Northway

Headington Headlines #197

TonyOX3

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

Temple Bookbinders of Stephen Road have been awarded a Royal Warrant. This means they can now describe themselves as “By appointment to HM The Queen”. The Oxford Mail report cites Bentley cars as another warrant holder, which is fine, but I’m not so sure about the comparison with baked beans (Heinz) and Creme Eggs (Cadbury).

@HeadingtonA, who organise the Farmers’ Market, say they are working on bringing more stall-holders in after the number of traders dropped earlier this month.

Fire crews attended a ‘small engine fire‘ on an @OxfordBusCo bus in Wood Farm on Tuesday. No passengers were affected.

Headington Hill Park car park (the one at the bottom of the Park) will be closed from today (19 Jan) while a new access road to the properties inside the Park is built.

A man was sentenced to three years imprisonment for two burglaries last October, one in Northway and one in Tilehouse Close.

In a well-signalled move, @Oxford_Brookes announced their long-term plan to move all teaching, research and supporting activity from Wheatley over the next ten years. This will obviously have a major effect on the Headington Campus and Headington generally, and the university has promised thorough consultation. Their official announcement has much more detail and is worth reading. I will write more on this story as it unfolds.

It was almost exactly two years ago I first reported that developers Haboakus had submitted two planning applications for sites in Northway (see this map). The ‘Hab’ part of their name is celebrity architect Kevin McCloud’s company, although in what way if any he may be personally involved is not clear. Now at last work has started on the Dora Carr Close site which will provide 47 new homes: 15 three-bedroom houses, 4 four-bedroom houses and 28 one and two bedroom flats, and a state-of-the-art community centre. The buildings have been designed by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris of Camberwell, London. A search on this blog for Haboakus will give you the past hisory of this development.

In Headington Headlines 195 I reported that the Bury Knowle Club was on the market for £300k. Now Oxford-based Keble Homes has submitted a planning application (Ref 15/00062/FUL) to convert the Club, which is on the first floor of the shops on the west side of Windmill Road, into flats.

Starting today (Monday) diversions will be in place as work on the St Clements/Plain junction begins. City-bound traffic will be diverted down Dawson Street onto the Cowley Road to reach The Plain. Headington-bound traffic will use the Cowley Road, then Jeune Street to get back onto St Clements. Details and maps here.

Bill Simpson, of BBB Stores on London Road next to the Post Office, had a sarcastic letter published in the Oxford Mail under the title "Reasons to come to Headington".

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

Wikipedia knows about ‘manicule‘ but oxforddictionaries doesn’t.

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

  • Brookes moving teaching facilities from Wheatley to Headington
  • New Headington bus routes
  • Bury Knowle Club in Windmill Road
  • Brookes Estates Strategy
  • The Economist on Oxford/Cambridge
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 #195

TonyOX3

Here’s my round-up of local news for the two weeks 22 December – 4 January.

A Happy New Year to all readers!

Has your Christmas tree dropped all its needles? Is it languishing outside looking brown and forlorn? Well, there are five places in this area where you can take it for recycling, where the nice people from @OxfordCity Council will shred it into tiny pieces to use as a mulch in the city parks and gardens.

Headington’s live advent calendar was declared a success, and organisers are already planning to repeat it in 2015.

The Quarry Morris dancers and mummers performed their traditional play and dances around the pubs of Quarry on Boxing Day. A good crowd turned out to watch despite the cold damp weather. @Howard_S took this video.

It’s the new year, and roadworks start again today on the London Road, the A40 at the Headington roundabout and (a new one) reconfiguration of The Plain to make it nice and safe for buses and cars, but not for cyclists. There are new timetables operating on bus routes 8 & 9 to allow for delays.

There was an armed robbery at Risinghurst Post Office at around 8pm last Tuesday (30th). Cash was taken but no-one was injured. @ThamesVP issued a description of two suspects and are appealing for witnesses and any information. Two men have been arrested in connection with the robbery and have been released on police bail.

The house at 14 Holyoake Road, previously known as Hillsboro House, where C S Lewis lived with Mrs Moore before moving to The Kilns, has been under threat of redevelopment for a while. However, a new planning application (ref 14/03474/FUL) shows the house being retained with two 5-bedroom houses being built in the space to the left of the existing house. Click the link on the planning reference to see details and to comment to the City Council. The Oxford Mail article is here.

The application by some Northway residents for part of the green space on Foxwell Drive to be declared a Town Green was rejected by the Planning Inspector after a two week hearing. Local campaigners are reported to be considering applying for a judicial review.

The Orders of St John Care Trust, who run the Townsend House residential care home on Bayswater Road, Barton invite everyone to a meeting on 5 February to discuss ways of integrating their residents more closely with the community around them. Cheese and wine are promised! More information on the e-democracy forum.

Headington and the OX3 area drew a blank in the New Year’s honours list, although several Oxford academics were honoured.

A planning application has been submitted for a change of use for the old Trade Exchange shop, from ‘retail’ to ‘retail and restaurant/café’.

Bury Knowle Club in Windmill Road (above two shops near the crossroads) is on the market for £300k freehold.

Speculation continued that @Oxford_Brookes might be planning close the Wheatley campus and move its business school and 2500 students to Headington. As yet the University has not made any statement.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum over the last two weeks:

  • no lights
  • One Rule for One
  • Rat Runs etc
  • Alternative Access to Barton park
  • Dunstan Rd Speed Humps
  • Morrisons and Trade Exchange shop
  • Happy Christmas 2014 + useful information
  • Request by Stephanie for information about south headington.
  • Montreal unveils new plans for urban boulevard to replace Bonaventure Expressway | Montreal Gazette
  • Integrating older folk in care homes into the community
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 #183

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 29 September – 5 October.

The Foxwell Drive town green public enquiry started last Monday and is scheduled to last another two weeks.

The much talked about and much delayed London Road roadworks are due to start on 13 October – details here. County Councillor David Nimmo Smith @DNimmoSmit1 said: “Delays are to be expected throughout the time when the road works are underway and everyone is being asked to review their daily journey route, mode of transport and time of travel and where possible consider alternatives.”

A teenager was arrested after a man was assaulted near the community centre in Underhill Circus, Barton on Monday.

The Headington Neighbourhood Forum held its first annual meeting on Wednesday. The Neighbourhood Plan process now moves into a consutation phase. Leaflets are being distributed throughout the area and you can also take part in the consutation online.
Links:

Oxfordshire County Council released traffic order documents relating to the @BartonPark_ development and the A40. They cover speed limits, access at the new A40 junction etc. (with an acknowledgement that the access proposals depend on the outcome of the Foxwell Drive Town Green inquiry). I’ve combined seven documents into one which makes them even more confusing than they were. Some of them cover locations well away from Barton Park as well as those which will concern Headington and Barton readers.

@see_emilyplay reported several cars were vandalised in Bateman Street overnight on Friday/Saturday.

The Manor Surgery in Osler Road challenged David Cameron over his conference promise for GP surgeries to open 7 days a week. The surgery has invited the PM to visit the surgery and see the current problems at first hand.

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

  • London Road-Lyndworth Close-Bus stop
  • Londis
  • What now for Headington?
  • London Road “Improvement” Scheme
  • Northway Town Green application and Barton Park
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.