Risinghurst

Headington Headlines #139

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 25 November – 1 December.

Brambles closed its doors for the last time. Well-wishers, souvenir hunters and opportunists were buying stock and fittings up to the last minute.

@Oxonbike going into liquidation means their twitter account is no more.

Talking of twitter accounts, I wrote a short article about some local schools’ failure at ‘doing twitter’.

Is this a new toilet facility or the latest incarnation of the Tardis behind @JacobsandField? No, they’re building an extension apparently.


Picture c/o Jacobs & Field

A story surfaced about a suggestion that land next to C S Lewis’ house ‘Narnia’ in Kiln Lane, Risinghurst might be used to build sheltered housing. As far as I know there’s no planning application as yet, so nothing to comment on other than the story and the editorial comment in Thhe Oxford Times.

The @OxfordBusCo released pictures of its new and bigger coaches for the X90 London service. They say the livery is ‘dual-branded’ so they can use them on the airport services too. The larger coaches will initially be used to provide extra capacity at peak times starting in early December.

A firm of plumbers from Manchester was fined for fly-tipping in a field north of Barton off Bayswater Road.

A care home at Slade House on Horspath Driftway has been closed to new admissions by the Care Quality Commission, who found serious failings in the treatment of patients and the state of the facilities. Slade House is owned and run by Southern Health NHS Trust, who bought it from the Oxfordshire Learning Disability NHS Trust, also known as the Ridgeway Partnership, a year ago.

The new grit bin (originally reported here in October) has been installed on the corner of Ethelred Court and Dunstan Road. Headington Ward’s LibDem councillors and the Friends of Old Headington provided the funds.

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

  • Has anyone got a large Santa suit they could loan for a day?
  • Letting Rooms to Overseas Students
  • Police and Crime Commissioner Public meeting
  • Inclusive Neighbours Online Workshop Sat Nov 30 – Kingston, Dec 2 Event on New Voices too
  • London Road proposed cycle lane consultation
  • NHS Public Meeting
  • Sound Insulation & Noisy Neighbours
  • Events in Headington
  • Badgers in Headington
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 #126

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 19 – 25 August.

The improvements to the Croft Road cycle path in Marston have been delayed because the company supplying two bridges has gone bust, according to a message on the Marston Cycle Path flood information message board.

The official announcement of the new Headington bus routes finally emerged on Monday. The services are being subsidised with £1.2m from the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF). I assume that’s £0.4m for each of the three years of the initial contracts. Peter Headicar of Oxford Brookes University sent me a considered appraisal.

The people who run Brambles own the business and the premises. They’re selling because they want to retire.

@SunderSandher, who runs the Londis store, has reminded everyone that the shop will soon be open 24hrs a day.

The Wood Farm neighbourhood policing team moved to a new base at the Churchill Hospital on Tuesday.

The planning application to build three houses on the car park next to the Crown & Thistle on Old Road has been approved.

The Prime Minister has a bad back. It is thought he was treated at the Nuffield on Monday.

The campaign by Cllr @laurencepbaxter to persuade Oxfordshire County Council to reinstate the right turn into Risinghurst from the A40 continued. He tells me that if the County Council can’t or won’t fund a crossing with safety improvements – preferably a crossing with lights – it would be difficult to justify re-opening the turn.

Ther are reports that Hill View Farm in Marston may be turned into a conference centre. A twitter account @SaveOxfordFarm has been set up but as yet hasn’t really got going.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Crown and Thistle
  • New Headington Bus Routes
  • Hill View Farm, Marston
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 #113

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 20 – 26 May.

A man was arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was discovered in a house in The Link, Risinghurst. Confusingly (well, it confused me) there’s also a road called The Link in Marston.

Headington area councillors Susan Brown (Lab, Churchill) and @redmikerowley (Lab, Barton & Sandhills) have joined @Oxfordcity‘s Executive Board. Van Coulter (Lab, Barton & Sandhills) has stood down from the Board.

Cllr @delia_sinclair (Lab, Quarry & Risinghurst) took office as Oxford City’s Lord Mayor. She holds the office for 1 year.

The Reverend James Cocke was ordained 60 years ago and is the Church of England’s longest-serving vicar. He has been at All Saints Church since 1957. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams paid tribute to Mr Cocke in a service at the church in his honour.

BBC Oxford’s Big Tour covered the story of Highfield residents being trained to use radar speed guns to discourage speeding in the 20mph zone. On Friday Roz Smith and Patrick Coulter were interviewed about the London Road potholes and there was live coverage from the Farmers’ Market.

Locals are concerned that The Fairview Inn in Glebelands (between the Churchill and The Slade) may close after news broke that it is being sold to an undisclosed buyer after being advertised as “having alternative use potential”. There’s a Save the Fairview website.

The Café Noir joined twitter @cafenoiroxford

An accident at the Headington roundabout in which two vehicles ended up ON the roundabout caused bad delays on Thursday morning.

The by now predictable and tedious story of Martin Young and 29 Old High Street continued with a report in the Oxford Mail. Elsewhere, Councillors have called in a planning application to replace a bungalow at 9 Osler Road with three houses. The application will be considered by the East Area Planning Committee.

Laptops, mobile phones and a camera were stolen from a house in New High Street in a break-in on Thursday.

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

  • Radio Oxford: Big Tour of Headington this week
  • Plumbing business application for private hire office in Marston Road
  • Headley Way public conveniences
  • Bury Knowle Park big swing on a pole thing
  • NDCN charity Concert
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.