Risinghurst

Headington Headlines #163

TonyOX3

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

A report from the Quality Care Commission identified a number of areas where the JR Hospital needs to make improvements. A report in The Oxford Mail by @OllieOxMail has a full summary.

Planned road works on the Ring Road at the Kiln Lane junction for Risinghurst mean that entry to and exit from the estate will be severely restricted for about three weeks, starting on 27 May. Residents say it means they will be living on ‘an island’. The work is for “new signal poles and toucan crossing aspects”. A Council spokesman said the work will improve cycle links between Headington and Thornhill P&R, and will cost about £40,000.

After reports on twitter on Wednesday evening of police activity outside Macdonalds, this story came out the following day. A young boy was injured, thankfully not seriously, in a road accident involving a Renault Clio on The Roundway.

Headington Plan @HeadingtonPlan has set up several Policy Groups to consult on and develop policies for inclusion in the Neighbourhood Plan. Get in touch with them if you’d like to be part of the work.

In an operation on Thursday morning police issued nearly 50 tickets in traffic checks at the Headington roundabout and Bayswater Road. Sixteen drivers were issued tickets for flouting right turn bans, while 11 were fined for not wearing seatbelts. Drivers were also caught using phones and speeding in a 30mph limit.

The new Principal of Ruskin College is Dr Chris Wilkes, who has been Acting Pricipal since the departure of Audrey Mullender.

Two concrete slabs have been placed in Bury Knowle Park as bases for table-tennis tables. People are upset about the unforgiving material and the lack of any consultation which would have allowed other options to be considered. The e-democracy forum has the story.

The postponed Marston Parish Council election will be held on Thursday 26 June. The polling station will be in Mortimer Hall.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Its time Oxford had a congestion charge
  • Hi from Bartonia
  • Housing Policy in Headington
  • Concrete in Bury Knowle Park – lack of consultation
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 #142

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 16 – 22 December.

@Headingtonnews has compiled a handy list of the Christmas and New Year opening times of the local food shops.

The quickly-mounted camapign to stop BT removing the red phone box in Old Headington has been successful. @RuthWilk, who played a big part herself, paid tribute to the others involved. The story made the Oxford Mail on Wednesday. The start of the story and links to background are in HH 141. Finally, Ruth announced on Friday that BT have agreed to sell the phone box to Headington Action for £1 subject to conditions on its future use which don’t seem to onerous. Ruth’s summary of the campaign and its outcome is here.

Oxford Brookes Community Liaison team @BrookesCLO put up Christmas decorations in Headington, all made out of recycled materials.

Six places in Headington are listed as possibly going on the City Council’s Heritage Assets register: All Saints Church, Lime Walk; Coach House to Dorset House, London Road; 58 Old Road (All Saints Vicarage); Wall of Warnford Hospital fronting Warnford Lane; Hillsboro, 14 Holyoake Road (Formerly the home of C.S. Lewis and his landlady Mrs. Moore); and Cuckoo Lane.

The Stansfeld Education Centre, at the end of Douglas Downes Close off Quarry Road is owned by Birmingham City Council. It is losing money and Birmingham City is consulting on its future. The Centre, also known as The Forest School, is also used by local groups including schools, scouts and guides. The whole site covers 17 acres. More information on these links:


View in a larger map

Friends of Quarry have drawn up a comprehensive set of proposals for tackling the traffic problems in Quarry. Worth reading!

In a confusion of several myths (King Alfred, Father Christmas, Narnia ….?) the Fire Services were called to an incident in Kiln Lane, Risinghurst when a batch of mince pies caught fire in the Community Centre oven.

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

  • Nationality-based shopping at Headington Coop?
  • Consultation on the future of Stansfield Education Centre
  • Is our red phone box worth fighting for?
  • Kebab shop in Headington – article in the Oxford Mail today
  • Eastern Bypass – broken water main today
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 #140

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 2 – 8 December.

Friday nights are Girls’ Nights Out in Barton, for young women aged 14 – 17. But only from 6.30 – 8.30pm.

Headington cyclist Simon Hunt has taken over from James Styring as Chairman of campaigning group Cyclox @cycloxoxford.

@OxFurniture shut down their not-so-old shop on Saturday evening, and re-open this morning (Monday) in what was Brambles. It must have been a busy Sunday!

Blackburn Close is looking much better now.

A free cash machine has recently been installed outside the Post Office in Risinghurst.

National tree week was marked in Bernwood Road, Barton the weekend before last by the planting of about 40 saplings in Bonny Banks Park.

Kennett House was sold at auction for £2.5m (+VAT). Original story in HH 138.

Barton got into the Christmas spirit with the Barton Christmas Wonderland yesterday (Sunday 8 Dec). A pantomine, face-painting, raffle and tombola were among the attractions.

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

  • Noise in Quarry
  • Chain stores in Headington
  • London Road proposed cycle lane consultation
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.