sceptical. There’s more background and links to the story of this school in HH 305 and 306.

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

  • Headington Ward Focus meetings