Headington Headlines #250

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

My weekly energy project round-up is here. 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.

Lloyds Bank was the scene of an armed robbery on Saturday morning. Police say two masked men, one with a firearm, escaped in a white BMW. The same bank was robbed almost exactly three years ago (thanks to @HeadingtonNews for that link).

The Latimer Road student accommodation planning appplication goes to the City’s Planning Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday. It has been ‘called in’ after being rejected by the East Area Planning Committee, despite officers’ recommendation to accept. The papers for the Committee are here, with the details in the Agenda Reports Pack and a set of slides in the Presentation.

Still on planning, there’s an application (ref: 16/00082/FUL) to build three 5-bedroom houses on the site of the Quarry Gate pub.

A search of the Food Standard Agency’s “Scores on the Doors” food hygiene ratings for OX3 finds 204 rated premises. Of those, 10 are rated “2 – Improvement Necessary” or lower. The unhygienic wooden spoon goes to the Londis on Marston Road, rated “0 – Urgent Improvement Necessary” in March last year. Here are the 0 – 2 results with a map. Above a score of 2, the next is “3 – Generally Satisfactory”.

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

  • City Council agrees energy pipe needs planning permission
  • Saxon Way bus gate
  • Disruption
  • The Headington Plan – whats next? (August 2015)
  • The Danger on the A40 Headington to cutteslow.
  • Cold callers selling goods

Headington Headlines #221

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

@OxfordshireCC surprised us with an announcement of £12.5m to be spent on a project called “Access to Headington”, covering Headley Way, Old Road, The Slade and Horspath Driftway. A consultation has started – more information here. Do go and see the proposals if you can: the County has opened a formal consultation which expires on 7 August. The display board images are on the consultation website. People who cycle will welcome the changes (with some modifications) but I suspect the most controversial aspects of the plans will be the loss of some grass verges, trees and on-road parking spaces.

Six people turned out for @QuarryVelo‘s inaugural Sunday Social ride, an easy-paced 25 miles round Otmoor ending with a jaunt through the City centre.

There was a small car fire in Atkyns Road, Wood Farm in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Police are investigating it as a possible case of arson.

Remember the story from April of a man in a car in Barton dying after being stabbed, and the subsequent arrests in Cowley on other charges? Now as part of the same investigations another man, Radoslaw Litwiak, has been charged with conspiracy to kidnap and rob.

Work has started to replace the street lights in Staunton Road but progress seems rather slow. Sandfield Road is next.

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

  • Silver joggers
  • £12.m transport improvements for Headington: exhibitions and consultation
  • Lord Lieutenant presents local company with second Queens Award
  • Peggy Seeger Fundraiser Concert Friday 10th July
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 #211

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

Don’t forget the London Road will be closed overnight between Headington and the Green Road roundabout for the next 4 nights. The closure is from 8pm to 6am. Buses will divert via Windmill Road, The Slade and out onto the Eastern Bypass back to the roundabout.

It turns out to be a rather crime-rich collection of headlines this week. Here goes — —

On Tuesday a man was found with stab wounds in a car parked in North Way, Barton. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries, and police launched a murder investigation. A man was arrested on suspicion. Matters then get a little strange. Police mounted an operation in Kelburne Road, Cowley on Thursday and a second arrest was made. Another operation then took place in nearby Mayfair Road, and another man was arrested. Both men appeared separately in Oxford Magistrates Court on Saturday, where it emerged that Rafal Stawski of Mayfair Road had been charged with the Barton murder, and Marek Hndia of Fettiplace Road, Barton was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery against Stawski. Police are taking no further action against the original man arrested in connection with the murder. Both the accused men have been remanded to Oxford Crown Court on dates in May. Whether or not the two alleged crimes are related we probably won’t know until the crown Court hearings, if then, unless the police make any further statements.

Police have released an e-fit of a man they want to question in connection with an assault and robbery in Wood Farm on 4 April (see HH 208).

On Tuesday two men were convicted and jailed for six years and three months for an armed robbery at Stan James Bookmakers at the Roundway last April (see HH 155). The Oxford Mail report queries how the Lord Mayor of Oxford and two city councillors gave the men personal references.

And finally (whether or not it was in OX3) three men were arrested and a man was taken to hospital after an alleged incident of GBH in South Park on Tuesday.

In other news — —

The BBC’s Sunday Politics show last Sunday came from Old Headington parish hall. Was anyone from Headington there?


Setting up for the show. Photo: Penny Fox, via @headingtonnews

The Marston parking survey (see HH210) has been delivered to local residents.

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

  • Access road from Barton to Northway Estate
  • Quarry Gate pub
  • Headington Neighbourhood Planning
  • London Road “Improvement” Scheme
  • New student development at top of Latimer Road
  • St. George’s day in Headington
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.