Headington Headlines #377

Your weekly round-up of local news for 16 – 22 July .

The LibDems held Headington Ward in the by-election on Thursday. The new councillor is Stef Garden @SGarden13. Full results here.

Here’s a feel-good story in @TheOxfordMail about the new mural in the Marston underpass.

A man was racially abused and assaulted in Bury Knowle Park at about 7pm on Saturday 14 July. Police are appealing for witnesses.

Responding to this incident, a group called Oxford Stand Up to Racism with support from Oxford Labour organised a rally in Bury Knowle Park on Sunday. Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds and local councillor Martyn Rush gave speeches.

The Further Education Commission, an arm of the Dept for Education, has issued a critical report on Ruskin College. A history of poor financial performance over the past several years coupled with shortcomings in administrative staffing and systems has led to the possibility of Ruskin having to merge with another educational institution. The FEC’s report makes several recommendations which need to be implemented urgently.

Also from Ruskin College, my favourite Headington-related tweet this week:

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

  • No to racism in Bury Knowle Park – Community walk
  • Bath buildings Headington

Headington Headlines #364

Your weekly round-up of local news for 2 – 8 April.

The Churchill Hospital is to be one of the new ‘one-stop shop’ centres for rapid cancer diagnosis.

There’s a planning application (ref. 18/00837/FUL) to build two new homes in the back garden of the house on the corner of Sandfield and Woodlands Roads. Access would be by a new entrance on Woodlands. Whether you think this would be a regrettable loss of green garden space or a welcome densification which will provide more much-needed housing is up to you. But I couldn’t help noticing the contrast between the idealised sylvan image in the architects’ computer-generated street elevation and the reality of Woodlands Road. Comments on the planning application close on 1 May.

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about a break-in at @TheAmpRevival in Risinghurst on Tuesday night when £1300 was stolen. Oxford Mail report here.

A Barton man has been given an eighteen month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges of sexual incitement. The man thought he was online with a 13-year old girl and was eventually confronted by ‘vigilantes’ outside his home.

The East Area Planning Committee gave Ruskin College planning permission for their student accommodation developments (see HH 337). They also gave permission for building four retirement homes on the playing field behind Bracegirdle Road (HH 358).

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

    • Oxford needs a decent science and technology museum

Headington Headlines #363

Your weekly round-up of local news for 26 March – 1 April.

Southern Health NHS Trust has been fined £2m for its failings over the deaths of Connor Sparrowhawk and Teresa Colvin.

Buses on routes 13/X13 and U5 had to be diverted to avoid overnight roadworks on Marston Road. The road closure seemed to take people by surprise, although yellow warning signs had been on show for some time.

The planning application for 95 student bedrooms at Ruskin College (see HH337) and the separate application for a further 12 beds at Stoke House go to east Area Planning Committee on Wednesday with recommendations for approval.

@clumpytree reported another failure by Oxfordshire CC to have cyclists in mind when they work on the roads. The subsequent thread got picked up and reported quite widely, prompting a promise from the county that it would be fixed ‘soon’. Original tweet here.

In other roadworks news, the London Road crossing that is being built at the end of Osler Road has been criticised for not having lights or any kind of pedestrian priority. @RuthWilk reports the explanation given at the last Headington Ward focus meeting. Without knowing a lot more about the technical work behind the decision it’s not possible to know whether ‘Health & Safety’ and the interests of the bus companies have been given priority over pedestrian safety and convenience. In a local shopping and commercial centre movement on foot ought to be safe, quick and simple; road traffic should be controlled accordingly.

A court has ruled that the charges Oxford City planned to levy on residents of the city’s five tower blocks woud be ‘excessive’, and has reduced the amounts drastically. For Plowman Tower in Northway the council was going to charge each property £48,766.75; the reduced figure is £2,640.85. In Foresters Tower in Wood Farm the charge has dropped from £49,116.62 to £2,642.77.

Marston Saints Football Club has had to abandon one of their pitches because of damage by moles, dog fouling and dogs digging in the soil. The pitch is off Horseman Close, Old Marston.

St Andrew’s School @sasastandrews1 has been awarded £2000 from the Tesco ‘Bags of Help’ scheme. The money will go on new curtains for the hall.

No local news is complete without a toilet story (who remembers “Clochemerle”)? The e-democracy forum has a thread which started as a complaint about closed facilities at the Bury Knowle Park toilets and then morphed into a series of exchanges on the Labour-controlled city council’s record in providing sport and leisure facilities. The good news is that the toilets are being repaired.

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

  • Bury knowle park, stealth closure/reduction of facilities