Headington Headlines #410

Your weekly round-up of local news for 18 – 24 March.

A newborn baby boy was found in a toilet in the JR Hospital on Monday. Police launched an appeal to help find the mother; she was later found and was looked after by the hospital. Mother and baby were later said to be doing well.

The work to make a surfaced path along Cuckoo Lane between Franklin Road and Pullen’s Lane, originally due to start last Monday, will now start today (25 March). Local residents and councillors had a site meeting last Tuesday to discuss the project. This post on the e-democracy forum has a link to the notes of the meeting, with explanatory pictures.

Dora Carr Close in Northway is one of five Oxfordshire building projects nominated for the RIBA South region awards 2019. All five are in Oxford itself. The regional winners will be chosen in May; the winners go forward for a National award, and from among those the Sterling Prizewinner is selected. To many people’s surprise, Westgate is one of the other nominated developments.

Eleanor House, Dora Carr Close
Eleanor House, Dora Carr Close
Photo: 24housing.co.uk

Hundreds of flyers for Society Hair Studio, of New Road in the city centre, were found dumped on the C S Lewis nature reserve in Risinghurst.

The Oxford Mail reports that house-builders Redrow have revealed their designs for the second phase of Barton Park. The company was given the job in February last year (see HH355). As I write this I haven’t seen the details; Redrow are best known for their very traditional designs but I have heard suggestions that their Barton Park development will be more in keeping with a modern-looking development.

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

    • Cuckoo lane: Six weeks of tarmac-laying starts on Monday
    • Parking enforcement

Headington Headlines #355

Your weekly round-up of local news for 29 January – 4 February.

Redrow has been selected as the builder for the next phase of @BartonPark_. The company is on twitter as @RedrowHomes.

Winvic contractors are still flouting their permitted working procedures and causing problems in Latimer Road. This is just one of several tweets about it from @LeonardoLoredan.

I’m not going to rant about the disgraceful lack of transparency of the Oxfordshire Growth Board, but it apparently met in closed session on Thursday to discuss the delayed Access to Headington work under a disguised agenda item. @RuthWilk reports “individual projects are not likely to be announced till the 7th February. So the planned and published Staunton Road closure may still go ahead”.

The rather decrepit old bridge over the Cherwell at the Parks end of the path through Mesopotamia has been replaced with a smart new one.

The temporary surgical theatre outside the JR Women’s Centre has been removed. It was originally put there to provide more capacity after the downgrading of maternity services at Banbury Horton. Hopefully something more permanent has been provided in the main building.

The driver of a Land Rover Discovery tried to ram-raid the Aldi on Horspath Driftway on Saturday night. Apparently the cash machine was the target. Police are appealing for information.

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

    • Concerns re parking prices in Headington
    • Reply re Barton Park
    • Police crime statistics for Oxford and personal theft: a question
    • Politics on the forum
    • Beech House