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Headington Headlines #305

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 13 – 19 February.

A man named Domingos Romalho died after a fatal stabbing in Windmill Road on Monday. He was taken to the JR but died in hospital. Windmill Road was closed for some time while police investigated the incident. Egidio Da Silva Alves was arrested the same day and charged on Wednesday with murder. He appeared in court on Thursday, did not enter a plea, and was remanded until April. A Thames Valley Police statement is here.

I wrote last September (see HH 282) about plans to build a new secondary free school, the Swan School, in Marston. Locals are concerned about the extra traffic an 880-pupil school would generate. There are now reports that the school could be delayed by as much as two years. @OldMarstonPC is holding a meeting about it this evening (Monday 21 Feb) at 6.30pm in the Mortimer Hall. Meanwhile at a Cabinet meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 21 February) the County Council will probably decide to sell the site to the Department for Education for £1 (yes, that’s One Pound) and then contribute up to £2m (that’s Two Million Pounds) towards the cost of the school – see item 9 on the Agenda.

The fact that 76 Sandfield Road is up for sale made the local press. Why? Because it used to be the home of J R R Tolkien. Apparently not everyone knows the name. It can be yours for a mere £1.25m.

After last week’s coverage on Radio Oxford the Oxford Mail has an article explaining why the City Council is against expanding parking at the JR Hospital.

A cyclist was taken to hospital with head injuries after a collision with a car in Bayswater Road, Barton on Tuesday. The car didn’t stop. @TVP_oxford have appealed for witnesses (incident number 233).

New Marston Post Office, which is in the Costcutter on Old Marston Road, reopened last week after a refit. It’s open for longer hours than before and offers a wider range of services.

The Nuffield Orthpaedic centre was partially closed for a time on Thursday while emergency services attended a ‘chemical incident’ involving chemicals used in a hydrotherapy pool.

Jacobs Chop House has re-opened after morphing into Jacobs Brasserie.

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

  • Petition to preserve the Somerset House pub on Marston Road
  • Proposed abolition of Oxford City Council
  • Local Government? Cuts to services? Is it time to bite the bullet?
  • Bells tolling in early hours
  • London Road – cycle path
  • This evening’s meeting with Cllr Roz Smith
  • Hospital parking

Headington Headlines #300

TonyOX3

Headington Headlines has made it to 300 editions! Here is your weekly round-up of local news for 9 – 15 January. First – roadworks …..

The work installing the heatpipe has slipped behind schedule. Work in Latimer Road has been delayed by two weeks, and in Lime Walk one week. Work in Sandfield Road is still expected to start today (16 January). This blog post has more details.

All my posts about the project are under the ‘Energy Project’ tab in the main menu, and there’s a page of links and contact details here.

The County Council has published plans under the Access to Headington scheme to make an eastbound bus lane in Roosevelt Drive between the Old Road Campus and Churchill Drive. The lane would operate between 3pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and during those times only buses and emergency vehicles will be able to leave the Churchill site by that route. All other traffic will have to leave via Roosevelt Drive westbound to the Old Road junction. Consultation on this plan is open – the county says “objections to the proposals and other representations, specifying the grounds on which they are made, may be sent in writing (quoting ref: AK/12.6.320) by 3 February”.

Churchill bus lane - Roosevelt Drive to Churchill Drive
Churchill bus lane – Roosevelt Drive to Churchill Drive

In February the sections of Warneford Lane/Gipsy Lane/Old Road/ Roosevelt Drive which are being remodelled as part of Access to Headington will be closed overnight for about six nights for resurfacing.

In other news ….

A VW Polo was stolen in Burchester Avenue, Barton a weeks ago (Sunday 8 January) after its owner left it with the engine running while it defrosted.

The saga of the Jack Russell pub in Salford Road, Marston goes on. After the empty building was burnt down in an arson attack in November the owners have submitted a new planning application (ref: 16/03108/RES) to build a three-storey block of 16 flats on the site. Some locals including independent councillor Mick Haines are still campaigning for the site to be used for community facilities. According to the Oxford Mail others think the need for more housing is more important.

The planning application to build next to the C S Lewis nature reserve in Risinghurst has still not come before councillors. It was not on the agenda for the East Area Planning Committee on 11 January, although it is listed for consideration at a future, but unspecified, date. Searching the Charities Commission website for the “Wychwood Foundation” still returns a blank. Earlier posts on this story here and here.

As pressure on the NHS builds, all non-urgent operations and related procedures at the JR were cancelled on Friday and again today (Monday).

Bar Meze scored only 2 out of 5 in a hygiene inspection last November. The manager is confident he’ll do much better when it’s reinspected.

Not a tweet but a favourite Instagram this week from the Sandhills A 40 underpass:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPNZSZ5gaTC/

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

  • Internet Connection in Headington

Headington Headlines #291

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 7 – 13 November.

There are some changes to the shops in Headington. The Rose Tree restaurant has closed “until further notice”, a Helen & Douglas House charity shop is opening where Oxford Furniture used to be and shopfitters are working in the old Morrison’s shop near Starbucks.

Headington Library is closed until further notice while the boiler and heating system is repaired.

After a long time out of the news (the last time was March 2015) there was some activity at 29 Old High Street this week. For new readers, number 29 is the near-derelict property between Waitrose and the car park. The Council has access to carry out a structural survey. I’m guessing, but perhaps there’s a chance it might be declared unsafe, in which case the Council could force action to be taken.

Headington Baptist Church celebrated its tenth anniversary the Sunday before last (6 November) with celebrations including the unveiling of a new artwork.

After last week’s news of the Fairview pub, another old-established but closed pub has reached the end of the line. Marston’s Jack Russell pub in Salford Road was “half-destroyed in an arson attack” on Saturday night. Locals have been campaigning for it to become a community centre.

The Friends of Stansfeld @FofStansfled are having an open meeting in @TheMasonsArmsHQ Arms tomorrow (Tues 15 November) to discuss the development proposals for the site. Everyone welcome.

Thames Valley Police @ThamesVP issued a statement on Friday in connection with the alleged abduction and rape of a 14 year old schoolgirl. They say that there is no evidence of an abduction but they are still investigating a case of rape.

A woman, her son and a pet dog were rescued unharmed after a fire broke out in the living room of their home in Weyland Road on Saturday night.

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

  • Friends of Quarry Meeeting
  • Oxford Winter Cycle Safety
  • road repairs in headington – hats off to the Labour Party
  • Glossy yellow leaflets and spuriously claiming credit